Pano Lefkara, Cyprus

The Agora Hotel

Price per night from$223.03

Price information

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 (EUR206.15), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Come together

Setting

Lacy streets of Lefkara

Cool and creative, Cyprus stay the Agora Hotel takes after its owners, Danish couple and ‘disruptors’ Emilie and Aleksander, who have given this boutique hideaway a stylish shake-up. Inside, calming earth-toned interiors are Em’s handiwork, with widely sourced craft and vintage pieces adorning all available patches. Chilled-out and sociable is the feel here – at what was once a village ‘agora’ – at the hotel’s Med-influenced restaurant, Novél and compact heated courtyard pool, a lazy alternative to Governor's Beach. Leave base to explore the lace shops that populate most corners of the blue-doored village Pano Lefkara, and its surrounding hilly terrain beyond. Then, back at Agora, gather round for amaretto sours and good company in the guava- and terracotta-toned parlour.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A glass of house white on arrival, and two refillable glass bottles

Facilities

Photos The Agora Hotel facilities

Need to know

Rooms

18, including three suites.

Check–Out

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £192.54 (€225), including tax at 9 per cent.

More details

Rates do not include breakfast.

Also

The lounge, restaurant, and study are all located on the ground floor and are accessible to wheelchair-users. There’s also one accessible room, a Demi, located on the ground floor.

At the hotel

Parlour and library, courtyard, bikes to rent (for a charge) charged laundry service and free WiFi. In rooms: air-conditioning, smart TV with Netflix, Roberts Radio, mini fridge, and Frama bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Delusions of grandeur don’t apply when it comes to the hotel’s ‘Grand’ suites. Lounge about in a king size Duxiana bed; soak in your freestanding bath tub (seductively placed steps from the bed); then enjoy a coffee on your private balcony which overlooks the village’s cobbled streets. Alternatively, the Petite is a suitably snug base that covers all the basics.

Poolside

There’s a small heated outdoor pool. Courtyard-centric, the saltwater pool is flanked by sunloungers. Paddle about or lounge around anytime from 7am to 10pm.

Spa

There’s no spa, but the compact gym and yoga room is a tranquil space to get your body moving – whether that’s a quick 15-minute flow pre-breakfast, or a longer guided session with one of Agora’s teachers. Alternatively, rent a bike and take to Lefkara’s hilly tracks.

Packing tips

Blue and white are the colours du jour here, echoing those of Pano Lefkara's doors. Pack an assortment of linens and playful prints, plus a voguish summer cardigan to wrap around your shoulders. Oh, and pair with something lacy, of course.

Children

The hotel is adults-only.

Sustainability efforts

The restaurant works closely with local farms to deliver their seasonal menus.

Food and Drink

Photos The Agora Hotel food and drink

Top Table

In the summer, dine by the pool or under the pergola for alfresco mealtimes. In the cooler months, nab a corner table in the main restaurant.

Dress Code

Riff on co-owner Emilie’s design nous, wearing shades of guava and sage.

Hotel restaurant

Chef Edward Guk whips up breakfast (don’t miss the çilbir and za'atar toast), lunch, and dinner at Novél, the hotel’s Mediterranean bistro. Collaborating with local farms, he presents simple produce in creative ways. Lunch is predominantly pizzas – double thumbs-up for the pancetta aspri pie – while dinner is all about sharing. Order amply for everyone, so you all get to taste the burrata with persimmon and pistachio; grilled octopus with spicy sweet potato purée, fresh herb sauce and pickled fennel; and chocolate-tahini tart with strawberries and black pepper. 

Hotel bar

Left of the lobby, unfurl fireside in the cosy living-room-style bar. Order an amaretto sour or an old fashioned before dinner, propped in a Titian-toned velvet chair as you sip. It’s open from 7am till midnight, so during the day relax here with a cup of tea and a croissant. If there’s work to be done, crack open your laptop in the lounge’s bespoke study space. 

Room service

Quench your thirst with drinks-only room service available from 8am until midnight.

Location

Photos The Agora Hotel location
Address
The Agora Hotel
Timiou Stavrou 25
Pano Lefkara
7700
Cyprus

In the middle of the mountain village of Lefkara, the Agora Hotel is within walking distance of everything in the local area, while Governor's Beach is a 25-minute drive.

Planes

Larnaca Airport is a 25- to 30-minute drive from the hotel – the hotel can arrange transfers (share flight details, number of people travelling, and the number of luggage items you’ll have in tow ahead of time).

Automobiles

There’s no official car park, but if you're driving to the hotel you can park in any of the free public parking spaces; the hotel is a two- to three minute walk away.

Worth getting out of bed for

Hire a bike from the Agora Hotel and work up a sweat on the Troodos Mountains’ winding highways and byways. Descend to Finikoudes Beach’s sandy stretches, pausing for a clear-water dip followed by a beachside snack at one of the cafés dotted nearby. For a better sense of the area’s history, pay a visit to the Folklore Museum, set around a pomegranate- and citrus-tree-laden courtyard. Upstairs, peep at examples of original lace and silverwork – Lefkara is the birthplace of Cypriot folk needlecraft art. Imposing Larnaca Castle, believed to have been built in the Middle Ages, is also worth an eyeball. 

Local restaurants

The gingham-topped tables at Stou Roushia are almost as charming as its courtyard setting. Local wines complement grilled dishes and traditional plates – hearty feta salads and kebabs galore. At Taverna Vavatsinia, located in church square, their Cypriot breakfast makes a strong case for the most important meal of the day, peaking with sweet, flakey bourekia.

Local cafés

Order a medley of decadently stuffed pastries and piping-hot Greek coffee to go at Stella Pasterie. Neighbouring Marikkou pou ta Lefkara does brunch with all the trimmings.

Reviews

Photos The Agora Hotel reviews

Anonymous review

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 Modish hotel in lace-making village Pano Lefkara and unpacked their olive oil and Cyprus lace, a full account of their idyllic island break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Agora Hotel…

Creative-leaning, the Agora Hotel opened in December last year, following a three-year renovation by its Danish co-owners, Emilie Green Novel and Aleksander Eng – the latter describes himself as a ‘disruptor’, and both have certainly shaken a down-at-heel hotel up. First, they were seduced by the surrounds – hilly terrain, olive groves, and sea-lapping shores – and you will be too. In the cobblestoned, blue-doored village of Lefkara, this convivial hideaway bestows a homey feel. Earth-toned interiors have a calming effect, while local and international craft pieces provide decoration throughout. Bedrooms with a vintage feel range from Petite to Grand (which lives up to its name  with a romantic in-room bath tub and balcony with serious views), with soothing greens and pops of guava, art prints, and banana-leaf plants all come together. Speaking of, this building actually once was the village’s ‘agora’, so you’re encouraged to rub shoulders with fellow guests – a predominantly young, cool crowd. Take drinks fireside in the living area-cum-bar and follow with dinner at the Med-influenced Novél restaurant. Post-prandial, recline in the library or by the courtyard pool; there’s also a study if you need to get some work done. Laptop gleefully shuttered, head for the hills on foot or by bicycle (rentals are available from reception). Then, it’s back to your home-from-home for a good-old, agora-style get-together.

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Price per night from $223.03