Back during the heady heights of the 1960s and ’70s jet-set, there was one corner of Europe that arguably boasted a starrier guestlist than any other. If you were to walk along the beaches of Astir and Asteras (both, in a delicious stroke of nominative determinism, translating as “star”) on the outskirts of Athens, you might have spotted Brigitte Bardot swanning along the shore in high-heeled sandals, or Frank Sinatra hiding away in a bar from the throngs of paparazzi. Kicking back on a sunlounger, there was Jackie Onassis in her signature shades, satisfied after having helped attract international interest to the resort towns that dot the coastline stretching south of Athens, which she discovered following her marriage to the shipping heir Aristotle Onassis.
Yet while other sites of mid-century upper-crust debauchery—the Cote d’Azur, Marrakech, the Amalfi Coast—have never lost their sheen, for the Athens Riviera, a period of decline followed throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Over the past few years, however, a new wave of luxury resorts has begun setting up shop in the region: And none have made quite as much of a splash (so to speak) as the One&Only Aesthesis, which opened this past November on the site of a beloved former beach club.
To arrive at the property, you must first make your way through the traffic-clogged streets of Athens, then whizz down the grand boulevard of the 91 highway that runs south from the center of the city, overlooking the Saronic Gulf. Somewhere among the seafront suburbs of the Glyfada neighborhood, your taxi will swerve to the right and breeze through a gleaming white gateway; then, you’ll head up a dramatic curved driveway, swooping up to the colossus of white stone that serves as the resort’s central hub, hovering over the beach like a groovy John Lautner spaceship that just landed directly from Palm Springs. The sound of the nearby fountain and the rhythmic slatted exterior lends it all a hallucinatory shimmer; meanwhile, a pair of palm trees playfully poke through a Swiss cheese-like hole in the curved, cantilevered rim of the roof. (It turns out the trio of architectural firms responsible for the resort’s striking design were very much inspired by the mid-century modern movement and its zenith in the heart of the Coachella Valley.)
Once you’ve soaked in the resort’s architectural wonders—and walked through the central atrium for a seamless check-in with one of the friendly, powder blue-suited staff—it’s time to take in its equally striking natural wonders. From the expansive terrace of the main building, views stretch out to the glittering blue of the Mediterranean Sea, and on a clear day, beyond to the rugged topography of the Saronic Islands. Out to your left, you’ll see the dozens of bungalows belonging to the hotel tucked within the surrounding groves of pine and olive trees, as well as the enormous hotel villas perched along the coastline with direct beach access. A spit of land also owned by the hotel contains a forest reserve that has been left to the wild for hiking and swimming. (Upon being spirited away by an electric buggy to my room, a local member of the staff explained that the resort had been carefully and unobtrusively laid out to comply with the local zoning laws, which deemed that One&Only could only develop on the footprint of the resort that previously existed on the site; luckily, that layout was surprisingly intuitive for a venue built in the 1950s.)
Once settled in my room—think a sleek, tasteful combination of pearl-white local marbles and light woods; a coastal color palette of sandy neutrals across plush, rounded furniture; and floor-to-ceiling glass windows for gazing out at your private plunge pool fringed by swaying palms—it was time to explore the grounds. The first stop? The sprawling spa complex. Perched on a slightly higher promontory than the rest of the resort—a kind of miniature Acropolis of wellness—its cutting-edge facilities include an airy, well-appointed gym, a lap pool, a yoga pavilion, and a bijou sauna and hammam. But the real reason you’ll want to make a stop here is for its partnership with Guerlain, meaning world-class skincare and facials. Having caught a little sun on my way over, a blissfully soothing series of masks, serums, and creams paired with a scalp massage had the magical effect of somehow bringing my raw and reddened complexion back to life.
