One&Only Aesthesis: A Dreamy, mid-century escape on Athens’ iconic riviera
Once the playground of multimillionaires and movie stars, this resort still gives guests a dose of jet-set glamour.
There’s a photo of Greece-era Jackie Kennedy Onassis that I love above all others. Not one of the ones where she’s gadding about on yachts, or greeting various dignitaries while wearing natty little headscarves and capri pants, though those are still pretty great. No, my favourite is a shot where she is dressed in nothing but a floaty white blouse and her trademark oversized sunglasses, standing on a sun-bleached stone patio in Skorpios, the island where she married her second husband, Aristotle Onassis. Her long, bronzed legs are partially hidden by a weather-beaten wooden table, and shards of sunlight scatter across terracotta pots of lavender, the grapevines and bougainvillea tumbling over a whitewashed wall. She gives the camera a tiny half smile, looking unfathomably elegant and effortless, like someone who hasn’t got a care in the world (and probably didn’t, other than the not inconsiderable matter of witnessing her first husband’s bloody assassination a decade earlier).
On my second day at One&Only Aesthesis, I open the gauzy drapes of my bungalow and settle into my swinging egg chair, drinking in the lapis lazuli sun-sparkles dancing off my private plunge pool, and the faded greens of the surrounding foliage – oleanders, cypress and olive. I take a few sips of dark coffee, and walk over to the edge of the pool and dip my feet in the water.
Luxury bungalows
I don’t have the long, tanned legs and there’s certainly no sign of a shipping-magnate husband but nevertheless I breathe in the woody scent of the surrounding rosemary bushes and squint into the sun, and I feel just a little bit Jackie.
The whole of this 21ha coastal resort of 127 bungalows and villas, which sits directly on the Athenian Riviera, a 30-minute drive from the centre of the Greek capital, is designed to make every guest feel like a 1970s jetsetter. The architecture is mid-century, modernist cool, a nod to the property’s original incarnation as the famous Asteria Beach Club, which opened in the 1950s and was a favourite with the Onassises and other international millionaires and movie stars. Three separate firms combined their expertise to pay faithful homage to the club’s low-lying curves, as well as its dreamy flow between indoor and out.
Private plunge pools
The main building, which sits right on the water, has a space-age feel to it – which today, of course, reads retro rather than futuristic – and it all blends beautifully with the jewel-blue of the Aegean and the soft pomegranates, honey browns and dusty greens of the landscaping.
I feel Jackie-ish when I’m eating fragrant strapatsada – scrambled eggs with tomatoes, feta and oregano – for breakfast at the waterfront Ora restaurant. And I feel Jackie-ish when mixologist Odysseus hands me a Greek salad-inspired martini, complete with oregano-infused vermouth and tomato water, at the soaring-ceilinged Alelia Bar. And I flatter myself that I even emerge with the glowy skin of a carefree socialite after an intensive facial treatment at the property’s Guerlain spa.
Jeweller to the stars
But this particular morning, I’m heading into Athens for a One&Only signature experience that might be the Jackie-est thing I do for the whole stay; a private tour of The Ilias Lalaounis Jewellery Museum. I message my personal butler, Sotiria, on WhatsApp to let her know I’m ready to head into town. “Kalispera, Ms Carlton, I am at your disposal,” she writes back instantly, and minutes later a zippy little buggy pulls up to the front door to take me to my waiting chauffeur. We dash into the city centre to a building that sits in the shadow of the Acropolis, where I’m greeted by the museum’s curator, Byron Vafeiadis, who leads me into the extraordinary world of this Athenian jeweller to the stars.
Lalaounis, one of the most important jewellers of the 1950s and 60s, was a design chameleon, taking inspiration from various eras of Greek history, from Classical to Byzantine to Minoan. Celebrities everywhere clamoured to wear his work, and Aristotle Onassis would lavish Jackie with the most pricey pieces (no doubt earmarking a few for his mistress Maria Callas at the same time). Across three floors, we admire elaborate chokers and bracelets made from rock crystal, sea-blue sodalite and the blackest obsidian. There are pieces inspired by the treasures of Troy, hammered into gold; bold pendants worn by Barbra Streisand and Princess Grace of Monaco. At the end of the tour, Byron carefully opens a locked case and invites me to try on a precious gold neckpiece shaped like the Greek letter omega that was once part of the Elizabeth Taylor collection.
It’s an experience available only to guests on this tour. I latch it around my throat and it settles into the contours of my clavicles as though it were custom-made for me, rather than for one of the world’s most iconic film stars. I stroke its shiny curves in a semi-reverie until Byron tells me, with a small cough, that it’s time to return it to the box.
Resort glamour
Back at the resort, it looks a lot like cocktail hour to me. I descend the curved, white stairs, flanked by olive trees, pretending I’m wearing a floaty kaftan and a teased bouffant. Odysseus sees me coming and asks if I’d like a pink champagne, Jackie’s favourite, and I gladly accept. I wander to the balcony and watch the peachy sky fade to lilac over the Mediterranean.
No wonder Jackie always had that half-smile on her face when she lived in this endlessly elegant country; there’s no glamour quite like Greek glamour.
In the know
One&Only Aesthesis is on the shores of the newly revitalised Athenian Riviera in Glyfada, a 30-minute drive from Athens International Airport, and equidistant from the centre of Athens. The resort provides luxury airport transfers via Mercedes-Benz or Range Rover. One&Only’s other Greek resort on Kea Island is 90 minutes away by motor yacht. Rooms at One&Only Aesthesis from €1800 ($3000), peak season; from €720 off-season.
Alexandra Carlton was a guest of One&Only Resorts.
If you love to travel, sign up to our free weekly Travel + Luxury newsletter here.
