Upmarket scheme for island paradise

as both its more famous neighbours, its visitor numbers are barely 5% of theirs.

But while Mykonos and Santorini are all about sophistication and fashion, with congested roads and whopping price tags to match, there’s a beautiful and inexpensive simplicity to Ios.

For a start there’s just one town, Chora, splashed like paint down the hillside above the port, its lanes and cafes sleepy during the day but bouncing by night.

There are 28 beaches, many of them pristine and untouched by road, and only three with any significant development.

There is, as we’ve heard, archaeology, which includes the supposed last resting place of Homer – if the Greek hero even existed. And while there’s no airport, up to 18 fast ferries pop in daily, in case anyone wants to go anywhere.

So why haven’t we all heard of Ios before? The answer is that it’s a place where opposites co-exist. In July, young hedonists flock here in big numbers looking for cut-price partying – shots of spirits are just £1 in Chora’s bars.

For the rest of the year, Ios is gently touristed by those who want to rediscover the Greek-island idyll as it used to be.

Now, this island with a split personality is nudging gently upmarket, emphasising its privacy and peace, without dispensing with its annual display of youthful exuberance.

Besides Pathos, there’s now a sophisticated beach club, Erego. Besides campsites and sleeping on the beach, there are now suites with pools like those at Agalia and Hideout.

And this June will see the opening of the first lavish new five-star-plus property, in a remote bay all of its own called Calilo. These properties are a similar standard to those found on Mykonos and Santorini, but at a fraction of the price.

Locals are nervous of change, but it would take a lot more than these developments to change the essence of Ios.

Sitting in the only taverna in Psathi, a tiny settlement on the east coast, I talk to owner Nicos, who says the July crowd never venture across the island anyway.

His clientele are the sort of people with whom I watched the second sunset.

They mostly come to Psathi during the day. At night, everyone heads back west, for there’s one thing that brings this island’s clientele together. Rich or poor, young or old, they all gather for that moment when the sun goes down. “EVERY island is a victim of its own success,” says Angelos Michalopoulos.

The Greek-born Wall Street trader, along with his wife Vasso, has bought 25% of

Ios and is carefully developing its more upmarket clientele.

The couple have created a presidentialstyle home on their own island, connected to Ios by a causeway.

Sunset club Pathos is their creation, as will be luxury resort Calilo, but their plan is to only build on 1% of the land they have acquired, leaving most of their nine beaches absolutely pristine. There is a lot of speculation among locals and visitors what might come next, but Angelos is adamant.

He said: “They all think I must have some plan… I just wanted to buy the land to leave it. “It was the only way to stop it becoming an ex-beautiful place.”