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An Aegean clifftop aerie secreted out of the way of the day-tripping crowds.

Location: A 45-minute drive from Rhodes airport, on a promontory that juts from the eastern side of the island and plunges into the sea. The village is crowned by a world-class Greek-Byzantine medieval acropolis.

Pedigree: Michalis Melenos, a native of the town of Lindos, spent nearly 15 years assembling the multilevel property.

Style Design: Created as a village within a village, with stairs and passageways, the 12 white stucco rooms and suites open onto terraces hand-set with pebble mosaics. Local craftsmen carved the wooden doors and sleeping platforms, artfully placed pottery and copper pieces from Greece and Turkey abound, and bathrooms have stone basins for sinks.

Service Amenities: Up-to-date luxury hotel appointments are a given, and should you decide to climb to the acropolis, there are hand-carved walking sticks to borrow. The dining area, outdoors but shaded by latticed vines and fabric tents, makes a fine setting for the hotel's modern Greek-Mediterranean cuisine.

Rooms to Book: Suites No. 4, 5, and 6 measure about 400 square feet and are the most spacious, but all rooms feature traditional Greek sleeping platforms, retractable canvas roofs, and private terraces that have views of the Aegean Sea.

30-22440/32222; www.melenoslindos.com; doubles from $360.