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 (EUR321.10), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
The Goddess of Love would approve of the level of self-care at Minthis hotel – the serious spa puts wellness as a priority, drawing on thousands of years of holistic know-how in bespoke treatments, invigorating you with hot-cold thermal suites and offering Troodos mountain range panoramas as you swim. And, you may find yourself asking: do pro-golfers go to heaven, or do they just book in for an eternity here? On Cyprus’s west coast, where you’ll find olive groves, seemingly untouched hillsides and a well-groomed golf course, this sizeable resort looks like something taken from an ancient myth, only one in which Aphrodite (born in the island’s waters) has form with a seven iron. Interiors match their locale in elegance with glass walls that let the sun-baked scenery do the talking, and you can tee up candlelit Mediterranean dining, or swing for an adventure – mountain biking, nature trails – in the local countryside.
Smith Extra
Get this when you book through us:
A bottle of Minthis wine and a group fitness class
Noon; earliest check-in, 2pm: both are flexible, subject to availability, but can only be confirmed the day before and may incur a fee.
Prices
Double rooms from £300.61 (€350), including tax at 9 per cent.
More details
Rates include a buffet breakfast, and, unless occupancies are low, there are à la carte Med classics – we plumped for the sourdough bread with grilled lountza and halloumi, pistachio pesto and scrambled eggs.
Also
Unfortunately, Minthis’s rustic location doesn’t lend itself to wheelchair-accessible stays.
At the hotel
Golf course, spa, hair salon, nail salon, gym, yoga studio, restaurant, bar, bar/café, paid laundry service, free WiFi. In rooms: cable-satellite TV, fully equipped kitchen, air-conditioning, Nespresso coffee machine, and Molton Brown bath products
Our favourite rooms
Although all options at Minthis are flush with space, we’re particularly drawn to the Mountain Executive Suites, for their vantage points of the Troodos mountains and Ezousa valley, sites that make dragging yourself from the pure-cotton bedding a little easier. For a hideaway-within-a-hideaway option, any one of the private detached villas will feel as though you’ve got a key to your own pad – and comes with an enticing private plunge pool, outdoor dining space, a terrace and courtyard.
Poolside
At Minthis there are dips indoors and out: the lounger-flanked outdoor infinity pool is poised for breathtaking views over the countryside, and is accompanied by a shallow children’s pool (open during summer, 9am to 6pm). The indoor spa pool, which looks as though it has come straight out of an Architectural Digest centrefold, has stepped entry and a vast window-wall at one end; for over 16s only (open 7am to 8pm during summer, and 7am to 7pm during the winter season).
Spa
The spa’s pared-down look belies its comprehensive approach to wellbeing. The treatment menu brings together Cypriot herbal traditions and Ancient Greek healing methods (lotions and infusions make use of locally grown herbs, such as mint, oregano, sage and chamomile) with modern science, and therapies, such as the detox drainage massage, will make you as smooth as a sip of zivania. There are also thermal suites featuring a tepidarium, caldarium, Finnish sauna, sanarium, ice fountain and fridigarium to take you from hot to cold, wet to dry. Any remaining knots can be eased in the hydrotherapy pool; specialist practitioners – osteopaths and physiotherapists among them – are also at hand; and, if your chakras need realigning, there’s a yoga studio.
Packing tips
A breathable pair of Mr Marvis shorts should easily take you from the putting green to the vineyards, and back to the hotel restaurant.
Also
After the masseuse has worked you like a potter moulding clay, add a finishing touch with a Greek-yoghurt facial, which is said to help rebalance your microbiome.
Very welcome. Minthis’s two-bedroom suites and villas are family friendly; babysitting is available from €20 an hour, and you’ll need to book before your stay. Extra beds are free on room only rates; please contact our Smith travel team to book.
Best for
Babies and up
Recommended rooms
With two-bedrooms, a courtyard garden, living space and a kitchen, any one of the secluded villas offers ample room in which young Smiths can kick back. Or opt for a suite to be closer to the heart of the resort.
Activities
Minthis accommodates young explorers and doers, with a menu of activities that goes beyond the ubiquitous soft play areas and boxes of weathered toys. Here, there are specially designed parks and an adventure playground; a children's club with a team of entertainers is open during weekends; mini Attenboroughs can visit the Episkopi Environmental Centre to learn about local flora and fauna; and hotel staff can create a bespoke itinerary that may feature days out to the bays, beaches and lagoons.
Swimming pool
Of the options available, we recommend taking your Smithlets to the outdoor pool, where there’s a small children-only area (but please note, flotation devices are not allowed).
Meals
The kitchen is happy to adapt the menu for children, so any great hunks of ribeye or mounds of pasta pomodoro can be customised for small appetites.
Babysitting
Babysitting is offered at the hotel: from €20 an hour for one child, €30 an hour for two, or €35 an hour for three. After 10pm, hourly rates increase, and for all babysitting, you’ll need to book well ahead.
No need to pack
Cots and highchairs are available on request.
Also
Villas also come with a plunge pool in which your little ones can unwind after an arduous day in the sun and sea.
Sustainability efforts
Minthis takes a holistic approach to sustainability. Located on a protected Natura 2000 site, the grounds are home to breeding and nesting sites for rare and endangered species, as well as protected habitats and flora. Financial support is given to Episkopi Environmental Information Centre, which promotes and protects the ecology of the Ezousa valley. The on-site golf course partners with sustainability consultants GreenClub to reduce its environmental impact; solar panels have been installed; plans are in place to create a solar park; and there’s a recycled-water system. On the smaller, but no less important, end of the scale, bath products are sustainable; LED bulbs, motion sensors and timers are used throughout; a zero-plastic initiative is in place; and most produce is either locally sourced or, as is the case with olive oil and honey, made by the hotel.
