Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The terrace of the Three Admirals Lounge, above the all-day Oliviera restaurant Courtesy of the hotel One of the challenges of selling the Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino, admits a marketer, is her answer when prospective clients ask which island is home to the resort. It’s not in Santorini, nor in Mykonos, nor in Crete. But in a summer when Athens is limiting visitors to the Acropolis and Santorini is suffocating under the weight of cruise passengers , that unexpected location turns out to be a blessing.
When it opened last summer, it made a statement. The powers that be at Mandarin Oriental—which operates in popular destinations around the world from Sanya to Lake Como—decided that their first outpost of Greek hospitality should be on the mainland. And so, the hotel debuted as part of the master-planned, sustainability-minded Costa Navarino golf development in the Messenia in the southwest Peloponnese.
As in the larger resort, the designers and hoteliers of the Mandarin Oriental aimed to preserve the coast’s wild seascapes and honor its 4,500 years of history. The 99 suites and villas are built into the site of the hill, with low profiles and green roofs that make the resort appear to blend into the landscape. Although it’s only the second season and the plants are still growing in, the grounds will soon look like a slightly prettier version of the surrounding area.
Gardeners replanted 2,700 olive trees—which.