Category: Luxury travel (Page 3 of 3)

Private seaside cinema: the new Greek island luxury villa perk

May 15, 2015 / admin / 1 Comment

This summer, guests at Casa del Mar Mykonos Seaside Resort can go to the movies at a private seaside “cinema” on the beach below their villas

Coming soon to a beach near your Greek Island luxury villa — a private seaside cinema?

That’s actually what guests at the Casa del Mar Mykonos Seaside Resort will get to enjoy after dark this summer should they prefer to stay “home” one night rather than travel two miles (4 km) into Mykonos Town to shop, dine, party or people-watch. Merely by walking down a few steps to the resort’s private beach, they’ll be able to curl up on a comfy lounge chair with a glass of wine or bowl of popcorn and watch a film displayed on a wide-screen high-definition panel positioned right on the water’s edge.

A member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World group of independent hotels, Casa del Mar is an exclusive villa and spa resort at Glyfadi beach, a quiet off-the-beaten-path cove in the Aleomandra area at the southwest tip of Mykonos. The resort website describes Casa del Mar as “an eclectic collection” of nine “luxury sea view suites … grandly appointed with deluxe amenities, quality furnishings and modern conveniences.”

The newest of those “conveniences” was unveiled this week when the Small Luxury Hotels Facebook page posted the two photographs that I have republished in this article. A photo caption read: “There’s nothing wrong with a night in! We think the brand new private beach cinema at SLH’s Casa Del Mar Mykonos might be just the ticket!”

If you’re not able to stay at Casa del Mar while visiting Mykonos this summer, don’t dismay — you can watch a movie outdoors at Cine Manto in Mykonos Town instead (starting May 22). It won’t be the same as watching a film from the comfort of a luxurious sunbed on a sandy beach, of course, but at least it’s in the fresh, open air in a lovely garden setting.

And if you’re travelling somewhere in Greece other than Mykonos, you might be able to attend an outdoor cinema near your destination, too, since there are more than 100 outdoor movie theatres in the country.

I couldn’t find an online directory listing all outdoor cinemas in Greece, but the Athens Info Guide website has a directory of summer cinemas in the city, which you can view by clicking here.

You can read more about the Athens outdoor cinemas on the Greeka.com blog, and on the Visit Greece tourism website.

And for an interesting read about how digital technology is impacting on Greece’s outdoor cinemas, see this August 2014 article from The Guardian newspaper in the U.K.

Another view of the private beach cinema at Casa del Mar Mykonos

Mykonos set for 2015 season with over 100 new places to eat, drink, shop, sleep and party

May 8, 2015 / admin / 6 Comments

Located at Tourlos, just a short walk from the New Port, Cayenne is among dozens of brand-new businesses on Mykonos this year.

[Updated October 30 2015]

“Crisis? What crisis?” That’s a question many regular visitors to Mykonos will probably ask when they see the more than 100 new and completely-renovated businesses that have opened on the island this year.

While Greece shudders through its sixth straight year of devastating economic turbulence, Mykonos appears to be in a different world altogether, virtually unscathed from the recession that has ravaged the rest of the country.

Last year, the island enjoyed a record year for tourism — receiving more than 2 million visitors — and some longtime local residents told me they could not recall ever seeing the island as crowded and busy as it was during July and August. Hotels were filled to capacity, flotillas of luxury yachts were common sights at many beaches, and champagne flowed by the caseload at bars and restaurants across the island. As I reported in a July 16 2014 post, hotel rates reached higher levels, too, with the international online travel firm Trivago noting that prices had soared as much as 61% over the previous year.

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International brands flocking to Mykonos

In anticipation that even more tourists with thick wallets will arrive in 2015, local and international companies have been pouring millions of Euros into the construction of new hotels, shops, bars, clubs and restaurants, as well as the renovation or upgrading of existing properties. Indeed, since late last autumn, Mykonos has been experiencing an unprecedented building boom as small armies of contractors swarmed around the island in a rush to finish dozens of projects. Global business brands flocked to the island in droves, scooping up any available real estate for their new Mykonos outlets.

With many of the new enterprises aimed at affluent travellers, Mykonos mayor Konstantinos Koukas has told local media he’s confident that the island is now well-poised to compete for a bigger share of the the world’s luxury travel market, and will successfully lure big spenders who usually flock to other Mediterranean hotspots like St Tropez, Monaco and Ibiza.

To see what’s new on Mykonos this year, please click on the convenient quick links below:

Click here for page 2 to read about new and newly-renovated restaurants in Mykonos Town, Tourlos, and the Ano Mera area.

Click here for page 3, which describes new and renovated beach restaurants, as well as the island’s two big new beach clubs, Monarch and Scorpios.

Click here for page 4, which highlights new and renovated nightlife venues in Mykonos Town, including bars, nightclubs, and shisha lounges; and

Click here for page 5, which introduces you to the island’s new spas, retail shopping establishments, and hotels.

More than two dozen new restaurants opened on Mykonos for 2015, and five of them can be found under one roof at the Food Mall Mykonos on the highway between Mykonos Town and Ano Mera.

Widely recognized as the hippest new beach club on Mykonos for 2015, the Scorpios Beach Restaurant and Bar became one of the most popular places on the island within weeks of its opening in an “idyllic haven” on a peninsula between Paraga and Platis Gialos.

Another new beach club and restaurant is Monarch at Kalo Livadi, which boasts cuisine designed by a Michelin-starred chef, comfy beachfront lounge chairs, and occasional special events and big parties.

The world’s first Buddha-Bar Beach restaurant, bar and beach club opened on May 20 at the Santa Marina Resort at Ornos.

