Goulas Traditional Guesthouse

It may be less than 50m from the town gate, but enter the walled town of Monemvasia and you enter a medieval mystery tour of tangled alleyways, steep stairs and shadowy archways. Goulas’ sign on the street is in Greek - see photos if you’re limited to Roman script! Like everything else in the town Goulas guesthouse is old - in parts, very old - and seems to have grown organically over time. Our ‘room’ (effectively a junior suite with the feel of recent comprehensive renovation) had a sitting room, shower and bedroom, plus a huge private outdoor terrace overlooking the town roofscape, a public garden, the town walls and the sea. Excellently appointed, scrupulously clean and well equipped, modern wi-fi and aircon rubbed shoulders with bare stone windows and duck-or-grouse low doors. Presiding over it all was the excellent Dora. Having guided in her lost sheep on the phone, she was a fount of local knowledge and precisely the kind of landlady you’d hope to have in a guesthouse of quality. (Tip: plenty of places to eat nearby, but try Matoula for seafood dolmas and fried red mullet). Goulas Traditional Guesthouse may be hard to find, but it’s well worth the effort.