It’s all about beautiful Albania, the unsung pearl of the Balkans ... Lounge lakeside at Hotel Hymeti’s Palace (00 355 67 500 0800; hymetispalace.al), where rooms start at £70 per night.

Here we look at how to escape the price hikes with budget-friendly destinations ... and artificial islands were constructed in the early 1990s. Now there are 18 hotels and resorts and more than 100 ...