‘Unique’ isn’t the half of it. The Nafplia Palace Hotel & Villas is a true one-off whose setting, history and aesthetic are unlike those of any other hotel, anywhere. The scrupulous balance of contemporary interiors, modern conveniences and old Grecian charm are an achievement of true mythology.
 The Nafplia Palace Hotel & Villas is justly famous for its location, which even by Greek standards is historically rich and culturally multilayered.
On a promontory high above the Argolic Gulf there is a nest of 21st-century villas (plasma screens, Alessi tubs, private hammams and B&B Italia as far as the eye can see). These are built inside the stony walls of a masterpiece of 1960s modernism, which was built within a Bronze Age acropolis and looks out past a Venetian castle – apparently floating in the middle of the sea – towards Argos, the oldest continuously inhabited town in Greece.
 In the other direction you see the old town of Nafplion, with its harmonious eclecticism of architectural styles – Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, Ottoman – making it one of the prettiest towns in Greece. Mycenae, Tiryns, Nemea and the unbelievable third-century-BC theatre of Epidavros are all within striking distance.
What really distinguishes Nafplia Palace is its 33 individually redecorated villas, 16 with private heated pools or outdoor Jacuzzis with jaw-dropping views of the Old Town’s terracotta rooftops and the wine-dark sea. The interiors are endlessly imaginative and varied, but with a strong sense of overall consistency. Every suite is unique, with its own particular style, yet remains recognisably part of the same hotel. The attention to materials, textures and details is exquisite. Clean, hard lines of stone, wood and steel intersect with surprising curves and comforts, like a Corbusier-style chaise longue or tessellated-leather cushion covers.
 You can stroll down to the hotel spa, operated under the stewardship of the famous Institut Dominique Chenot, head for the beach and restaurant at the foot of the promontory or just think about doing so from the comfort of your own private infinity pool, as you notch the water temperature up with the touch of a digital panel.
Somehow, all the hi-tech gizmos combine brilliantly with the modernism of the original hotel: the massive stained-glass panels, the acres of gleaming marble and polished limestone, the shaggy tapestries and abstract murals. There’s even a gleaming stainless-steel lift that takes you down, through the hillside and out to the old town.
So wake up and smell the bougainvillea. Roll out of your bed at Nafplia Palace Hotel & Villas and into an ocean of history.
Further information
Nafplia Palace Hotel & Villas
Website: www.nafpliapalace.gr
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