"The Cycladic island of Folegandros is often described as what Santorini must have felt like 50 years ago — a collection of whitewashed cliff-top villages overlooking the Aegean Sea where a visitor might get swept up in a festival spilling into the main square. The island has no airport, and much of its land is classified as a protected forest. But its relative remoteness has also meant that there aren’t many places to stay, and the existing small hotels book up quickly, which is why island-hoppers are so excited about Gundari, Folegandros’s first luxury hotel. After a soft opening last summer, the 30-room property is now complete with a trio of new villas and a three-seat wine bar with a picture window overlooking the ocean. Rising from the copper-red cliffs on the southeastern coast of the island, the resort is designed to reflect its surroundings, with unpolished marble floors and an earthy palette. Each of the rooms has a pool that’s solar heated, and over 600 indigenous seedlings, including olive and fig trees, were planted on the 100-acre property. On-site, guests can visit the subterranean spa for facials and massages, wade to the sunken swim-up bar, then sample produce from the hotel’s organic farm at Orizon restaurant. But they’re encouraged to explore Folegandros by borrowing one of Gundari’s electric bikes or the electric Mini Moke to visit churches and coves, chartering the speedboat for a sunset sail or hiking the 35 miles of trails. Still, the highlight of a trip just might be a visit to Chora, the capital village two miles from the resort, to soak up the ambience or take a cooking class with Yia Yia Irene, the owner of Irene’s Restaurant, which has fed the island for over 70 years. Rooms from $540 a night, gundari.com."
