"The after-party pad Few consider Mykonos their Aegean go-to for social reclusion. But among the island’s more wholesome secrets are its covert refuge—even Dionysus needed a break from the fun. Most discreet yet on point is the new Katikies Mykonos, ensconced on a misshapen beanbag of land on the south-west coast, just east of the island of Delos, where the god’s toga-clad cult engaged in rituals of ecstasy. It opened in June 2018 as the equally shy, 30-year-younger sister to the adored Santorini original—a local design pioneer in its day—and was an instant classic, recalling the go-slow, get-lost spirit of pre-1950s Cyclades that second-wave bohemians fell in love with. It’s even hard to find: just a hamlet-like stack of pristine sugar cubes above Agios Ioannis’s quiet smile of sand. In fact, owner Nikolaos Pagonis’s amphitheatrical layout conceals 35 rooms with private terraces and plunge pools within a labyrinth of alleyways, creating illusions of space, solitude—and that little thrill of discovery. There is a surprise at every turn: a spa, a boutique (with a judicious edit of Vitamin A bikinis), and two infinity pools extending an unmarred cyan sightline to Delos, angled just so, to be sheltered from the relentless Meltemi winds. Rooms are retina-calming white cocoons, accented with cobalt and shades of ink; free of art and jarring design fads. Still, even Aegean-gazing hermits will be lured out at dinnertime by the citrus-infused aromas created by young chef Angelos Bakopoulos at both Asian-fusion restaurant Seltz and poolside Mikrasia. The sandy beach-bar vibe belies the star-standard of his Anatolian and Byzantine twists on dishes such as cod on risotto in a spinach-and-dill emulsion. The shenanigans at Nammos and Scorpios are within 15 minutes toe-dipping and fleeing distance. Unlike the island’s bigger, brasher retreats, Santa Marina et al, Katikies is a place to hole up, not be seen in—by Mykonian standards at least. —R.K.W." - Becky Lucas
