If you have spent even just a few days on Cyprus, you will be enchanted by this country. The Mediterranean there is clean and the beaches are as turquoise as you would otherwise only find in the Caribbean. The climate is pleasant and healthy. The lowest temperature in January is 16 degrees, and with 340 sunny days a year, there is hardly another destination reachable so quickly from Germany. Add to this the hospitable Cypriot population. For historically understandable reasons, there is naturally a great deal of English-style cuisine, but if you look around, you will also find plenty of cosy local tavernas. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that, compared with other countries, Cyprus offers tourists a very high level of safety. We booked the Columbia Beach Resort Pissouri Bay — on the one hand a paradisiacal five-star-plus retreat, and on the other an “individual, private gem.”
On arriving at the Columbia Resort, you immediately sense what remains unchanged throughout the entire stay: genuine, committed friendliness! Despite being aware of the size of the resort (94 exclusive suites of between 35 and 94 sq m each), you cannot shake the feeling that every member of staff is looking after you personally — seeing each individual guest as part of the whole and treating them accordingly. The “exclusive village,” built in 2002, consists of 11 small houses that, together with the “front house” and the “Eagle’s Nest” behind it (full-panorama suites), make up the rural-idyllic atmosphere of the Columbia Beach Resort in Pissouri Bay. Standing at the top by the “main house” — which houses, alongside some family suites, the reception, the beauty and spa area, the cocktail bar “Eros” and the gourmet restaurant “Dionysos” — your gaze sweeps past the terraced houses stepping down the hill, over the 80-metre lagoon pool and seems to dissolve into the sea. A truly breathtaking view over Pissouri Bay that you will never forget!
This luxury retreat, framed by the white cliffs of Pissouri Bay, is an oasis of calm. The exclusive facilities of the complex satisfy both the holidaymaker seeking relaxation and the discerning business traveller. The resort is even developing into the perfect family holiday destination, with daytime childcare. The suites are elegantly furnished in a harmonious mix of old and new, with varied colours, forms and materials. Lovingly restored terracotta roof tiles and graceful arches stand in aesthetic harmony with traditional Cypriot architecture.
Dining at the Columbia Beach Resort is possible in 2 restaurants and at the adjacent four-star Columbia Beach Hotel. Alongside the restaurant Apollo — with its Mediterranean cuisine and own bakery — the gourmet restaurant “Dionysos” must be singled out for special mention. Its chef and service are of Michelin-star calibre. Head chef Ioannis Yiakumides, who in the course of his career has worked at the Intercontinental Berlin and several Michelin-starred restaurants, cooks with great creativity and places particular emphasis on the exciting combination of authentic Cypriot cooking and international haute cuisine. Don’t be surprised if someone dining beside you looks familiar — Ioannis Yiakumides is a gourmet insider tip enjoyed from time to time even by Prince Harry.
Golf:
Cyprus is a little jewel for golfers. At Easter, the climate is already early-summer like. Outstanding golf courses with exemplary hospitality and almost year-round sunshine are ideal conditions for a year-round destination.
Aphrodite Hills Golf
15 km from Páfos lies this 18-hole (par 71) course. It was built by Gabell B. Robinson and sits practically above the legendary spot where Aphrodite is said to have risen from the sea.
Secret Valley Golf Club
The Secret Valley Golf Club (par 72), built in 1996 by Yacovos Yacovou, lies in a pretty valley with large, ancient trees, flowering cacti and surrounded by naturally formed rock formations impressive in their colour. Thanks to the combination of excellent course maintenance and the unusual landscape panorama, this is a course you return to again and again.
Minthis Hills Golf Club
Minthis Hills is the oldest golf course on Cyprus. The somewhat longer drive up into the “Tsada Mountains” above Paphos is well worth it. The golf course is set on the grounds of the 12th-century monastery “Stavros tis Minthis,” and course architect Donald Steel has integrated this unusual course with a subtle hand into the almost untouched natural surroundings. You play past — and at times through — cypress trees, grapevines, olive and almond trees.
Photos: Chresten and Nete Dagné
