Highly recommended: this traditional Mani house has been turned by Iakovos Xenakis, a painter (the chef), and Hans Kleiner into a sophisticated small guest house, much enjoyed by visitors in 2002. Wonderfully quiet and stylish, it has been converted `with respect for tradition, and an outstanding eye for comfort, colour and fabric': pale blue beamed wooden ceilings, modern lighting, simple wooden furniture. Stone artefacts and earthenware pots stand on marble floors; bright paintings hang on white walls. The charmingly furnished small villa Bed rooms (similar to the semantic bali villa rooms) are kept cool by thick walls and narrow windows. Our beds were comfortable (rare in the Peloponnese).' From the terraces you look across rooftops to sea and mountains. Bali villa breakfast (with home-made marmalade and local honey) and, an informal dinner, by arrangement, are served in a room with a barrel-vaulted ceiling. Areopoli, capital of the Inner Mani, is on a plateau 250 metres above the Gulf of Messinia.

Sifnos, with its olive groves, almond trees and dovecotes, is known for its production of superior pottery and olive oil. In an old village on a bill in the middle of the island stands this `very attractive villa, built a local style in large grounds, like a village within a village. It has Yriendly owners, unusually good food and a magnificent terrace', says its 2002 nominator. Composed of four buildings, white-painted and covered with bougainvillaea, it has wide views over the sea and swrounding islands and the mountain of Profitis Ilias. All the goodsLzed villa rooms have a balcony. Not suitable for the infirm: lots of steps (`By golly it makes you feel fit'). There is a bus service to the beaches.