The European country that many of us have missed the most during the pandemic turns out to be Greece. Visitor arrivals rose vertiginously in 2022, outpacing other much-loved Old World destinations such as Italy, France and Great Britain. This isn’t exactly surprising, since the allure of the place is obvious. Its dozens of islands scattered across the Aegean and Ionian seas make up one of the world’s great destinations. Athens, its capital, is a vibrant and fascinating city, and everywhere, the archaeological remains of the country’s ancient past never cease to amaze. A crop of charming new small hotels has opened since our last visit, and it was a pleasure to spend time discovering the best of them.

xenodocheio Milos

We began our trip in Athens at the new 43-room xenodocheio Milos, which occupies two listed neoclassical buildings in the stylish Kolonaki district. On arrival, we were immediately impressed by the philoxenia, the art of making a stranger feel at home. We weren’t surprised, however, because we’ve been aware of restaurateur Costas Spiliadis ever since he opened Estiatorio Milos, his first American restaurant — a chic seafood house on West 55th Street in New York City — in 1997. Spiliadis is one of the most gracious restaurateurs we’ve ever met, and today, he has two establishments in New York and others in Montréal, Las Vegas, Los Cabos and London. Now, with the Athens hotel — and its Milos restaurant — he has returned to his homeland, bringing back everything he’s learned about hospitality during a distinguished international career.

We’d booked the Milos Terrace Suite, which had a spacious outdoor terrace with a Jacuzzi. The minimalism of the décor seemed refreshing in the hot Greek climate. Our accommodations came with oak parquet floors, ash-gray oak paneling, an indigo wool area rug and a beige sofa with leather arms. A glass-topped dining table and four dusty-rose tub chairs centered beneath frosted-glass pendant lights provided a perfect setup for in-room dining. There was also a small writing desk at the foot of the king-size bed. A spacious white-marble bath provided double vanities and a walk-in rainfall shower. What we really loved about our stay in these quarters, however, was breakfast on the terrace each morning and a long jetted soak at the end of a busy day of sightseeing and shopping. 

Needless to say, we had an outstanding dinner at Estiatorio Milos restaurant. Among the dishes we especially liked were the battered and fried zucchini flowers stuffed with fresh cheese, the grilled octopus with fava beans and capers from Santorini, the lobster pasta and the locally landed sea bream baked in a crust of salt.

The hotel also has a wellness suite offering treatments with Elemis products, plus a state-of-the-art gymnasium.

Spiliadis has created an exceptionally agreeable and sophisticated hotel that reflects his profound hospitality and passion for showcasing the best of Greek food, wine and culture.

Kalesma Mykonos

Truth be told, of all the Greek islands, Mykonos isn’t one that has featured high on our list of favorites. This is because it is chiefly popular with a party-loving crowd whose vacations tend to revolve around the latest see-and-be-seen beach clubs and discotheques. We are most attracted to Greek islands that offer serenity, physical beauty and vestiges of Greece’s classical past. Still, friends from London and Athens had raved about Kalesma Mykonos, a hotel of 13 one-bedroom suites, 12 one-bedroom villas and two grand villas (Apollon and Artemis) that opened May 2021 on a quiet peninsula overlooking Ornos Bay. Aside from the chic rooms with private plunge pools, what everyone seemed to like was being able to sample the social scene at arm’s length.

The hotel is the brainchild of Aby Saltiel, who previously worked in the fashion industry in New York City and Paris before becoming a restaurateur in Athens. “‘Kalesma’ means ‘inviting’ in Greek,” Saltiel explained when he dropped by our table on the terrace of the hotel’s Pere Ubu restaurant to welcome us to his hotel. (We were enjoying a fine lunch of mezze, including sea urchin cream with shrimp, honey, miso and lemon; sautéed mussels with Mykonian sausage; and mostra salad, a local favorite composed of tomatoes, zucchini, barley rusks, ewe’s milk cheese and basil.) “I wanted to attract well-traveled people who may have been leery of Mykonos’ hedonistic reputation and to help them discover the island’s low-key cosmopolitan side.”

All the accommodations are set on a hillside planted with rosemary, thyme, jasmine and bougainvillea and come with private heated pools, unobstructed sea views, private terraces and outdoor showers. They are quiet, spacious and well lit, with ample closets and built-in bars with espresso machines. The baths are exceptionally spacious and stocked with Frederic Malle toiletries.

The hotel’s suave interiors are the work of Athens-based interior designer Vangelis Bonios and combine Cycladic minimalism with a dash of big-city industrial chic. The main hotel building, where the bar and restaurant are located, has whitewashed walls, cane-lined roofs and stone floors. This look is given some low-key glamour by black-lava-stone coffee tables and a striking sofa by American fashion designer Rick Scott.

A spa will be completed in 2023, but massages and treatments are currently offered to guests in their accommodations. We found the staff at Kalesma to be consistently friendly, attentive and efficient, notably the front desk employees who organized our day trip to the neighboring island of Delos (with its Doric temples, amphitheater and mosaics, plus the famous Terrace of the Lions).

Ultimately, we left Mykonos somewhat surprised at how much we had enjoyed ourselves. Saltiel is a consummate host, and Kalesma is a perfect base from which to discover the island without being overwhelmed by its crowds.

