Eliamos review: A five-star retreat on the island made famous by Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
A new hotel-cum-villa concept on the Greek island of Kefalonia is the perfect place to base yourself for some rest and relaxation.
Greece has a, quite frankly, ridiculous number of islands — around 6,000 — that seemingly take it in polite turns to emerge from the shadows in order to advertise themselves to discerning travellers who don’t want to bump into their Chelsea neighbours on Corfu.
Kefalonia — of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (1994) fame — is one of the old guard that has stood the test of time and the onslaught of fame, unlike Mykonos, Greece’s Ibiza, and Santorini, which had to impose a visitor cap in 2025 because of overtourism.
Even in peak season, the largest of the Ionian islands, feels manageable, relaxing even. As popular with honeymooners as it is with groups of friends and families.
Eliamos — a sanctum of 12 villas, positioned high up on a steep slope on the island’s southern curve — is a sure bet for the first two because the more famous sites (Myrtos Beach, Melissani cave, Argostoli, the capital) are situated further north.
Guests come here to stay put (for the majority of the time, at least) and rest. There’s a communal pool, bijou spa and open-sided restaurant, but the villa concept means that you don’t need to leave your room(s) if you don’t want to.
We — three girlfriends — stayed in a two-bedroom villa with a sleek stone open-plan kitchen, dining and living space at its heart. Floor-to-ceiling sliding doors opened up onto a terrace, private pool and, below, a sweep of cerulean-blue ocean that was, from time-to-time, studded with large yachts.
Though the villas were all designed by a London-based studio, they have a strong sense of place, unlike the beautiful garden which utilises all of the blank space between and around the buildings and is clearly English-inspired, reimagined for the egg yolk yellow Mediterranean sun. The frothy planting of Mexican fleabane, fragrant rosemary and fennel, is popular with local pollinators.
One morning we tumbled down the gravel track to a cove directly underneath the hotel (not as pretty as some of Kefalonia’s celebrated beaches, but we had it to ourselves); on another, we braved a (fun, I promise) personal training session in the open-air gym. The fact we couldn’t move the next day didn’t bother us one bit because we lay in the pool watching French Open matches on a precariously-balanced laptop.
The breakfast is worth leaving your room for and we made it our mission to try everything on the menu. Lunch and dinner are served in the same space — or you can order food to your room. The latter is quite formal, but staff happily recommended local favourites and leaving at least meant we utilised our hire car.
Tourists in Melissani cave — several artefacts from the 4th and 3rd centuries BC suggest that the site was a place of worship, dedicated to the god Pan and the nymphs.
In recent years, fly-and-flop holidays have acquired an unsavoury reputation — perhaps because, in the wake of the Pandemic, travellers were urged to embrace bucket list adventures — but there is something necessary and nourishing about a holiday that can coax both the body and mind into a state of relaxation.
I know just the place — and now you do too.
Rooms at Eliamos start from €759 (about £650) on a bed and breakfast basis. Visit their website for more information and to book.
