Grecian Park Hotel Cyprus

Grecian Park Hotel is a stunning five star hotel perched on a cliff above Konnos Bay in the Cypriot town of Protaras.

Adjacent to the picturesque Cape Grecco National Park, Grecian Park Hotel is secluded enough for a relaxing stay yet close to the beach and just a five-minute drive from buzzing Ayia Napa.

Location

The 239 room hotel is part of The Grecian Collection, a boutique group of three high end hotels (all four and five star) in Ayia Napa and Protaras. Like the nearby Grecian Bay Hotel and Grecian Sands Hotel, Grecian Park Hotel has everything you need on the doorstep and boasts an impressive number of amenities.

The Swimming Pool

The highlight of the hotel is the gorgeous outdoor lagoon-style swimming pool and children’s pool surrounded by sunbeds and chic poolside lounge. Another perk is the Olympus Health Club, offering a gym, indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, treatment rooms, two floodlit tennis courts, table tennis and a pool table.

Konnos Beach, with its white sand and azure waters, lies in a small bay and is the perfect place to sunbathe or enjoy water sports. The walk down to the beach from the hotel may be steep for some, but the hotel offers a complimentary shuttle bus to the beach and Ayia Napa in the high season.

Arrival

The hotel’s expansive marble lobby is airy and elegant, with a large chandelier, over-sized Asian style plants and a grand piano. We were checked in swiftly and spent a lazy afternoon making use of the hotel’s facilities.

The Room

My second floor Executive Sea View Room was like a ‘princess room’ with highlights of pastel pink and magenta. I loved the dark pink beaded lamp, comfy striped velvet seats and the pretty mirrored drawers. The spacious private terrace lets in lots of natural daylight and has great views over the pool and trees framing the sea view.

Room features include a wall-mounted flat screen satellite TV, tea and coffee making facilities, powerful air-conditioning and free wifi. The large bed was very comfortable and the amount of good quality linen was ideal for the warm weather.

For a particularly decadent stay, Presidential Suites and the King’s Suite with a jacuzzi built into the bath and separate bedroom are available.

The Bathroom

The light, marble-style bathroom is a reasonable size and features a bath and shower, plenty of large towels and an average set of hotel brand bathroom amenities (L’Occitane would have worked well here and matched with the pink in the room).

Grecian Park Hotel has a number of dining and drinks options including Antaeus Restaurant with an international menu, the stylish Umi Japanese and Sushi Bar Restaurant, all-day dining Cafe Charisma, Le Grand Foyer, the rooftop Cliff Bar, Breezes Pool Bar and Plin-2 nightclub (open in high season).

Breakfast

Breakfast at Cafe Charisma was excellent, with everything you could want laid out in a buffet style, including hot dishes, eggs made to order, pastries, muffins, pancakes, yoghurt, cereal and fruit. Fresh fruit juice would have been preferable, rather than the machine juice drinks, but I liked that a good selection of teas in a china pot were available.

Grecian Park Hotel is an ideal retreat with a private feel and so many facilities that you won’t need to move far from the sunbed. It’s far enough away from Ayia Napa to enjoy a noise-free sleep, yet still close enough to dip into the party scene and traditional tavernas.

Grecian Park Hotel has twin side sea views from €106 per person, per night (until 31 October 2013). Half board €25, full board €40.

Cyprus Airways has flights from London Heathrow to Larnaka twice daily from £221 return.

Cherie City was a guest of Grecian Park Hotel and Visit Cyprus

Photos by Cherie City and Grecian Park Hotel

Ayia Napa has the reputation of a hedonistic party town – an alternative to Ibiza where the UK garage scene migrated and took over the beach bars and clubs in the summers of the late nineties. The clubbing scene is still going strong in the summer – it’s now all about dubstep – but there’s so much more to Ayia Napa than raving and cheap fishbowl cocktails…

Out of the high season, Ayia Napa is peaceful, quiet and warm without being blisteringly hot. There are few tourists, so it’s a chance to enjoy the uncrowded beaches, get a decent table at the best restaurants and chat with the ever-so-friendly locals.

The main strip on Nissi Avenue is very commercial and not the prettiest resort centre I’ve visited, but there are plenty of hidden gems and picturesque spots to be found in Ayia Napa…

Ayia Napa Monastery

This is a must-see for its beautiful, historical architecture and tranquil courtyards. Originally built around 1500AD, the monastery is dedicated to ‘Our Lady of the Forests’, referencing the ancient Greek word for wooded valley, ‘napa’. A newer church was built around a cave where an icon of the Virgin Mary was said to be found and the ancient sycamore tree in the grounds is believed to be 600 years old.

Agioi Anargyroi-Konnos Trail

For an exhilarating yet easy walk with breathtaking views of the coast, try the Agioi Anargyroi-Konnos Trail at Cape Greco. Discover sea caves and vegetation such as wild asparagus and Phoenician juniper along the 1.4km route – a leisurely 30 minutes walk. Finish with a picnic of traditional Cypriot delights at Konnos Bay, prepared by the nearby Grecian Park Hotel.

Take a Boat Trip

A stay in Ayia Napa wouldn’t be complete without a boat trip. Of course there are the typical ‘booze cruises’, as seen on Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents, but our half-day on board the Agia Trias III was a much classier affair.

We set sail from the Golden Coast harbour in Protaras and cruised, with ice-cold beers and Cypriot coffee in hand, to Cavo Maris for watersports, followed by a barbecue lunch on board. Sailor Lambros is a real hoot and looked after us well. If you’re lucky, you might see dolphins jumping out of the water alongside the boat.

Ride a Crazy UFO

Watersports are a must in Ayia Napa, as the jewel-coloured water is so inviting and calm. I loved zooming across the waves on a jet ski followed by chilling in the sun on a pedalo. The braver ones in our group tried parasailing and held on for dear life on a Flying Fish. I was coaxed into joining the others on a Crazy UFO and found it terrifying yet thrilling – not for the faint-hearted (here I am, second from the left).

Visit a Museum

Back on dry land, a fun, educational activity for the family is the Thalassa Municipal Museum of the Sea. Located in the centre of Ayia Napa in a cool, contemporary building, the museum explores the importance of the sea in Cyprus.

Visitors can marvel at ‘Kyrena II’, a life size exact replica of the ancient ship of Kyrenia, of the Classical period. Also on display are Cypriot antiquities, fossils and taxidermy models of seabirds, fish and enormous sharks.

Prophet Elias Chapel

If you’re feeling limber, climb the steep 153 steps to Prophet Elias Chapel in Protaras, where you will be rewarded with stunning views over the region. Look out for the tree of remembrance and visit later in the day to watch the sunset.

For more destination ideas, read my post on Dining in Ayia Napa, from the best traditional tavernas to stylish poolside cocktails.

All photos by Chérie City

Chérie City was a guest of Visit Cyprus

Chérie City

A Stay at Grecian Park Hotel, Cyprus