The ultimate weekend getaway scenario!
Unwinding at Sikyon Coast Hotel & Resort, just one hour drive from Athens
It happens to all of us. All-time favorites which in your mind are the ultimate summer destinations have an irresistible charm when you visit them off season.
Even more so, when it is a place inherently related to your childhood summer vacations and for that you love it a bit more.
The reason for me to go back to Xylokastro, Peponnese (a frequent summer resort for my family when I was a child) was Sikyon Coast Hotel & Resort.
My best friend and I went there on a winter weekend, one of those that the Greek weather reveals various aspects of the landscape. Either with a stormy sea or sunny calmness, the location is beautiful, with the pine forest bordering the vast pebble beach, you just can’t help loving the place.
Nothing, though, prepares you for the magic of Sikyon Coast Hotel & Resort while driving down the road that passes through the coastal villages of the bay of Corinth. That is until the moment you take the turn to enter the private road of the hotel and “the Villa” immediately dominates the landscape.
The Villa, a mansion of the early twentieth century, is the one that the famous Greek poet Aggelos Sikelianos built and lived in. It resembles a theatre setting in the area of Sikyon Hotel & Resort, and occasionally hosts poetry evenings or offers its gardens to the Italian restaurant of the hotel. Its presence adds a really cinematic atmosphere to the landscape. It creates a mental image of the era of bohemian aristocracy and parties of the intellectual elite, similar to those of the French Riviera. The great Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos lived in the area for about 20 years. In 1916 with his first wife, the American Eva Palmer, he completed the construction of the villa, a building with a unique architecture, in his property in the area.
Leaving the villa behind and moving on to see the rest of the resort, you also move forward in time. In the late ‘50s this property was bought by the ship owner Spyros Typaldos who created the first organized tourist enterprise in Greece and in combination with his shipping company, pioneered in the development of the Greek tourism industry.
Since then the Typaldos family have been constantly developing their hotel offering a modern hosting experience.
The hotel also places emphasis on the culinary experience with top creations based on Greek recipes and touches of international cuisine. During our stay, we savored a delicious “menu degustation” all made with exquisite ingredients by Sikyon chef Alexis Trapalis at Palmer’s restaurant and we had the chance to try custom made cocktails created by the team of Three Cents, a successful and very cool Greek brand of beverages.
What also impressed us a lot was breakfast! Inspired by the best raw materials from the Peloponnese area, the team at Sikyon creates a wide selection of homemade delicacies for the visitors, on an everyday basis.
We had a difficult time, having to choose from all these organic jams made from fruits of the ancient Sicyonia, not to mention the original orange blossom honey from Corinth and the forest honey from Stymfalia. There were also dairy products from Arcadia and fruits and fresh vegetables from the region but I think what I will never forget is the divine taste of the homemade orange pie!
Just one hour drive from Athens and offering high standard services, Sikyon Coast Hotel & Resort can be the perfect setting for a relaxing weekend full of unique moments.
3 more not-to-miss experiences, when in Sikyon Coast Hotel & Resort
- Enjoy a rejuvenating treatment or a relaxing massage in Physis spa
- Experience a unique evening in the villa of poet Aggelos Sikelianos, enjoying a single malt whiskey or a good movie.
- Relish the beauty of nature, sitting on the same marble bench Aggelos Sikelianos and his distinguished friends and intellectual guests used to contemplate.
- Take a long walk in the pine forest while observing the seafront of the bay of Corinth changing colors.
Visit the website of Sikyon Coast Hotel & Resort
Click on the gallery below to find out more about my weekend at Sikyon Coast Hotel & Resort
TheHotelTrotter.com is curated by greek journalist and fanatic hotel lover Eleni Stasinopoulou. With the eye of a fashion and lifestyle editor, Eleni hopes to inspire all connoisseurs of traveling, focusing on stylish hotel moments around the globe.
