What to stay at for a romantic holiday for two

Greece offers easy access to the key components of a romantic vacation: sea vistas, sunsets, and hot, starry evenings. Finding a hotel that lets the surroundings speak for themselves is harder than you may expect. Many hotels in Greece are skilled at putting on the rose-petal-strewn ritz for couples who are newlyweds and in love. However, we believe that true sex hot spots are those where people are at ease in their own (naked, sun-kissed) skin. These romantic Greek hotels each have a unique personality and a strong feeling of location. They are all subtly beguiling rather than trying too hard to impress. These hotels are lovely, but staying alone would be a pity.

Santorini's Nobu

Best for sushi and stunning views

Given that Santorini is known as the supermodel of the Greek Islands, it is only right that Nobu, a favorite of the A-list, plants a flag in a prominent location there. Due to its volcanic cliff setting, it offers an island first: private balconies with jacuzzis and crowd-free sunset views. If it doesn't scream romance, the main restaurant, situated next to the pool area, will entice you with its new-style sashimi, wagyu dumplings, and black miso fish. Breakfast is provided till midnight in traditional Greek cave-style rooms with ocean views and jacuzzis or pools. Check out the entirety of our Nobu Santorini review.

Cost: starting at around £448 per night

Cali Mykonos

Best for luxurious seclusion

A hotel that is "ultra-luxe," "ultra-secluded," and in no way obtrudes on the scenery was the basic goal of newcomer Cali, which is a world apart from the partygoers and gaudy kitsch of Mykonos town. The outcome is a tremendously sultry, carefree, summery chill. With its natural materials and white walls decorated with Greek-only art, the rooms epitomize Cycladic style. Each one has its patio with a clear view of the seaside. The deluxe pool suites provide a salt-water pool, sun loungers, and a chic pergola-topped living space stretched across a large patio for a blow-out stay. There is a private beach and a curved Olympic-sized pool for further swimming. Eco-friendly, catch-of-the-day dishes include organic chicken with zucchini cream, baby calamari with cod's roe, and ouzo jellies. There will soon be a spa with treatment rooms and a hammam. You may reserve in-room massages that use only natural ingredients up to that time. Check out the entirety of our Cali Mykonos review.

Cost: starting at around £1000 per night

Nos, Sifnos

Best for an Authentic island feel

The setting is legendary: a tiny rocky islet adjacent to the Aegean that can only be accessed by boat. To offer a close-up impression of a typical Sifnos hamlet, rooms are scattered throughout four stone structures. Others have private or plunge pools, while some have balconies and private courtyards. Food plays a crucial role in this country, and there is a strong emphasis on using local resources and culinary methods. Lunch options might include taramasalata and other traditional meals like crab salad with crisp raw carrot and courgette. Konstantina Sarela, the bookings manager, may set up a private RIB excursion to explore the island's beautiful seas as a romantic present. Read our Nos, Sifnos review in its entirety.

Cost: starting at roughly £258 per night

Kefalonia, F Zeen

Best for relaxing

F Zeen, which means "the excellent life" in ancient Greek, is an adults-only health hotel atop pine-forested Mount Ainos. The retreat is built on the ideas of reconnecting with nature, honoring the environment, and focusing on the present. In addition to different fitness programs and health pursuits, including personal training sessions, yoga, and meditation classes, snorkeling, paddle boarding, and mountain climbs, sustainability is everywhere you turn. After that, take a trip to the underground spa or swim in one of the three pools. Private loungers and views of Zakynthos are visible from the shimmering water, which is only a few meters away. Read our in-depth evaluation of F Zeen in Kefalonia.

Cost: starting at roughly £414 per night

Kos, Oku

Best for a laid-back romance

With hotel rooms housed in whitewashed houses and everything on ground level, Oku, located on a secluded seashore in Kos's north, symbolizes comfortable simplicity (aside from the few rooms that have two floors). Couples should reserve one of the swim-up suites, which have private patios with fringed hammocks that face out into a pool shared by just two other rooms. When you stay here, it's like relocating to a very upscale town where you have easy access to a spa and restaurant and well-dressed neighbors who are also taking advantage of the peace for a few days. Check out our complete Oku Kos review.

Cost: starting at around £168 per night

Santorini's Vasilicos

Best for: Private meal for two, paired with vivacious wines from Vassaltis Vineyards, the hotel's partner winery.

Santorini has been so effective at positioning itself as a honeymoon destination for devoted couples that there are moments when it resembles a theme park. Not The Vasilicos, a hotel that truly has spirit and heart. Vassilis Valambous, a bon vivant who loved to host friends and family, used to have his summer home in this seven-suite retreat perched on the edge of the cliffside hamlet of Imerovigli. Every considerate addition demonstrates his daughter Daphne Valambous' impeccable taste, including regal purple parasols, wildflower flowers, and nightstand volumes of Greek poetry. Suites in Santorini are far larger and airier than the island's conventional cave homes, although sure, many of them do contain the customary plunge pool with exhilarating caldera views. (The elegant heated pool is shared with the others.)

