Ios Grand Pool Suites

The stone in the walls at Ios Grand Pool Suites came out of the ground they stand on: the developer built the suites from the stones of their own plot, laid in courses round terraces stepped down the cliff above Mylopotas bay. There are twelve suites, opened in 2022 to designs by TAKA + Partners. There are also twelve pools. Some run to an infinity edge behind glass, with yachts at anchor below; one sits in a stone-walled courtyard beside a sofa and a dining table under a pergola of timber and reed. In the Comfort Suites the bedroom ceiling vaults white overhead, lit from niches cut into its curve. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are brought to the suite or its veranda all day, which makes leaving it a matter of principle.

Recommended for couples who want a pool to themselves, and for families: the three-bedroom suites sleep six with extra beds, and cots for babies are free. There is no kids' club, and the uneven hillside rules the place out for anyone unsteady on their feet. The suites' verandas look out over the bay, a view guests praise. When principle wins, the beach is a few minutes' walk: a kilometre of golden sand that shelves quickly into deep water, loud by the beach clubs and quieter where the tavernas start. Chora, the whitewashed capital, is three kilometres round the coast, by car or by the shuttle bus that runs about every twenty minutes in season. From there a small motorboat can be hired for the day, out to beaches with no other way in.