I’d use three words to describe Almyra hotel in Cyprus: friendly, relaxing and refreshing. I had the pleasure of being invited to return to Cyprus (after my trip last year) in order to review the beautiful hotel that is Almyra. With a focus on wellness and a chic, modern interior, I knew that it was exactly where I wanted to spend what was bound to be a rainy April weekend in London.

The great thing about Cyprus actually is that it’s warm so much earlier than the rest of the med, at a warm 26 degrees everyday we were there! 🙂 In my opinion we were there at the best time of year – before everywhere else was warm and before it got too busy! Apparently September/October is perfect too.

Rooms

We stayed in one of the seaview rooms closest to the spa, away from the hustle and bustle of the main hotel (K18 to be exact). The room looked out onto the sea with a private outdoor area with two extra sunloungers. I was actually amazed at how light and airy it was – the doors onto the outside terrace were floor to ceiling glass, letting in as much light as possible. We didn’t spend much time in the room (there was too much sunbathing and eating going on) but it was nice to come back to a large room big enough for two girls’ clutter.

Food

Almyra has a lot of options when it comes to food. It’s situated along a row of hotels and a little bit away from the main town, so the easiest place to eat is in the hotel, which usually has me a little worried, but I was very pleasantly surprised with the delicious options! The hotel itself has three main restaurants – Notios (Japanese with a Cypriot twist), Eauzone (the main breakfast and dinner buffet) and Ouzeri (a classic Cypriot restaurant on the seafront). For half board guests, breakfast and dinner at the Eauzone were included. The buffet was a fairly standard buffet – nothing special but good quality food and (thankfully) a decent selection of healthy vegetarian and vegan foods. We enjoyed breakfast at the spa one morning too and I was very impressed with the food. We got the set menu (minus pastries and cakes), which contained a pleasing amount of fresh fruit and a smoothie (of your choice). We visited the local-style restaurant, Ouzeri, for a mezze lunch – we were encouraged to get 4 hot and 4 cold dishes and couldn’t finish, so I would give a 10/10 for quantity and everything was absolutely delicious. The Japanese restaurant had to be my favourite – after all, it is my favourite cuisine. The food there was top quality – probably better than any of the other restaurants in the area, and it was a gorgeous place to sit for drinks at sunset!

Drinks at Notios

Amenities

The hotel has a separate spa complex that is pretty serene and relaxing, with a myriad of rooms I was unable to explore in the time we had. I was told that there were many treatments that could be had, and met multiple people who had travelled from other hotels for use of the spa. The prices were not unreasonable either, and the relaxation factor was just perfect. I can’t speak for the quality of treatment, as I didn’t have any. On the top floor of the spa is a gym – basic by London standards, but with a wide selection of free-weights, a few machines (though no squat rack!), soft mats and cardio equipment. I never saw it so busy that people had to wait. It was also the best view I’ve ever had whilst running on a treadmill! If you have boxing gloves, bring them, as there’s a balcony with a bag for free use. This is also where I filmed lots of my bodyweight workouts.

In the area

Other than sunbathing, eating and gymming, there were plenty of activities to do in the area. The main town is just a short walk away (max 10 minutes) and has lots of cute, as well as touristy shops (and a strip, like any other European city). In the other direction, along the coast lies Suite 48, a fantastic bar and restaurant serving up cocktails and snack, often to live music. I went to Suite 48 last year, and was not disappointed on my return. The staff are so welcoming and many of the drinks are really special, if you pick the right ones (they have a lot of the cheap, sweet strip classics, too). My recommendation if you like G&T would be the ‘Monkey Business’, though plenty of the other gin cocktails are also delicious. A short drive away is Muse restaurant, up a hill and looking out over Paphos and the sea. 100% would recommend this restaurant for sunset – it’s a view you won’t want to miss. Don’t forget to book though – it gets full quickly! At the bottom of Almyra is a watersports shack with a new pier, offering activities such as waterskiing, sailing, jetskiing, parasailing, paddleboarding and, of course, a pedalo with a slide (a childhood favourite). I tried the first two, and got to know men runnin the show pretty well. The man who drove the boat for water/mono-skiing clearly is really passionate about teaching people, which was very helpful for me, as it was only my second session mono-skiing, and improvements were made within our two 10 minute sessions! Would thoroughly recommend if you’re looking for lessons or just a fun trip out.

Visit the website and check out Almyra’s instagram.