Amanzoe

The road climbs through olive groves above Porto Heli, on the Argolid coast of the Peloponnese, and ends at a long marble colonnade with the Aegean on three sides. This is Amanzoe, the Greek resort of the Aman group, opened in 2012 and built from the ground up by Ed Tuttle, the American architect who had already drawn Amanpuri, Amanjiwo and Amanjena.

History

Aman came late to Greece. The site, a ridge of olive terraces between Porto Heli and the village of Kranidi, was chosen for its views across the Argolic Gulf towards the island of Spetses. Construction took several years and the resort opened in the summer of 2012. The name joins the Sanskrit "aman", peace, to "zoe", the Greek word for life.

Architecture and design

Tuttle took his cue from the Greek temple. Every pavilion stands on a stone base, carries a flat roof on square columns and opens onto a terrace through a colonnade. The materials are local limestone, marble and timber. The main building sits at the crest of the hill, with the reception, library, bar and restaurant arranged around an open court; from the colonnade the land falls away on every side to the sea. The pavilions are scattered down the slopes so that each has its own view and none overlooks another. Pergolas, courtyards and water channels give shade, and the planting is olive, cypress and lavender rather than lawn.

Rooms and suites

There are 38 pavilions, each with a private pool, a terrace, a bedroom, a sitting area and a bathroom on the scale of a small apartment. Ceilings are high, floors are marble and the furniture is pale timber. Beyond the pavilions, the hillside also holds a group of larger villas with several bedrooms, their own staff and their own pools; these are owned privately and let through the resort.

Dining

The main restaurant, on the upper terrace of the central building, serves Greek and Mediterranean cooking with produce from the Argolid, which is olive and citrus country. A second restaurant works from the pool terrace in the warmer months, and the beach club has its own kitchen for lunch by the water. Breakfast can be taken on the terrace of the pavilion.

Wellness

The Aman Spa occupies its own building below the main house, with treatment rooms, a hammam, a sauna and an indoor pool, and the resort has outdoor pools at the top of the hill and at the beach club. Yoga and Pilates are taught in a pavilion among the olive trees.

Weddings and events

Amanzoe takes whole-resort bookings and hosts weddings on the hilltop, where the colonnade and the terraces of the main building face the sunset over the gulf. Ceremonies are also held at the beach club. The resort does not publish fixed room capacities for events, and the villas are often used for family gatherings of a few dozen guests. Small company meetings use the library and private dining spaces of the main house.

Location

The beach club lies on a cove a short drive below the hill, with a jetty for the resort's boats. Spetses is about twenty minutes away by water, Hydra a little more. Porto Heli itself is a small yachting harbour on the mainland, and the ancient theatre of Epidaurus and the Venetian port of Nafplio are within an hour and a half by road. Athens airport is roughly three hours by car; many guests arrive by helicopter, for which the resort has a landing pad, or by boat from the Athenian Riviera. As a luxury hotel in Porto Heli it opens for the season from spring to late autumn and closes in winter.