Above Platis Gialos beach, five kilometres from Mykonos Town, the Myconian Ambassador is set into the granite boulders of the hillside. By the owning family’s own account it took the first five-star rating on Mykonos, was the first place on the island that Relais & Chateaux admitted, and was the first with a lift.
The Daktylides family ran the island’s first bus network before they ran hotels. George Daktylides opened Kohili, a bed and breakfast above the windmills of Mykonos Town, in 1979, and in 1987 he bought the land overlooking Platis Gialos Bay. The Ambassador is one of 14 hotels the family holds on the island as the Myconian Collection, and in 2012 George handed the leadership to his four sons, Panos, Markos, Vangelis and Marios.
It has carried Relais & Chateaux since 1992. The hotel has 119 rooms and suites.
What Galal Mahmoud did in 2015
GM Architects, the Lebanese practice of Galal Mahmoud, completed a top-to-bottom refurbishment in June 2015, taking in the public rooms, the suites and every bedroom. The materials were Thassos marble and tropical hardwoods. Mahmoud calls his method contextual immersion: he read the history of the Cyclades and the local culture first, then settled on airiness as the governing idea, opening the interiors with wide windows and mirrors and holding the palette to royal blue against the white. In the lobby, large blocks of marble were carved into the reception desks, and the walls were replastered to suggest the drapery of classical statues. The owner who commissioned the work was Vangelis Daktylides, and the two men have become firm friends since. Mahmoud has visited Mykonos regularly since his childhood and says the island is “part of the fabric of my life”.
The spa
Three indoor thalassotherapy pools are the centre of it, each held at its own temperature and salinity, both monitored, with essential oils and hydro-massage. The ritual is meant for joint health, for the symptoms of arthritis and osteoporosis, and for deep relaxation. Around the pools are single and double treatment rooms, a steam room, a sauna and a relaxation area. The spa is named for thalassa, the Greek word for the sea, celebrated since antiquity for its curative powers.
The tables
Efisia is the fine-dining room, and its name comes from the Greek physis (φύσις), meaning nature. It serves al fresco and by candlelight, with an à la carte menu and a dégustation menu from the Greek kitchen and wines chosen by the sommelier. Lunch runs from noon to 7pm, dinner from 8pm to 11.30pm, and a reservation is essential. Latitudes lays out breakfast, gluten-free requests included. George’s Bar is the lounge, light lunches by day and spirits into the night, with the Aegean in front of it.
The rooms and the jetty
The smallest rooms are 28 square metres, open-plan, with a balcony over the sea and the hillsides. Above them come rooms and suites of 35 square metres and suites of 45; Horizon Retreat is at the highest point of the hillside, with a 20-square-metre veranda and a 40-square-metre marble pool. Eight bedrooms, up to 18 guests, make The Villa the largest thing on the schedule, with hardwood floors, a landscaped garden, a pool and a jacuzzi on the terrace, and a chef on request. The hotel has its own jetty, and glass-bottom boats and private yacht charters leave from it. Psarou, Paranga and Agia Anna are a short walk, and the ferries for Delos go from the town harbour.
Who is this for
The Ambassador suits a traveller who wants a hillside to sleep on and a beach boardwalk to walk down to, with Chora near enough for a late evening: a bus runs from the boardwalk to Fabrica Square every half hour in July and August, hourly the rest of the year. Boutiques and small restaurants line the sand below. Above them the terraces are quiet, with gardens, loungers under pergolas and the sea filling the windows.
