Cali Mykonos is at Kalafati, southeast Mykonos, on a hillside above a beach of its own. Most of what the island is known for sits on the other side of it: Chora is 11 km away by road, the port and marina 13 km, and Mykonos International 10 km from the gate. Kalafati faces southeast with the hills at its back, which shelters it from the meltemi, the summer wind of the Aegean.
The house opened in summer 2022 and holds 40 suites and villas, spread across the slope rather than stacked, most of them with a heated seawater pool of their own. The family behind it is Greek-American: Kyriakos Mourkakos, the managing partner, is a New Yorker of Greek descent who worked on the project for six years before it opened, and his father Othon is a co-founder.
The name looks back to Calliope, the muse of epic poetry and patron of the arts, whom Homer calls on at the opening of the Odyssey. The house holds a collection of work by Greek artists, in every corner of it.
The rooms
The schedule starts small. A Terrace Suite is 40 sq m indoors with 40 more outside, one bedroom, two guests, and a view of the hills rather than the water. From there it climbs through pool suites and one-, two- and three-bedroom villas to the four-bedroom Villa Calliope, 335 sq m indoors and 670 sq m out, with six bathrooms, two living rooms, four terraces, three heated seawater pools and room for eight. All five villas have a heated seawater pool and an outdoor shower; of the seven suites, four do.
Water from the land
Three natural springs on the land supply the house, so it does not draw on the island’s water. Every pool is heated seawater for the same reason: freshwater on the Cyclades is limited, and a hillside of private pools would otherwise take a great deal of it. The villas were built from stone turned up while the site was landscaped, which means the walls came out of the ground they stand on.
The pool, and Missoni
The long pool was drawn as an ode to an ancient river stream once found near the estate: a 130-metre seawater infinity pool running above the beach. Missoni chose Cali for its first Resort Club in Greece, and the pool and the private beach carry its zigzag, reworked in shades of Aegean blue.
Lunch above the pool, dinner at Apollo
The Balcony serves lunch from noon to 6pm, on a terrace set over the pool with the water in front of it. The kitchen keeps to a short seasonal list: salads and mezze, fish off the day’s boats, pasta, and a grill that stays lit through the afternoon, with produce from Mykonos and from small growers on the mainland. Apollo takes dinner from 7pm, with a last call at 10.45pm. The Balcony and Apollo both seat people staying elsewhere on the island, by reservation made in advance, and the rest of the resort is for residents.
Terra, and the boats
Terra Wellness Club holds an open-air fitness floor, a studio with reformer and mat Pilates, yoga, functional training, HIIT and stretching, a meditation room, treatment rooms, and a contrast suite with sauna, steam room and cold plunge. For anyone staying, the floor, the classes, the meditation room and the contrast suite come with the stay. Two open-air courts, padel and pickleball, take visitors as well as guests in 50-minute slots, from 8am to 9pm by appointment, with no walk-ins. Two Axopar 37 Sun-Top vessels lie at the private dock for cruising, and a helipad on the property means arrival need not involve a road at all.
Who is this for
This suits a family or two couples taking a villa together, and anyone who would rather look at Mykonos than be in the middle of it. White marble is set against stone here, and alleys drop down the slope to the water. Breakfast runs from 8am to 11am and an all-day menu covers the pool and the beach until 7pm, so a day can pass without a car. The entry suite looks at the hills; from most of the rest, the Aegean is the view.
