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 (EUR122.40), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Adults-only Halkidiki hideaway Domes Noruz Kassandra is there for the drop after the beat drops, when you’re floating home on a high in the soft dawn light ready to crawl under the puffiest of duvets before the next night’s cued up. This all-white sanctuary – with a soothing splash of turquoise pool, fuchsia spritz of bougainvillea, and green spray of palm fronds to add some club colour – is where you sip and sway on a swing chair in a mint- and lemongrass-scented garden, press your beach lounger’s button to call for champagne, and pose on a day-bed till the DJs fire up and the partying starts. The gentlest, friendliest of pit stops between late late nights.
Smith Extra
Get this when you book through us:
A cocktail each; for stays of five nights or more, one three-course lunch
11am, but flexible, subject to availability and an extra charge (express service available on request). Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £118.97 (€139), 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 include breakfast. A three-night minimum stay is required.
Also
The hotel is very accessible, with ramps in public spaces, adapted rooms (one Cozy Retreat and four Ivory Retreats) for wheelchair-users, and showers suitable for those with mobility issues.
Hotel closed
The hotel is open until 20 October in 2023, and will open again in spring next year.
At the hotel
Public beach, beach club, lounging terraces, fire pit, twin spa suites, open-air gym, concierge, charged laundry service, free WiFi. In rooms: TV, maxibar, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making kit, beach towels, air-conditioning, and bathrobes and slippers.
Our favourite rooms
All rooms have that breezy Halkidiki look (white as an antique statue, with raffia and wicker touches, lifted with colourful local artworks), and some outdoor space. However, the sea is the show-stealer here, so you’ll want to be facing it. Those who want to literally wallow in luxury should book the Ivory Junior Suite, the only option with a freestanding bath tub; and all suites come with surplus perks as part of the ‘haute living collection’, say free access to an exclusive lounge, and a dedicated host contactable at any time via WhatsApp.
Poolside
The pool is the lynchpin of the hotel, drawing guests – both raring-to-go and ready for their day-bed nap – to it with sparkling sea views, swing chairs and lots of pillowy landings on the decks, plus cocktail service, DJ nights and sun-kissed parties. You can swim in the sea too, and beach loungers have lockers and buttons to call for drinks.
Spa
If you wake from a champagne-soaked night cursing the Greek gods for your choices, then you may be willing to forgive them after one of the heavenly rituals offered at the spa. Indulge in some Hippocratic-style healing and be slicked in honey; or scrubbed with rosemary, lemon and carob seed; be massaged with CBD oil or a percussive Theragun; or reclaim your glow with a ‘face fitness workout’. And get the rest of your body moving at the indoor or outdoor gyms, which have all the kit you need for body-sculpting, circuit-training and serious cardio; or try the more mellow sunrise meditation or sunset yoga (€10 a person). Personal trainers available on request.
Packing tips
Bring the energy – clubs sometimes don’t even start until the next day here; and all the face glitter, neon-brite accessories, and impractical bikinis you can fit in a case.
Also
Looking to make an impression? Domes can help with the intimate and in-your-face, with flowers, fireworks and various tokens of love in between.
Pet‐friendly
Pets with up-to-date jabs (and vet records supplied on request) and weighing under seven kilogrammes are welcome for €20 a night plus a one-off, non-refundable €100 cleaning fee. See more pet-friendly hotels in Halkidiki.
Children
Better set for planning a cocktail spree or sleeping one off, Domes Noruz Kassandra’s digs are not for kids, and only guests aged 16 and over can stay.
Sustainability efforts
Domes Noruz Kassandra ensures its clean, pristine sanctuary stays that way in look and spirit. The hotel measures its carbon footprint and takes measures to offset it; heat pumps are used for hot water; LED and motion-detecting lighting is used; air-con switches off when you open your windows; water-saving devices are affixed to taps and showers; and automated irrigation is used in the grounds. Single-use plastics are minimised where possible, the restaurant uses local ingredients as much as it can, QR codes reduce paper waste and recycling is duly done, and the hotel was constructed in a sustainable style, using many natural materials.
Breathe in the garden’s bouquet of rose, spearmint, lemongrass and more as you sip an equally fragrant cocktail in a swing chair.
Dress Code
Sling on a sarong during the day; and get into party-gear come evening.
