Amanzoe: Ultimate Beach Vacation

A serene colonnade at Amanzoe.

A serene colonnade at Amanzoe.

The height of the European sovereign-debt crisis wasn’t the most logical time to open an ultra-luxury resort in hard-hit Greece. But the Greek coastline remains stunningly beautiful, and in 2012 Aman Resorts debuted Amanzoe in Porto Heli. It’s the first Greek property for the global Aman brand.

Guests report that the resort provides what one expects from Aman: exclusivity, tranquility, and uniqueness. Although Amans can be found around the world, Amanzoe goes for the wraparound Greek experience, as pictured in Greece-based fashion brand Folli Follie’s most recent ad campaigns, shot on the property.

When you arrive, multilingual staffers bring you glasses of sparkling water with lime, fresh basil, and local honey collected by hand nearby. You may want to order some loukoumades, Greek puffed pastry with honey, which the hotel says is the recipe most often requested. Or just nibble on local flavors — pasteli, lemon juice, pistachios, chips, chocolate and fruit — from the platters brought up to the rooms each day. The resort will soon be pressing grown-on-the-property olives for oil.

Amanzoe's beach club.

Amanzoe’s beach club.

Amanzoe, with stately colonnades and reflecting pools, has been attracting visitors from all over the world. Most guests are from the U.K., U.S., and Germany, with others from throughout Europe as well as Asia and Latin America. The target visitor: international jetsetters seeking new experiences. Amanzoe’s most popular rooms are the Deluxe Sea View pavilions, each of which has a 12-meter pool, for 1,600 Euros per night. About one-third of guests arrive by helicopter.

The area, on the eastern Peloponnese with views of the Aegean Sea, has long been a weekend and vacation retreat for yachting Europeans, says Katerina Katopis, a director of Dolphin Capital Partners, which built and owns the resort. To capitalize on this, Amanzoe is the first Aman in Europe to include villas, for sale or rent. So far, the resort has sold 10 villas, with 4 already built. 2 bedroom villas start at about €3 million and 4 bedrooms at around €6 million, Katopis says.

Athens-based Dolphin put $135 million into building the resort, designed by serial Aman architect Ed Tuttle. The investment firm is now building another Aman in the Dominican Republic.

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