I'm here on Naxos island in the Cyclades island group in Greece at ELaiolithos Luxury
Retreat Hotel which is this gorgeous hotel up here in the mountains in the villages and i'm here
with Helen the owner Helen Kalispera hi how are you good good yeah great so here at ELaiolithos
there are six individual suites is that right and each one has a different theme can you tell me a
little bit about the different themes each one is decorated according to the surrounding area of the
mountains they have the names of the mountains and the mythology the history and the culture
so each guest takes a piece of nachos with them nice and coming up here into the mountains and
staying in this beautiful space is very different tell me i think then a lot of people's experience
in the greek islands they go and they stay at the beach and they hang out by the pool and
they go to santorini and mykonos and maybe other islands but coming up here to your place is a nice
compliment an opportunity to have maybe a little more authentic greek experience is that right yes
yes over here they can leave their real even like a local experience nice and so what does that mean
what are some of the things yes it's gonna come contact with the locals local food healthy food
everything is organically grown and harvested here and cooked and the the air is clean we can
the guests can go to the fields and see how we produce everything we have cooking classes and
they're gonna speak with the locals and they're gonna see how we live the everyday life nice
so people can visit all of the different local villages here people can take a walk in the olive
groves or in the fruit tree orchards they can go for hikes there's a lot of hiking around here
outside of the hotel they start going to mountain zeus to which is the former capital of the island
to the marble quarries to the villages around here the famous village Apeiranthos, Moni
there are a lot of things you can see the byzantine churches over here they are it
is called the area the byzantine mistrust of the aegean a lot of byzantine churches many
many many centuries years old yeah yeah and the devil of the meteor is like 15 minutes away so
whoever comes in access they have to come up here and see everything because most of the attractions
and the famous villages and the known um monuments they are here but nagia roshani is the oldest
byzantine church in balkans because the preschools inside have the
jesus christ in the human and spiritual form it used to be monastery that's how the village of
money was named and this church is 1500 years old yeah 1500 years old and it's 300 meters from here
so if you want to see nexus you're going to come up here nice and then down here you were telling
me in this valley below four hundred thousand olive and citrus trees yes amazing in front of
you they lay on your feet nice and so people can go and explore them and walk around in this area
great that's how we get our this is our olive grove to go down here you see and from here we get
our olives whatever you eat when you come here and the olive oil and the olives i mean it's like we
have pear figs apricots all the citrus trees they are here and so not only Naxos is the greenest
island in the Cyclades but even within the island of Naxos this area this valley you're telling me
is known for the it's fertile region because it has the mountain fanari and it has its
own water so people over here the locals they can order the fields they produce everything
organically so even the soil is pure we don't use fertilizers or anything so the food over here
is by default that's how the locals sit yeah so it is known for the flavors nice amazing flavors and
you don't have when you're a guest here you don't have to drink out of bottled water out of plastic
i also have carbon filters so it's hundred percent a thousand percent safe
nice and then some nights you also have local musicians who come and play once in a week we
have local music live entertainment with local musicians we have cooking classes very interesting
uh we have telescopes so people can see because we have one of the best uh skies Greece the
fifth spot in Greece for astronomy lovers nice and so how do you say the name of your hotel
great so we're up here in the mountains of Naxos it's a gorgeous spot super romantic a
great compliment to maybe spending time on other islands or at the beach here in the greek islands
to come up into the mountains and have a more authentic experience amazing food each of the
suites is uniquely decorated and local materials everything is eco-friendly and sustainable
we have transparent sustainable practices and we love what we do our hospitality is genuine
and part of this is fun great you cannot have fun you cannot have holidays without fun so i'm
a traveler myself so i know what it is to travel from New York to come here and spend so much
money so you need to at least enjoy the lives you can do is to have a full joy of everything
and what's your connection to this place i was born in this village
and then when i went 18 years old they were moved to the states in New York to study i finished
over there the college then the university and then i got married i have three kids in New York
so they visit here i stayed there 30 years and then i came over here i built this over here
it was napping it was a hill like that so i built this the only hotel in the mountains of Naxos and
then i spent six months here and six months i go before thanksgiving yeah i am in New York and i
come back in April and i open and so i know what the travelers want to see their real experience
and then also your brother is a cheese maker your mother and your sister she's makers on the island
not a cheese maker fourth generation he makes that is a traditional way knocking away from my father
my grandfather my mother makes the long weaving textiles handmade all of the sweethearts the other
brother makes organic wine and all the vegetables the sister produces the husband all the vegetables
so everything mostly comes from the family that's how we grew up amazing tell me the name once more
up here in the mountains of Naxos gorgeous romantic spot great for families
six uniquely decorated suites come up and even if you don't stay here you can come up for a meal or
you can come enjoy one of the parties anniversary nice this is very romantic and you can come for
the cooking class too yes great so we're up here in the mountains Helen thank you so much thank you