One of the most eagerly awaited new arrivals on Mykonos was Ling Ling, a Hakkasan-branded Cantonese fine dining restaurant and uber-chic nightspot. It opened in July in the premises that had been occupied for decades by the famous Philippi Garden Restaurant, which closed a few years ago after its owner died.

June 27 saw the launch of yet another new nightclub when Bonbonniere Mykonos threw its opening party in the ODE Mykonos club in the Tria Pigadia area of Mykonos Town. It’s a summer “pop up” version of the world-famous Bonbonniere club in London whose owner, Joe Fournier (wearing the white polo shirt) is pictured after signing a contract to bring Bonbonniere to the ODE space for the season.

Mykonos residents and visitors weren’t just buzzing about new business openings this spring — people were also chatting about the abrupt closure of the enormously popular Caprice Bar (pictured above) and its surprise reopening a few weeks later as Caprice, a restaurant-bar located just a few doors down from its old place at Little Venice.

Mykonos No.5 Villas is one of the island’s newest hotels, offering a selection of seaview apartment residences, lofts and maisonettes in the Kanalia district 3.5 kilometers from Mykonos Town.

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New luxury design hotel to open in historic center of Athens

March 12, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

An image from the AthensWas Hotel Facebook page. The hotel is expecting to open its doors in early April.

New digs: A new “luxury design” hotel is preparing to open its doors next month on one of the top tourist thoroughfares in the historic center of Athens — the Dionysiou Areopagitou pedestrian walkway below the Acropolis.

The AthensWas Hotel is scheduled to open April 2. It’s the newest hospitality venture of the Anemi Hotels Group, which operates the luxury Anemi Hotel near Karavostassi port on Folegandros island.

AthensWas will occupy a completely refurbished neoclassical building at 5 Dionysiou Areopagitou, a pedestrian street that passes such iconic attractions as the Acropolis, the Parthenon, and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in the heart of the city’s monument-rich Ancient Athens district. The walkway — which is a hugely popular strolling route for Athenians as well as tourists — starts near Hadrian’s Arch and continues past the entrance to the Acropolis, where it becomes Apostolou Pavlou Street. From there it winds over to Ermou Street in the Monastiraki neighbourhood. (Click here to read a Visit Greece tourism article that provides more information about the pedestrian walkway and the attractions nearby.)

Launch date announced by sister hotel in Folegandros

AthensWas Hotel quietly launched its Facebook page in February, but that contains only the hotel address, telephone number, and the image I posted above, which appears to be the reception lobby. Two days ago, the Anemi Hotel Facebook page announced that AthensWas will be opening April 2, and provided a link to the new AthensWas website, which includes photos and details of the features for its various rooms, suites, and facilities.

According to the website, the hotel’s lobby lounge restaurant will feature “traditional flavours from Greece, the rest of the Mediterranean, and Asia, but all of them remastered to chime with the concept of ‘all-day modern comfort food.'” Guests will enjoy “truly astounding” views from the rooftop bar and restaurant terrace, which will be open from May through October, weather permitting. “The Acropolis looks more magnificent from up here than from anywhere else, because it looks like it might through a magnifying glass,” the website says. The hotel will have a fitness room, meeting room and business center as well.

Contact hotel for special opening offers

A banner on the website says “special launch rates” are now being offered; however, no further details are provided, and clicking on a “book now” button simply opens a contact form through which requests for further details may be sent directly to the hotel.

I emailed the hotel to request more information plus any available media photos of the hotel exterior, but I have not yet heard back. I will update this post when and if AthensWas does respond to my message.

Click here to visit the AthensWas website.

This image, from the AthensWas website, shows one of the suite interiors

The AthensWas Hotel location is marked with the red symbol on this map from Google. The Acropolis, one of the world’s top historic and archaeological attractions, is shown in the upper left quarter of the map.

Summer’s top drink on Mykonos: champagne

August 9, 2014 / admin / 4 Comments

Just as this photo from the Bubblesgallery Champagne-Cocktail Bar Facebook page suggests, champagne is the top beverage choice for Mykonos visitors celebrating important occasions or special holiday moments …

… but at some of the island’s notorious party beaches, champagne is meant to be shaken and sprayed, not drunk, as this photo from the Super Paradise Beach Facebook page illustrates

Sip it or spray it: Seems like only yesterday that mojitos were all the rage on Mykonos. Everywhere I went a couple of summers ago, whether in Mykonos Town or at one of the island’s world-famous beaches, I saw people sipping mojitos. Dozens of different drinks are more in favour now, but social media postings show that the most popular alcoholic beverage on the island this summer isn’t a cocktail — it’s champagne.

I regularly follow Mykonos events on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and elsewhere, and have been astounded by the vast number of photos and videos of champagne that have been published so far this summer.

The images confirm that Mykonos tourists will drink thousands of cases of bubbly this travel season, but also suggest it’s possible that much of the sparkling French wine sold on the island won’t even touch people’s lips.

Many visitors will order bottles of bubbly to toast an important occasion or mark a special holiday moment, of course, but countless more will purchase champagne with absolutely no intention of ever taking a taste. For them, it’s only meant to be shaken and sprayed — at other people, especially sexy bikini-clad young ladies.

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Bars at two of the island’s top party beaches — Paradise and Super Paradise — have been stocking champagne by the truckload this summer to supply revellers who want to shake things up and get wet, wild and sticky after spending their afternoon frolicking in the sun and sea.

While dowsing people with drinks sounds like something one might expect to see only at beaches where 18- to 35-year-old partygoers gather to get totally trashed, champagne showers have been recorded even at classy high-end Mykonos dining and drinking establishments, like Nammos Restaurant by the Sea at upscale Psarou beach.

If you’re travelling to Mykonos this season, turn to page 2 of this post to discover some of the best places to enjoy champagne — whether you prefer to sip it or spray it.

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