Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino emerges from the greenery of southern Greece

The arrival of Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino heralds a new era for the much-loved Greek resort. Following hot on the heels of the opening of W Costa Navarino, the well-known global brand that launched in August 2022 at the Peloponnese destination, the new Mandarin Oriental is the latest international name to land on the Messinian coast. It brings with it the award-winning owner and operator's heritage of quality, and blending it with the Greek resort's inherent sensitive, site-specific, sustainable architecture approach. 

Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino: at one with the landscape

Mandarin Oriental's architecture is intrinsic to its experience at Costa Navarino. The new hotel sits nestled within a hillside, its individual rooms peeking out from among greenery, making the whole complex appear like its engulfed in wild foliage. This is part of Costa Navarino's pledge for its region – as the hospitality group aims to protect and enrich the precious natural landscape of Western Peloponnese. To that end, the Navarino Bay site features 2,700 replanted olive trees and over 500,000 planted native shrubs. 

Its building complex follows the same thinking, inspired by the local agricultural tradition of 'mandria', the 'dry stone animal shelters constructed by hand by the region’s farmers', which are ubiquitous in the region. They use natural stone and follow the topography of the land, discreetly at one with their surrounds. 

The hotel was designed by the Athens-based architecture studio of Alexandros Tombazis, an icon of Greek architecture, and K Studio, a dynamic modern practice and member of the 2012 Wallpaper* Architects Directory. The whole was crafted around Costa Navarino's strong sustainability principles – for example, this will be a single-use-plastic-free hotel throughout. 

Instead, natural materials, such as local stone, timber and marble, were prioritised in the design – and local species used in the landscaping. 

Everything is orientated towards the blue sea views of the site, placed in the Navarino Bay part of the estate. The interiors, created by leading practices in their field, such as Alexander Waterworth, Studio Afroditi Krassa, MKV Design, and K-Studio, are both comfortable and contemporary – offering understated luxury without detracting from the majestic vistas. 

Meanwhile, all studios collaborated in creating seamless indoor/outdoor transitions, wrapping important open-air routes and pathways across the resort into the experience. The complex spans 99 guest rooms, including 48 spacious earth-sheltered pool villas, and five on site restaurants – to cater for all tastes and hours of the day. 

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