We arrived very early (7:00 am) by rented car after overnight ferry from Athens, travel weary and wondering what to do till our room might be ready. We drove down a long driveway past pomegranates, walked around a corner into a glasswalled hall overlooking the sea, and were promptly offered a sumptuous breakfast along with other early risers, which we ate at a table on the patio under olive trees, a few feet away from the shore. And it only got better from there. Our second story room with deck, facing the sea, was simple, colourful, clean (not all rooms have sea view). The hotel offers guided excursions, e.g. to a nearby archaeological site and a three monasteries hike along ancient trails. Yanni, the owner, is an architect and theatre afficionado with a huge welcoming smile and a number of his staff speak English. Breakfast, a feast, is part of the deal and simple lunches are available. Other cafe's are minutes away along the "wine-dark" sea. Altogether a wonderful place to come to rest. The hotel can arrange car rental right there which is better than (our arrangement) pick-up in Mytilini, given that the airport is about a $30 taxi ride away and the first experience of driving on the island is scary. A drive to the North end of the island takes up to two hours of narrow winding roads and even narrower village streets. Since the island was not affected much by the building boom of the sixties/seventies, and has a strict building code, it all feels all of a piece. Nothing touristy except a few streets here and there. Fresh fish in all the villages along the shore. I swam every day. For us it was the highlight of a month in Europe.
- Votsala Hotel lésbos
