Stories

Passage of the day

Apollo still thy long, long summer gilds, Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles glare

Lord Byron · Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

Low white buildings set in gardens along a rocky shore, most of them with a small blue pool of their own, a curve of sand at one end and a yacht anchored in the clear water

Elounda Mare, the house that gave every bungalow a pool

Elounda Mare opened at Elounda in 1982 as a village of low buildings in the olive groves above Mirabello Bay, and its owners say it was the first hotel in the Mediterranean to put a pool at every bungalow.

Aerial view of a low white resort along a rocky headland, terraced suites with small blue pools set above three sheltered sand coves, jetties and moored boats on turquoise water

Elounda Peninsula, the all-suite house cut out of its neighbour

A wide calm bay on the Ionian seen from the air, a long pale beach lined with rows of white umbrellas running below wooded slopes to a green headland

Ikos Dassia, the first Ikos house on Corfu

Pools and shaded loungers on terraces below low pale buildings, framed by cypress and olive trees, with the Gulf of Toroneos stretching flat and silver beyond

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Ikos Oceania will redraw all 290 rooms and suites for 2027

An aerial view of a sheltered bay, a crescent of pale sand set with white umbrellas and canopied daybeds below a flat-roofed white pavilion, cypresses and pines behind it and wooded hills across the water

Ikos Odisia, the second Ikos house on Corfu

Pale sand running along a clear turquoise gulf, with white umbrellas and loungers set out below low stone-faced bungalows standing among trees and lawn

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Ikos Olivia, refurbished in two phases

The King George and the Hotel Grande Bretagne lit at dusk on Syntagma Square, with the Greek Parliament across the square and light trails on the road between.

The King George stands on ground that was built on twice

The main infinity pool set into the hillside above Vlicha Bay, with stone terraces stepping down the slope towards the headland and the open sea

Lindos Blu, cut into the hillside above Vlicha Bay

Aerial view of low white and black stone buildings with grass-planted roofs, each fronted by its own narrow blue pool, arranged in rows that step down a slope to a sandy beach and the sea

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Nana Princess, the black stone house outside Hersonissos

Aerial view of flat-roofed plaster and stone bungalows with private pools stepping down a green hillside above the Mirabello Gulf in late afternoon light

The house Costantza Sbokou drew at Plaka

A long open walkway under a slatted timber pergola, round black pillars down its right side casting striped shadows across pale stone paving, with a dark fire bowl in the middle and planting and palms beyond

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At Karteros Beach, a 1968 bungalow hotel kept its modernist pillars

An aerial view of Sani Club on a wooded headland, its terraced suites and pools stepping down through pine forest to a sand beach and turquoise shallows.

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Sani Club: the quiet end of the estate

Sani Dunes from the air at dusk, a lit turquoise lagoon pool winding between flat-roofed low-rise blocks with planted roofs, the Aegean and the wooded Sani headland and its tower beyond.

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Sani Dunes: the pool reaches every door

Opened at the end of June 2017 on the Kassandra shore, Sani Dunes holds 136 low-rise rooms and suites in two quarters, each set around its own pool, drawn by Nimand Architects of Thessaloniki.

The lit neoclassical facade of The Dolli at dusk, stone urns along its roof balustrade and a glazed rooftop pavilion behind them, with the Acropolis and the Parthenon rising over the houses of Plaka.

The Dolli at Acropolis: the mansion that came back

A listed mansion a few streets under the Acropolis, drawn by Andreas Kriezis in the 1920s, worked on for seven years and open as a hotel since the first day of 2023.

The outdoor pool seen from above, white fringed umbrellas and sun loungers along a brick terrace, dining tables set at one end, bougainvillea in flower across the foreground

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The Margi, the family house in the Vouliagmeni pines

Aerial view of low white suites set in rows among olive trees on a wooded slope, running down to a pebble beach lined with white umbrellas and loungers

A Corfu hotel where the olive trees drew the plan

A rectangular infinity pool on a timber deck, loungers along one side, with sand, tall dune grasses and the Ionian beyond as the sun drops to the horizon

The Romanos, the hotel Costa Navarino was tested on

The main dining room at Aleria, with round and square tables under white and beige linen, a dark panel wall hung with an abstract canvas, and a rope-wrapped disc mounted beside the window

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Aleria, the Metaxourgeio mansion and its two tasting menus

Round tables dressed in white cloth with shaded cordless lamps, glassware and rolled napkins, seen past a hedge of dark green leaves in the garden at dusk

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Botrini’s Athens: a former schoolhouse in Chalandri, and a kitchen in its second generation

A courtyard garden at dusk, a tree spreading over a round green-marble table laid for two, wrought-iron chairs on grey paving, white walls with a curved staircase and lit wall lamps, and a red wall behind.

GastronomyAthens

CTC in Athens serves one menu, and keeps it from the guest

Round tables with blue velvet armchairs stand on a crazy-paved stone floor beneath mirrored planters holding trees, behind a double-height glass wall looking out over a lit marina at dusk.

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Twelve stages on the fifth floor

Laid tables in white linen under a timber lattice ceiling, marble columns opening to the Acropolis rock and the Parthenon across the city, a lit bar at the right.

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GB Roof Garden cooks on the eighth floor of the Hotel Grande Bretagne

A long counter wraps the open kitchen, set with pads and glasses, bar stools along it, a bonsai at the far end and shelves of pans behind

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Herve: one menu of 14 courses, and a door that opens on a code

A marble table laid for two on the Makris terrace in Thisio, with the rock of the Acropolis and the Parthenon rising above the neighbouring rooftops in late afternoon light.

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Makris cooks above the Athenian agora