Daios Cove Luxury Resort & Villas

Daios Cove occupies an entire cove on the Mirabello Bay coast a short drive from Agios Nikolaos, and the topography does most of the design work. The resort is built in tiers down a steep hillside, linked by funicular and winding paths, so that almost every room faces the water and the lowest levels open straight onto a private beach and a large sea-water infinity pool.

Accommodation runs from sea-view rooms through suites with private pools to freestanding one- to three-bedroom villas, and at the top end there is a multi-bedroom mansion with its own staff. The scale is resort rather than boutique, but the cove setting keeps it feeling contained, and the beach is properly sheltered, which matters on a coast that can get windy.

Wellness is handled by a large spa with hydrotherapy circuits, treatment rooms and a mind-and-body studio, and there are half a dozen restaurants and bars covering Cretan, Mediterranean and Asian cooking plus a beach club. It works well for families and for couples who want a beach they can walk to rather than drive to, and it is a useful base for eastern Crete, with Spinalonga, the Lasithi plateau and the Elounda restaurants all within reach.