The Seahorse | Luxury Coastal Home + Fireplace

A single-storey house in Spartikus Lifestyle Village, in Mykonos, built around one long open-plan room under a vaulted ceiling — the lounge with its big leather L-shaped sofa and a fireplace at one end, a dining table for six in the middle, and the kitchen at the other. The walls carry local art, including work by the Langebaan artist Dante Ruben, and the front door is etched with the seahorse the house is named for.

Two of the bedrooms have king beds; the main one is en-suite, and the second can be split into two singles. The third room has a sleeper couch and a desk, which makes the house good for someone who needs to work: it runs on solar power with uncapped fibre, so a load-shedding afternoon does not end the call.

Outside there is a private wood-fired braai with a bistro table, a small astro-turfed seating area, and a bench out front looking over the estate gardens and pond. Pelagos restaurant at Villa del Mare is a five-minute walk away, and Paradise Beach about fifteen minutes on foot along the dune path towards Club Mykonos.

A few house rules worth knowing before you book. There is parking for one car on the driveway, and boats are not allowed in the estate — which matters in a town full of them. No pets, no smoking, and children under twelve sleep only in the third room.

Annie meets guests on arrival and looks after them while they are here, which is the part the reviews keep mentioning.

Rated 5.0 from its first five reviews.