What’s the vibe?

Find your largest sunnies and a swish kaftan; you’re about to open up your TV screen and step right into The White Lotus. While the Four Seasons brand has always been iconic, it has gained greater notoriety in recent years thanks to Hbo’s The White Lotus, which sees various Four Seasons properties serving as stand-ins for the fictional eponymous hotel group. Pulling up to the Four Seasons Astir Palace on the Athenian Riviera will have you feeling like Jennifer Coolidge herself. Sitting stately on 30 hectares of private seaside peninsula land just 20 kilometres from the centre of Athens, Four Seasons Astir Palace feels one part Chateau Marmont, five parts modern Greek paradise and a large does of how the other half live.

Four Seasons properties built a name on impeccable service, friendly luxury and an approach to hospitality that leaves no stone unturned. Each property has its own personality, but when you’re in a Four Seasons room, you will know it straight away. From the ludicrously capacious bathrooms with standalone tubs, to the plush pillows that beckon you to bed and the abundance of space that makes even entry-level rooms feel like the pinnacle of luxury, staying at a Four Seasons is like stepping into a formula for the ultimate hotel experience – regardless of your destination. At Astir Palace, though, all of this is brought up a notch by the location, with the Aegean stretching out into the distance wherever you look.

The interiors at Avra bar

What to eat and drink?

Four Seasons Astir Palace has a mixology jewel in its crown: Avra. The cocktail bar isn’t just some buffed-up watering den – no, this is a bar serving up some serious drinks. Under the stewardship of bar manager Nikos Tachmazis, who, among others, has time at Bar Termini and Artesian under his belt, Avra brings Athens’ strong mixology pedigree to the city’s sparkling coastline. Drinks are designed much like how a food menu might be, with a focus on seasonal ingredients, many of which are grown onsite in the hotel’s grounds. There are two menus – the evergreen menu which compiles some of the team’s favourite drinks, and then the boundary-pushing Seasonal-Original-Sustainable menu which chooses four ingredients to highlight each year – with 2025 seeing four cocktails centred around distilling the essence of orange, pear, pine and dairy.

All of that drinking will require a well-line stomach, and at Four Seasons Astir Palace, there’s hardly a shortage of options to line the stomach. There’s one-Michelin-starred Pelagos if you really want to push the boat out; breezy but sexy Mercato for coastal-inspired Italian food; Helios for when you simply must feast on the very best Latin American ceviche; not to mention a series of pool and beach bars and a Beefbar and Matsuhisa to boot. Our pick of the bunch, though, is Taverna 37, an idyllic, Four Seasons take on the classic seaside Greek taverna. There are few more spectacular dinnertime settings than a waterfront table here at golden hour, feasting on meze, calamari, tuna tartare and seafood pasta as the setting sun slowly paints everything a deep, sparkling gold.

What else?

The resort is spread across two buildings – Nafsika and Arion – and a series of bungalows dotted across the grounds. Nafsika is the hub of the hotel and is home to Avra, Mercato and Helios plus the expansive hotel gym, this is the building to opt for if you like being in the thick of it. Its slightly more classic older sibling, Arion, sits a short stroll away and is a touch more laid-back, home to Pelagos, the Astron Lounge, Aristotle’s Cigar Bar and Taverna 37, alongside the hotel spa. If you really want to retreat away from it all, opt for one of the bungalows which have strong 1960s Hollywood energy and are secreted away amongst the pines.

Rooms start at £1600 per night in high season; fourseasons.com/athens