Hotel restaurant
Domes Noruz Kassandra has two burnished boho diners to try, all sun-reflecting white and breezily laidback. At Topos Beach Bar Restaurant (Domes’ signature eatery), chef Dionysios Pliatsikas collects traditional Cretan dishes on the menu and presents them in modern style. Get dip-py with a mezze platter; try lakerda (tuna marinated in grape must and orange in a yoghurt and fresh tomato sauce); pita stuffed with calamari and sundried-tomato aioli; soutzoukakia kebabs; steak or lobster; or a cake made of goat’s cheese with a carob crumb. At Gustatio Main Restaurant, start your day with a typically lavish Grecian breakfast, loading up on filo pies, fresh fruit, cheeses and meat, cakes, cookies and more at the buffet, or ordering the likes of banana crêpes with peanut tahini or avo on toast with feta à la carte. Then finish your day with decadent pickings from the dinner buffet, given a theatrical zhuzh with a live-cooking station. The Raw Bar has sushi and zingy fish dishes, such as salmon and sake maki, spicy tuna rolls, or scorched-seabass nigiri with citrus mayo. And you can order snack-y things, from salads to homemade ice-cream for your poolside lounging too.
Hotel bar
This Domes bills itself as a beach club with rooms, so come prepared with your dancing flip-flops and sparklier sarongs for poolside parties, DJ sets, euphoric dance nights, live music, fashion shows and more happenings. Topos Beach Bar Restaurant by Apallou (the chic hangout in downtown Thessaloniki) is by the pebble-dashed sands of the beach, with views of the Sithonia Peninsula across the bay. Seating is cloud-like and cushiony with day-beds and swing chairs, and the cocktail list sticks with stone-cold classics, while the wine list shows off the spoils of local vineyards. Down more palomas, Aperols and margs at Raw Bar, interspersed with flute-fuls of champagne or homemade lemonades flavoured with mastika, chamomile syrup and basil (Greek style) or grapefruit, honey and ginger (slimline). If you’re staying in a suite (or you hold a VVIP card), you’ll also have access to the ‘haute living room’ from 10am to 11pm. Here you can help yourself to free wine, beer and snacks, and apéritifs before you go out out for the night. Plus there are books from Assouline to flip through and events such as champagne tastings and mixology lessons.
Last orders
Topos serves food from 1pm to 8.30pm. Breakfast is 7.30am to 10.30am and dinner 6.30pm to 10pm at Gustatio. Drinks are poured till midnight.
Room service
Enjoy bright cherry-tomato soup, Med-style burritos, burgers, sokolatopita (a local chocolate, avocado and olive-oil cake), and Greek cheeses round the clock.
Domes Noruz Kassandra is set by Chaniotis Beach on Kassandra, the most glamorous and party-hard of Halkidiki’s trio of peninsulas.
Planes
Thessaloniki Airport is the closest to the hotel, just over an hour’s drive away; it has direct connections across Europe. Staff can assist in arranging transfers (around €140 each way).
Automobiles
You could very easily get the hotel to pick you up, then stay put by the beach as much as possible before being whisked away for your flight after check-out – there’s plenty of drop-and-flop potential here. But, if you’d like to explore further without relying on often expensive and elusive taxis, then a car might come in handy. The hotel can help with hiring one. There’s a limited number of free parking spaces onsite and a valet service.
