Next, we drove up to Lefkes, an attractive mountainside village that has become an enclave for artists. A nice lady from the visitor center led our small group on an informative but well-paced look at some key site sites around Parikia, including Panagia Ekatontapiliani, a Byzantine church complex also called the Church of 100 Doors that was built in 326 AD - a mind-blowing 1,697 years ago. While challenging to leave Cosme and its confines, especially during the height of summer, the hotel likes inspiring guests to explore the island, and its concierge team can arrange several guided cultural experiences, one of which is a walking tour with a local historian.

It’s the latest luxe addition to the Empiria Group, a Greek-based company run by husband-and-wife founders Antonis Eliopoulos and Kalia Konstantinidou, which has since landed on several coveted “It Lists” for 2023 travel and getting to stay there before crowds descend this summer feels even more special in hindsight. (Greece might be all swimsuits and golden suntans during the summer but come fall, evenings are chilly.) In the darkness, I didn’t get the lay of the land, but it was a quick seven-mile drive to the island’s northeastern corner and dreamy Cosme - the 40-suite beachfront boutique hotel that opened last June as part of Marriott Bonvoy’s upscale Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts portfolio. Instead, I hustled off the boat onto the quay, where a gentleman holding a Cosme Paros sign took my bag and ushered me into a nice warm car. I had envisaged sitting poolside at my hotel - beverage in hand - watching the sun dip below the Aegean. My original arrival time on Paros would have seen me pull into its tiny port city Parikia while the sun still shone.

Luxury hotels paros greece