A tasty Cyprus spa and side dish of celebrity . . .
WHEn it’s a choice between visiting an archaeological site or watching Paul Hollywood film a documentary, the Great British Bake Off star wins hands down. We are in Paphos, Cyprus, where my newly teenage daughter, daisy, is agog to see Hollywood in the flesh.
Back at the Annabelle Hotel, Hollywood is every inch the A-lister. Excited holidaymakers film him on their mobiles as he strides around the pool, camera crew in tow.
daisy and I are staying at the Annabelle’s grander sister hotel, the more remote Anassa.
daisy bravely asks Hollywood for his autograph and ends up clinking iced coffee and chatting with the twinkly-eyed cove.
I eventually drag her away for a quick march around some of Paphos’s historical sites.
She feigns interest in the House of dionysos — a roman villa built at the end of the second century Ad — perking up when the guide points out Pyramus and Thisbe in the mosaic floor. daisy has just studied A Midsummer night’s dream.
Then it’s back to the Anassa and its spa. When daisy announced that for her 13th birthday she did not want a party, but hoped for a mother/ daughter spa trip instead, I was chuffed. Imagine the saving. no invitations, no party bags.
But, in fact, female bonding doesn’t come cheap and introducing daisy to the world of luxury spas is about as cost-efficient as having her party at the ritz.
The Anassa is perfectly pitched for our needs. We don’t want a destination spa with strict dietary regimes,
but being a spa snob and spa purist, i want somewhere with a holistic edge and intuitive treatments. Anassa delivers.
While Daisy experiences her first facial, i’m treated to a collagen and oxygen revival treatment for my dry old visage.
i can’t tell you a thing about it as i sleep through the entire treatment. We stagger into the relaxation room, lolling on the loungers, scoffing fruit.
We come to love this family-owned hotel, wandering around the jasmine scented paths, photographing each other in front of purple explosions of bougainvillea, and sit in the bar listening to the singer who won the greek version of The Voice.
The hotel has eight bars and restaurants, from the buzzy poolside taverna to our absolute favourite, the Japanese restaurant Basiliko. We marvel over oyster tempura, eat lightly poached octopus in green tea broth and slurp the finest miso soup ever — at £15.50 a bowl.
As i’ve promised to take Daisy to a destination spa for her 18th birthday, i think i’d better start saving up for it now.
TRAVEL FACTS
SCOTT DUNN (scottdunn.com, 020 8682 5040) offers seven nights at the Anassa hotel, Cyprus, from £1,100 pp, based on two people sharing a studio suite on a halfboard basis. Includes return flights and private transfers.