In 1985, in Aleomandra, this was the exact location of the family’s summer home. The view of Delos across the sea, the sun glittering on the water, here, at the brightest spot of the Aegean Sea, gave birth to an idea. And at the same time to a vision. For an invitation (Kalesma in Greek means ‘invitation’). An invitation to stay, come together, share, rest and, of course, eat.
“Kalesma” is a unique hospitality unit of a purely Mykonian philosophy. It’s more like a village than it is a hotel. Makis Kousathanas’ dream was to create a space in which the guest will feel and experience everything like him when he was little and came here.
He vividly remembers looking towards Delos, standing next to the best preserved, to this day, barn, and seeing his grandfather lighting a fire from across the island, where he was with the sheep, to give the signal that the next day he needed provisions and bread to be brought to him. He could never imagine back then that he would ever achieve this dream. But he did.
“Kalesma” consists of 25 spacious, similar rooms, and two villas, all amphitheatrically built on the hill, all of them with private pools and all of them offering views of the sea. K-Studio brings to life this mingling of tradition with modern, contemporary elements, and Vaggelis Bonios of Studio Bonarchi decorated the spaces with warm minimal objects and furniture. Each space creates the impression of a longer stay than that of just a few days. The sense of resting, relaxing, escaping stress and exhaustion permeates the space.
The rooms become the guests’ home and not just a hotel room. Pastels, simple elements, ratan and wood, stone and natural light coming in from every corner, depending on the sun’s place. The outdoors shower in the small courtyard at the entrance is one of the most “familial” elements I’ve seen.
The natural landscape is home to 100 olive trees of varieties from all over Greece, a selection of native trees, a lemon garden, and an orchard with around 16.500 plants spreading their fragrance and memories day and night. The whole compound was built to be eco-friendly and environment conscious, and uses modern water systems for cooling, and heating the place and not freon.
The computer screen control room appears to be a scene of the present and the future of modern constructions. “Mykonos is a huge hug,” Makis Kousathanas tells me, “and its residents are open to new things and flexible,” he adds. He is definitely the kind of person he’s describing.
Enjoying a negroni at the open-air bar, playing with the shadows the afternoon sun casts, across the brightest spot on earth, my eye falls on the word “KALESMA” engraved on a large ice cube inside my glass, only moments before my kalesma-invitation to dinner.
At dinner we’ll share the creations of chef Kostas Tsigkas, at the restaurant Pere Ubu (that travelled here from Glyfada) and we’ll enjoy taste explosions, bold ingredient combinations, of the Mediterranean and the Cyclades, all in one plate.
Greek flavours, childhood memories, great presentation, a bombarding of colour and aromas, with local ingredients like the traditional Mykonian sausage prepared with octopus or mussels – a constant surprise.
The tsipouro (traditional spirit containing 40-45% alcohol, that comes in two types either pure or anise-flavoured) makes me put down my pencil and my camera, surrender to the feeling achieved by the company and the space, a feeling of being in a truly friendly environment, and enjoy.
