Villa Elena in Ulcinj

Villa Elena sits in the Stoj area just outside Ulcinj, on Montenegro's southern coast. This one-bedroom villa accommodates 2 guests with a single bed, one bedroom and one bathroom — a straightforward, self-contained base for a couple or two friends spending time on the long sandy beaches nearby. The room has air conditioning, satellite TV, a mini kitchen and its own bathroom, so you can keep to your own routine and prepare simple meals between beach days. Outside there is a large garden with a barbecue and parking available for all guests. Ulcinj's most popular beaches — MCM, Copacabana and Safari among them — are 500m away, and Ada Bojana is about 1000m. Day-to-day essentials are all within a short walk: a bakery 10m away, a mini market at 20m and a restaurant at 100m. Breakfast is included in the per-person rate, which varies by season from May through September.

About the area

Štoj is the settlement spread behind the middle of Velika plaža, a flat patchwork of gardens, olive rows, sandy tracks and low houses where the sea is close but stays invisible until you are on top of the dunes. Five hundred metres of that walk brings you to the busiest cluster of beach bars on the whole strip — Copacabana, Safari, MCM and their neighbours — where sunbeds, music and beach volleyball run through the day and the swimming stays shallow a long way out.

The character shifts with the season. In July and August this is the coast's most relaxed party stretch; in May, June and September it reverts to an enormous empty beach with a handful of open kitchens. A kilometre on, the Bojana river reaches the sea beside Ada Bojana, where wooden restaurants on piles serve eel, mussels and grilled fish, and kite schools use the flat water at the river mouth. Bakeries, small markets and grill restaurants sit within a couple of minutes of the house. Ulcinj's Old Town and the sandy bay at Mala plaža are a short drive north-west, and the salt pans on the way in are worth a stop for the flamingos.