Hotel Aristide

Our next stop was Syros, an island located 40 minutes to the west of Mykonos by ferry. Syros attracts few tourists and is chiefly famous for its shipping companies, which boomed after the Greek War of Independence. Ermoupoli, its beautiful main town, is a “real” place, with a thriving cultural scene and some of the best restaurants in the Greek islands. Its architecture is mainly neoclassical, with handsome marble buildings and elegant squares.

The nine-room Hotel Aristide opened in May 2020 and occupies a restored 19th-century mansion. The hotel belongs to two sisters, Oana and Jasmin Aristide, both of whom are avid art collectors. Neither had any experience in the hospitality business when they began the project of converting a family property into a hotel, so they decided to create somewhere that they’d like to stay themselves, “a discreet place with character, individuality and warm hospitality, which reflects our love of art,” according to Oana.

Escorted to our suite, Naxos, we felt like privileged houseguests. The vaulted-ceilinged room came with whitewashed walls, a contemporary chandelier and a Juliet balcony with views toward Mykonos and Tinos. A black-and-white-marble console table ran the length of one wall, while a pair of tub chairs were arranged beside a window. Framed drawings by artists Dan Laurentiu Arcus (a contemporary Belgian figurative artist) and Daniel Cooke (a British portraitist) decorated the walls. What we liked most of all in these quarters, however, was the spectacular bath, with its freestanding tub, rainfall shower on a marble platform and huge gilt-framed floor mirror. Every room at the Aristide is individually decorated, and three come with private plunge pools.

Public areas include a spectacular top-floor terrace, a small but delightful bar and a restaurant where the contemporary Greek menu is prepared with a catch of the day and vegetables from the hotel’s own gardens. The Aristide is an establishment of great charm and character, an ideal base from which to discover one of the most delightful of the lesser-known Greek islands.

The Rooster

Our favorite trips to Greece have usually combined cultural exploration with an extended stay at a hotel where we just relax. In the past, we’ve often enjoyed downtime at the Elounda Mare Hotel in Crete, and more recently, we had a delightful interlude at the stylish and well-run Parīlio Hotel in Paros. Such properties provide serenity, personal service and a strong sense of place. This is what we were hoping to find at The Rooster, a 16-villa (and one-farmhouse) property on Antiparos, a small island located a 20-minute ferry ride from Pounta, on the west coast of Paros. Our experience of The Rooster began, however, when we arrived in Parikia, the main port of Paros. A driver was waiting for us, and our transfer to the hotel was seamless.

The Rooster was created by owner Athanasia Comninos, who aspired to invent a new style of hotel for the Greek islands, based on a minimal environmental impact. Much of the food served in the dining room comes from the hotel’s own farms, and the architecture was purposefully designed to blend into the landscape. The Rooster has since become an under-the-radar place favored by fashion designers and Hollywood A-list actors. (Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, own a house on Antiparos.)

Once off the ferry, our driver drove into the countryside, following a winding road to the top of a natural amphitheater overlooking the sea. There, a low stone building housing The Rooster’s reception, bar and restaurant offers crow’s-nest views of the hotel’s 30-acre site. The head receptionist invited us to have a welcome drink in the bar before heading to our room, which is how we ended up meeting the property’s charming owner over a glass of local white wine.

“The logistics of building a hotel in this remote setting were extremely complicated and expensive,” Comninos explained, “but I pressed on, even though my father thought I’d lost my mind. We’ve been full almost nonstop since we opened last May. Now my father loves the hotel and brags about it all of the time.”

When we reached the Haven of Tranquility, a two-bedroom villa with a large private plunge pool, we were immediately smitten. Its rustic but exceptionally comfortable interior featured a beamed ceiling, cream-painted cement floors, rush mats, wood-framed armchairs and an overstuffed natural-wool sofa. A stocked wine fridge was a welcome amenity. The bath came with a rainfall shower, double sinks and organic toiletries. French doors opened to provide a fine view of the sea. 

An efficient golf-buggy service connects the villas to the main hotel building. On our first evening, we began with sundowners on the bar’s terrace. A terrific cocktail menu features a variety of drinks made with distinctively Greek ingredients such as mastiha (a liqueur seasoned with a pine-like resin gathered from the evergreen mastic tree). Afterward, we feasted on delicious zucchini risotto, followed by sea bream baked with lemon, tomatoes, fresh herbs and olives.

After several blissfully lazy days, we decided to make a trip to the tiny adjacent island of Despotiko, where the white-marble ruins of the sanctuary of Apollo and Artemis are dramatically backdropped by the cobalt-blue sea. We also ventured into the town of Antiparos and enjoyed an excellent dinner of contemporary Aegean cooking at Kalokeri on the town’s main street. (Crispy fried okra with feta cheese mousse and saganaki cheese breaded with almonds and served with red-pepper marmalade were followed by shrimp, octopus and squid cooked in a tomato sauce with orzo pasta, and pork braised in wild honey, white wine and thyme.)

Our days at The Rooster passed much too quickly. But there’s no doubt whatsoever that we will return to this utterly delightful property, which has quickly established itself as one of the finest small hotels in Greece.