21 closed Club Med resorts we stayed at: photos and memories
We have visited 74 Club Med villages and stayed overnight at 71 of them; 21 of those no longer operate as Club Med resorts. Some closed within a year or two of our stay; some had been on borrowed time for a decade. These are the places we remember: the setting, the small surprises, and the ones we would go back to tomorrow.
Each entry has the year, the nights and one thing we remember, then when Club Med left and what the place is today, where we could confirm it. Order is by the year we first stayed.
2005
The village’s roofs and the Koutoubia, May 2006. Photo: Antoine Bertier, CC BY 2.0.
Marrakech la Medina, Morocco
2005, 2006, 2009 · 16 nights
Our first Club Med, May 2005. A hotel on the edge of Djemaa el-Fna, a shower in the middle of the bedroom, and a free shuttle to La Palmeraie for the pools. The location was its greatest asset.
Club Med left: 2012 · Today: not confirmed
2006
Kastri islet and the beach at Agios Stefanos, beside the Club Med Kos, August 2009. Photo: Karelj, public domain.
Kos, Greece
2006 · 7 nights
A long village on the beach at Kefalos, at the island’s south-west end. I learnt waterskiing and sailing there. Now it’s the Ikos Aria.
Club Med left: 2007 · Today: rebuilt as the Ikos Aria, open since 2019
The Matterhorn at dawn, from our room at the Club Med Cervinia. Our photo.
Cervinia, Italy
2006, 2011 · 10 nights
The Matterhorn from the Italian side, and the better one for skiing in December. Big pool.
Club Med left: 2020 · Today: Valtur Cervinia Cristallo Ski Resort, in the same hotel
2007
Kamarina, Sicily
2007, 2014, 2018 · 14 nights
Three stays, which tells you what we thought of it: a big beach village on Sicily’s south coast, absurdly good value, but very basic.
Club Med left: 2022 · Today: redeveloped as Mangia’s Costa Ragusa Borgo, with stays from summer 2026
Oleanders and dunes down to the sea at Kamarina. Our photo.
2008
Chamonix and the Aiguilles, in winter. Our photo.
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France
2008, 2011, 2016, 2018 · 14 nights
Four stays, summer and winter. The oldest of the Alpine villages we knew and the one with the most character, a town village rather than a ski-in, ski-out one. Now it’s a La Folie Douce.
Club Med left: 2018 · Today: La Folie Douce Hotels Chamonix, in the same building
2009
The pool at the Club Med Itaparica. Our photo.
Itaparica, Brazil
2009 · 5 nights
An island off Salvador, a ferry from the city, a village that felt like the Club Med of the 1970s because it was. The sailing was amazing, with Salvador in sight across the bay, and behind the beach was woodland with its own three-hole golf course. One of my all-time favourites.
Club Med left: 2019 · Today: being redeveloped as Village Itaparica, due in 2027
The white tower that housed the Club Med Sestriere, October 2011. Photo: Pablo García Roza, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Sestriere, Italy
2009 · 3 nights
Now Pragelato-Sestriere, a different site down the valley. The old one was in the town itself. The room was tiny.
Club Med left: 2010 · Today: the white tower is the Grand Hotel Duchi d’Aosta
2010
The Palace hotel, later the Club Med Wengen, in January 1923. Photo: P. Bösch, Swiss National Library, public domain.
Wengen, Switzerland
2010 · 2 nights
A car-free village on a ledge above Lauterbrunnen; the Club Med was a grand old hotel. Two nights was enough to know it was the best Alpine setting they ever had.
Club Med left: 2016 · Today: closed; sold in 2024, renovation planned
The Villars Palace. Our photo.
Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland
2010 · 1 night
One night in the summer, on the way somewhere, but it was fun. The palace hotel has since been renovated.
Club Med left: 2018 · Today: the Villars Palace hotel, reopened in 2022 after renovation
Arriving at the Club Med Metaponto, June 1994. Photo: alh1, CC BY-ND 2.0.
Metaponto, Italy
2010 · 1 night
The instep of the boot; a summer beach village that closed not long after we stayed. It was very basic.
Club Med left: 2010 · Today: abandoned; bought in 2024 for redevelopment
2011
El Gouna, Egypt
2011 · 3 nights
The Red Sea village, in the purpose-built town north of Hurghada. The sailing on offer was phenomenal. Club Med has since left Egypt altogether.
Club Med left: 2014 · Today: Club Paradisio El Gouna
The lagoon and the beach at El Gouna. Our photo.
2012
The river at the Club Med Sandpiper Bay. Our photo.
