Travel Cyprus
Ali Schofield and her mum enjoys luxury Cyprus hotels fit for a Greek goddess and Kim Cattrall
Travel: Cyprus
Other Recent Travel Articles
If it was good enough for Aphrodite some 2000 years ago, Cyprus is good enough for my mum and I. This was the conclusion we came to when planning a week’s bonding holiday recently. Though whereas the goddess of love rose out of the waves, Ursula Andress-style to arrive on Cyprus’ south shore, we took the more practical option of a flight from Leeds Bradford.
We landed in Paphos late on a Sunday evening and took a taxi to Limassol. Situated in a lively area about two miles from the city centre, The Londa Beach Hotel is just the kind of place you want to walk into, flight-weary on a Sunday evening. The lobby is all comfy seating and sleek lines; a jagged white wall falls into a water feature flanked by a weathered olive tree trunk to the left, while on the right the jagged design is mimicked in the reception desk. Parisian-style cafe music and ambient hip-hop floats welcomingly from the poolside bar which, we discover over glasses of wine and mezze dishes, also overlooks the sea, a fact we glean in the dark from the sound of crashing waves.
We were able to take in the full extent of the Londa’s desirability at breakfast, which we ate in the stylish Caprice restaurant, overlooking the pool and sea beyond, naturally. After its multi million pound refurbishment in 2005 and redesign by the agency behind the Prada outlets the Londa claims its title as the island’s first designer boutique hotel. While the exterior viewed from the front street is pure 80s concrete resort hotel, the interior and pool area are incredibly well thought out. The handles of the wardrobe in our twin room are made of the same wood reclaimed from the impressive trunk in the lobby and the coffee table on our balcony boasts the same punched hole design as the pillars in the restaurant. This stylish attention to detail attracts many business people, some of which sit incongruously at the bar tapping on their laptops while we loll by the pool. Even the sunloungers are better than your average, mattress-style with cushion rolls behind the headrest to adjust your position.
During our three night stay we venture out of the hotel twice. Once to explore the nearby centre of Limassol, small and chic with a lovely old castle and pretty harbour, and once for a cursory walk around the immediate area but, on spotting Shakespeare’s Pub and a branch of Starbucks, we realise we miss the hotel and rush back in time for the complimentary sorbet and cool, damp flannels distributed around the poolside loungers by the thoughtful staff.
While I’ve never before seen the point of travelling simply to sit on a sunlounger and ignore the culture outside the front door, at the Londa it seems positively rude not to. A delicious meal at the Caprice and a back massage for my mum in the hotel’s spa further encourages us to stay for longer, though we’d been told when booking that its sister the Columbia Beach Resort is worth a stay for totally different reasons, so we bid a reluctant farewell to the Londa and travel along the south coast to Pissouri.
They were right. The Columbia Beach Resort and its neighbour Columbia Beachotel are different again. The luxury is the same, but where we were welcomed by cool bar music and sleek lines at the Londa, here we drive down a boulevard of fragrant blossom trees to a more traditionally glitzy hotel. It would be as incongruous to see suited men lunching beside the infinity pool here as it would, well, a goddess rising out of the Cyprus sea, lovely though it is. The emphasis here is squarely placed on relaxation. Divided into villa-style blocks with traditional wooden window shutters and terracotta features, the Beach Resort offers several different lounging options; beside the 80m pool, on the beach, or between the two, on the meticulously-kept lawn. The spa is bigger too, located below the Beach Resort’s lobby and available to residents at both Columbia hotels. I can personally vouch for the Pagoda Foot Therapy and the Mer Rouge Scalp & Hair Therapy treatments, both immensely relaxing (as if I needed it in such surroundings) and good pre-beach baring choices (which after the winter we had I definitely did need).
The village of Pissouri is just a five minute walk along the beach from both hotels, with a few tavernas (we were particularly impressed with the Limanaki next to the roundabout, which makes the place sound a lot bigger than it is) a couple of grocers and a sweet little jewellery shop. Once again though, we quickly got over the guilt of almost solely laying by a pool in a foreign country, since the 5-star hospitality is hard to resist. We’re not the only ones, Kim Cattrall apparently stayed at the Columbia Beach Resort recently for a bit of pre-‘Sex and the City’ pampering.
Even the stray cats are well looked after here, information in our room reassures us that they are fed by staff after being taken in, neutered and inoculated, and released again with little hearts stamped in their ears. They didn’t leave the hotel grounds either, so we figured, when in Cyprus…
Indeed, at the end of the holiday – hampered only slightly by the ash cloud, though to Jet2’s credit we were well looked after – my mum broached the question of which hotel would be our favourite.
We finally concluded that there was no comparison. It would have to be both.
Londa: Rates per night from 168 Euros/£140 per room per night (based on B&B). Prices from £720pp based on 2 people sharing a Superior Side View for 7 nights in July including breakfast, flights from Leeds and private transfers. Columbia Beach Resort: Special rate this summer (subject to availability - conditions apply) 222.95 Euros/£190 for a junior suite with breakfast per night (based on B&B). Prices from £980pp based on 2 people sharing a Junior Suite, Garden View for 7 nights in July including Half Board, flights from Leeds and private transfers. Columbia Beachotel: Special rate this summer (subject to availability - conditions apply) 141.70 Euros/£120 for Standard room side view (based on B&B). Prices from £650pp based on 2 people sharing a Standard Room Side Sea View for 7 nights in July including an 80 euro Resort Credit per adult room, Half Board, flights from Leeds and private transfers.
With Travelbeam Luxury Hotels, 0845 845 0145, www.travelbeam.co.uk
Jet2.com flies to Paphos and Larnaca in Cyprus from Leeds Bradford International Airport.
Flights to Paphos operate twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays. Flights to Larnaca operate once a week on Wednesdays.
Book flights on www.jet2.com
Posted on Wednesday 7th July 2010
Sending you to Twitter, hold on... 
