Why We Built Sunset Shoreline Saranda

A story by Endri Hoxhaj, founder of Sunset Shoreline Saranda

For as long as I can remember, Saranda has been a magical place for my family.

I wasn't born here—I grew up in the nearby city of Përmet—but Saranda was where we always came for our holidays. There was something about the way the morning light hit the Ionian Sea, the way the city curved around the bay with Corfu visible in the distance, that made you feel like you'd discovered a secret the rest of the world hadn't caught onto yet.

Even as a child, I knew this wasn't just another beach town. This was a place that made you want to return before you had even left.

That feeling never went away. It only grew stronger.

Finding "The Balcony of Saranda"

The journey to creating Sunset Shoreline Saranda began the same way many important things in life begin—with a combination of chance and instinct.

My father and I were looking at a piece of land for sale in the hills above the city. We're builders by trade, so we naturally started thinking about what could be built there, what purpose a project in this location could serve. But as we stood on that hillside looking out over the panorama, something shifted. This wasn't just land. This was a position that showed you why Saranda exists.

The view stretched across the entire length of the city, the Ionian coastline, Butrint Lake in the distance, and on clear days, Corfu island sitting on the horizon like a promise of more adventures to come. We started talking to some of the older, wiser people who had lived in Saranda their whole lives. They spoke of this specific hill with special reverence, telling us the same thing again and again: "That is the balcony of Saranda."

That phrase became everything. From that moment on, we knew exactly what we had to build. Not just a hotel—anyone can build a hotel. We had to create a place where people could wake up to this view every morning, where they could sit on their private balcony with their coffee and understand, deeply, why this coast has drawn travelers for thousands of years.

We just had to do it right. And as builders, we knew we could handle that responsibility.

A Philosophy: Let the View Be the Design

From the very beginning, our vision was simple: create something warm, modern, and welcoming that never tries to compete with what nature was already offering right in front of us.

We intentionally avoided an exaggerated design because we understood a fundamental truth—we could never compete with the masterpiece that was already there. The real design is the sea at sunrise. The real architecture is the way the light changes from morning to sunset. The real luxury is waking up to Corfu island visible from your bed.

This philosophy shaped every decision we made. Every one of our 20 rooms has a private balcony. Not because it's trendy, but because we knew from our own experience that the most important moments in Saranda happen when you're sitting quietly, watching the sea change colors as the day begins or ends.

We chose memory gel mattresses because a good night's sleep matters when you're spending your days exploring Butrint National Park or swimming at Ksamil's beaches. We added an infinity pool on the rooftop facing the sea, not because every hotel needs a pool, but because we wanted guests to have that moment of floating in the water while looking out at the same Ionian Sea that ancient Greek sailors once navigated.

We built a second pool with a jacuzzi for those who want something more private, more tucked away. We added The Observatory restaurant below the hotel because we believe that food should match the quality of the view—locally sourced, simply prepared, served with the same care we put into everything else.

Every detail serves the same purpose: helping guests connect with this place, not distracting them from it.

The Dream That Almost Didn't Happen

This dream was not built easily.

Coming from a family that started with nothing, we have always worked with humility and determination, sacrificing our time for bigger goals. But knowing how to work hard and actually building a 20-room hotel on a rocky hillside are two very different things.

The biggest problems we faced were during construction. The land on this hill is extremely rocky—much rockier than we anticipated. What we thought would be a challenging project became an incredibly difficult and expensive one. Heavy machinery struggled with the terrain. Every foundation required more work, more time, more resources than our original plans accounted for.

The project was delayed for several years. There were many difficult moments when, facing overwhelming economic pressure, we seriously considered giving up on our dream. The location, as beautiful as it is, was also our biggest challenge. The municipality hadn't built proper roads up to this elevation, so we had to fix them ourselves just to carry out the work safely and bring materials up the hill.

There were nights when my father and I sat looking at the half-finished structure, wondering if we had made a terrible mistake. The views were perfect, but was that enough? Would people understand why we chose this location? Would they be willing to take a taxi up the hill instead of staying on the beachfront?

But we persevered. While we brought our own construction experience and technology, we made sure to work with local architects, builders, and artisans from Saranda and the surrounding area. This was our way of giving back to the community that had given us so much during our family holidays here. We wanted Sunset Shoreline to be part of the local economy, not separate from it.

When You Know You Made the Right Choice

Today, when I read the reviews—over 600 of them now, averaging 9.1 out of 10—I know we made the right decision. Every time a guest writes that the views exceeded their expectations, that the staff went out of their way to help them find the hotel when their GPS failed on the winding approach road, that they've never slept better or felt more relaxed, I feel a deep sense of pride.

Not the kind of pride that makes you stop working. The kind that makes you want to work even harder.

We proved to ourselves and to those who doubted us that our vision was right. That there was room in Saranda's growing tourism scene for a different kind of hotel—one that trades beachfront convenience for something more lasting. A place where you wake up above the noise, where you have space to breathe, where the view from your balcony makes you understand why people have been drawn to this coast for millennia.

They didn't choose a beachfront resort or a city center hotel. They came back to their room with the sea view, to the infinity pool at sunset, to the quiet mornings on their private balcony.

That is why we built this. That is why we pushed through the rocky terrain, the economic pressure, the delays, the doubts.

The Family Behind Sunset Shoreline

We remain a family-run operation because we believe it makes a difference. When you call our WhatsApp number at 2am because you're lost on the approach roads, you're not talking to a call center—you're talking to someone who cares about getting you here safely because this is our family's investment, our dream, our responsibility.

When you mention at check-in that your daughter is vegan, and our restaurant staff prepares something special without you having to ask twice, that's not corporate policy—that's how families treat guests. When something breaks in your room and it gets fixed within the hour, that's because we're here, present, invested in making sure your experience matches the one we imagined when we first stood on this hillside.

The same hands that built this hotel are the ones that maintain it. The same family that dreamed of creating "the balcony of Saranda" is the one answering your questions, recommending the best route to the Blue Eye, explaining why you should visit Butrint early in the morning before the tour groups arrive from Corfu.

This personal touch—this family presence—is something we'll never outsource or automate. It's the heart of what makes Sunset Shoreline different from other hotels in Albania.

What We Hope You'll Take With You

When I see guests sitting on their balconies during golden hour, watching the sun set over the Ionian Sea with Corfu silhouetted in the distance, I know we created what we set out to create.

This isn't about luxury in the traditional sense. We don't have a spa or a kids' club or 200 rooms with every imaginable amenity. What we have is simpler and, we believe, more valuable: the best views in Saranda, comfortable rooms designed to showcase those views, family-run service that feels genuine because it is genuine, and a location that gives you space to connect with why this coast has drawn travelers since ancient times.

When you leave Sunset Shoreline, I hope you take with you the feeling of having experienced something real. Not a resort designed to look like every other resort. Not a hotel that could be anywhere in the Mediterranean. But a place that could only exist here, on this hillside, in this city, built by this family who fell in love with Saranda's magic long before building hotels was even a dream.

I hope you leave understanding why the older, wiser people of Saranda called this hill "the balcony of Saranda."

And I hope you come back.

Because once you've seen Saranda from this perspective—from your private balcony, above the noise, with the Ionian Sea stretching out before you—it's hard to imagine experiencing it any other way.

That feeling is what we built. That feeling is why we persevered through the rocky terrain, the delays, the doubts.

That feeling is Sunset Shoreline Saranda.