Before we had our daughter, we’d always imagined our honeymoon would be an adventure. A trip through Japan, or eating burritos in Mexico City. Perhaps island-hopping in the Philippines.
But the truth is, after the last few years of parenthood, wedding planning, buying a house and dealing with a global pandemic… We just needed a rest. It’s been a lot. So we decided on a typically “not-us” holiday of an all-inclusive resort, somewhere sunny.
We also controversially decided not to take our 3 year old with us. We knew we would miss her, but we also recognised this was probably our only shot at a childless holiday for some time! And we needed a break. Plus, our kid was going to get her own holiday with grandparents, which she was greatly looking forward to. So we didn’t have too much parent guilt.
Saying that though, it meant I only wanted to go away for a week, and to somewhere relatively nearby. And so, we booked Greece.
When I told people I was honeymooning in Greece, they would hit me with the same response “Ooooh lovely, which island??”. And well, we didn’t go to an island actually! We spent our week relaxing on mainland Greece, and who knew it was so beautiful?!
The Western coast of Greece is bloody gorgeous. Those aquamarine waters with hotels perched on clifftops, surrounded by lush green rolling hills. It’s definitely worth looking at, if you’re searching for different areas of Greece to visit.
I discovered our hotel, Marbella Elix, when scrolling through all-inclusives on the BA website, and it seemed like the perfect fit for us. A luxury 5-star resort, with beautiful decor and great weather, just in the sweet spot of our budget. Expensive, it’s our honeymoon after all, but not in those crazy realms of the Cavo Tagoo Mykonos or Calilo Ios. (Both are bucketlist hotels though, obvs.)
And in most ways it fulfilled the brief. The hotel is lovely, understated but sophisticated. It has trendy touches of rattan whilst still being very serene and relaxing. The rooms are pretty and spacious, with balconies overlooking the sea and some even sporting their very own infinity pools. It really is a gorgeous hotel to look at.
Although I have to say, the things that originally drew me in to this place, I didn’t really make the most of. There’s a funicular down to a private beach with a beach bar and watersports. We only went once, and despite my best intentions, I didn’t make it out on a SUP board. I booked to do their daily yoga classes, but ended up cancelling all of them in favour of a cocktail and another chapter of my book. I thought we might explore nearby Parga or go on a sunset boat ride, but no. We literally did nothing… And it was amazing.
Like I said, it isn’t like us. But I think we just needed our honeymoon week to lie in the sun, reading, and drinking frozen margaritas by the pool. And that we did.
One thing we did explore fully though, was the food at Marbella Elix. I’ve done a few all-inclusives in my time, but none of them had food like this. Literally gourmet food at the buffet every mealtime, with options to go to the pool restaurant or beach restaurant for lunch instead. They also had a Greek a la carte and an Italian a la carte which both served up fine dining and delicious wine. Honestly, it was great. We ate way too much, but what can I say, we love food and we just can’t be cool at a buffet.
I also decided, that as we weren’t really going anywhere, and a few of our friends and family had given us some Euros at the wedding, we would treat ourselves in the spa! So we fully enjoyed the spa facilities at the hotel, especially as they gave us 20% off because we were on our honeymoon. Score. It started with a couple’s massage, followed by facials a couple days later, and before I knew it, I was being slathered in Greek yoghurt and wrapped in cling film. No, really! Apparently it’s an aftersun treatment but I found it quite funny.
The only downside of the holiday is that there were a LOT of kids there. Which yeah, is probably my fault. I should perhaps have opted for an adults-only resort in the middle of August. But I was still a little surprised, as it just doesn’t look like or market itself as a family hotel? Like no slides or kids entertainment or kids food… I just found it a bit jarring. But it was fine, I adjusted to the noise at the pool! If anything, it just made me miss my girl a bit more!
But overall, we had a lovely stay and a dreamy honeymoon. The main thing was a week together, recovering from the wedding chaos and recharging for the last few months of the year. And we did it with sunshine, cocktails and the most delicious feta I’ve ever had.
I promise we’ll leave the hotel on the next trip.
