Leaving Lindos Grand, casting a wistful glance across the bay to the hotel as it recedes behind me, we continue past Lindos town and into the island’s hinterland. We pass through a rugged sepia-toned olive and pine-dressed landscape, dotted with box-shaped villas, much of it still evidently scorched from the devastating fires that hit the headlines last year.
Our destination, thirty minutes down the coast, is Gennadi; a larger, more family-oriented property in the Lindos portfolio, and one dedicated to wellness. Amid the rustic Rhodian houses and shopfronts we’ve met until now, what immediately strikes you as you pull-up to the property is its imposing angular, fountain-fronted facade. It looks like something that should be in Beverly Hills, not a remote coastal spot on a distant Greek island.
For a 300-room property, Gennadi has a substantial footprint, not by trying to cram everything in; nothing is more than two storeys high, rather it’s tastefully proportioned and spread out. Beautifully-articulated open spaces, and seemingly countless pools give breezes a cooling effect through manicured gardens, all bordered by contemporary terraced villas. I feel like I’ve stepped through a portal into an alternate reality. Walking through it, I have that distinct holiday feeling again, that frisson of excitement to want to settle in, to try everything immediately, to explore the facilities.
With echoes of the Lindos Grand experience still ringing in my psyche, I try my luck with the check-in clerk. “And does the room have a pool?” I lean on the counter for emphasis, “at our last hotel the room had its own pool…” He looks back at me impassively, humouring my air of entitlement. “Yes, sir, these rooms have a private pool.”
If I thought the Lindos Grand was impressive, the ante feels upped at Gennadi. The rooms are open plan, light and bright with touches of turquoise across the soft furnishings. Korres toiletries adorn the basin. It’s very conducive to relaxing, notably with the french windows and terrace overlooking the garden. And it does, indeed, have its own pool.
A cooling dip warrants lunch, and given the Lindos properties pride themselves on their culinary offering, naturally I’m spoilt for choice. I’d heard good things about the chef, Yiannis Kiaourtzis, a protégé of Costas at the Lindos Grand, and rumoured even to outdo the maestro. Many hotels offering multiple dining options spread between quality or have ‘cheaper’ options (by choice, not just price), but what’s eminently notable at Gennadi is that every restaurant is exceptional. I have two days here, and I’m planning to make my way around.
First, lunch on the covered terrace at Oyzo, open to a welcome on-shore breeze and the go-to for relaxed poolside dining. A Greek salad is prepared tableside, with a selection of hors d’oevres of perfect calamari with beetroot purée, a cheese ‘pie’, shell-on Symi shrimp, eaten whole, and beetroot puree resurfaces with a battered cod (I think that might replace mushy peas back home). I’m wiping my chops and getting up to leave when the waiter proffers, “now the main course”, and he wasn’t joking. ‘Catch of the Day’ is a gargantuan black grouper, fished that morning from the sea and filleted at table. If this were the only restaurant at the resort, I’d be a happy man, but there are eight on offer.
Oyzo is a tough act to follow but then lunch the following day, at Ten2One, is even better. Billed as humble Italian, it’s a smorgasbord of burrata and confit tomatoes, prosciutto salad with balsamic sorbet, courgette and truffle pizza, and a gorgeous raspberry sorbet. If I could, I’d eat there every day. Dear, oh dear, this is going to get difficult.
But there’s more. STK could rival any steakhouse in London for dinner; rib-eyes are carved tableside, salads are supremely inventive (Gorgonzola, beetroot and raspberry is one I shall attempt to recreate) and the dessert of a ‘lit’ chocolate mousse cigar (with crumbed white chocolate dyed in cuttlefish ink for ‘ash’) would win Masterchef. What’s even more extraordinary is that these offerings are available in their All Inclusive.
There is one restaurant, however, that isn’t included, and rightly so. The a la carte on the terrace at Edesma is reserved for an exceptional experience. Billed as a journey through time – what they call ‘intertemporal gastronomy’ – it’s a Greek-style tasting menu, designed around days of the week and the traditional dishes served each day. Every course represents the Greek dietary tradition, from Monday – in this case interpreting ‘leftovers’ from the weekend – representing the lightest meal of the week, and culminating in dessert for Sunday. It is, perhaps, Yiannis’ finest hour and, as I’d now come to expect at Lindos properties, is part of their exceptional culinary offering.
Of course, it’s not all about the food, Gennadi is also a spa property, and if working off those indulgent meals in the pool gets wearing, then a signature massage is certainly in order.
Kozeen opened the first spa in Greece in 1991, and now operates in Limassol and Crete as well as Rhodes. They were the first to use olive oil in their treatments, and their new citrus signature oil is exclusive to Gennadi. They were, too, early pioneers of sustainability; even their scrub is made from the olive stone. Little surprise the founder, Alexandros, was recently dubbed ‘the alchemist of spas’, and the awards have followed, winning World Luxury Spa Awards in 2021. Gennadi’s spa is, in fact, one of the most awarded in Greece.
Time out for a massage aside, I would happily have not left the pool – full disclosure, I didn’t even make it to the beach, it’s that conducive to holiday ‘flopping’ – but even the best resorts risk inducing a little cabin fever, so a dose of local culture was in order. An afternoon on a yacht sailing up and down the coast – mooring under the cliffs of Navarone – is a sublime way to pass the time, but for land-lubbers the village of Gennadi outside the resort provides a splash of authenticity against the spoils of the hotel.
It feels very lethargic by day, with old boys sipping short coffees on cafe terraces and stray cats languishing in the midday sun, but it comes alive in the evening with restaurants and cafes spilling onto the main drag – I say that, but it’s more like a small lane – with enticing names like ‘Mama’s Kitchen’, Taverna Temptation and, of course, Zorba’s.
Here, too, hidden among the lanes, is an olive oil ‘factory’, though that’s overstating it a little. A small stone built barn from the turn of the 20th century, it’s now a museum of sorts, displaying all the mechanism by which olives from the surrounding fields were pulped and pressed. Similarly, you can visit a traditional single-room family house, occupied as late as the 1970s, and both tours of which are available through the hotel.
It’s a pleasant diversion, and certainly feels like I’ve ticked the culture box before that pool back at the resort comes calling. But what’s perhaps most memorable, from my guide on the village tour to the check-in clerk, the bartenders and waiters at the hotel, is the warmth and amiability of Greek hospitality. It’s not just about that exceptional dining, the service, or even the welcome; it’s the humour, the wit. I find myself walking up to people with a smile, relishing some banter. The rapport with the staff is absolutely joyful, it absolutely makes the experience – and that is something that no amount of luxury can top.
Winner of an absolute troupe of awards, Gennadi Grand Resort is part of the Lindos portfolio of hotels on Rhodes. For more information, including details of offers, members’ club and their Ultra All-Inclusivepackage, please visit www.gennadigrandresort.com.
