Elounda Mare Hotel Relais & Chateaux

Elounda Mare Hotel Relais & Chateaux

The northeast coast of Crete has a particular quality of light, something to do with the way Mirabello Bay holds the afternoon, the water going from turquoise to deep blue in gradations you notice differently every hour. Elounda Mare has been on this bay since the late 1980s, a Relais & Châteaux member long enough that the designation feels earned rather than aspirational, and the property has the confidence that comes from not needing to reinvent itself. The whitewashed bungalows spread through gardens heavy with bougainvillea, each with its own terrace and private pool looking out to sea, and the whole effect is of a Cretan village that has been arranged, very quietly and very well, for the pleasure of the people staying in it. The 81 rooms, suites, and bungalows are furnished in the traditional Cretan manner, marble floors, antiques, soft tones, nothing that shouts. The bungalows are the reason to come: generous, private, and positioned so that the view from the pool terrace takes in the full arc of the bay and the mountains behind. The Old Mill, the hotel's finest restaurant, is set in the gardens and opens on select evenings for Cretan cuisine that takes the local larder seriously. The Yacht Club, right at the water's edge, does the kind of fresh seafood lunch that becomes the rhythm of the whole stay. Breakfast is taken at Nafsika with the distant mountains of Crete behind the buffet and the bay in front of it, which is a reasonable way to start a morning. The Six Senses Spa is a short walk at the sister property Porto Elounda, large and properly equipped. This is a hotel with a long-established clientele, many of whom return annually, and it shows in the service, which is warm and precise in equal measure. Spinalonga, the Venetian island fortress and former leper colony, is visible from the bay and worth a boat trip. Agios Nikolaos is ten minutes by car. Beyond that, the rest of Crete is there if you want it, though many guests find that the bay, the bungalow, and the evening at the Old Mill constitute a complete holiday in themselves. The short version: A long-established Relais & Châteaux property on Mirabello Bay in northeast Crete, with 81 rooms and bungalows, private pools, bougainvillea gardens, and the kind of unhurried service that comes from decades of knowing exactly what it is.