Balkan Beauty: Investments in marinas and hotels are turning Montenegro into a magical place.

Journalist Harriet Syme for "Mail On Sunday" newspaper went to visit one of the latest hotel openings in Montenegro - Mamula. This hotel, a restored19th-century fortress, is located on its own island.

When Montenegro gained independence from Serbia in2006, its then Prime Minister declared, "Montenegro will become one of the most elite tourist destinations in the world... Better than St. Tropez".

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This was, of course, an ambitious statement, but almost two decades later, this small country, nestled between Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, and Croatia, is undoubtedly heading that way. Now, the titans of leisure are mooring along the coast in gigantic super yachts, thanks to billions spent on gleaming marinas and five-star hotels of some of the most exclusive chains in the world, which have sprung up along the beaches.

His latest discovery, Mamula, is a beautifully restored19th-century fortress standing on its tiny island in the heart of one of the most beautiful parts of the Mediterranean Sea. We fly into Dubrovnik in Croatia and then drive half an hour south on a dusty road lined with majestic cypress trees until we reach the border where the landscape suddenly changes. The towering mountains of Croatia rise sharply to giant peaks that drop steeply to the Adriatic Sea, while small towns with red-tiled roofs hug the ocean shore.