Greece: Naked Truth in The Times

A new naturist resort in Kefalonia means that the Vritomartis hotel on Crete is no longer Greece’s only nudist resort, though the Vassaliki Naturist Club is barely open

Not many people can claim to have been seen naked in the Times of London, Britain’s newspaper of record, but that is one of my rare claims to fame. My bare bottom has graced the Times’ travel pages, when I wrote about what was, at the time, Greece’s only nudist hotel: the Vritomartis near Chora Sfakion on Crete, the biggest of the Greek islands.

I am not, by nature, a naturist, but for a writer a story is a story. I was talking to my writer friend Dea Birkett one day, and she said that the travel editor at the Times was looking for someone to write a piece about a nudist holiday. I volunteered. I write for the travel pages of the Times, and mostly the articles come and go without much comment. When this one appeared, it seemed that every person I knew had seen it, and of course commented on it. I never knew so many people read the Times.

The hotel I stayed at, the Vritomartis on Crete’s southern coast, not far from the lovely little town of Chora Sfakion, was absolutely delightful. As an introduction to nudist holidays, it was perfect. Nudity was not allowed inside the hotel, but was expected around the swimming pool and on the nearby beach. The grounds were full of brightly-colored flowers and lush greenery, making it look like a real Garden of Eden. The food was good and the staff were amazingly friendly.

The Vritomartis was such a good hotel that I also wrote about it here on Suite101 recently, when I called it the only nudist hotel in Greece. Life being what it is, a few weeks later I saw a small news story in the Times (where else?) about a new nudist hotel opening on Kefalonia, in Greece’s Ionian islands. What made this newsworthy was that the new resort, the Vassaliki Naturist Club, was being opened by an English couple, and the wife, Samantha Taylor, was retiring from her job as an investment banker in order to do it.

So Greek nudity seems to be spreading. What Mark and Samantha are doing is a bold venture, and I wish them well. And it just goes to show that you should always read the Times. And that’s the naked truth.

Read about the Vassaliki Naturist Resort on Kefalonia here.

Read about the Vritomartis Hotel on Crete here.

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