hand-picked hotels around the world. · browse by destination or travel style.

The Brando

Hotel

From $3,700 Rates shown are approximate and for guidance only, based on recent starting prices.

Minimum stay
1
Location
Tetiaroa, Windward Islands, French Polynesia
Type
Hotel

Amenities

  • AC
  • Beach Access
  • Family Friendly
  • Gym
  • Private Pool
  • Restaurant
  • Spa
  • Wi-Fi

Experiences

  • Cycling
  • Diving
  • Massage
  • Snorkelling
  • Tennis
  • Wildlife

Why we love

  • Brando's atoll
  • Private plunge pools
  • Turtle beaches

“A Polynesian scenic atoll reached by a 20-minute flight from Tahiti, where the beaches are shared with sea turtles.”

The Brando is a resort on Tetiaroa, an atoll of a dozen small islands around a wide lagoon, about 50 kilometres north of Tahiti. The island was once a retreat for Tahitian royalty, and later the private sanctuary of Marlon Brando, who bought it in the 1960s after filming Mutiny on the Bounty nearby. Its 35 villas are spread along white sand beaches, each with its own plunge pool and simple Polynesian-inspired interiors, hidden from one another among the palms. The resort runs on renewable energy and cools its rooms with deep seawater instead of conventional air conditioning. Days can include snorkelling with manta rays, cycling across the island, guided visits with the research station that studies the atoll, or a daily spa treatment in the all-inclusive package. Guests arrive by private plane, a 20-minute flight from Papeete.

Similar accommodations

Hotel Miramalfi

Hotel

Europe, Italy

From $850

Hotel Miramalfi sits on the cliffs at the western edge of Amalfi, about ten minutes on foot from the cathedral and the harbor, on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Built into the rock above the sea, it has sea-view rooms with tiled floors and terraces, a saltwater pool with a poolside bar and a private sea platform for swimming and snorkeling in the Mediterranean. Guests can unwind at the spa and wellness center, eat at the hotel’s restaurants with views of the coast, and leave the car with the free valet, a rare convenience in Amalfi. Breakfast is included, and small pets are welcome.

Hermitage Bay

Hotel

Caribbean

From $1,800

Hermitage Bay is a boutique all-inclusive resort on the west coast of Antigua, set in a secluded bay a short drive from St. John’s. Its 30 suites are spread across freestanding cottages, some right on the white-sand beach and others on the hillside behind, with private terraces, outdoor showers, deep soaking tubs and, in the hillside suites, plunge pools facing the sea. Meals change daily and draw on local ingredients, served in an open-air restaurant overlooking the water. Rates cover breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, cocktail hour and dinner with house wines, along with yoga, Pilates and meditation classes, non-motorized water sports and airport transfers, while the spa offers treatments at an extra cost.

Coral Sands Inn & Cottages

Hotel

Caribbean

From $1,030

Coral Sands Inn & Cottages sits directly on Pink Sand Beach on Harbour Island, a small island off Eleuthera in the Bahamas, a short walk from the colorful clapboard streets of Dunmore Town. Opened in 1968 by actor Brett King and his wife Sharon, it was recently redesigned in a playful, all-over pink that echoes the shore. Its 38 accommodations are divided into inn rooms, cottages and seaside homes, many with balconies over the water. Guests spend their days snorkeling, body boarding or lounging by the oceanfront pool, with two restaurants and a beach bar on site and a daily manager’s reception at sunset.

Southern Ocean Lodge

Hotel

Oceania, Australia

From $2,200

Southern Ocean Lodge sits on the limestone cliffs above Hanson Bay, on the wild south-west coast of Kangaroo Island, a short flight from Adelaide. Destroyed by bushfire in 2020, it reopened in late 2023 under its original architect, Max Pritchard, with 23 suites strung along the coastline, a central Great Room and a new four-bedroom Ocean Pavilion. The lodge runs almost entirely off-grid, powered by solar and battery systems and supplied by rainwater and an aquifer, while works by island and South Australian artists fill the interiors. Stays are all-inclusive, with menus built around local growers and fishermen, an open bar, signature island experiences, a spa and transfers included.