We did a terrible thing the other day. We sat down and did a list in order of preference of Europeans. Isn’t that shocking? Favourites at the top, least favourites at the bottom. Of course we’re not going to let you know who came out badly – we don’t want to get cancelled! – but we will tell you that Greeks came at the very top. Well, stereotyping is OK if it’s good, right?
Take Kouros Hotel & Suites, the hotel in Mykonos, where everyone was gorgeous and funny and glamorous, from the front desk through the guy who took our bags down the stairs to our room to the owner herself who came over to say hello and stuck around for a cocktail. Delicious people. But then it wouldn’t be hard to be in a good mood if you worked at the five-star Kouros Hotel & Suites, especially now it’s had a thorough refurb thanks to French designer Fabienne Spahn.
Perched high on a cliff – well, not that high, they don’t do high cliffs in Mykonos – you can sit by the infinity pool looking out to sea and, turn your head ever so slightly to the left as you go in for a slurp of your prosecco, and Mykonos’s famous windmills and the town itself are visible… and easily walkable, which is a boon when you think what a bugger those taxis are to nail down in the busy season.
Not breaking with any major traditions when it comes to design, things are white and simple and gorgeous with splashes of modern and splashes of colour. And that’s as it should be. And with all rooms and suites (there are more suites than rooms, so that should give you some idea… and those suites are huuuuuge!) looking out to sea across a sweet little mini-harbour and the occasional cruise ship, you don’t have to worry that someone else got a better room (though some do have their own private pools and jacuzzis so try not to talk to those people if you don’t want to get jealous… oh, they’ll be in their private pools and jacuzzis, won’t they? Not hanging out with the likes of you).
The restaurant and bar area, still white but with pop-y design features like the wall of cut-outs behind the bar or the takes on Fornasetti pottery, stretches parallel to the pool, which means breakfasts and cocktails and dinners all enjoy that view, even if you’re inside looking out through the huge arches.
Treat yourself to the Zoe Spa, enjoy a hammam, get those muscles popping in the pocket-size fitness centre before you head down the hill for all-night cocktails or just nab one of the poolside loungers out on mini catwalks into the water itself and order up a bunch of drinks from the nice – very nice, gorgeous in fact – wait staff. Why bother making new friends when everyone is as fun as this lot?