Sandpiper Bay, Florida
2012 · 7 nights
The only Club Med in the United States for thirty years: a river, not a beach, and a sports-academy atmosphere that suited some families. Sold in 2022.
Club Med left: 2022 · Today: voco Sandpiper All-Inclusive (IHG), since January 2026
2013
The Club Med Belek. Our photo.
Belek, Turkey
2013 · 7 nights
The golf coast east of Antalya, the year it opened, which, as it turned out, was also the year it closed!
Club Med left: 2013 · Today: LykiaWorld Antalya
The beach at the Club Med Sant’Ambroggio. Our photo.
Sant’Ambroggio, Corsica
2013 · 3 nights
The north-west coast, Calvi down the road. It had its own train station — Club Med Cocody.
Club Med left: 2019 · Today: abandoned
The pool at the Club Med Napitia. Our photo.
Napitia, Calabria
2013 · 3 nights
In Calabria, Italy: the province of the red onion, above a beach nobody outside Calabria has heard of — which you could get to after a long walk through the pine forest.
Club Med left: 2018 · Today: TUI Magic Life Calabria
2014
Ixtapa Pacific, Mexico
2014 · 9 nights
Pacific rollers, a nice pool, and the quietest big village we have ever stayed in. The food was amazing. We stayed in the suite and threw our own cocktail party on the beach with the GOs, which was a lot of fun. It is sorely missed.
Club Med left: 2025 · Today: closed; sold, with plans to reopen it under another brand
The beach at the Club Med Ixtapa Pacific. Our photo.
2016
The entrance to the Club Med Sanya. Our photo.
Sanya, Hainan
2016 · 3 nights
China’s most famous beach town, in a former Kempinski hotel.
Club Med left: 2022 · Today: being redeveloped
The beach at the Club Med Dong’ao Island. Our photo.
Dong’ao Island, China
2016, 2017 · 4 nights
An island off Zhuhai, reached by ferry, a village built into the hillside; two New Year stays. It was China’s answer to Bintan, but it was short-lived. Another one I miss.
Club Med left: 2017 · Today: Gree Dong’ao Hotel
2017
Party night at the Club Med Kemer. Our photo.
Kemer, Turkey
2017 · 4 nights
Not to be confused with Palmiye next door, which is still open. Kemer was the real party village, which has disappeared off the map of Club Med.
Club Med left: 2020 · Today: abandoned; sold in 2023, awaiting redevelopment
2018
Cargèse, Corsica
2018 · 3 nights · $92 per person per night, all-inclusive
The west coast — a Greek church, a Latin church and a beautiful beach down the hill. The room was shockingly basic. Club Med is now out of Corsica altogether.
Club Med left: 2019 · Today: abandoned
The beach at Cargèse. Our photo.
2019
Agadir, by night. Our photo.
Agadir, Morocco
2019 · 3 nights · $100 per person per night, all-inclusive
The 1966 village, rebuilt after the earthquake, the one that invented the year-round Club Med. Closed not long after our stay. The site is being rebuilt as a TUI Magic Life resort, due to open in summer 2027.
Club Med left: 2021 · Today: TUI Magic Life Agadir, under construction
Twenty-one.
Which of these do you remember, and which would you bring back? Tell us in the comments below. And if you have a dated photograph from any Club Med that has since closed, we would like to see it: the next version of the ledger will carry the year each closed village shut, and for some villages beyond these twenty-one we don’t have it yet.
Send a photographHow many of the 181 have you stayed at?
The full ledger is on one page. Count yours, then post your number where you found this. Ours is 71.
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Missing your old Club Med? Start with our ranking of every open Club Med we’ve been to. Or send us the village you loved, your dates and who’s travelling: we’ll suggest a resort that is open today, advise on rooms and timing, and show our quote next to Club Med’s published rate. We charge nothing for a Club Med booking.
Help me choose my next Club Med Or email usAn independent record. Not affiliated with Club Med. · The ledger · All-inclusive, selectively · Version française
Photographs
All the photographs are ours except the following, which are used under the licences linked and, where the licence allows, cropped to fit this page.
- Marrakech la Medina: “IMG_0293” by Antoine Bertier, Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
- Kos: “Kefalos Kós 6” by Karelj, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
- Sestriere: “La Torre” by Pablo García Roza, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- Wengen: “Aussenansicht des Hotel Palace National im Winter” by P. Bösch, Swiss National Library, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
- Metaponto: “Slide copies June 1994, Metaponto, Italy” by alh1, Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0.
Soixante-quatorze villages Club Med depuis 2005, dont soixante et onze où nous avons dormi. Vingt et un ont fermé depuis notre passage : ce qu’ils étaient, et ce qu’ils sont devenus.