If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR261.67), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Avant Mar is one of the swankiest new stays in Paros, the next up-and-already-arrived Cycladic isle in the spotlight. Debuting beside the stylish town of Naoussa (a five-minute walk away), on the shores of Piperi Beach, the hotel has brought with it stellar Japanese food in the form of its accompanying Matsuhisa restaurant. It’s also home to Figs, a shop supplying guests with pastry fixes and traditional Greek confections, and Thymes for minimal-effort poolside dining. It’s formed from four classic whitewashed buildings with a curving pool stepping in for an amphitheatre at its heart.
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Double rooms from £254.34 (€297), including tax at 13.5 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional government tax of €10.00 per room per night on check-out.
More details
Rates usually include breakfast.
Also
There are some specially adapted rooms at Avant Mar for guests with mobility issues.
Hotel closed
The hotel opens annually for the Greek summer season, from April to October.
At the hotel
Free WiFi throughout, pastry shop, jewellery boutique, and beach with free sunloungers for guests. In rooms: Bluetooth speaker, smart TV, air-conditioning, tote bag, beach towels and flip-flops, coffee-making kit, and Aesop bath products.
Our favourite rooms
If it just wouldn’t be Greece without a private plunge pool, book an Executive Suite or the Avant Mar Premium Sea View Suite and dip away.
Poolside
There are two pools at the hotel, both of which are filled with saltwater. The main one is open from 11am to 7pm and the one at the spa is open from 11am to 6pm.
Spa
The hotel’s wellness area has been created with the help of the Athens-based spa experts Orloff, with Cinq Mondes treatments, rituals inspired by the writings of Hippocrates, Thai traditions, and a water circuit all on offer. It’s open between 11am and 6pm.
Packing tips
Greek-island essentials: good books, lots of sunscreen and assorted floaty clothing. And if you’re not feeling bedazzled enough, just head to the jewellery boutique to up your sparkle.
All ages are welcome at Avant Mar but there aren’t many facilities just for kids.
Sustainability efforts
Eco-friendly initiatives at Avant Mar include full-size bath products, zero single-use plastics, bamboo (as opposed to plastic) room keys and air-conditioning that cuts out when the windows are opened.
Up at the sushi bar at Matsuhisa or around the pool, soaking up the summer rays.
Dress Code
You can keep it casual and beachy by the water, but smarten up for supper.
Hotel restaurant
The star of Avant Mar’s dining scene is unquestionably Matsuhisa (open from June to mid September), one of 14 namesake restaurants by Nobu Matsuhisa, whose first name should need no introduction. It has a sushi counter and, yes, you will be able to mainline black cod miso. By the pool, Thymes is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and you’ll also be able to sate sweet tooths at Figs, on hand with pastries such as its famous orange cake and traditional Greek sweets.
Hotel bar
Matsuhisa can mix up cocktails such as smokey margaritas and Aegean Sours to enjoy with a side of sushi. There’s a resident DJ supplying the slick soundtrack.
Last orders
Figs is open from 10am to 7pm. Matsuhisa’s dinner service is between 7.30pm and midnight. Thymes is open for breakfast (8am to 11am), lunch (12pm to 5pm) and dinner (3pm to 11.30pm). The bar at Matsuhisa serves until midnight.
Room service
Meals and snacks can be delivered to your room from 8am until half past midnight.
Avant Mar is in the Greek isle of Paros in the Cyclades.
Planes
The island has its own airport, but international arrivals may have to touch down in Mykonos, Santorini or Athens and travel on to Paros by ferry. You can also fly directly between Athens and Paros in less than an hour. The island’s airport is a 30-minute drive away from the hotel.
Automobiles
There’s free parking at the hotel, but Naoussa is within walking distance and there’s a beach right on your doorstep.
Other
Ferries dock at the port of Parikia, which is a 15-minute drive from the hotel. The fastest boat services from Piraeus in Athens to Paros take just under three hours.
Worth getting out of bed for
This is a Greek island and if you’re not here to channel Ken with ‘just beach’ then you’ve probably come to the wrong place. As the name suggests, Avant Mar is right before the sea, with a stretch of sunlounger-studded sand on its doorstep. The hotel’s neighbours also include the harbour town of Naoussa, Paros’s most chi-chi spot by far. Inland, the hilltop village of Lefkes shows a more traditional side to the island. And if you’re in search of more classic Cycladic architecture, the port town of Parikia is also worth a poke around.
Local restaurants
There’s a Matsuhisa outpost on-site, ready to receive Chef Nobu pilgrims – or head into Naoussa and choose from the many restaurants that line the harbour. These include stylish Barbarossa, all-Italian Giacamo and Kargas for traditional Greek souvlaki.
Local bars
If you’re planning a late night, Fotis in Naoussa will dispense ouzo until 4am. At Sommaripa, try cocktails made with souma, an alternative to ouzo and raki, made with fermented figs.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this beachfront hotel in the Cyclades and unpacked their swimwear and (gladiator) sandals, a full account of their beach break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Avant Mar in Paros…
If you’re in search of the new Mykonos, allow us to introduce Paros, the next Cyclade in waiting. It already had the buzzy port town (Parikia), the flagstone-paved paths and whitewashed buildings (many of which can be found in Naoussa), and the dreamy harbourside tavernas (lined up along the water’s edge in places such as Piso Livadi), but now it just got even better, with the arrival of Avant Mar. This buzzy new bolthole opened just in time for summer 2023 and it will be back and raring to go for its sophomore season come April. The star of the show is the Matsuhisa restaurant, ready with sublime sushi for when you can’t handle another souvlaki. A few minutes’ walk away in Naoussa, all the harbourside seafood restaurants you could possibly need await. Expect to never be able to eat calamari anywhere else ever again – it just won’t be as good.
