Caity Stroup, Querido’s Managing Director, Takes Us on Her Journey Through Mykonos
We were barely ten minutes out of the airport when the vacation feeling kicked in. Bougainvillea over the entrance, a warm welcome from the team, and then that view. Belvedere sits right up on the hill above Mykonos Town and the harbor, so you get the best of both. Peaceful up on the hill, with town a short walk down when you want the buzz.
It’s a family property with a lot of history, and you can feel it in the rooms. Bright, airy, classic Cycladic with a few modern touches. Ours had a little balcony over the sea, and honestly we didn’t want to leave it.
We made it in time for the sunset on the first night, the whole Aegean going gold. Grabbed a cocktail, then dinner at Matsuhisa, which is right on property. Fun fact: it opened here in 2003 and was the first open-air Matsuhisa in the world. Sit at the sushi bar if you can, it’s the best seat in the house. We started with the tuna and crispy rice, because of course we did, and it just kept getting better from there.
After dinner we wandered into town to check the vibe, and even at ten it was packed, every shop still open. We popped into Interni, tucked down a side street, told the doorman we were staying at Belvedere, and he waved us right in. Open-air, every table full, great music. The kind of place you go for a drink and end up staying.
Mornings flip the whole island. Same streets, totally empty. We found Papu Coffee, ordered our first frappé of the trip (Metrios, medium sweet, if you’re wondering), and walked it down toward the windmills along the water. Pretty, and a sneaky way to get some steps in. Then back to Belvedere for breakfast by the pool.
Now, Kiki’s Tavern. No sign, no reservations, no phone, just a lot of very loyal fans. Total if-you-know-you-know spot. We rolled up at 11:30 and there was already a line. The owner doesn’t keep a list, he says he’s got a photographic memory, and he asks one of you to hold the spot while the other heads to the beach. So we waited, up above Agios Sostis, with the most random lovely crowd: Italians, French, an Argentinian trying to catch the World Cup on his phone. Everyone there for the same reason.
Doors open at 12:30, and sure enough, he remembered exactly who showed up when and sat us all in order. Handed us a glass of house rosé on the way in too. We landed a table under the veranda with the beach right there. As the line grew outside, he kept making the rounds with a bottle, topping up everyone still waiting. Best way to wait, honestly. We ordered the grilled feta, a Greek salad, grilled eggplant, and then the pork chop, which is the one to get, marinated in some secret sauce he is absolutely not sharing. Grilled shrimp and mushrooms too. They sent us off with one more rosé for the road, which we took down to the sand.
On the drive back we stopped at Alemagou, a beach club with a great crowd and a really good little boutique. We grabbed chairs for the late afternoon and left wishing we’d planned a whole day there. Next time for sure.
For sunset we went to Cocco’s in Little Venice, which Belvedere actually owns. The walls are covered in family photos from years of parties at the hotel, which we loved, the history right there on the wall. The room sits on the water, sunset hit around 8:40, and we worked through burrata with local tomatoes, a catch-of-the-day ceviche, a pizza bufalina, and the Paccheri Belvedere, a spicy vodka pasta. Walked home through packed streets, every shop still going.
Next day the wind dropped, which on Mykonos means one thing: boat day. Our captain Christos took us all the way around the island, then over to Delos. The whole island is a UNESCO site and, as the legend goes, the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, once the holiest spot in the Aegean and a big trading hub from the eighth century BCE to the first. It was abandoned for ages, then dug up in the late 1800s, and now the whole place is basically an open-air museum. Christos walked us through it, and honestly, without him we’d have just seen a bunch of ruins and missed the meaning.
The rest of the afternoon was for swimming off the boat and snacking, with the crew bringing up rounds of Greek bites. The tirokafteri, a spicy feta, was the one we kept going back to. Later they took us by tender over to Spilia, which is built right into the rock above the sea. The octopus hangs in view of the tables, so the order kind of makes itself, and it did not disappoint. We split a ceviche and a whole branzino, grilled with lemon and oil, with some veg on the side.
That night we had dinner at Katrin, a Mykonian classic, family run, tucked into a shaded courtyard away from the crowds and full of locals. There’s a lovely ceramics shop, THEMIS Z, right on the lobby level. We finished the night at Noema, open-air with a DJ going, busy in the best way.
Belvedere was such an easy home for the week. The hill, the history, that table at Cocco’s. We’re already planning the next one.