Europe's best beach clubs

Gemma Bowes guardian.co.uk

BALEARICS

Purobeach, Mallorca
Sticking out into the sea on its own little peninsula on the outskirts of Palma, Purobeach is, style-wise, the definitive beach club: white loungers, sleek pool area, billowing cotton, potted palms. It's pretty chilled out, good for brunch or dinner (barbecued lobster), while watching the sun set behind the mountains, the yachts playing in the marina across the bay and toned bodies drifting past on their stand-up paddleboards.
• purobeach.com, around €30 per day

Ushuaïa Beach Hotel, Ibiza
The new Ushuaïa Beach Hotel is the venue everyone's talking about in Ibiza. Set on the sands of Playa d'en Bossa, the five-star hotel has swim-up rooms, but non-residents can visit the sushi/teppanyaki/tapas cocktail bar and go to club nights put on by Defected (Saturdays) and Vagabundos (Thursdays) at the Miami Beach-style club, where a curvaceous pool is surrounded by designer day beds.
• ushuaiabeachhotel.com/, club night tickets €40

Gecko Beach Club, Formentera

The only real scene-y hotel on Formentera, Gecko Beach Club combines serenity and hipster-ism on the sands of Migjorn beach. This season there's a new pool in the lawned gardens, available to those who rent a day bed (€30 a day), and a Tiki-style poolside chiringuito (a Spanish beach-shack bar) which will host an afternoon barbecue with DJs playing. It also offers yoga courses (€25 a class).
• geckobeachclub.com

CROATIA

Santos Rab
Croatia doesn't have many sandy beaches, but the island of Rab has 22 and is developing a party scene that British travellers have been a bit slow to cotton on to. Pudarica beach has not only sand, but also the Santos beach club, which is open all night, with palms on a big open deck area. Eat a lunch of seafood risotto, chill out on a rattan sofa, watch the beach volleyball, then prepare for the bar's transformation first into cool cocktail bar, then a full-on club that stays open till sunrise.
• croatia-beaches.com/party/rab_barbat_beach.htm

Carpe Diem Beach, Hvar
A €5 water taxi ride from the harbour in Hvar takes you to a little sandy beach with terraces, a pool and a cute crepe bar at this relaxed but fashionable beach club among the trees. Teak sunbeds, thatched parasols, carved wooden sofas and candelabras give it more of a cosy, boho look than the typical stark white, minimal beach club. There's no pretension here: girls share huge jugs of cocktails drunk through metre-long straws without worrying how it'll look in the papers.
• carpe-diem-hvar.com

MONTENEGRO

Aman Sveti Stefan, Budvar
 The tiny island of Sveti Stefan, attached to the mainland south of Budvar by a narrow spit, has a glamorous history as a hotel for Hollywood stars and politicians in the 1960s, but has undergone a dramatic restoration over the last few years to be reborn for a new generation of movers and shakers as an Aman resort. If you can't afford the gorgeous suites (from €700 a night), you can still lap up some luxury at one of the three restaurants on the coastline of the bay of Budvar opposite.
• amanresorts.com/amansvetistefan/resort.aspx

FRANCE

Kube, St Tropez
Unless you share your name with a hotel chain, have business interests in Russia or have had a facelift, chances are you might find St Tropez's beach clubs a little bit intimidating. But if you want to experience the epicentre of beach swankery, this is it. La Voile Rouge (Route des Tamaris), considered the birthplace of the beach club scene, was always the ultimate place to showboat: a bit noisy, a bit old money. Of course, Nikki Beach – members only, memberships range from $250-$5,000 – is still the hippest place to cavort in a kaftan. Look out for special themed events: Disco on 9 July, 13 August and 3 September, Brazil on 16 July and 20 August. Alternatively, anyone who's no one can escape the vicious mistral winds and retreat inland to the ultra-cool Kube hotel, which has a poolside martini bar, live DJs and a more relaxed door policy.
• nikkibeach.com/sttropez/, muranoresort.com

Florida Beach, Nice
Lean back against the cushions of your carved wooden day bed with a blue champagne, watch white curtains billowing in the breeze and think about – no, not Cameron's failure to reinstate a weekly bin collection – whether to take a dip in the Jacuzzi or the sea at this fashionable spot on Nice's stretch of private beach clubs. Lunch? Goat's cheese on toast with honey and salad, fritto misto or a beef, mint and peanut salad? After dark, the dinner could be sea bass and sea bream with figs, or an earthenware pot of gambas.
• florida-beach.fr, sunbed €10, relaxation area €13, Jacuzzi €12 for 30 minutes, parasol €4

GREECE

Sundance beach bar, Rhodes
 
 DJs, beach volleyball, fashion shows and live music, Sundance on huge Gennadi beach is Rhodes's hippest beach bar, renowned for its Sunday parties where youngsters dance barefoot around campfires as the sun goes down.
• rhodes.ws/beaches-rhodes-greece/gennadi-beach

Nammos, Mykonos
Frequented by celebs, models, princes and paps, Nammos is the Greek party island's most upmarket haunt. Expect dancing on the tables and a waiting list for the loungers or dinner (lunch is quieter). There's a formal dining area, an indoor lounge space and a large beach club with loungers and thatched parasols.
• nammos.gr

TURKEY

Marrakech on the Beach, Aya Yorgi, Izmir
Aya Yorgi bay on the Cesme peninsula is starting to attract an international crowd to join Turkey's party elite. Roman Abramovich, Turkish models and footballers are among those spotted in the beach clubs along this stretch of coast, but essentially it's a clubbing destination for young people. Check out Marrakech on the Beach, which has sun loungers and a cafe, for frozen margaritas by day and dancing from 5pm till dawn.

ITALY

Coccaro Beach Club, Puglia
 One of the best beach clubs in the world, according to luxury hotel guide Mr & Mrs Smith, the luxurious Coccaro Beach Club has a private stretch of beach with shabby chic furniture, wooden walkways, a spa and trips on a private motor yacht. Away from the sand, a teak terrace offers private gazebos, a gourmet fish, oyster and sushi restaurant, a fashion boutique, babysitting club, … essentially it has it all, apart from snooty service. The one drawback is you have to be a guest of the Masseria Torre Coccaro boutique hotel to use it. Guests can also attend summer events including jazz concerts such as a gig by the James Taylor Quartet on 17 July (all €90pp including dinner), and a Nikki Beach Party (with the famous clubs' DJs, €40pp including a drink) on 3 September.
• masseriatorrecoccaro.com, standard doubles from €278-422 per night

Sasso by the Sea, Ravello
This offshoot of the swanky Palazzo Sasso hotel in Ravello lies 15 minutes' drive (or a boat taxi) away in the village of Marmorata and has sunbathing areas built into the bottom of steep cliffs leading down to the sea. It's a place to tan and relax rather than party, with amazing views, a little pool and waiters to do the running up and down the steep steps for you.
• palazzosasso.com

Phi Beach, Sardinia
Beside a pile of illuminated rocks beneath the Napoleonic fortress of Forte Cappellini, gorgeous Sardinians dance on day beds, smooch on rocky outcrops and recline in egg-shaped chairs in this popular, hedonistic but stylish beach bar on the Costa Smeralda. You won't see a man without a smart shirt, women wear hotpants and jumpsuits, and superyachts trundle past like buses through Piccadilly Circus, but it's more laid-back than other bars along this coast.

• phibeach.com