02The story

01

Vourvourou is the gentler face of Halkidiki: a shallow sandy bay on the Sithonia peninsula, pine-covered islets offshore and water calm enough for a child to learn to swim in. Ekies sits directly on that shoreline and takes an unusually light approach to design.

Instead of the whitewashed formula, every room here is designed on its own terms, with illustration, colour and contemporary furniture giving each a character it does not share. Layouts vary, patios and balconies vary, and private pools belong to selected suites only. The kitchens carry the same appetite for variety, running from the organic garden at one end of the day to a dining room raised among the pines at the other. Days here turn on swimming and appetite, in that order.

02

A bay for slow swimming

The water at Vourvourou barely deepens for a long way out, so the bay behaves more like a lagoon than a coast. Boats go out among the pine-clad islets, paddleboards and kayaks come and go, and the beach stays busy without ever feeling crowded. Behind it, gardens and swimming pools give the day a second setting. A mixed party can spend the whole morning apart and reassemble for lunch without anyone having travelled far.

03

Rooms as individual drawings

No two categories at Ekies read the same. Greek references, illustrated walls and contemporary pieces are combined room by room, and the differences run past decoration into the plan itself: patio or balcony, garden or sea, a private pool in selected suites and larger arrangements for a family. Two rooms sharing a category name can produce two rather different weeks, which is unusual in a resort of this size and much to its credit.

04

Dinner in the branches

Bostani draws on the organic garden and is the most direct expression of the kitchen’s thinking. Bubo takes the contemporary Greek route, playful and precise. The Treehouse Restaurant is the setting worth dressing for, raised among the pines with the bay below and enough theatre to make an ordinary Tuesday feel deliberate. Down at the beach lounge the afternoon simply carries on, which is why three tables are better than one.

03Highlights

What sets it apart.

The signature moment

Late in the day, the boat comes back through the islets and the bay turns to glass. An hour later the Treehouse is lit among the pines, plates arriving slowly, the sea audible below. The salt of the afternoon is still on everyone. Nobody hurries the last course.

01Shallow sandy bay at Vourvourou
02Individually designed rooms and suites
03The Treehouse Restaurant
04Bostani and the organic garden
05Boat trips among pine islets

04Design Hotels Collective

Here, as a preferred guest.

01
Breakfast for two, every morning
Breakfast for two each morning, at the hotel’s own table: the first privilege of the day and the one most worth taking slowly.Breakfast beside the Ionian or beneath the Matterhorn, at whatever hour the house lays its table.
02
A hotel credit to spend
A credit held in your name at the hotel, to spend as the stay suggests: a table, a treatment, an evening at the bar.A credit for the hotel’s own restaurant, bar or spa, whichever the house does best.
03
A room above your booking
An upgrade to the category above, so the room you return to each evening outranks the one on the confirmation.An upgrade chosen for light and outlook as much as for size.
04
An earlier arrival
Check-in before the house’s usual hour: the overnight flight lands, the car draws up and the first day begins in your room.The room ready ahead of the hour for the traveller who arrives with the morning.
05
A later departure
Check-out after the house’s usual hour, so the last morning is spent as the first was: at the table, by the pool or simply in the room.The last morning kept for a swim from the room or coffee in the mountain light.
06
Known before you arrive
VIP recognition as a guest of the house: your preferences and the occasion known to the hotel before the door is opened for you.The hotel’s own team knows who is arriving, and why, before the car turns in.
07
Offers for preferred guests
The offers a programme keeps for its own preferred guests, extended to a Dip Needle booking and shown beside the rate for your dates.Collective offers falling on your dates, shown beside the rate before you decide.