Revelry and serenity coexist happily at Sani Resort: a property which, following a refresh to its most prestigious quarters, is surely Greece’s prime luxury hotspot for Summer 2025.
Pick a spot on the white-sand beach at Sani Resort – take your time, there’s a 7km stretch of it – and gaze across the twinkling azure of the Aegean. The silhouetted, snow-capped eminence across the water, Mount Olympos, according to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, is the home of the gods.
It’s tempting to think, though, that the 12 principal deities of the Greek pantheon might these days be gazing across the water in envy at your digs: especially if they train their eye on Sani Asterias. The most elevated of five hospitality gems found within Sani Resort, Halkidiki, the property reopened for the summer back in May: and, following its recent makeover, it’s for our money the most sybaritic escape the Hellenic Republic has to offer this Summer, against some pretty stiff competition in Santorini, Mykonos and Rhodes.
Set within a serene, gated garden, flanked by a private beach, Sani Asteriasis made up of 57 quarters. The Beachfront Residences – verdant to the camera-toting drone, thanks to the vegetation-covered rooftops, but reminiscent of Le Corbusier’s angular architecture from a sea bather’s perspective – offer infinity pools, as well as exclusive access to the beach that’s literally on guests’ doorsteps.
Visitors, on arrival, are greeted by – as well as a bottle of Taittinger – pulse-slowing, muted, modernist interiors in rustic hues at the lighter end of the spectrum. Other inducements to staying “in” – or as “in” as one can stay, in buildings which so deftly blur the boundaries between indoor and al-fresco living – include wine fridges, home cinemas, and the option of in-room beauty treatments.
But, of course, staying “in” – too much of the time, at least – would be a case of self-inflicted, and well-founded, FOMO. The 1,000-acre Sani Resort, for the uninitiated, was uninhabited marshland on Halkidiki’s Kassandra peninsula until Anastasios Andreadis and Leonidas Zisiadis purchased the land from a Mount Athos monastery, and opened the Sani Beach Club in 1971. These days it’s a family-friendly, five-star gem of the “barefoot” variety, with a full-service marina, sports facilities and activity programmes such as the Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre, a Football Academy in association with Chelsea FC and a Bear Grylls Survival Academy. It’s also replete with wellness spas and rich eco-tourism experiences (since 2019, Sani has been powered by 100% renewable energy and declared Greece’s first carbon-neutral resort in 2020).
Dining options, naturally, are manifold. Sani Asterias offers the resort’s most prestigious culinary experience, the Over Water Restaurant, helmed by double-Michelin-starred chef Stéphanie Le Quellec, here delivering her idiosyncratic take contemporary southern French Cuisine (the Wagyu & Lobster – with sauté spinach, potatoes, seasonal mushrooms and choron sauce – is arguably the standout main) to a soundtrack of the waves lapping beneath diners’ feet.
Private dining on your terrace is also available. Elsewhere, Kayana (Greek eggs with tomato and feta) is recommended for breakfast at the resort’s main restaurant, and we also suggest visitors try the Greek options on the meticulously curated wine list: you’ll end up wondering why Santorini isn’t more often on the tips of oenophiles’ tongues.
There’s plenty more to recommend making a beeline for a sybaritic retreat that’s just 45 minutes from Thessaloniki Airport Resort this summer: not least, the opening of a seamless promenade, wandering through aromatic herbal gardens, between all the resort’s amenities, and a brand new beach pop-up, ‘Anemos’, where laid-back water-side indulgence will be spruced up with locally inspired Greek flavours.
Summer events, meanwhile, include Sani Gourmet 2025 (a global gastronomic extravaganza, helmed by five of the world’s most acclaimed chefs: Yannick Alléno, Gaggan Anand, Virgilio Martínez, Daniel Boulud, and Emma Bengtsson); and Sani Festival (12th July to 23rd August), which this year welcomes Norah Jones, Gloria Gaynor, Grace Jones, Nouvelle Vague and Gipsy Kings, among others.
Zeus, Athena and Apollo et al, it’s fair to assume, will be tempted to cross the water…
Prices at Sani Asterias in a One Bedroom Residence Grand Balcony Marina Front start from €488
