Tom Allen

Before we kick off, I have another chapter in my own travel diaries to share.

I've had a lot of messages saying, "When are you going to Sani?" And I have to say, I was curious too, because Sani in Halkidiki, Greece is one of the legendary names in luxury family travel in Europe.

Sani isn't really one hotel.

It's more like an entire luxury world spread across a long stretch of white sand beach, pine forests, nature reserve, and marina on the coast of Halkidiki.

And there are five distinct hotels: Sani Beach, Sani Dunes, Sani Club, Porto Sani, and Sani Asterias, which is where we stayed.

It's the most exclusive and peaceful part of Sani.

All the hotels are beautiful.

What made Asterias so special for us is that it just had a full transformation with reimagined residences and villas.

It feels boutique, private, very calm.

It actually used to be the adults-only part of the hotel, and you can still really feel that more grown-up atmosphere.

But the genius is that you have all the family infrastructure of Sani there on your doorstep.

So we stayed in a newly renovated two-bedroom villa with our own private heated pool overlooking the marina.

The interiors were, like, so my taste.

Like soft neutrals, pale wood, a place you could properly exhale.

And just outside our villa, there was a shallow baby pool overlooking the marina, and a gorgeous larger pool next to it, and then the most beautiful beach just moments away.

Even though Asterias feels slightly more grown-up, there were lots of young children and babies there, and they looked after them so beautifully when you wanted an extra hand.

There's a babysitter on hand at breakfast, so you can eat your breakfast in peace or have a coffee in peace while your kids are kind of in the distance playing with other kids with this beautiful children's toys.

And then she then relocates to the beach under this lovely little awning with loads of toys so that you can lie on a sun lounger and have a cocktail, see them in the distance, but, like, actually have a moment to chill out.

And then when you want it kind of beyond Sani Asterias, you have access to the kids' club, the crèche, and babysitting, and all the things that make a family holiday actually feel like a holiday.

So for older children and multi-generational families, there is just an extraordinary amount to do.

I mean, we literally just scratched the surface.

The food was another huge highlight for us.

Wherever we ate throughout the different properties, we were genuinely blown away.

Asterias itself has its flagship water restaurant and bar, which a- added a new chapter this year with menus curated by a two-Michelin-star chef.

Seafood-led, refined, but very relaxed style of dining even so.

Before we kick off, I have another chapter in my own travel diaries to share.

I've had a lot of messages saying, "When are you going to Sani?" And I have to say, I was curious too, because Sani in Halkidiki, Greece is one of the legendary names in luxury family travel in Europe.

Sani isn't really one hotel.

It's more like an entire luxury world spread across a long stretch of white sand beach, pine forests, nature reserve, and marina on the coast of Halkidiki.

And there are five distinct hotels: Sani Beach, Sani Dunes, Sani Club, Porto Sani, and Sani Asterias, which is where we stayed.

It's the most exclusive and peaceful part of Sani.

All the hotels are beautiful.

What made Asterias so special for us is that it just had a full transformation with reimagined residences and villas.

It feels boutique, private, very calm.

It actually used to be the adults-only part of the hotel, and you can still really feel that more grown-up atmosphere.

But the genius is that you have all the family infrastructure of Sani there on your doorstep.

So we stayed in a newly renovated two-bedroom villa with our own private heated pool overlooking the marina.

The interiors were, like, so my taste.

Like soft neutrals, pale wood, a place you could properly exhale.

And just outside our villa, there was a shallow baby pool overlooking the marina, and a gorgeous larger pool next to it, and then the most beautiful beach just moments away.

Even though Asterias feels slightly more grown-up, there were lots of young children and babies there, and they looked after them so beautifully when you wanted an extra hand.

There's a babysitter on hand at breakfast, so you can eat your breakfast in peace or have a coffee in peace while your kids are kind of in the distance playing with other kids with this beautiful children's toys.

And then she then relocates to the beach under this lovely little awning with loads of toys so that you can lie on a sun lounger and have a cocktail, see them in the distance, but, like, actually have a moment to chill out.

And then when you want it kind of beyond Sani Asterias, you have access to the kids' club, the crèche, and babysitting, and all the things that make a family holiday actually feel like a holiday.

So for older children and multi-generational families, there is just an extraordinary amount to do.

I mean, we literally just scratched the surface.

The food was another huge highlight for us.

Wherever we ate throughout the different properties, we were genuinely blown away.

Asterias itself has its flagship water restaurant and bar, which a- added a new chapter this year with menus curated by a two-Michelin-star chef.

Seafood-led, refined, but very relaxed style of dining even so.