Stone pavilions on a Peloponnese hilltop, each with its own pool, and a beach club ten minutes down the hill.
Amanzoe sits on a rise above olive groves near Porto Heli, a colonnaded hilltop that looks out over the Argolic Gulf towards Spetses. Every pavilion is its own walled house with a terrace and private pool, so the resort never feels full even at the height of August. You come here to do very little, very well.
The food is a real reason to stay put. Breakfast and dinner at the Restaurant look straight out to sea, there is Japanese cooking at Akari by the main pool, and the resort grows its own vegetables on a small farm it calls the bostani. Down at the Beach Club, Nura does wood-fired pizza and grilled fish with your feet almost in the water.
It works best for couples and families who want a base rather than a bucket list. Hydra and Spetses are an easy boat ride away, and Epidaurus and Mycenae are day trips by car. Be honest with yourself about the drive: it is close to three hours from Athens airport, so most people either break the journey in the city or pay for the helicopter.
It is not the place for nightlife or for a walk to a village taverna. Everything happens inside the resort or by boat, and the prices reflect that.
A free-standing pavilion of about 210 square metres inside and out, entered through a stone courtyard, with a six-metre private pool and either sea or countryside views.
The same 210 square metre footprint with a larger 12-metre pool set into the terrace, facing the Aegean or the Peloponnese hills.
One of three one-bedroom pavilions on the sand at the Beach Club, each with a private garden, terrace and 9.5-metre pool about 30 metres from the water.
Private villas of two to nine bedrooms among the olive groves, each with a large pool and its own staff including a private chef.
Five restaurants and an all-day bar. The Restaurant serves Greek and Mediterranean dishes at breakfast and dinner with sea views, Akari is Aman's Japanese restaurant, the Pool Restaurant does lunch using vegetables from the resort's organic gardens, and Nura at the Beach Club leans Mediterranean with a wood-fired oven. There are also degustation dinners in the open-air Amphitheatre and private dinners in the Library.
The Aman Spa uses all-natural products, with a two-room outpost and a gym at the Beach Club. There is a yoga studio and two floodlit tennis courts, and the Beach Club has watersports including waterskiing, snorkelling and paddleboarding.
Families are well looked after. A children's host runs daily activities at the pool and Beach Club in summer, there are toddler and children's pools, children's menus in every restaurant, and a games room and cinema lounge.
| Setting | Hilltop near Porto Heli, with a private beach club a 10-minute drive away |
|---|---|
| From Athens airport | About 2 hours 45 minutes by car, or about 25 minutes by helicopter |
| From Kalamata airport | About 3 hours by car |
| Pools | Every pavilion and villa has a private pool; four more at the Beach Club |
| Restaurants | Five, plus an all-day bar |
| Nearby | Spetses and Hydra by boat; Epidaurus and Mycenae by car |
Porto Heli, eastern Peloponnese, Greece
A few of the things we plan for guests in Greece.
Stay on the caldera rim in Imerovigli or Firostefani rather than Oia, which fills with visitors at sunset. Walk the cliff path from Fira to Oia early in the morning, then spend an afternoon tasting assyrtiko at a winery in the island's interior. A private catamaran at sunset avoids the crowds on the terraces. Cruise ships make the middle of the day busy from spring to autumn.
Much of Milos can only be reached by water. A day boat takes you to the sea caves and rock arches at Kleftiko, with swim stops in water so clear the seabed looks close enough to touch. On land, Sarakiniko is a moonscape of pale volcanic rock, best seen early. Plaka, the hilltop village, is the place for sunset and dinner.
Paros is the easy island: good beaches, short drives and the harbour at Naoussa lined with fish tavernas. Walk the old Byzantine path from Lefkes to Prodromos in the cooler hours, and take the short ferry to Antiparos for a quieter beach day. It suits families and couples who want a base with little driving.
Three nights in Athens for the Acropolis and the museums, then a drive west via the Corinth Canal to seven nights on the Messinia coast, where a kids club, an aqua park and ancient Olympia keep every age busy.
Two nights in central Athens below the Acropolis, four on the caldera cliff at Oia, and three at Megali Ammos, close enough to walk into Mykonos town for dinner. Island hops by ferry, with a Delos day included.
Tell us your dates and who is travelling. We will check availability, suggest the right room and send a price.
