The shores of Crete — the largest of the Greek islands — aren’t short of claims to mythic status: birthplace of gods, site of ancient civilisations… You would’ve thought the island’s sublime scenery and Unesco-recognised culinary heritage would have tempted Daedalus and Icarus to stick around.
And not to ruffle any more feathers, but surely if they’d got their hands on a guide to the island’s best beaches, they’d have happily stayed put. Learn from their mistake and make your summer getaway more than a flying visit with our list of the best luxury Crete hotels on the beach…
Domes Zeen Chania
The Domes hotel group sure follows the ‘location, location, location’ mantra, because its second property in this list, Domes Zeen Chania, is also perched in a paradise: by a private beach sheltered by rocky outcrops, with palm trees hither and thither, and waters in those oh-so-soothing blue hues.
Its name comes from ‘ef zeen’, the Ancient Greek for ‘the art of living well’ — loosely translated, but put strictly into practice. Rooms, suites, pavilions and bungalows (ideal for families) offer a sultrier, stylish take on Grecian design, with modern art and many with a private pool, too.
It’s welcoming to little Smiths, with a 46-square-metre kids’ pool and the Kiepos kids’ club offering sustainable, outdoorsy adventures; but there are dedicated grown-up activities, too, such as spells in the Soma Spa (where treatments come courtesy of Elemis and Codage), swims in a pool soundtracked with DJ sessions, and wine-tastings. For all-together fun, the hotel can arrange dessert-tastings, ceramics workshops and trips into Chania Old Town to discover its mythological past.
Nearest beach
It’s steps away — the hotel has its own beach, with loungers and parasols and a sand-side bar (one of three at the hotel) where live music plays.
Beach restaurant
The hotel’s Beach House restaurant is indeed close to the shore. Lunches here are light and Cretan, and come evening, Eastern Mediterranean comfort food is served.
Numo Ierapetra Beach Resort
Artemis — goddess of the wilderness, among a sizeable CV of other epithets — has been a big deal in Crete since the Minoan days. Looking at Numo Ierapetra Beach Resort, on the island’s quieter southern coast, it’s not hard to see her feeling at home here.
The hotel’s sultry interiors match their palette to the volcanic sands, and tamarisk and olive trees; beyond, the mountains make a cinematic backdrop.
Two Cretan restaurants put the pastoral setting to splendid use, each working near exclusively with traditional, locally sourced ingredients. Days here are spent idly slipping between the sea-facing pool and striking grey-sand beach, with the odd interlude at Etherea spa to indulge your inner deity with a mix of high-tech Swiss and traditional Greek healing. Come evening, things are livened up by craft cocktails and DJs setting the ambience by the beach.
But with pretty villages, mountain tavernas and traditional coffeehouses in easy reach along the coast, it might be worth making time in your schedule to mingle with the mortals after all…
Nearest beach
Unsurprisingly for somewhere with the words ‘beach resort’ in its name, you’re never far from a stretch of sand at Numo Ierapetra. Head east and you’ll reach Koutsounari Long Beach after a 30-minute stroll; head west and Peristeras Beach is even closer, 15 minutes away on foot.
Beach restaurant
Thalassa Sea Side Bar lets you enjoy the spoils of the Aegean, while admiring a view of it. If you ask nicely, you’ll even be able to order some seafood straight to your cabana on the sand.
Phāea Cretan Malia
These days, Malia might be known as Crete’s party capital, but in centuries past it was the island’s kitchen garden. Family-friendly stay Phāea Cretan Malia throws things back to the city’s green-fingered past with lush Mediterranean gardens and four restaurants (and a beach shack and traditional-style coffee-house) making ambrosial use of the hotel’s home-grown produce.
Horticulturalists of all ages can get hands-on with bread- and meze-making classes with the head chef (pick your own ingredients, of course), plus wine and olive-oil tastings. But if you’d rather leave all that to the experts, it’s perfectly possible to appreciate your surroundings from a manicure-preserving distance. The river-like pool snakes through the greenery, with secluded lagoons and child-safe paddling spots.
At the spa, opt for an Anne Semonin facial infused with marine minerals, algae wrap or even a gentle, mother-daughter/father son pampering programme. Or take the toes-in-the-sand approach on the private beach; after a splash in the sun-warmed Aegean and a locally grown wine or three, you’ll be feeling at one with nature in no time.
Nearest beach
As the name suggests, this hotel is close to party hub Malia, but don’t let that put you off. Away from the cocktails served in watermelons, you’ll be able to find a quieter patch of Malia Beach to unfurl your towel. It’s a 20-minute walk away from the hotel.
Beach restaurant
Potamos Beach Restaurant in Malia is the sort of simple, open-air beach shack holiday dreams are made of. It’ll also be on hand with the cocktails come sundowner o’clock.
Minos Beach Art Hotel
If you’re looking to minimise your bed-to-beach distance, you won’t do better than Minos Beach Art Hotel. This retro rule-breaker was built back in the Sixties, before regulations came in requiring accommodation to be set back a certain distance from the shore, so the rooms are right by the water along two kilometres of private coast.
The hotel has plenty more tricks up its sleeve to keep you entertained: private sunset dinners on the beach or deck (from April to October); workshops for making perfume or skincare potions; no less than five bars (plus a cellar filled with 200-plus bottles of wine); music, meze and raki evenings in an amphitheatre-style setting. But there’s depth to this boutique beatnik, too; specifically, a sculpture garden and three restaurants, including a sea-facing fine-dining spot.
