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Located on a small and menacing-looking Greek island topped by ruins dating back to the 6th century, Bastione Malvasia Hotel has a prime spot within the old medieval city for looking out at the fortress walls and the sea.
When you tour around Greece, you eventually get the feeling that the country has more historic attractions than the rest of the world combined. So many that “I’ve never even heard of this place,” becomes a common phrase applied to some amazing location you end up in, like the fortress castle island of Monemvasia.
There’s some evidence of human habitation going back thousands of years on this small island off the western coast of the Peloponnese Peninsula. As with most places in this land with such a long human history, it changed hands multiple times. Most of the structures starting going up in the 6th century, however, Byzantine times under Justinian. Because of this it is tagged as “one of the oldest continually-inhabited fortified towns in Europe” and you can sleep right by those very old walls when you book a room at Malvasia Bastion Hotel.
You have to cross a causeway in a taxi or rental car from the mainland and then leave that vehicle outside the original fortress gate, making your way through medieval-era narrow alleys on foot. So leave the giant four-wheel spinner suitcases behind. They’ll get pummeled on the way since the Malvasia is at the very end of town from the entrance.
That location is key though because it abuts the walls running down the hill and along the sea, plus it looks out over many of the historic buildings in the old city, which was the home of the merchants and workers all through the Greek, Roman, and Ottoman periods. (The elite lived above, in a more protected position. You can climb up and hike around those ruins and a Byzantine church.
The best view is from an open terrace under olive trees where you can have a coffee in the morning or a drink in the evening as the sun goes down. While there are plenty of other terrace restaurants and bars in town, the one at the Bastione Malvasia is hard to top.
Otherwise, public rooms are limited at this hotel basically made up of a lot of cobbled-together buildings. There’s another small high-season bar area that has more shelter, the reception desk, and a restaurant serving breakfast.
The breakfast spot is cheerful and bright, with a modest but ample buffet laid out in a room that has a strong sense of place. It’s only open for dinner if there’s a group booking, but that’s not really an issue since there are 20 other places to eat within a 10-minute walk down the flagstone streets polished by centuries of footsteps.
Rooms are all different, so it’s worth taking your time in looking at the different options when making a booking. Because the accommodations are all in converted old stone buildings, the layouts vary quite a bit, even among particular classes.
Our room was a standard double but was plenty spacious, with a stunning view of the sea and a fireplace that would be a nice touch in the winter months. It had a desk where I could get some work done, a fridge to stick drinks in, and Wi-Fi that worked well considering the location and all the thick walls. We had a hot shower that worked well and rooms are air-conditioned, so you won’t feel like you’ve stepped back to the Middle Ages.
Our sleeping area was a little tight, so the room we were in may not be the best choice for extra large bodies or those who are claustrophobic. The bed was under an arch, like an oversized capsule bed arrangement.
Most rooms have a more conventional bed style though and some of the larger family rooms and suites have a terrace. Those are worth the upgrade if you want to relax on your own overlook area, especially if you’re staying more than the one night that we did.
Most of them feature cool tile or stone floors and beamed ceilings overhead. They’re all amazingly quiet at night since there are no cars on this island and really not a lot of inhabitants or animals either. Most of the buildings are taken up by hotels, shops, or restaurants and the people working them live in the town on the other side of the causeway on the mainland.
Staffers were friendly and spoke English well, from the front desk to the wait staff, and they make everyone feel welcome. This was one of those spots where I really wished we could have stuck around longer. We managed to explore the whole historic town and ruins above easily enough, but Monemvasia is the kind of place where it would be nice to stay longer than the average tourist just to soak up the atmosphere at a leisurely pace and take in the vistas for hours on end.
Despite the ideal location and views, Bastione Malvasia Hotel is quite reasonably priced, starting at just €75 for a standard double in the slower months and topping out at about €200 for the largest family suite with a big sea-facing terrace in the summer tourist season. That’s including a buffet breakfast and all taxes.
See more information and book direct at the hotel website and compare rates online at Expedia or Booking.com.
While in this southern Peloponnese region, try to get down to the Deep Mani for more intriguing history and stay at Limeni Village or Kyrimai.
Review and photos by travel editor Tim Leffel. He was hosted at the property while touring this region of Greece with Monemvasia Tourism and Mythical Peloponnese.
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