Sanity, Abnormality and an Escape from Reality – Porto Sani, Halkidiki, Greece

2020 will be remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic. A time in humanities history when the planet was hit by a deadly virus for those over 65 and an inconvenience for those in their 30’s.

Civil liberties having been quickly curtailed by governments trying to understand the fast changing scientific information.

This is a time like no other where confusion reigns, conflicting guidance confuses and for the vast majority lifestyle changes that no one could ever have forecast.

Religion, office working and job security are all confronted with new rules.

In my own case I work from home, so lockdowns and home deliveries don’t bother me, but social distancing rules restrict my ability to spend physical time with friends and family.

Mixed rules that restrict groups of more than 6 people, gatherings of 15 or more for weddings or funerals and sporting events which were the norm last year are now removed from our liberty.

Suppressing the virus whilst saving the economy requires creative and at times illogical rules.

So the only way to get to see all my family with many of the restrictions feeling eased, was to take a well deserved holiday at Sani Resort.

You may remember I last visited Sani Beach in May 2018 and you can read my review then here.

We arrived by two EasyJet flights landing within 10 minutes of each other from London Gatwick and Manchester Airport at Thessaloniki, Greece.

Restrictions in Greece at our time of travel were gradually increasing in line with the rest of Europe, but for now we were able to leave behind and forget the poor weather and draconian restrictions in the UK.

Sani Resort sits on the west side of one of three peninsulas.

On our last visit we stayed at Sani Beach. On this holiday this is where our welcome began.

On arrival at the resort all guests are tested for COVID-19. Thankfully, after ten minutes we were declared all clear and taken to our hotel by a club buggy.

Porto Sani is mid centre of the resort sitting directly behind the beautiful marina.

The warm Sani welcome is infectious more so than the current virus and you can’t avoid being infected by it.

The clever and well coordinated colours, textures and accessories make the newly refurbished accommodation just gorgeous, functional and homely.

Our suite was made up of three rooms, the bedroom, the lounge and bathroom. There was loads of storage space, two TVs, coffee machine, mini bar, Bose speaker, hairdryer, iron plus ironing board, bath, walk in shower, dual sinks and much more.

I particularly like the amount of creative and varied lighting, useful USB charging points and the thoughtful bathrobes and slippers.

We had a really spacious balcony being on the first floor, overlooking the private gardens of the rooms below.

Porto Sani’s gardens, pools, restaurants and bar areas are just gorgeous too, surrounded by well kept grounds.

The location of Porto Sani is perfect as well, right behind Sani Marina. Millions of Euros in luxury boats add to the eye candy of the marina surrounded by restaurants and shops.

We had a great holiday here with all the family despite the global pandemic. All the staff wore face masks all the time and hand sanitisers were everywhere. We had to wear masks when entering shops and we were restricted to the rule of six for dining tables.

Finally I had the opportunity to indulge in an 80 minute full body massage. My therapist was the very talented Alexandra who made the whole experience relaxing.

My wife and I took advantage of the Volvo 2 hour tour in a black XC90 driven by our guide and chauffeur Spyros. This is a great free tour offered to guests of Sani that takes you to some beautiful spots and other areas of the peninsula.

Once again Sani excelled itself under the most extraordinary circumstances. Gone were the buffets, shows and Sani Club and Sani Beach, but care was taken to keep everyone safe whilst they enjoyed seasonal weather with their families.

If you’d like to take a holiday like no other, then Sani gets my full approval. You can read more about Sani here