Also worth noting, for anyone planning to lounge around on the property: No visitor to One&Only Aesthesis is at risk of going hungry. You can start your day with one of their lavish breakfast spreads of Greek cheeses with cold cuts and honey, or a decadent poached eggs dish served with local crab and lemony hollandaise, then head back to the central restaurant of Ora for a pitch-perfect Mediterranean lunch, where chef Ettore Botrini offers inventive (but not too inventive) spins on the classics: his riff on spanakopita is a must-try, with the feta and spinach pastry pie here reinvented as an addictive salad, perfect for tucking into on a balmy summer’s day. In the evening, you might also be inclined to head over to the outbuilding that houses El Bar, a playful tapas restaurant overseen by the three-Michelin-starred Andalusian chef Paco Morales, serving an indulgent, Moorish-inflected menu that ranges everything from smoky eggplant tacos to albacore tuna “tonnato” and braised leeks sprinkled with morcilla sausage and bechamel sauce. (The cocktails here deserve a special mention, too.)
Still, what charms the most about the property is the enthusiasm of the staff—the locals, in particular—to see this corner of the world revived to its former glories. (A Four Seasons outpost opened in 2019 just down the road, and there are whispers of more luxury hospitality brands scouting the area for potential sites.) There’s a certain reverence for the history of the place that extends all the way through to the experiences on offer, designed to appease both the more adventurous traveler—day trips by speedboat to the nearby islands of Aegina and Agistri, say, or jetskiing and snorkeling in one of the nearby coves—as well as anyone seeking to dive headfirst into the city’s many layers of history.
As someone who leans more towards the latter, I was taken on a fascinating half-day journey through the studios and ateliers of craftspeople keeping local traditions alive; most delightful was a visit to the Mentis-Antonopoulos Passementerie, where colorful ribbons, braids, tassels, and curtain ties are crafted on carefully maintained looms that date back nearly a century. Many of these are funded by the esteemed Benaki Museum, and so the trip culminated with a visit through its jaw-dropping collections that span millennia—surely one of the world’s most extraordinary treasure troves of decorative arts in the world—followed by a lazy lunch of avocado salad on the museum’s rooftop terrace, overlooking the city’s national gardens and ritzy embassy quarter. The afternoon concluded with a guided tour of the city’s bustling markets, before heading up to the Acropolis for sunset: there are few experiences quite as magical as witnessing the peachy glow of sunset fall across the Parthenon, its columns casting long shadows as the Greek flag is hoisted to full mast, ready for the soldiers who watch over the historic site at night. After all that rushing around central Athens, it was back to the hotel for dinner, an early night, and another lazy morning by the beach.
Really, it’s this that serves as One&Only Aesthesis’s unique selling point—and what a draw it is. Where, traditionally, most travelers would spend a few days in the hustle and bustle of Athens before hopping on one of the ferries to take them to one of the many thousands of more secluded, peaceful islands whose siren call has continued to lure in tourists over the decades, One&Only Aesthesis offers the best of both worlds. Spending an afternoon on a sun lounger by its sweeping pool, or taking a boat trip to a nearby island for grilled octopus and ouzo, you can attune yourself to the lazy rhythms of a beach or island holiday; after a few days, when you’re starting to feel that itch to, you know, actually get up and do something, you can easily catch a $20 taxi into the city center for shopping and sightseeing.
Even if they’d be reluctant to say it themselves, so too does the resort serve as a clarion call to the wider world that Athens—and Greece more broadly—has rebounded. Despite the well-documented woes the country suffered throughout the 2000s—and the narrowly-missed possibility of its so-called “Grexit” from the European Union—the economy is now on an upswing, with a 2023 report from The New York Times reporting that its growth is currently twice the eurozone average. It’s visible even on the route from Aesthesis into the city, where the enormous white carapace of the former airport, an architectural masterpiece courtesy of Eero Saarinen, is being transformed into a development that will include shops, restaurants, and apartments—if there’s one corner of Athens that is firmly on the come-up, it’s here.
Sure, it may possess a seductive air of throwback glamour, but it also feels attuned to the needs and wants of today’s traveler seeking cultural immersion alongside all the creature comforts—and serves as a convincing argument for Athens as a destination for sightseers and sun-seekers alike. (The hotel is planning to open a beach club and Peruvian restaurant next door later this summer, which will undoubtedly attract a glamorous crowd of Athenian glitterati.) Yet despite the resort’s opulence, the warmth and visible pride of the local staff—and the attention to detail in preserving its gorgeous natural surroundings—make it clear that it’s not only the hedonism of the Athens Riviera’s heyday that has returned in full force here, but its heart.