Cost: starting at around £290 per night

The most romantic hotels in Greece every traveller needs to book. https://t.co/vjBnL20ZTr pic.twitter.com/RG9vqFF9Hn

— Condé Nast Traveller (@cntraveller) November 8, 2021

Koufonisia's Eros Keros

Best for: Stargazing with sighing waves as a background music

Thirty years ago, Anita Papantoniou made her first trip to Koufonisia, where she found a collection of whitewashed homes. The Skopelitis Express, a hard little ferry that still travels the Small Cyclades, a group of small, time-traveling islands, is the only way to get there. High-speed catamarans now churn up the milky-blue harbor, and elegant villas have taken the place of sparsely furnished apartments to rent. This low-lying island has a go-slow appeal despite being surrounded by bright bays. Papantoniou, who also made the beautiful Corona Borealis hotel on the nearby island of Naxos, worked for years to make this quiet retreat just right. Family treasures, handcrafted pottery, and antique fabrics are used to decorate four stone-walled homes. Eros Keros, which takes its name from the Greek god of love, is subtly romantic and free of sentimentality.

Cost: starting at roughly £215 per night

Verina Astra, Sifnos

Best for Endless vistas and kind staff

This unassuming hotel is aimed at blocking out the sounds of contemporary life and is tucked into a golden hillside. There is only a faint smudge of white Greek islands and villages out in the distance. There are just the soothing sounds of cicadas, the jingling of goat bells, and the clink of ice cubes in your glass of rosé while you decide whether to take a plunge in the infinity pool with its stone flooring or venture down to a rocky bay surrounded by a blue-domed church. Large beds and picture windows are covered in linens of grey and sand, and the rooms are soft and serene. However, you'll spend the majority of your time relaxing on your private veranda and admiring the scenery. Effortlessly seductive personified. Verina Astra, Sifnos, the complete review may be found here.

Cost: starting at roughly £115 per night

Aristide, Syros

Best for luxurious bedrooms

This neoclassical mansion's lobby is impressive with its marble staircase and Doric columns. The nine apartments at Aristide, which is situated in Vaporia, Syros' opulent capital's most aristocratic neighborhood, mix traditional elements with vibrant modern embellishments. But in addition to the luxurious rooms, there is also an art gallery, a secret garden where guests can enjoy Champagne breakfasts with Greek bottarga and smoked trout, a shiny brass bar where classic cocktails are served, and a magnificent rooftop terrace where guests can enjoy sunset aperitivos while taking in views of the sea. There are plans for a spa and an artist residency program. See our whole Aristide, Syros analysis.

Cost: starting at roughly £155 per night

These are the most romantic hotels in Greece. https://t.co/CsK8z8YM61 pic.twitter.com/k5AJtzzABi

— Condé Nast Traveller (@cntraveller) August 20, 2021

Athens, Shila

Ideal for: a boutique city stay

This 1920s property, which calls itself a "hotel particulier," is nestled away in the posh Kolonaki neighborhood of downtown Athens. With its dimly lit library and piano in the parlor, the bottom level gives off the vibe of a sleazy salon. All six rooms have daybeds covered in crushed velvet, gilded mirrors, and rescued marble sinks for sinks. Given that the creative director Eftihia Stefanidi once worked for Secret Cinema, it is not unexpected that the entire location has the sense of a movie set. From the organic lavender and basil body wash to the linen kimonos, Stefanidi carefully selects every element. The seductive images on the walls of some of the wacky works, like a chandelier constructed from recycled beeswax candles, may be purchased.

Cost: starting at roughly £160 per night

Porto Heli, Amanzoe

Best for peaceful isolation

Amanzoe, a lavish mansion with spectacular views of the Peloponnese, is perched on a mountaintop and is intentionally understated despite its great opulence. The environment is calm, the style is subdued, and the energy is low. 38 pavilions feel more like serviced apartments scattered around the Mediterranean gardens like an amphitheater (there's nothing here so plebeian as a bedroom). You won't ever need to leave your pavilion because each one includes a bathroom large enough for two people, a bed big enough for three people, and a private pool surrounded by aromatic plants. But missing the spa and beach club, which are accessible by a chauffeured ride through the olive orchards, would be a tragedy.

Cost: starting at around £865 per night

Peloponnese home of Patrick and Joan Leigh Fermor

For: historical charm

This unusual home, described as a "loose-limbed monastery/farmhouse with huge walls and cool spaces," was created in the 1960s by "Paddy" and Joan Leigh Fermor. Previously a scholarly retreat venue in the winter, this literary icon on a fabled cliff near the beach hamlet of Kardamyli has now been skillfully transformed into a summer rental run by Aria Hotels. Fig, cypress, and oleander plants conceal the pink limestone structures. Views of the ocean are provided by marble slab tables and seats that have been submerged. Byzantine, Ottoman, and British elements combine in striking interiors, including arched colonnades, peaked fireplaces, and tartan sofas. The sun-dappled walls are adorned with thousands of volumes and facsimiles of the original works by John Craxton and Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, friends of the Leigh Fermors. Rent out the entire home if you can. If not, the backyard writing studio will have to do.

Price: The studio starts at around £775 per night and the entire property costs roughly £3,885.