We took a big green ferry from Santorini to Mykonos. The 2.5 hour trip made stops in Ios, Paxos, and Naxos. We spent an extra 10 Euro each for business class seats which gave us a more comfortable assigned seat and a private bar for the business class section. We were able to move out of our mid-section seats to window seats, giving us a great opportunity to see the various ports as we docked.
On Mykonos we were met by our resort shuttle and taken on the 15 minute trip to our hotel,
Mykonos Grand, located on Ayios Yiannis Beach. The hotel was stunning with a modern casually-elegant decor. Lots of white marble mixed with fluffy and furry pillows and carpets. We were escorted to a desk and offered drinks during our personal check-in process. Once done, we were escorted through several buildings and sets of stairs to our room. Bread crumbs would be required if we ever wanted to find the front desk or lobby bar ever again.
The Grand features a very large salt water pool that was too deep for anyone to stand in with exception of a few feet from the steps. Both restaurants overlooked the pool. A few steps down from the pool deck (actually a lot of steps) was the beach and the resort's private chairs. Beach waiters were on-hand to set up chairs, open umbrellas, bring drinks, etc. Other daily services included frozen washcloths, afternoon ice cream, and sunglass cleaning. As mentioned in an earlier post prices at The Grand were a little high for drinks. When possible we played the beach arbitrage game and picked up beers for a Euro or two cheaper at nearby restaurants.
Ayios Yiannis Beach suited us well. It wasn't crowded, the water was usually clear, and there were two beach style restaurants we could easily walk to. It wasn't the biggest beach, but it was quiet. Perfect for relaxation. The beach was rocky...a very different experience vs. the Caribbean. After reading our Mykonos Guide App we expected the beach to look something like other Mykonos beaches:
Instead, it looked like this:
The water this time of year was not very warm. It took a lot of will to go farther out than knee-deep many days. At least it was calm. This allowed us lots of opportunities to just stand and watch the fish go by.
On our first night in Mykonos the neighboring beach bar
Hippie Fish was hosting a wedding reception. The decorations were fantastic, including an entire candy room dedicated to the children. A few days later we dined at Hippie Fish and enjoyed a great sea view along with some shrimp risotto.
In the end the Mykonos Grand was a great choice: Nice quiet beach, great staff (we didn't even mention the included champagne breakfast buffet), beautiful rooms and common areas, and easy access to town. The multi-layered hotel helped us get some exercise built into our days.
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