After some gentle deliberation, I settled on a mojito to accompany my idle moments of thought while lying in a cabana overlooking the bay of Navarino. As the lime, rum and mint sharpened my palette, a waiter came and asked if he could polish my sunglasses.
He could.
The first time I stayed in a truly great hotel was the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, 35 years ago on my way to Australia. Many regarded it, at the time, as the finest in the world. It took my breath away, I didn’t know such style and luxury could exist; today, there are many astonishing hotels, but what would one of the originals do with a new purpose-built resort.
There are many bays, but few are framed so perfectly with tiny islands. The sapphire sea was set like a piece of jewellery between the island clasps. It is no wonder that the Mandarin Oriental chose this idyllic spot for the launch of its latest hotel which opened in April 2024, but in 1827 the bay was the setting for the last naval battle fought entirely with sailing ships between the Ottomans and a combined force of British, French and Russian warships during the Greek War of Independence. The allies won decisively, the victory is commemorated in the hotel’s Three Admirals Bar, a short electric bike ride up the hill from where I was lounging and where later we would watch the sun set before dinner.
While you’re there
Agamemnon was king of Mycenae and the remains of his city are astonishingly well preserved. The Mycenae, the inspiration for Homer’s epic poems, dominated the Mediterranean from the 16th to 12th century BC, both militarily and in the development of classical Greek culture. The archaeological remains — which you will pass by if you drive to or from Athens — are amongst the best preserved of all historical sites in Greece and include the Lion Gate, Treasury of Atreus and the Cyclopean Walls.
The hotel is about an hour’s drive from Kalamata or three from Athens. As we peeled off the main road, I briefly wondered what we had let ourselves in for. There were golf courses everywhere — disappointingly there is no collective noun for them; a development of golf courses? — and as this is one of the few sports that has escaped me, I pondered how we would fill our days.
In the end, we did pretty much nothing and a little bit of everything.
Ask any Greek person who makes the best olive oil and they will reply: ‘I do’. Rachel, my wife, and I tested different local varieties as if it was fine wine and found it remarkable how varied in colour and taste each were; we had a barbecue on the beach one evening, where fish were crucified above burning coals and meats spun on rotisseries, until it rained and we were all moved seamlessly inside (effortlessly coping with a problem is the mark of any great hotel). At lunch, beside the pools at the beach club, we ate the most wonderful pizza, made by a specialist chef trained in Tokyo, but don’t share that with your Italian friends. Excellence is truly international today. We even wandered along the golf course as it was so beautiful beneath the hills of Cyprus and pine trees.
Nearby is the town of Pylos home to the Palace of Nestor with its bright frescos and 40 minutes away is the astonishing archaeological site of Mycennae, but largely we just absorbed the sun, food and wines.
Doing nothing has rarely, if ever, felt so good.
Rooms from £980 a night; visit the Mandarin Oriental website for more information and to book
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