Rhodes, the most expansive of Greece’s Dodecanese islands, with its swells of green hills and sugar-cube villages, has a new hotel on its eastern coast. Labeled a “bohemian lifestyle hotel,” the adults-only Casa Cook—the first of an emerging brand developed by travel company Thomas Cook—occupies a low-lying white building surrounded by azure pools, silvery olive trees, and the rough slopes of Tsambika mountain. Local architect Vana Pernari created the property’s layout, but Annabell Kutucu and Michael Schickinger of Berlin-based Lambs and Lions handled interiors filled with soft, natural tones and myriad textures.
“The structure is a vibrant indication of traditional Greek architecture—low white volumes placed gently on the site,” says Pernari, “which emphasizes the interaction of nature and habitable environment [where] the structure discreetly blends into the scenery.”
Keeping the architecture in mind, “a modern interpretation of the simple, white Cycladic building style,” says Schickinger, he and the design team “wanted to create an ambiance that combines tropical and modern elements with Mediterranean and nomadic elements.”
First impressions are made in the open-air entranceway and lobby, which is framed in white with accent walls rendered from locally sourced stones. Taupe, steel-bodied sofas unite with chocolate-hued Acapulco chairs to form a waiting area, while suspended black loungers offer extra seating and a cluster of potted palm trees rustle in the Mediterranean breeze. Similar palms, concealing vibrant parrots, monkeys, and other jungle creatures, are depicted in a large ceramic mural by Russian artist Karina Eibatova; the elaborate artwork sits behind a concrete reception desk illuminated by two traditional brass lamps, striking a balance between the ornate and humble for a barefoot luxury vibe.
Adjacent to the reception zone is a Casa Cook concept store, selling a curated collection of local home goods and beach gear to use in the shared swim-up pools attached to guestrooms (suites have private plunge pools). In fact, all 90 rooms have a slice of poolside, plus private terraces decked with sun loungers, black hammocks, and more Acapulco chairs. Inside, crisp white walls rise from smooth concrete floors. In some, beds are close to the ground on sculpted concrete platforms, surrounded by woven wall hangings, tan baskets, and wicker lampshades. Others boast walls inlaid with locally sourced beach pebbles and floors swathed in grès porcelain tile. The same palette is applied to bathrooms, which are also paneled in porcelain tile and feature white vanities with white sinks and rough elm wooden stools.
If guests tire of their semiprivate pools, they can head to the hotel’s communal swimming area, which offers vistas of the pine-studded mountain and is complete with an open-air bar. An elegant deck of iroko planks encircles the pool and supports gray lounge chairs and sun umbrellas woven in Turkey from willow bark. In courtyard fashion, the restaurant also faces the pool, where all three meals can be enjoyed at the eatery’s weathered teak tables, which are ringed by wicker chairs and bespoke bench seating. Another fanciful and decidedly equatorial mural adorns one side of the restaurant, while additional walls are fitted with black shelving, and a nearly 20-foot-long immovable concrete table dominates the space.
Says Pernari: “This singular attitude toward the communication of ‘in’ and ‘out’ results in simple, chaste formations, stripped of any unnecessary decoration—a modern version of the way that houses at the region of South Aegean islands were built.”
