AS ANYONE who has had a baby knows, little people do not travel lightly.
Packing for them takes an age and trips are overshadowed by the sheer bulk
of baby baggage. So the very thought that you could leave it all behind with
a programme called Baby Go Lightly run by the Almyra hotel in Paphos,
Cyprus, was music to my ears.
The idea is that when you book your room, you can also book everything from a
travel cot to swimming nappies with the click of a mouse, most of it
complimentary. Buggies cost a reasonable £2.33 a day, though the 70p per
nappy seems a bit steep, especially as we later found them in town for more
or less what they cost at home.
It sounded good, but I was still sceptical as my husband François and I set
off with Christian and our two small cases for the four-and-a-half-hour
flight. My internet booking detailing Christian’s nappy size and
predilection for pear purée had twice disappeared in cyberspace. Then there
was the problem of how we would get to and through the airport if we weren’t
going to pick up our buggy until we reached the hotel (with aching arms was
the answer). When we were met at Paphos airport with a car seat for
six-month-olds — Christian was four months — I was convinced that the whole
thing was going to be a disaster.
Relief came a 15-minute drive later when we opened the door to our room at the
Almyra to find not only the most enormous bed you’ve ever seen, with chic,
muted furnishings, but also an Aladdin’s cave of baby gear, all spanking
new. Included was a baby seat we liked so much that we bought one on our
return and a walker in which Christian spent many a happy minute scooting
over the white marble floor. A word to the management and the offending car
seat was swapped for a more suitable model, while a quick check of the
nappies and baby food showed my instructions had been followed.
“When I was travelling with my daughter in London, I was struck by the sheer
amount of stuff you had to carry, so I came up with the concept of Baby Go
Lightly,” said the hotel’s co-owner Natasha Michaelides. “Usually luxury
hotels aren’t for kids. I wanted to change that.”
And she has. In the hotel lobby, with its white marble and floor-to-ceiling
windows giving on to the sea, I felt perfectly at ease wheeling Christian
around in his buggy. That we were welcome throughout the hotel — if we were
ever in doubt after the smiles Christian received from staff — was evident
from the buggy ramps beside every set of stairs.
Though sleek and minimalist, the Almyra is a design hotel that is meant to be
lived in. Travelling out of season at the end of February meant that we had
the run of the place. Of course, it wasn’t yet warm enough for us to swim in
the slate-lined pool. Nor could we dine on the rooftop of our Kyma suite —
an expanse of white looking out to sea. But the days were pleasant enough
for us to open the picture windows and spill out on to our daybeds to admire
the view.
We ventured out into that view, walking along the promenade to find the
once-charming fishing harbour of Paphos replaced by a Costa del Sol-style
collection of restaurants, where fish and chips and bacon and eggs were more
prevalent than Cypriot cooking. But at the end of the promenade we found the
stunning mosaics in the House of Dionysos.
In the evenings we wheeled Christian up to the hotel restaurant to relish our
first dinners out since his birth. In the chic dining room, our son’s first
cry brought the waitress to our side to walk him around, while we were left
to enjoy the delicacies produced by executive chef Rob Shipman.
Formerly of the London restaurant Nobu, Shipman has created a Mediterranean
menu that unsurprisingly comes with a strong Japanese influence — fillet of
beef with black and white sesame seeds, wakame and green chilli sauce, and
sea bass with raspberry vinegar, coriander and bean sprouts. We tore
ourselves away from his tables for a couple of nights to sample the local
cuisine, but found it disappointing in comparison — the fish overcooked and
with more emphasis on quantity than quality.
Which makes me conclude that although baby might be able to go lightly to the
Almyra, after a few meals from Mr Shipman, mum and dad will certainly not be
so light on their return.
Need to know
Getting there: BA (0870 8509850, www.ba.com) flies to Paphos
from Gatwick and Manchester from £139 return.
Staying: A garden view room at the Almyra hotel (00 357 26
933 091, www. thanoshotels.com) starts at £62pp a night B&B.
