A sensational sunset view from a window on the cocktail bar terrace at Hotel Rochari in Mykonos Town. Click on the image to view the photo in a larger format.
Category: Greek Islands hotels
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Cool pools: Santa Maria Village hotel on Milos
A quiet moment at the Santa Maria Village hotel swimming pool
September swims: For our fourth trip to Greece, in 2007, we decided to travel during the second half of September instead of taking our holiday in late May or early June as we usually do. We figured that, after a long hot summer, the sea would be comfortably warm and so would hotel swimming pools. At least, that’s what seasoned travellers had told us to expect, and that’s what I kept reading in the TripAdvisor.com forums.
But when we got to the first hotel of our island-hopping trip that September — the Santa Maria Village at the port town of Adamas, on Milos — we were shocked to discover that the swimming pool water was ice cold. Other guests who said they had been expecting to do a lot of swimming were also taken aback by the water temperature.
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Top 6 memories of my Mykonos holiday in 2012 #1: A fabulous fourth stay at Hotel Tagoo
A rainbow arcs above the Hotel Tagoo swimming pool and bar on May 18 2012
Holiday home away from home: In my five previous “Mykonos memories” posts, I have recounted how the scenery, weather, beaches, restaurants and the charming labyrinthine streets of Mykonos Town were highlights of my 2012 visit to the island in May. However, I know this would not have been my best-ever trip to Mykonos if I had not stayed at Hotel Tagoo.
This was not just the fourth consecutive time I stayed there but also my longest visit so far — 8 days. And it was an amazing experience.
I was travelling by myself (my partner couldn’t come along because of work commitments), and before going I had some worries that I might get bored or lonely being on my own. But there was no chance of boredom or loneliness at Hotel Tagoo, thanks to the exceptional friendliness of the hotel management and staff as well as many of the guests staying there — interesting, fun and personable people from England, Ireland, Canada, the USA, Australia, Sweden, France, Spain, Brazil, Singapore and several other countries in southeast Asia.
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Swimming laps & lounging at the Yria Hotel pool
Paros’s Yria Hotel has a beautiful big pool that’s perfect for swimming laps …
… plus a comfy poolside terrace that’s perfect for lounging and relaxing
Dreamy setting: Our only visit to Paros, so far, was back in June 2005, but I still recall how relaxed I got chilling out on the beautiful swimming pool terrace at the Yria Hotel near Parasporos beach.
I remember getting a drink from the bar and plunking myself down in a big wicker armchair near the pool, where I quickly drifted off into daydreams while watching the thin beige drapes in the sheltered poolside lounge billow in the soft breeze blowing off the nearby sea.
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Greece holiday pic of the day
A wall on one of the buildings at Hotel Tagoo in Mykonos displays elements of traditional Cycladic architecture and design
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A colourful Oia memory gets whitewashed
The snow-white Santorini clifftop villages of Imerovigli and Fira provide a dramatic, distant backdrop for the distinctive blue and orange colours on the exterior of the caldera-view Armeni Village Rooms & Suites …
… which we photographed during a visit to Oia in 2005 …
… but as this photo I discovered today on the Armeni Village website indicates …
… the hotel has ditched the blue and orange, and now sports a simple stark white exterior. (Photo from the Armeni Village Rooms & Suites website.)
Santorini whiteout: We’ve been to Santorini three different times, but I’ve always had vivid memories of a specific hotel we photographed in the incredibly picturesque and romantic village of Oia back in 2005 — memorable because of its distinctive blue and orange exterior.
After looking at the photos today, I checked out the Armeni Village website and was surprised — and, to be honest, a little dismayed — to see it doesn’t look quite the same. The blue and orange paintjob is history, and the hotel now sports a simple but sophisticated stark white exterior.
The Armeni Village certainly looks elegant, and expensive, but to me seems to have lost much of its charm and appeal by whitewashing its eye-catching colour scheme. Now, it’s just another typical white Greek luxury hotel on a spectacular cliffside location.
But at least one important thing hasn’t changed: the hotel’s incredible caldera views.
If you want to experience them for yourself, you can still reserve a double room for as little as €110 per night — provided you can travel in April or early May. If you wait until June, that same room will cost you €170. And if you can’t travel until July or August, get ready to fork out at least €230 per night. Might sound like a lot of money for a room, but then it’s in Oia … and that marvellous, timeless view is priceless.
