I see them every time I am in the airport: observant Jewish travelers shlepping bulging bags of kosher food – tuna fish, instant noodles, peanut butter, and often pots and pans – arguing at check-in about why they shouldn’t have to pay extra for these bags.
But if you come to the Brown Beach Chalkida, you won’t need any of that. The mehadrin (more stringent) kosher hotel is the first all-kosher hotel in Greece that just opened for Passover and is already almost booked for the summer.
Chalkida, which also happens to have the oldest synagogue in Europe, is a small, non-touristy town about an hour north of Athens. The hotel is on a mountain slope and has a large pool and a beautiful, quiet, rocky beach.
The 117-room hotel was almost empty the weekend I visited, where I enjoyed the quiet and the stunning views with my favorite husband. The hotel is lovely and underwent a complete renovation two years ago. It looks brand new. The floors are made of white marble, the lobby is filled with overstuffed couches and large windows looking out to the sea, and there is even a library of books.
The rooms, while not huge, are really nice. The bed is comfortable, the bathroom has more of that white marble, and we even had a porch with an amazing view of the beach and the sea. Standing on the porch looking out to sea, I could feel my blood pressure coming down.
A refreshing dip in the pool
The pool is large, with plenty of sunbeds around it, but it is not heated. I did get in briefly, and it was refreshing but too cold to stay in for long. So, what do Jews do on vacation? They eat!
When it’s fully opened, the hotel will have four places to eat: the main dining room, an à la carte restaurant outside above the pool, a snack bar serving pizza and drinks next to the pool, and a food truck at the beach with hot dogs and hamburgers.
When we stayed there, the main dining room was the only one operating, although we were able to taste a lot of what the à la carte menu will offer.
One minor complaint – I was in Greece, and there was no Greek salad! That’s because they haven’t yet found a Mehadrin source for their feta cheese, although Yigal Nahmani, the consulting chef who was helping the resort turn kosher, said they were working on importing feta from Belgium.
Both the breakfast and the Shabbat dinner were good, although there was not as much choice as there is in some Israeli hotels. For breakfast, there was lox as well as locally cured fish and shakshuka.
All of the bread is baked at the hotel, and I especially enjoyed the rice pudding, which was not too sweet.But I highly suggest at least one meal at the à la carte restaurant, which will showcase fish dishes. My favorite husband and I were happy to be guinea pigs for a fish-centered menu with local fish.
Tiny fish similar to anchovies were deep fried and served with several homemade sauces for dipping. There was also whole fish on the grill and fish fillets stuffed with herbs. The first was as good as that served at any restaurant in Jerusalem that I’ve reviewed. Trust me on this one.
The service is excellent. Hotel manager Thanos Apostolopoulos (now there’s a mouthful) obviously loves his job and is very good at it. He has also learned quite a bit about Judaism since the hotel went kosher. His wedding two years ago was the first wedding held at the hotel, which is also becoming quite a wedding destination.
The prices in June start at €150 per room per night for bed and breakfast.
The writer was a guest of the Brown Beach Chalkida