All our Albania guides tagged where to stay.
The capital and the coastal south offer completely different trips, and they are far enough apart that most visitors have to choose. A direct comparison.
The small beach village with the turquoise islets is the photograph everyone arrives for. Whether you should also sleep there, rather than in Saranda twenty minutes up the road, is a different question.
Where to stay on the Albanian Riviera: Saranda for restaurants and transport, Ksamil for the water, the quieter villages between them, and what a sea view actually costs.
Saranda vs Ksamil compared as a base on the Albanian Riviera: beaches, hotels, restaurants, transport, day trips to Butrint and the Blue Eye, costs and crowds, with a clear verdict per traveller type.
A small capital where everything is walkable, and where the difference between the four central districts is noise, price and how Albanian your street feels.