Cloistered between the unspoilt beaches of the Aegean and the dramatic landscape of the Cyclades, amid open fields and the mystical caves of Antiparos, The Rooster, a self-styled ‘wellness and lifestyle resort’, is fast becoming one of the most exciting places in luxury travel right now.
And when I say exciting, I don’t mean loud or brash or intimidating or showy. This resort, the passion project of the impossibly glamorous shipping heiress Athanasia Comninos, is the epitome of understated quiet luxury. Ensconced in a gentle valley leading to the magical, sandy crescent bay of Livadia, the hotel’s 16 stone villas, set subtly within 30-acre grounds, are perfectly camouflaged into the sunburnt terrain. Inside it’s all exquisitely polished concrete floors, fine linen, rough-hewn marble, four poster beds, wooden divans from Bali and outdoor showers screened by banana plants, with everything in muted, natural colours that suit the environment. Everything is peaceful to look at. You won’t find a TV here.
Each of the villas, all of differing sizes, has its own freshwater pool with spacious sun deck and kitchen stocked with home-made healthy snacks and drinks. The central restaurant, which also serves deliciously strong cocktails, offers proper Greek home cooking, not fine dining, and has a farm-to-fork philosophy. Seasonal, home-grown fruit and vegetables come straight from the farm a couple of miles inland, which also has chickens providing all the eggs. Fresh fish is brought in daily from the local fisherman while cheeses and spirits are all procured locally.
‘Initially I planned to build a handful of serviced villas,’ says Comninos. ‘I didn’t want a restaurant, I didn’t want yoga. But after I got divorced I went to Chiva-Som in Thailand where I discovered kundalini yoga and an amazing healer and I was cured of a health issue in three days.’ This awakening inspired the name and concept behind The Rooster, so-called after the wake-up call that changed her life.
The spa, ‘The House of Healing’, has a vast array of treatments, from Kobido facial massage, a Japanese rejuvenation method, to kundalini back treatment, using essential oils and point therapy, to Ku Nye massage, a traditional Tibetan treatment including acupressure and cupping. Before each session guests are consulted and treatments individually adapted. One person I talked to said her treatment was so powerful she wept right through it and afterwards felt as though she had been reborn. I have never slept so well as I did after my incredible Reiki and massage.
At the picturesque yoga pavilion, star yoga teacher Anastasia Andreou gives a daily class. Guests can choose between hatha, kundalini, vinyasa flow, yin, meditation and sound healing. But for me, the most healing part of my stay was just quiet days mooching in my villa and going for long swims in the breathtakingly beautiful warm cerulean sea.
With the hotel’s limited capacity and perfectly calm atmosphere to maintain, does Comninus curate her guests? She smiles. ‘I want content people who have been there and done that; I want understated people, not show-offs; artists, creatives, businesspeople with a low profile.’ The hotel is closed until May, and there’s a waiting list. If I were you, I’d book now.
