At a time when digital communication and ever-hectic routines are making it increasingly hard for people to disconnect from their screens, launching a holiday retreat rooted in the pursuit of community, meditation, and life's simple pleasures feels as countercultural as refreshing.
To many, this would seem like a gamble, but for nightlife entrepreneurs Mario Hertel and Thomas Heyne, the founders of Mykonos hospitality group Scorpios, investing in travelers' growing desire for arts, gastronomy, wellness, and entertainment experiences was the way to bring the ecstatic, unifying essence of clubbing into daytime — hangovers excluded. Opened last June, Scorpios Bodrum, the first property from the firm's portfolio to land outside of Greece as part of its global expansion, proves their leap of faith was well worth the challenge.
Just like the original Scorpios location, which was inaugurated on the southern shores of Mykonos in 2015 complete with a cutting-edge art program and independent music label, this recently unveiled new Bodrum hotel is many things at once. Tucked away on a tranquil peninsula in the northeastern portion of the tourist-popular Turkish destination, it isn't just home to one of the best spas in the world for design-minded globetrotters, but rather embodies "a state of being — where time slows, the senses heighten, and the boundaries between self, nature, and community dissolve," Berlin-based Lambs and Lions, the lead design studio and interiors curator behind both hotels, tell me. "More than a place, it is a rhythm, a philosophy, an evolving ritual that invites both introspection and shared experience."
This idea of journey within the journey is what, together with the stay's immersion in Agean nature, molded Scorpios Bodrum into shape, as demonstrated by its 'Ritual Space' and annexed central pavilion, known as the 'Temple'. Yes, you've read it right, temple, and the choice of words isn't accidental. While conceiving of the hospitality group, Mario and Thomas were inspired by the concept of the agora, ancient Greece's marketplace, as a hub where people from different walks of life would gather to pursue most daily activities, from grocery shopping and participating in political, intellectual, and artistic debates to engaging in religious practices at the temple. Some 344 kilometers from Athens, Scorpios Bodrum — and any of the hospitality firm's properties for that matter — reinvents the ultimate Greek rendezvous for the contemporary traveler, putting physical and mental well-being at the heart of a multisensory experience.
Within this context, its design isn't just a backdrop, but the element that makes this revamp possible. "A dialogue between Oriental influences, Brutalism, and Wabi-Sabi principles", the stay "preserves the tactile essence of Scorpios Mykonos' original design identity, characterized by a nuanced palette of muted, warm, and earthy tones, while honing in on refinement and articulation," Lambs and Lions, who completed the project in collaboration with architectural and interiors suppliers GEOMIM and Studio Mac Bride, respectively, say. Whether stepping into any of Scorpios Bodrum's 12 responsibly-developed, low-rise bungalows, its bathed-in-sunshine restaurant, terrace, and beach house, or its Asian-inspired bazaar, visitors' minds are simultaneously soothed and captivated by the powerful manifestation of artisanry — think elegant wood-drenched volumes delineated by textural surfaces, handcrafted statement pieces, flowing linen, and trailing vegetation — that brings these modern rustic décor spaces to life.
An ode to the raw beauty of Bodrum's maquis landscape, topography, and rocky grounds, as well as to its turquoise blue waters, the latest Scorpios offering seeks a "balance between uninhibited self-expression and the pursuit of introspection"; a contrast that, GEOMIM explain, reflects "our community's intrinsic duality." That's why the hotel's Ritual Space, which includes a sound healing room, watsu, and plunge pools, and a porthole windows-lit sauna alongside other soul-invigorating treatment rooms, is "where art, performance, music, and holistic rituals converge in a meaningful dialogue of presence" — to disrupt the univocal understanding of wellness, and show how it can be done better together.
Thanks to its strategic positioning on the eastern edge of the peninsula, the Ritual Space faces the sunrise and extends downward, becoming one with the landscape. This means that, as Lambs and Lions point out, its premises are ever-evolving. Sculpted by dramatic beams of light that filter through its cassette ceiling, its Temple is, like the rest of this wellness area, defined by sunshine or its absence. "An immersive environment where Brutalist architecture, nature, and atmosphere merge seamlessly, the Ritual Space seeks to evoke a sense of grounding and transcendence," say the lead design studio. This clash of worldly and spiritual, sacred and profane, is also exemplified by the multifunctionality of the Temple itself, whose Inner Gardens programming lists anything from shamanic meditation classes to live concerts and artistic residencies.
More awaits the guests outside, where, interspersed with the dense, sprawling chaparral of the region, the hotel's pool, tea bar, and event decks "symbolize a return from the inner world to the outer," effectively marking the completion of "their journey of transformation," add GEOMIM. Still, at Scorpios Bodrum, the end of a vacation is not the end, but a new beginning.
"What lingers on is not just a memory, but a shift — a recalibration toward presence, connection, and essence," Lambs and Lions say. "In a world of excess, Scorpios offers something more elusive: the luxury of whole-being and meaning."
