What's not to like about Croatia? It has perfectly preserved medieval towns, pristine national parks and postcard-pretty islands within an easy ferry-ride's reach.
As it's outside the eurozone, prices tend to be cheaper than mainland Europe, and there are plenty of inexpensive flights available.
So you'd think that the place would be swarming with British holidaymakers, wouldn't you? Certainly, our European counterparts have cottoned on - there's been an influx of summer visitors from Germany, Slovenia and Italy in the past few years.
And while there has been more interest from the UK - not least because of a couple of boutique music festivals that have sprung up there - Croatia and its islands are still way behind the usual Med suspects in terms of popularity.
Which is a good thing. Because right now is the best time to go - in September and October, the European holiday- makers are long gone, and the crystal- clear waters of the Adriatic are at their seductive best. And, lately, Croatia's once sullen hospitality industry has brightened up a bit, providing the sort of boutique, even borderline-glamorous, accommodation that can be found on the continent.
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The chicest of this new wave of style-conscious hideaways is Lesic Dimitri Palace (00 385-20 715560, lesic-dimitri.com; doubles from £160, room-only) on Korcula, a gloriously slow-paced, could-be-Greek island less than three hours from both Split and Dubrovnik.
Here, traditions still mean something: young lads perform the dramatic sword dance their forefathers created 400 years ago, for example. The palace's six luscious villas have been converted from an
18th-century bishop's home and five medieval cottages, and trickle down a skinny cobbled street, near where locals claim Marco Polo was born - hence the interiors' extravagant Silk Road theme. In Arabia Residence, for example, the walls are festooned with white linen for a tent-like feel, there's delicate fretwork and low seating, as well as views over the red rooftops to Mount Ilija.
Five-star embellishments such as a spa with Thai therapists are due to open soon. Even without them, the hotel feels luxurious, and service is charming. All of which makes up for the nearby church bells that ring every hour... right through the night.
Locals are deaf to the peals, but don't give yourself time to develop such immunity because Croatia is prime touring territory. You can swap folksy for fashionable with a four-quid boat trip to Hvar.
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As unlikely as it seems, this Dalmatian dot attracts heavyweight A-listers, including Roman Abramovich, Paris Hilton and Kevin Spacey, with the Carpe Diem bar and club, and the beautifully restored 1930s beach club, Bonj Les Bains, two principal hotspots.
Designer digs are supplied by Riva (21 750100, suncanihvar.com; doubles from £142, B&B), where rooms are greige with splashes of lipstick red, and come with glass-boxed bathrooms and Tom Dixon S chairs.
Across the bay, sister property Adriana (21 750200, suncanihvar.com; doubles from £180, B&B) has a more sophisticated ambience, a discreet Mediterranean dining room and a spa that takes full advantage of the island's endless lavender fields for its lotions. Have a massage in the rooftop garden, or splash out with treatments on board a chartered yacht.
On the mainland, Split offers the perfect lazy person's Croatian assimilation. Its magical old town is compact, with alleyways of arty shops and crumbling courtyards; its cathedral is pretty but so petite it takes no more than 10 strides to cross; and its palm-fringed waterfront promenade is like a dress rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest: lots of dodgy outfits and slightly out-of-tune buskers. Just behind the fabulously old-fashioned fish market, the Marmont
(21 308060, marmonthotel.com; doubles from £174, B&B) has rooms with earth tones, silk soft furnishings and rainforest showers. Close to the cathedral, the Vestibul Palace (21 329333, vestibulpalace.com; doubles from £130, B&B) gives its Roman, gothic and Renaissance architecture a twist with classy additions such as a glass atrium and split-level suites.
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But the country's undisputed jewel is Dubrovnik, usually - and quite rightly - named as Europe's prettiest city. The Old City is a fairy tale of spires, towers and foot-thick stone walls, on which you can walk, gazing down on beauty that has triumphed over bombardment so brilliantly that you can barely see the scars from the 1991 assault by the Yugoslav People's Army.
A 10-minute walk takes you to the clifftop Bellevue (20 330000, hotel-bellevue.hr; doubles from £110, B&B), where a chic ocean-liner design of hazy blues and greens complements views over Miramare Bay, and there's a buzzy private (pebble) beach, too.
A budget alternative is the Berkeley Hotel (20 494160, berkeleyhotel.hr; doubles from £66, B&B) down by Gruz harbour. It's a bus ride from the sights, but rooms are spacious and suites are fitted with kitchens; it has an uncomplicated Antipodean charm courtesy of Katarina Vicelic, a Croatian who grew up in Sydney before persuading her family to sell up their successful restaurant business in 2007 and return home.
Even the fact that locals refer to concrete platforms as "beaches" (Dubrovnik has beautiful seas but precious little sand) doesn't provoke Aussie vitriol from Vicelic. "Sand is overrated," she says. "This place isn't."
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Susan d'Arcy travelled as a guest of Original Travel
Getting there: you can fly to Dubrovnik from 13 UK airports, and to Split from seven; airlines include EasyJet (easyjet.com), Flybe (flybe.com) and Jet2 (jet2.com). Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) has flights from Dublin to Dubrovnik. Original Travel (020 7978 7333, originaltravel.co.uk) has one night at the Marmont and two each at Riva, Lesic Dimitri and the Bellevue from £985pp, B&B, including flights. Or try Bond Travel (01372 745300, www.bondtours.com) or Dalmatian Destinations (0333 700 8007, www.dalmatiandestinations.com).