Laguna Coast Resort opened at Stelida, on the Cycladic island of Naxos, in May 2025. It has 21 suites and villas inside an estate of 480 acres. The grounds include wetland, a lagoon and 1.5 kilometres of Naxos coastline, so there is a great deal of land for very few rooms. The hotel is small enough to take in at a glance. The natural setting around it is the larger and harder part of the project.
The setting
Stelida is a hill west of Naxos Town, between the sea and a shallow lagoon. The hotel describes beaches, wetland, a natural reef and the islet of Manto as part of the wider estate. From the air, the low resort sits on a compact patch between the road and the water, and the lagoon and much of the scrubland stay open.
Stelida is an unusual base for exploring the island. Naxos Town is close, but the immediate surroundings are wetland, granite and long stretches of coast. How guests move across the estate, and the care taken at its edges, matter more than a long list of facilities inside the buildings.
The history
The Laguna Coast Foundation runs the wider programme for the estate. It gives the room types names taken from the site: Neanderthal Hills, Cedar Forest, Flamingo Valley and Golden Reef. Those names are the hotel’s own framing.
The clearer history is the recent building work. Modulus Architecture joined after the shells of the permitted buildings had been decided. It then worked within those outlines on the interiors and on all the outdoor space. That limit explains the focus on screens, courtyards, water channels and paths. The practice could not redraw the buildings, so it changed how the approved buildings meet the ground.
The design
Shallow pools run between the low white buildings. The largest, filled with desalinated seawater, reflects three blocks of rooms at the centre. Perforated clay brick screens filter light onto the rear terraces, and granite boulders stay in place beside the restaurant and the paths. The contrast is deliberate. Smooth surfaces and shallow pools mark where people stay, and rough rock shows where the building stops.
Inside, Modulus uses oak, pale stone and rounded built-in furniture, with island marble and oak worked by local crews. The bedrooms are visually calm. The sitting rooms have more texture, with fluted stone walls and lit timber niches. These choices give the rooms a sense of scale, so they hold their own against the wide setting outside.
The rooms
The 21 suites and villas are split between sea-facing suites with small private pools and rooms set around the central pool. With so few rooms, the buildings take up little of an estate measured in hundreds of acres. It also means daily life is concentrated in a very small part of a sensitive habitat. So the paths out to the beach and the lagoon matter as much as the terraces themselves.
Entrances at the back keep arrivals and service away from the main views of the water. On the seaward side, the pools sit inside walled gardens, and clay screens give shade and some privacy. The details are modest in size, which suits a place where the land around supplies the larger view.
The table
TÂMA, the restaurant, is an open pavilion set among the granite boulders. The setting makes the case for one main restaurant. Its tables face across the wetland towards Naxos Town, and the stone beside them stays part of the building. A wood-fired oven is at the heart of the kitchen. The room’s link to the land around it is what sets it apart.
The environment
The Foundation states that it worked with HEDNO, the Greek electricity network operator, to put the medium-voltage power lines in the Laguna area underground. The aim was to reduce the danger to migrating birds and to lower the risk of fire. The work is complete, and its purpose is stated.
The compact built area is where Laguna Coast will be judged. On a plan, 21 rooms can sit lightly inside 480 acres. The habitat also has to stay more than a backdrop for those rooms, and the last white wall, where paving gives way to reeds, scrub and granite, is where that shows.
Who is this for
Laguna Coast suits travellers who want nature close at hand and Naxos Town about 3 kilometres away. The lagoon draws flamingos and wild ducks, and the estate takes in a cedar forest and Manto, a private islet of 27 acres. Wild hills and an ancient quarry stand behind the coast. Guests can go hiking, horse riding or cycling on electric bicycles, take part in wine tastings and private cooking classes, and use an outdoor gym with a sauna.