And before strait-laced readers start to fret, this rebel has taken up its community and environment as its cause, building sustainably and monitoring energy-efficiency and carbon offsetting; using almost entirely Greek-grown produce; working with local NGOs; promoting Greek art via the G&A Mamidakis Foundation; working with local schools; and hiring 95 per cent of staff from the locality.
Nearest beach
The namesake stretch of shoreline is only a few minutes’ walk away from the hotel, with two dive centres (Pelagos and Creta’s Happy Divers) located a little further up and down the coast for anyone in search of underwater adventures.
Beach restaurant
Take a taxi or walk the 20 minutes to Agios Nikolaos and be spoilt for choice by the array of tavernas and cocktail bars that await there. Achinos at the water’s edge is a great place to start. Try classic Greek dishes such as prawn saganaki, ouzo-marinated catch of the day and smoked pork chop with spicy fava.
Amirandes, a Grecotel Resort
It’s news to no-one that Crete’s buzzy and beach-blessed north coast is a holiday hotspot, but few resorts do it in finer or more full-works style than family-friendly Amirandes, where sleek, minimalist design meets a maximalist approach to summer-holiday spoiling.
Beaches are, understandably, a serious business here — there are three (well, two sandy coves and a main stretch of sand), all Blue Flag certified, with a watersports section and a dedicated sunbathing stretch, complete with romantic pairs of umbrella-shaded loungers. There’s a lagoon, too, lantern-lit and flanked by a laidback cocktail lounge. Throw in three pools (one Olympic-sized, one for kids and one in the spa) and water babies won’t know where to start.
Several days could be spent just doing justice to the globetrotting septet of restaurants, which includes a Grecian pâtisserie. Any lingering refrains of ‘I’m bored’ from the little Smiths will be cut off by the 24-hour concierge, who you can contact via Whatsapp. Have you hit the football and basketball courts yet? Headed out on a boat safari? Tried a crafting class?
And while you’re all essential-oiled-up in the Elixir Alchemy Spa, which draws on Ancient Greek wisdom, the kids’ club can take the reins, with activities from scuba diving to hip-hop dance classes.
Nearest beach
To reach the beach at Gouves, it’s a 20-minute walk from the hotel. If you head a little further up the coast, you’ll be rewarded for your efforts by a signature Greek blue-and-white church, Saint Konstantinos.
Beach restaurant
White chairs, wooden tables and decking, hanging wicker lamps and dreamy views of the water form a classic Greek beach restaurant at Island Gouves. Visit on Monday or Saturday eves and your dinner will be serenaded by local singer, Nadine.
Domes Noruz Chania
Sitting pretty on the sands of Crete’s most charming city, Domes Noruz Chania is a romantic adults-only stay that takes its wingman duties seriously. Here, the mood-setting starts at check-in: each room has a private pool or Jacuzzi, some hammocks and all have some kind of very blue view, so leaving the love nest is entirely optional.
Allow yourself to be seduced by the resort beach, though, and you’ll find the scene set for a superior canoodle: the golden sands, come-hither waves and super-size bean-bags made for snuggling see to that. Steps from the shore, a swoon-inducing dinner of fresh-caught seafood and sunset views awaits — or abscond to a nook scented with candles to get tipsy on local wines. Codage and Elemis treatments, and percussive or CBD-infused massages in the Soma Spa will have you feeling equally soporific.
For the final flourish — the hotel equivalent of the yawn, stretch, and arm around their shoulder — there’s an alfresco cinema, three Aegean-facing pools and a poolside bar (one of two at the hotel) with a resident master mixologist.
Nearest beach
The hotel has its own Blue Flag beach, or you can venture along the coast to Agii Apostoli, a sleepy cove with restaurants lining the shore. When you can muster the energy, the promontory has two churches to visit, including the Chapel of the Holy Apostles at the tip.
Beach restaurant
Siroccos in Agii Apostoli can see to all of your calamari and Greek salad needs, with local beers and wines to wash it all down.
The Island Concept
The bright idea in question at this beachfront hotel in Crete is living the good life, whether that means embracing the Med’s famously healthy, longevity-giving diet, sailing the Aegean Sea or just locating a sunlounger to lie down on for the foreseeable. It won’t take you long to fall into the Island Concept’s laidback pace of life. And since there are just 15 rooms and suites, the hotel feels more like your own villa, and even at the communal pool, the vibe is more like a gathering of a group of friends.
When you’re vertical and ready to take on some sightseeing, the island has mountains, gorges, fishing villages and ports to explore. First stop should be Agios Nikolaos, which may have once been a sleepy seaside town, but is now one of the most cosmopolitan places in Crete. The helpful hotel staff can pack you off with gourmet picnics (no trail mix in sight) for your sailing or hiking trips.
For peak romance on your return, book a meal at the private dining spot and enjoy dinner with a side of sunset, sea and mountains.
Nearest beach
The closest patch of sand is on the hotel’s doorstep. To reach Almyros Beach, you just have to stroll around the nature reserve to the mouth of the namesake river.
Beach restaurant
There are some tavernas along the beach in Almyros, or you can venture a little further in search of seafood – the stroll to Agios Nikolaos should take around 45 minutes.
Continue your odyssey with our complete collection of Crete hotels and more luxurious beach hotels on the Greek islands and throughout Greece
Amy Martin is a writer, actor and travel buff, based between London and Cornwall. When she’s not lurking around a theatre or scribbling in a notebook on the Penzance to Paddington line, you’ll find her at the cinema, on a long coastal walk, or watching Pride and Prejudice (1995 or 2005 is fine).