Worth getting out of bed for
Kassandra, the westernmost prong on the Poseidon’s trident of peninsulas poking out from Halkidiki, doesn’t just come alive at night. Yes, its spools of golden shoreline are dotted with open-air clubs where bottles pop with abandon and some revellers get to see the sun set and rise, but try to get in a few hangover-free days for exploring ancient monuments and natural wonders. First though, spread out a towel on Blue Flag Chaniotis Beach, a few steps from Domes Noruz, and the gateway to snorkelling and diving, paddle-boarding, jet-skiing, and fishing trips. From here, speedboats and yachts can be chartered with skippers, or you can man your own vessel. You can sail out to Mount Athos, too, where a Unesco-protected monastic society dating back to Byzantine times still presides; only men can hike up to and stay at the monastery, but women can sternly survey it from the water. Accessible-to-all historic sites include the ruins of Olynthus city, dating back to Neolithic times, Aristotle’s birthplace Stagira and its lush botanical gardens, and the Temple of Ammon Zeus in Kallithea, which you can chase with some rock-pool exploring along the rugged shoreline and a hot-springs soak (Agia Paraskevi is also scenic spa-ing central). Tour the region’s fortified towers (Prosforrio, Stavronikitas and Sani), stopping at Porto Koufo, a now very peaceful fishing village that was once a German base during World War II and a refuge for Greek rebel forces during the Civil War. The hotel’s concierge can map out various hiking trails for you, you can conquer Mounts Cholomondas or Itamos if you’re looking for something a little more challenging; and trek up to Meteora’s mind-boggling monasteries that nest atop soaring rock formations, or try to commune with the gods on a day trip to Mount Olympus. Follow up with downtime on a Jeep safari through Kassandra; taking a time out in Vourvourou village; floating over to only-reachable-by-boat Diaporos Island for some secluded water-based fun; or flopping down on Blue Flag beaches Paliouri, Pefkohori and wilder Possidi beach and cape (you’ll need a four-wheel drive to reach this, and bring snacks and drinks). Sip and sup through the tavernas of Thessaloniki’s Ladadika neighbourhood, or take a bite out of Kassandra’s gastro scene, tasting olive oil and wines (popping bottles at the likes of Tzikas, Domaine Gerovassiliou and Claudia Papagianni). Take a swig at the region’s breweries (aim for a frosty pairing of local beers Methia and Valtinger), try your hand at being a beekeeper for a day, and join the groovers and makers from behind the bar at Apallou in a cocktail-making session.
Local restaurants
Kassandra doesn’t exist on a liquid diet – there are plenty of places to fuel up before heading out. Mamalakou is emblematic of Halkidiki’s sun-worshipping, free-spirited feel: open-air, a grown-up bohemian look, day-beds and cocktails… But it also serves superlative seafood, with fat langoustines and pleasingly briny risottos. Mnemes Farm brings the same kind of freshness but from the land, serving up meat and vegetables reared and grown onsite, on clay pottery, at rustic wooden tables. Carpaccio Taverna doesn’t offer any prizes for guessing what it excels in, but you’ll be rewarded nonetheless – order up the yellowfin tuna and sea-bass namesake dish along with dolmades and soutzoukakia meatballs. And To Kyma is a sweet, nautically hued space where you can tuck into a whole just-grilled fish, pick at fried bits, or order up a rainbow of salads and dips.
Local bars
Halikidiki’s native son Aristotle once said ‘Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.’ We’re not sure it means he was racking up shots of mastika and spraying his mates with champagne, but we’re sure he would condone the kind of hedonism Halkidiki has leant into. Beach clubs for alfresco partying have popped up like corks along the coast: Shalimar’s languid, jazz-serenaded gardens; view-blessed Spitaki with its friendly, magic-muddling mixologists; the breezy sway of bodies at Angels Summer Club (open till 9am); laser-show-lit parties at Achinos; the leafy, tiki stylings of prophetically named Notos All-Day Bar… And with parties at the hotel, you’ll be very glad for your luxuriously dressed bed.
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 party-loving, yet peaceful hotel in Halkidiki's Kassandra Peninsula, where they stumbled in at sunrise, a full account of their late-nights break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Domes Noruz Kassandra in Greece…
A gleaming white beacon to Halkidiki’s party-goers, Domes Noruz Kassandra is a call to inaction at a volume that won’t distress those rolling in at 10am. Its gently hued rooms have the necessary soft, soft beds and silky linens, terraces for vitamin-D drops, and some have the kind of sea views that would revive the most delicate of Victorian widows. Lounging options are legion: day-beds on the beach (with call buttons for cocktails), poolside loungers, garden-set swing chairs… Or you can swing from cult clubs to culture, with day-trips to Aristotle’s birthplace, ancient Grecian temples and mountain-top monasteries. Or perhaps rouse yourself with a thrilling speedboat or helicopter jaunt. After which, you’ll be ready for whatever the night brings, and Domes Noruz kicks things off with poolside DJs and drinks shaken by the so-cool mixologists transplanted from Thessaloniki’s scene-y Apallou bar. Drink, drink and be merry because bedtime is whatever hour you come rolling in here.
