Why had I resisted visiting Cape Sounio on repeated visits to Athens? Is not its iconic 5th century BC Temple of Poseidon, with 15 of the 36 original Doric columns still standing some 200 feet above the Aegean Sea, a must on any traveler’s checklist? Of course, but lingering in Athens, drinking in the Acropolis and other mesmerizing urban views, you can get lazy. The Cape Sounio, Grecotel Exclusive Resort is a far better place to invite a little languor into your over-programmed life. This is something that dawned on me gradually as my taxi left the concrete and traffic of Athens behind, going deep south into the dramatic Attica heartland with one stupendous sea view giving way to another in sinuous, breathtaking succession.
The German philosopher Heidegger visited the Temple of Poseidon in 1962 and wrote, “These few standing columns were the strings of an invisible lyre, the song of which the far-seeing Delian god let resonate over the Cycladic world of islands … this single gesture of the land suggests the invisible nearness of the divine.” At the Grecotel Cape Sounio resort, that sense of the divine becomes deliciously tangible.
Is The Cape Sounio Grecotel Exclusive Resort luxurious? Obviously, but not overbearingly so—and that doesn’t surprise me, because I have experienced Grecotel hospitality before, namely in Crete at the fantastic Grecotel Caramel resort, and I’ve heard a thing or two about the Grecotel Corfu Imperial, Exclusive Resort, too. So let’s say refreshingly so, starting with a welcome drink of passionfruit lemonade upon check-in. You may even spot affable General Manager Michalis Minadakis on the premises, making sure everything runs shipshape.
Following my libation, I was escorted by golf cart up a slope to my bungalow-style room, which had a stupendous view of Cape Sounion and its mythic Temple of Poseidon. It also featured a small private swimming pool, which I jumped into as soon as possible. Splashing completed, I found the pool area to be the perfect spot to inspect a range of items from Grecotel’s own line of gourmet products, many coming from their organic Agreco Farms in Crete. These products include genuine Cretan thyme honey and whimsically packaged Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
By the way, as if the ruins of the Cape Sounion headland weren’t ancient enough, there are ruins of an even more ancient Neolithic village adjacent to the resort’s main pool area. After all that time travel, some structured relaxation may be in order. The new Elixir Spa Retreat is a 350-square-meter complex in the resort’s most prominent location, behind the main swimming pool area. It has 5,000 square meters of landscaped gardens and its own swimming pools.
I thought the perfect way to unwind after a revitalizing aromatherapy massage would be to hit the beach, which is the best maintained beach in the whole area. Access is via one of two tunnels that go underneath the roadway. Though I didn’t have time for it, you could book a table in a cabana for a casual lunch at Yali, the resort’s waterfront restaurant. But I did make time for dinner at the Cape Sounio Restaurant, where frankly my camera lens wasn’t big enough to capture all the delectable items on display. The Cape Sounion Restaurant is where the daily breakfast buffet, an extravaganza of fresh seasonal fruit, just-baked breads, cheeses, yogurts and other dairy, breakfast meats, cereals and muesli, nuts, home-made marmalades, honey, and more—mostly organic and locally sourced—is served. Unfortunately, I missed out on the farmhouse-style Cretan scramble with vine-ripened tomatoes and oregano picked from the kitchen garden.
Dinners are no less remarkable. One evening, I had dinner with my friend Stefanos Pertsemlidis, a leading Greek nutritionist, who told me, “The traditional Greek diet, which is a major representative of the Mediterranean diet, is a very healthy and balanced diet. It can help maintain a healthy weight, as long as there is energy balance.” The Grecotel menu is an apt reflection of that observation. “The Restaurant” on the rooftop terrace of the main building has a Greco-French menu designed by acclaimed chef Sakis Tzannetos. But dining at the main restaurant, both Stefanos and I found the food to be of such remarkably high caliber that we were quite content with everything—including that heavenly nighttime view of a floodlit Temple of Poseidon.
For more information, visit capesounio.com.