For quiet
Euphoria Retreat
Mystras · Laconia · Peloponnese
The philosophy deliberately marries two traditions, ancient Greek thought and Chinese medicine, organised around the five elements of water, wood, fire, earth and metal. The result is a retreat that feels closer to a small monastery of wellbeing than a resort.
A 3,000-square-metre spa sinks into the mountainside across four levels, anchored by the dramatic Sphere Pool, a stone dome over thermal water that drops to four metres at its centre, alongside a Byzantine hammam, saunas and a 25-metre Waterwell.
Dining happens at Gaia, where contemporary Greek and Mediterranean cooking leans on organic, seasonal Peloponnese produce, much of it grown in the property's own garden.
Greece has spas; this is the rare one built around an idea rather than a menu of treatments. You leave lighter, and the table doesn't undo the point.
A longer reading of Euphoria: the founder's second thoughts, the spa sunk four floors into the rock, and the table that doesn't undo the point.
Read Folio No. 17 →
