Elysian Luxury Hotel & Spa stands at Synoikia Kordia, Kalamata, five minutes from the city centre, with the Messinian gulf in front of it and the slopes of Taygetos behind. The house holds 44 rooms and suites, and 22 of them have a pool of their own. That proportion is what makes it worth the drive: half the rooms come with water nobody else swims in, at a city address.
Kalamata is the capital of Messinia, 238 km southwest of Athens, and the road head for the whole of the southwestern Peloponnese. Elysian stands inside the city and is built to a resort’s plan.
The rooms
The rooms are in earth tones and a minimal line, and they face the gardens and the slopes of Taygetos. An executive suite gives 48 sq m, separate bedroom and living area, private pool with sun beds beside it, a king bed, Coco-Mat linen and a bathroom with a shower; the open plan makes it a favourite with families. A junior suite takes 27 sq m, garden floor, private pool and garden, both of them in view from the bed, with the same king bed and Coco-Mat linen. Deluxe rooms are on the first floor, each with a terrace of its own and a view of the garden, the mountain or the sea.
The spa
Three single treatment rooms, one couple’s room with hammam, indoor heated pool: that is the Elysian Spa, with a sauna, a thermo spa, a shower jet and a fitness room alongside. The pool is fitted for counter-current swimming and carries a waterfall and hydro-massage jets, with loungers around it. Children are not allowed to swim there. The treatment list runs to massages, detoxifying body therapies and anti-ageing facials, and a massage can be taken in the room instead. The fitness room carries cardiovascular and weight-training equipment along with TRX and yoga walls.
The table
Two rooms take the eating and drinking: Central Elysian Restaurant and the Champs Elysees Cafe. The restaurant opens at 7am seven days a week and serves through to the night, indoors or outside at the poolside tables. Breakfast is laid by the pool, and it covers fruit and juices, breads, cheeses, yogurts, cold meats and pastries. The kitchen is led by Executive Chef Fasoulis, who cooks international and Greek dishes drawn on the Mediterranean diet and the produce of the Messinian countryside; a pastry chef works beside him. The cafe is open all day for coffee, tea, a smoothie, a glass of wine or a cocktail, with the sea in front of it.
Out from the door
Kalamata has an airport of its own, 9 km west of the city, so a guest need not make the drive from Athens at all. The beach zone runs the length of the city, west to east, with cafes, ouzeries and restaurants along the promenade. The Byzantine castle stands on its rocky hill at the northwestern edge of town, and the city’s international dance festival is held at the castle’s southern end.
Ancient Messene is 30 km away, one of the best preserved ancient cities in the country and dating to the fourth century BC, with its walls, theatre, market and the temple of Artemis Phosphorus. Pylos, Methoni, Koroni and Finikounda are the stops southwest, Voidokilia beach among them. Kardamyli and Stoupa, on the Mani coast, are under 50 km. Sparta and the Byzantine castle town of Mystras are under 100 km.
Who is this for
A traveller who wants one address for the whole of Messinia and the afternoon to themselves. Kordia is residential and low, and the house sits behind lawns and planted beds. The city keeps the old town for a late dinner and the nightlife after it, and the railway park for a flat morning with children. It suits two people who swim before breakfast, and a family who would rather not share the water.
