First came the Romans and the Byzantines, then the bronzed gods and goddesses of the global jet set. And on the short drive from the port of Paros to my hotel, the newly opened Avant Mar, I can see signs of the island’s latest arrivals: chic hotels, expensive resort-wear shops, helipads. “Yes,” says our young driver, who has come from Thessaloniki to spend a season here. “It is going the way of Mykonos.”
By that he means the luxury, hedonism and certain brand of wealthy holidaymaking for which Mykonos has become famous. “But not too much,” he assures me, wary of the nearby island’s growing reputation for vulgarity.
As we glide into the northern town of Naoussa and curve down a steep road, I see the Avant Mar from above: the circular reception building, with its walls of white linen blowing in the breeze, and the elliptical open-aired wellness area set against the bright white cubic architecture of the miniature village of suites. It has an Elysian feel. The tagline “a new Cycladic era” is written on the wall.
Within 20 minutes my boyfriend and I are lying on sunloungers by the 55m pool, near to where it flows into a sort of swimmable infinity passage with views of the Aegean Sea. There is another shallow pool with in-built beds in the spa area. Down on Piperi bay is the hotel’s beach club, where a short arc of sand connects the hotel to Naoussa town.
And it’s in Naoussa town that evening that the Mykonos comparison shines truest. At dusk, the sweet fishermen’s town with white walls and chalk-blue spires is swimming with deeply tanned and exceptionally chic tourists drinking £21 Paloma cocktails. Several fishermen pull up in their small wooden boats while couples ashore pose for selfies in the radiance of the setting sun. It’s a postcard Cycladic town, with brightly lit lanes housing a maze of jewellery shops, pricey linen stores and teeny-weeny tavernas with a handful of tables huddled under magenta bougainvillea. By 2am the clubs are packed and hostesses are gleefully turning away all those foolish enough to have not made a reservation (us). So it’s back to the hotel to our private plunge pool for a late-night dip.