Built From the Cliff It Stands On: Gundari, Folegandros
Living — Gundari
By James B. Stoney, Editor ·
A new five-star resort on one of the Cyclades' quieter islands, with wellness, gastronomy and sustainability built into its foundations.
A new five-star resort on one of the Cyclades' quieter islands, with wellness, gastronomy and sustainability built into its foundations.
Folegandros has spent decades being the island tourism passed over.
No airport. Reached only by ferry. Whitewashed lanes that locals describe as largely unchanged for years.
Gundari is the island's first five-star property.
A Different Starting Point
The resort sits on eighty acres of clifftop on the island's southern coast. Twenty-seven suites and villas.
Built by Australian-Uruguayan founder Ricardo Larriera and Greek-Australian Terry Seremetis, whose family ties to Folegandros go back generations.
The stated principle is wellness, gastronomy and sustainability at the centre of the design, not layered on top of it. Larriera has described the project more plainly: "a combination of naivety, delusion and vision."
Built From the Ground It Stands On
The architecture is where the principle shows most clearly.
Designed by Athens studio Block722, the buildings use stone excavated directly from the site. Low-lying. Bioclimatic. Built to disturb the cliff's contours as little as possible.
Linear stone walls echo the landscape's own lines. Timber structures weave between them. Each suite carries as much outdoor space as indoor, with a private, solar-heated infinity pool set against the sea. Some of the suites are semi-troglodyte, built directly into the cliff.
Raw luxury, in the literal sense. Earth tones, straw, stone, timber. Nothing gleaming.
Wellness, Underground
The spa sits below the main complex, cut into the earth rather than perched above it.
The treatments draw on ancient Greek healing ritual — native herbs, mineral-rich tonics — rather than a standard international spa menu. Visiting practitioners run sessions in yoga, meditation and energy healing through the season.
The stated aim is regeneration, not pampering. The building itself makes the case: set apart, quieter, deliberately separate from the pools and terraces above.
Alongside it, a conservation programme for the endangered Eleonora's falcon and Bonelli's eagle, both nesting nearby, and support for Folegandros's first medical facility. Wellness extended to the island, not only the guest.
Food
Orizon, the main restaurant, is led by Lefteris Lazarou, one of Greece's first Michelin-starred chefs. Farm-to-table, drawing on the resort's own organic garden and the surrounding sea. Guests can select ingredients personally for a private dinner as the sun sets.
A hi-fi listening bar, vinyl-only, inspired by Japanese jazz kissatens, sits at the other end of the evening.
Beyond the resort, Folegandros resists an easy stay. Beaches like Agkali and Katergo are reachable only by hike or boat.
Wider Context
Most new luxury resorts arrive with the familiar formula — whitewashed walls, blue domes, a postcard version of the Cyclades built to be photographed.
Gundari doesn't. The wellness and sustainability commitments run through the property rather than sitting beside it: the organic farm feeding the restaurant, the conservation programme, the support for local healthcare, connected rather than separate initiatives assembled for a brochure.
That coherence fits an island where the founders' own family history predates the hotel by generations.
Why It Earns Its Place
Serious architecture and a genuine wellness ethos, built on an island that has spent decades staying deliberately undeveloped.
For anyone drawn to raw landscape, real seclusion, and wellness treated as a foundation rather than a spa menu, there is little else like it in the Aegean.
For anyone planning a slower Greek-island stay around clifftop mornings, long dinners and quiet spa days, the Reset Series guides and the Reset Companion are a useful pairing for the sleep, digestion and recovery that go with the heat, late meals and long days in the sun.
Related reading: Drakos Taverna — The View Matters More Than the Menu · Six Senses Zighy Bay — The Resort That Earns Its Remoteness · Juvet Landscape Hotel — The Hotel That Disappears
Vitae Lifestyle Scorecard
- Architecture & setting9.6 / 10
- Wellness & spa9.3 / 10
- Food9.2 / 10
- Overall experience9.3 / 10
Who it's for
- Those drawn to raw landscape and architecture over conventional whitewashed-and-blue Cyclades resorts.
- Anyone seeking a wellness stay built around ritual and regeneration rather than a conventional spa menu.
- Honeymooners and couples wanting genuine seclusion, on one of the Cyclades' least developed islands.
Questions
Where is Gundari and how do you get there?
Gundari sits on the southern coast of Folegandros, a Cycladic island between Santorini, Milos and Paros with no airport. Access is by ferry from Piraeus, Santorini or Milos; the resort can also arrange boat transfers from Santorini. It operates seasonally from May to October.
What is the wellness experience like at Gundari?
The spa sits below the main complex, built into the earth, and draws on ancient Greek healing ritual using native herbs and mineral-rich tonics rather than a standard international spa menu. Visiting practitioners run sessions in yoga, meditation and energy healing throughout the season, with the stated aim of regeneration rather than pampering.
What makes the architecture distinctive?
The buildings are constructed substantially from stone excavated on site, designed by Athens studio Block722 to sit low against the cliff and disturb the landscape as little as possible. Suites are built from stone, straw and timber, several semi-troglodyte into the cliff itself, each with a private solar-heated infinity pool.
What's the food like?
Orizon, the main restaurant, is led by Lefteris Lazarou, one of Greece's first Michelin-starred chefs, serving a farm-to-table menu drawing on the resort's organic garden and the surrounding sea. Guests can also select ingredients for a private farm-to-table dinner.
Is Folegandros worth visiting if you're not staying at Gundari?
Yes — it's one of the quieter Cyclades, two miles from Chora, with beaches like Agkali and Katergo reachable only by hike or boat, and a pace of life locals describe as largely unchanged for decades.
What is Gundari doing on sustainability?
The resort runs a monitoring and conservation programme for the endangered Eleonora's falcon and Bonelli's eagle, both of which nest nearby, supports the creation of Folegandros's first medical facility, and maintains an organic farm that also supplies the restaurant.
This article appears in Edit No. 24 — Five Greek Islands, Five Ways of Doing Things Well