If you can beat the crowds to it, plump for a terrace table, where your dinner will have a backdrop of orchards and olive groves.
Dress Code
Minthis’s dining spots are contemporary in design and back-to-nature in hue, so keep your threads similarly neutral and unembellished, focusing on simple linens and loose tailoring.
Hotel restaurant
The hotel’s main dining spot is Clubhouse Restaurant, where chef Marios Efstathiou celebrates Med cuisine from dawn till dusk, starting with shakshuka (oven-baked eggs, pepper-and-red-onion ragù, melted mozzarella, pork chiromeri with feta crumble, and toasted pine nuts); and lunchtime heavyweights such as giagia’s pie, made with a crust of mastic and lemon thyme, and filled with seasonal produce; and you’d be a fool to let the flame-torched octopus slip past you. For dinner, try the braised lamb shank with halloumi, yellow-pepper coulis and orzo, followed by a Minthis nest – a chocolate shell with carob ice- cream and warm caramel sauce. Plateia is the hotel’s outlying social hub, inspired by typical Cypriot village squares, it’s home to boutiques and galleries, as well as Bar-M, and a second restaurant, Amaracus, where executive chef Dimitris Katrivesis (of Mavro on Santorini and a couple of Tinos eateries) whips-up seasonal, Mediterranean dishes inspired by the local area and home-grown produce from the resort’s gardens, orchards, bee hives and vineyards. Start with the pistachio hummus served with kale, raisins and burnt butter; lead with the black Angus short rib with orzo, goat cheese, fresh herbs and
yellow pepper coulis and round it off with a tahini miso crème brûlée.
Hotel bar
Looking beyond island clichés, Bar-M, beside Plateia, with its refined, dark interiors, is a sophisticated drinking spot. Despite its brooding name, the Nero Ambrato – a medley of rum blend, cachaça, pistachio-and-honey orgeat, Pedro Ximénez and clarified pineapple – is a spirited concoction in more than one way.
Last orders
Clubhouse is an all-day spot, where breakfast is served 7.30am–10.30am; brunch, 10.30am–noon; lunch, noon–3pm; and dinner, 6.30pm–9.30pm. Or catch dinner at Amaracus from 5pm to 11pm Tuesday to Sunday
Minthis, set on a coastal hilltop in protected countryside just 10 minutes from Paphos – a landscape of vine terraces, olive groves, and traditional villages.
Planes
There are two airports in Cyprus: Paphos International Airport, a 30-minute drive away from Minthis; and Larnaca International Airport, which is 90 minutes away by road. The hotel can arrange private transfers (price on request).
Automobiles
Indie souls intent on exploring beyond the hotel’s bucolic acres can hire wheels at either of Cyprus’s airports, and the hotel has a private car park with free valet parking.
Worth getting out of bed for
If you manage to peel yourself away from the massage table, you’ll find that Minthis’s location – among acres of countryside but in close proximity to culture – makes for an experience as rich as a traditional stifado. Brush up on your sommelier-speak by paying a visit to the family-operated Makarounas Winery, where you can sit on the veranda and while away the afternoon sampling Xynisteri, Spourtiko and a pale-pink ‘Minthy’ vintage. To burn off the flights of red and white, try the hotel’s 5km nature trail, which winds its way up vertiginous paths and past a waterfall, against a backdrop of mountain vistas; or saddle up and ask the hotel to help arrange horse riding. Green-fingered travellers may prefer the tamed beauty of the botanical gardens at the Episkopi Environmental Centre. If you want to go into full Indiana Jones mode, lead your travelling cadre to the Archaeological Park of Kato Pafos, which is home to unearthed ruins, restored columns and decorative details spanning the island’s history from the 4th century BCE to the Middle Ages; then head to the one-time Byzantine fort of Pafos Castle, before making a beeline south to ogle at Aphrodite’s Rock, where, it is claimed, the goddess was born from sea foam.
Local restaurants
Even with Cypriot fare slowly incorporating global influences into its kitchens – the island is at the nexus of Europe, Africa and Asia – we’re still quite fond of what it does best: tavernas. Melania Restaurant, going since 1988, is exactly what you hope for when wanting to sample local life: a view of the sea on one side, a garden with a vineyard on the other; the company of locals and a menu of Cypriot salads, octopus, giant prawns, smoked meats, and a well-curated selection of homemade wines. The crowning glories at the Fountain of Gerolakkos are foothill vistas and a Flintstone-sized pork chop. For something more contemporary, bright young things head to Muse, where polished plates include black linguine with langoustine, chives and garlic, as well as a whey-over-the-top grilled chicken fillet slathered in six-cheese sauce.
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 bucolic hotel in Cyprus and unpacked their bottles of commandaria and jars of carob, a full account of their hillside break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Minthis…
Set against a pristine pastoral backdrop of Cyprus cedars, gentle hills, olive groves and vineyards, Minthis is a vast rural estate that feels a world away from the bustle of Paphos even though it’s only a 10-minute drive. Let your days float by in the outdoor infinity pool, which has first-row seats to the local topography. The spa – with its string of treatment rooms, yoga studio, and bevy of thermal suites that have more wellbeing facilities than Goop’s headquarters – is an accomplished wellspring of ways to unwind. Between laps of the pool, sauna sessions, facials and massages, you must slide in sunset cocktails on the deck at Clubhouse Café and a meal or two of corn-fed-chicken souvlaki – or else regret will come home to roost. Marginally more strenuous business takes place on the landscaped golf course, a beautiful destination where even a double-bogey can look pretty.
