Life is grand: discovering Rhodes’ latest luxury hotel
It took a while for Lindos Grand Resort & Spa to come to life, having been completed in 2019, but then quietly having to go back to sleep for much of last year as the pandemic took hold.
The hotel is finally now able to wake up again. And if my short stay was anything to go by, lots of people are happy to see it throw back the curtains and take a big stretch.
Brits used to be one of the biggest markets for Lindos Hotels in Rhodes, but with many people in the UK still unsure of whether to take the plunge over the summer, I felt like one of only a handful of English voices during my stay; there were plenty of guests from all around Europe and Russia to replace our towels on the luxurious sun loungers though.
Lindos Grand Resort & Spa is the latest and fifth hotel from a family-run group that takes its name from the nearby historic village of Lindos, and has really put this area of eastern Rhodes on the map.
The hotel makes the most of sweeping views of Vylcha bay, which is just the briefest of walks away, and hotel guests can help themselves to one of the hotel’s sun loungers down on the beach.
It is quite a gravelly beach; there are a few soft patches of sand though, and wooden walkways have been put in place, so you can still stroll along it. There are just a couple of other hotels along the beach, and some little local beach bars, so it remains blissfully quiet.
Much like the hotel itself. It’s adults-only (no guests under 16 years of age), so there’s a very peaceful vibe to it, without children splashing around or toddlers crying: sorry parents of the world.
Epic escape
The completion of the hotel gives the group one its most luxurious hotels and perhaps one of its most ambitious projects to date, with many of the rooms having their own pools and the centrepiece of it all – the infinity pool, what’s said to be the largest resort pool on the island, with a view of epic proportions.
Even at night, the musicians who come and play by the pool continue the relaxed, chic vibe, as couples or small groups of friends enjoy a cocktail on the terrace of lounge bar blancs de blancs, or dine at the outside tables of Terra Mare, the hotel’s main restaurant, which is also home for breakfast. It’s a sumptuous buffet affair at either dining time; guests must don a pair of the plastic gloves provided (and wear their masks) as they peruse the array of options and help themselves.
I felt awkward donning them at first, but it seemed the Covid-conscious correct thing to do. I also shivered at the prospect of all that silly single-use plastic being thrown away; there has to be a better way? For now though, this maintains both hygiene, efficiency and the freedom guests crave for helping themselves – with this many people coming for breakfast, the lines as people wait to be served could be mammoth. Maybe it’s just for this season; I hope next year we won’t need to wear gloves for serving our own food?
The hotel has 189 sleek, modern rooms with garden or sea views and its design sees it tucked into a hillside setting, with low-rise blocks of buildings curving to match the bay. My deluxe junior suite with sea view and private pool was set on the lowest level of the hotel, with a vast lawn in front of me and then the beach.
On your little pool deck, walls provide a screen to neighbours and a certain degree of privacy, but this is not the place for those who like to feel truly tucked away from other guests. My pool was a generous L-shape wrapping around the bedroom, whose glass walls slid back to create an open-plan, indoor-outdoor living scenario.
My bathroom area was also open-plan to the bedroom, and while the design looks clever and stylish, that glass wall style continuing around to the bathroom without curtains, means light sleepers will be awoken by the sun; no bad thing on holiday of course, but worth bearing in mind – my trusty eye mask helped me avoid a 6am solar wake-up call.
A few complimentary snacks and a bottle of local red wine made me feel welcome, as did the guest relations manager who explained everything carefully to me as she showed me the room and explained the resort’s app.
Through it, you can look at the room service menu; chat live with the hotel team; look into excursion options; discover when a yoga session is on or book a private one; find out about daily activities that can be arranged around the island, such as sailing, fishing or rock climbing; or just pick a holiday playlist to listen to.
Day tripping
I’d left my day trip planning in the hands of the hotel team, with an air-conditioned car and driver sweeping me off on an exploration of the island the next day. First stop: Seven Springs, or Epta Piges, a place where seven natural springs all converge into a man-made lake, built by the island’s Italian occupants to provide water to nearby villages.
The driver had looked down at my feet and told me my choice of footwear (new Birkenstocks) would be “fine”; as it turns out, I actually had to remove them for the first part of the tour – walking through a pitch-black, 186-metre tunnel in ankle-deep freezing cold spring water to reach the lake and waterfalls.
I was petrified; but thankfully, the torch on my phone helped me make my way through it, plus the water and chilled air was a welcome relief from the 40C temperatures Rhodes was experiencing in August. Emerging into the sun the other side, I slipped my shoes back on and walked to the waterfalls, and then back up through the woods to the sound of cicadas. For claustrophobes and scaredy cats, there is an alternative route – you simply follow a walking path to the lake.
Next up – one of the most beautiful attractions on the island, Butterfly Valley, or Petaloudes valley. This was an amazing stop on my whirlwind tour, with pathways created to lead you to this incredible phenomenon, a place that sees just one kind of butterfly species gather in the thousands.
I took my time walking through the valley in the afternoon heat, but there are patches of shade, and places to sit as you have your eyes wowed by these camouflaged creatures and your ears caressed by that whirring sound of cicadas. Plus, my clever driver had dropped me at a quieter entrance at the top of the valley, so my experience was downhill.
After every wet season (late May until September, in theory), this special subspecies of Jersey tiger moth comes and covers vast parts of the landscape, and you start to see them as you get into the heart of the valley – congregating under wet rockfaces, on trees, soaking up the moisture and humidity, and attracted by secretions from this forest of Oriental Sweetgum trees.
The moths come here to reproduce and are nocturnal, so it’s vital visitors stay quiet and just look, and not exclaim when they do spot a wall covered in them, otherwise they become unsettled and are forced to expel already depleted energy sources fluttering away from the noise.
I know the feeling: I was heading towards energy depletion myself as I returned to the hotel, after also visiting the small monastery at Ialysos and its huge Filerimos cross, among the most peaceful of settings and watched over by little families of beautiful peacocks.
The sun dropping behind the hotel each night was a beautiful sight too, especially when it coated my dinner at rooftop restaurant Thalatta with a dusky pink hue. As I tucked into a delicious ‘risotto of the forest’ with truffle, wild mushroom, pumpkin and gruyere cheese, I toasted my first trip overseas in almost a year with some chilled Greek wine.
For lunch, you can dine by the pool, or choose from the Acqua e Sale menu, which is currently operated from the main Terra Mare restaurant. Still to come are Takara for pan-Asian flavours and Yume Mou, for a Japanese, omakase sushi experience.
While it wasn’t open when I was there either, a dedicated spa is also next on the agenda; in the mean time, guests are able to get spa treatments and use the facilities at Evridiki Spa at adjacent hotel Lindos Village Resort & Spa, home to plenty of treatments by Greek wellness brand Apivita.
An obvious other venture out of the hotel is the local village of Lindos, home to the Acropolis, where ruins date back to 300BC. Other suggestions include a visit to the nearby Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights or a visit to a local vineyard to learn the unique production methods of local wine-making in Rhodes, known as the first wine producing region in Greece – yet another surprise discovery I made on this trip.
How to book it
Jet2Holidays offers a seven-night stay at the hotel from £770pp in September, including flights from Stansted (23-30 September) in a deluxe Garden View room, with breakfast and group transfers.
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Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
