The first thing you notice is the silence. Not the absence of sound exactly - there's the sea, the breeze, the sounds of laughter from the beach nearby - but the absence of everything else. No alert. No distant boom. No mental calculation of where the nearest shelter is. Just the warm Cypriot air and the slow, almost forgotten feeling of your shoulders dropping back to where they belong.
At the Anassa resort, 50 minutes from Paphos airport and, spiritually speaking, several worlds away, that silence is the whole point.
The Anassa, flagship of the Thanos Hotels & Resorts group, reopened this season following a sweeping €10 million renovation. The upgrade and new designs are immediately apparent: soft tones, natural textures, a precision of detail that makes the resort feel simultaneously brand-new and entirely itself. Its rooms are arranged to evoke a traditional Cypriot village, achingly beautiful against the clear blue of the nearby Mediterranean.
I stayed in a Junior Suite, and I'm not exaggerating when I say I could have spent the entire trip without leaving it. The ocean views from the balcony are the kind that make you question every life decision that kept you somewhere landlocked. The renovated bathroom, stocked with Acqua di Parma, a staple in their rooms, is a destination in its own right.
Of course, there are rooms to accommodate groups of all sizes, including the option to stay in a fully furnished villa with a private pool.
And then the evening comes. The renovated central terrace faces west, which means the sunsets are nothing short of mesmerizing. You find yourself there with a glass in your hand and, somehow, actual peace in your heart. Nowhere to rush, no headlines to disrupt the peace. The day just ends, slowly and beautifully, the way days are supposed to.
Four stellar restaurants
The Anassa's dining scene spans four restaurants, each worth visiting in its own right. Helios offers French-Mediterranean cuisine, Basiliko goes Asian-Mediterranean, Pelagos serves traditional mezze poolside, and the resort’s newest addition, Amphora, focuses on fresh catch and premium grilled meats.
The homemade cheeses alone warranted a mild breakdown of restraint. The fresh fish was exceptional. The meat looked absolutely gorgeous, and according to everyone around me, it tasted that way, too. (As a vacation Jew, I had to take their word for it, but the enthusiasm on their faces was convincing enough.)
For kosher-keeping travelers: Anassa's sister properties, the Almyra and Annabelle - both part of the Thanos group - are situated in Paphos town, a short walk from Chabad Paphos, where kosher dining options are available nearby.
The Thalassa Spa
The award-winning Thalassa Spa is built around a Roman bathhouse concept, with 18 treatment rooms and partnerships with luxury brands Subtle Energies and Augustinus Bader. I went in expecting a nice massage. I came out feeling like a person again.
After months of covering the Iran war from a Jerusalem newsroom, I had forgotten what it felt like to be fully present somewhere.
A treatment at Thalassa, and perhaps more unexpectedly, a meditation class I hadn't planned on attending, managed to give me that back. The class, led by a warm instructor with singing bowls and a meditation drum, was my first time trying meditation.
An hour of not having to think about anything was, in a word, revelatory, and the atmosphere the Thalassa provides during the relaxation classes is unlike any other.
For the more active guest, the Anassa offers a full water sports center, a PADI diving club, sailing, jet skiing, water skiing, boat trips to the Blue Lagoon, tennis, and a padel court. Guests can meet with an instructor to show you the ropes, and who won’t laugh when you need to tap out after five minutes because you haven’t exercised since high school gym class.
Families will find a thoughtfully designed kids' club and play area, Mythos, that keeps younger guests entertained, while adults who need their peace can retreat to designated adult-only areas, where the quiet is jealously guarded. There is, quite literally, something for everyone.
But the soul of the Anassa isn't really in any of that. It's something harder to name, the cumulative effect of waking up to that water, eating that food, sitting in the quiet of the gardens, letting a professional work the tension out of your shoulders. It's a place designed to return you to yourself.
The writer was a guest at the resort.