Bask in luxury in glorious Greece

The golden brush strokes starting to paint the white Greek houses on sunrise, with clear blue sea in the background, makes for perhaps the most stunning view on the Greek islands. A stay at some of the iconic resort properties in Greece helps complete this experience.

The Mystique — Santorini

Island hopping may be the best way to see the glorious Greece but the experience is incomplete without basking in luxury at some of the best hotels and resorts.

Let’s start with the Mystique Oia Santorini — one of the finest Starwood Hotels & Resorts properties from The Luxury Collection, on the Greek islands.

The stylish property houses 18 suites and villas (in a landscape of more than 2,000 square meters), built on Oia’s most famous cliffs with gorgeous views of the clear blue equatorial waters towards the volcanic and the Aegean caldera.

Merely sitting outside your all-white and pristine suite opening out to the gorgeous and uninterrupted views of the caldera (a massive depression created by volcanic eruption), makes you feel like it’s all yours… even better if you are in the resort’s infinity pool.

However, a word of caution: if you decide to start your trip with Mystique, you may just end up spending almost all of your Greek holiday lounging around in the hotel romancing the caldera.

The most popular sunset point in Santorini’s old village Oia – with windmills in the background, is about 15 minutes walk away from Mystique. And it’s a pleasant stroll through the village’s buzzing shops and cafes.

Vedema Resort – Santorini

The other side of the town from Oia is a small traditional Greek village called Megalohori, housing yet another fine resort from Starwood’s The Luxury Collection, just outside the island’s capital of Fira.

Staying at the Vedema Resort is a Greek countryside experience of sorts, where you can take a stroll in the small alleys adorning traditional Greek houses painted in striking colours of blue, green, yellow and so on.

The resort is nestled in a quiet area surrounded by hills on one side and the village on the other, making for a peaceful holiday experience – a good option if you’re planning to escape the season rush on the island. [The islands are shut from October until April].

Built around a 400-year-old winery, Vedema offers elegant 45 whitewashed pastel-hued townhouses.

Make sure to catch the hotel shuttle into town if you are in the mood for some buzz in the evenings. Around the resort itself, you can explore white and black sand beaches. Besides, the wine cellar is open for your perusal, including regular tastings.

There is enough within the resort to keep you from going out. It houses two restaurants, a wine bar, a Cocoon spa and an open-air Jacuzzi, among its many offerings.

Santa Marina Resort & Villas – Mykonos

Starwood got lucky to possess the most sought after location for its Mykonos Luxury Collection property. There is perhaps no other hotel or resort that could offer you a better view of the breathtakingly white Mykonos than the Santa Marina Resort & Villas.

This charming little Greek village houses 96 rooms, suites, and villas with subtly sophisticated and natural interiors, each with a private balcony overlooking a sweeping infinite blue sea.

Located on a private peninsula, Santa Marina Resort & Villas’ isolated location and long, sandy beach make it for an ideal base to experience the picture-perfect island of Mykonos.

Having become the island’s first luxury resort over 20 years ago, Starwood maintained top status by offering premium services including private helicopter and jet charters, water sports, a state-of-the-art spa among others.

While the nightlife is a short shuttle drive into the Mykonos city, a popular daytrip is the sacred island of Delos – the birthplace of gods Apollo and Artemis, just two kilometers away. With some notice the hotel can make private arrangements for your trip to Delos.

Each of these properties have one other thing in common besides their grace — the impeccable service. While all of them are located on a hilly step-like terrain, the hotels’ very fit staff never grumbles about making tough trips up and down your suite. Nonetheless, you may want to think twice before hitting that ‘room service’ button.

Back in the Greek capital of Athens, a good city hotel choice would be the InterContinental. Though more of a business hotel than leisure, it doesn’t matter as long as it offers you the straight view of the Acropolis.
 

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