The Villa Nai 3.3 hotel, Croatia’s only Three MICHELIN Keys address, can be hired whole for 16 guests

On the Croatian island of Dugi Otok, opposite Zadar, Villa Nai 3.3 is the only hotel in Croatia to hold Three MICHELIN Keys, awarded in 2025 and renewed in 2026. Opened in 2021 amid a 500-year-old olive grove, it has just eight rooms and suites for no more than sixteen guests, and can be booked in its entirety by a family or a group of friends.

☰Contents

1. Croatia’s only Three MICHELIN Keys hotel
2. Beneath a green roof by Nikola Bašić
3. Eight rooms, all facing the olive grove
4. Can you hire the whole hotel for sixteen?
5. A 23-metre pool filled with seawater
6. From a 500-year-old olive grove to the 3.3 table
7. Dugi Otok, 45 km from Zadar airport

Croatia’s only Three MICHELIN Keys hotel

Launched by the MICHELIN Guide in 2024, the Keys are to hotels what stars are to restaurants: one, two or three Keys, with three the highest rating. In 2026, only 155 hotels worldwide hold three. Villa Nai 3.3 earned them in 2025 and kept them in 2026, the only Croatian address at this level. To understand what this distinction really measures, read our analysis of the true value of the MICHELIN Keys.

The hotel is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, where it bills itself as the second-smallest property, and since 2023 of Virtuoso, the luxury travel agency network. In 2025, it was also one of the five finalists of the MICHELIN Guide Design & Architecture Awards, the only European hotel on the shortlist.

Beneath a green roof by Nikola Bašić

The building is the work of Croatian architect Nikola Bašić, a member of his country’s academy. Rather than dominating the hill, it slips into it: a roof covered in vegetation follows the lie of the land, and the walls are built from stone dug out during construction. The whole complex is rated A+ for energy performance and looks out over the islands of the Zadar archipelago.

Eight rooms, all facing the olive grove

Villa Nai 3.3 has five Deluxe rooms and three Deluxe suites, the latter with a fireplace and a four-poster bed. All open onto a private terrace facing the olive trees. For standard bookings, the hotel welcomes adults and children aged 12 and over, with no extra beds. Checked on 17 October 2026 on the official booking engine, the Olive Grove room costs €755 a night for two from 14 to 15 November 2026 and €1,133 from 10 to 11 July 2027, breakfast and taxes included.

Can you hire the whole hotel for sixteen?

Yes, and it is the only way to come with young children. Exclusive hire includes all eight rooms and suites, the olive grove, the pool and the jetty, with à la carte breakfast. Children of all ages are then welcome, and the suites can take three cots. The rate is available on request, by email to reservation@villanai.com.

A 23-metre pool filled with seawater

For relaxation, the 23-metre outdoor infinity pool is filled with seawater, as is the indoor pool, designed as a grotto beneath a skylight. There is also a Finnish sauna, olive-based treatments, an open-air gym and a tennis court.

From a 500-year-old olive grove to the 3.3 table

The estate covers 40,000 m² of 500-year-old organic olive trees. The olives are pressed at the property’s own mill on the day they are picked. The resulting oil, Nai 3.3, was the highest-ranked Croatian oil in the EVOO World Ranking, the global ranking of extra virgin olive oils, in both 2024 and 2025.

In the evening, from 5pm to 11pm, two restaurants share the honours: 3.3, the fine-dining table with food and wine pairings, and Grotta 11000, cooking over fire in a nod to the caveman. Chef Santosh Yadav will host guest Croatian chefs there: Hrvoje Zirojević on 21 and 22 November, then David Skoko on 12 and 13 December 2026. The evening carries on at the Lobby Bar or the Cigar Room.

Dugi Otok, 45 km from Zadar airport

Dugi Otok, “the long island” in Croatian, is part of the Zadar archipelago. From Zadar airport, 45 km away, allow around 55 minutes by limousine and then speedboat, or about twenty minutes by helicopter to the hotel’s helipad; the catamaran and ferry also leave from Zadar. Nearby, Telašćica Nature Park offers cliffs and a salt lake. The hotel is open from early March to mid-January.

To continue your journey along the Adriatic, see Villa Argentina, rebuilt facing the walls of Dubrovnik, and, on the Italian shore, the Bra Hotel, Bari’s first MICHELIN Key.