Elounda Collection
Mountainous Crete, a 3.5-hour flight from the UK, has long been popular with Brits. With its fertile microclimate, abundance of local produce and long warm season, Greece’s largest island attracts scores of visitors in search of good food and sunshine.
For those in the know, it’s a place where tomatoes taste like tomatoes, where locally made oil, honey & cheese win world-class plaudits and where locals still swim in the sea in December.
Add to that a jaw-dropping history as the home of the Minoans, widely regarded as Europe’s first civilisation who dominated the Aegean Sea in ancient times with a powerful navy, trading timber and ceramics and leaving behind a legacy of palace frescoes, undeciphered writing systems and the 1000-room Palace of Knossos that inspired the Minotaur and the Labyrinth myths.
In more recent times, the bestselling novel The Island by Cretophile Victoria Hislop about Spinalonga – the fortress island that functioned as a leper colony until the 1950s – has sparked a new wave of tourism from readers keen to learn more about its poignant history.
It's no surprise then that Heraklion’s airport is about to double in size to cope with demand.
And like many Greek isles, the direction of travel is upmarket.
Elounda Collection
On the north-east coast, one hour from Heraklion and its rickety old airport (the new one opens in 2028) and 15 mins from the island capital, Agios Nikolaos, is the Elounda Collection of three sister hotels.
This family-owned chain founded in 1982 is emerging from a massive five-year €40m renovation. Its three sites are closely located around a small quiet bay: top-end Elounda Peninsula with its all-suite waterfront villas, Elounda Mare with a quieter honeymoon vibe and family-friendly Porto Elounda.
Elounda Collection
Still at the helm is septuagenarian Eleana Kokotos, who set it up with her late husband Spiros and their three children. She meets her hotel managers every morning to stay up to date on developments and to check in with staff, many of whom have been at the hotel for 20-plus years, some since it first opened.
This family feel is evident throughout.
This family feel is evident throughout. Staff have a light, relaxed manner – no one here is going to get ticked off for chatting or hugging guests. Indeed for its many returning visitors (high for the industry at 70%), this is precisely the charm. Despite the five-starry facilities, the predominant feeling is Greek and family.
Elounda Collection
Elounda Peninsula – waterfront villas
We are staying the first two nights at Peninsula, a collection of 58 bright, light and spacious waterfront villas, most with large terraced decks, private seawater pools and steps leading down to the sandy beach beyond.
Elounda Collection
With an average summer room rate of €1,000 per night (compared to Mare €500 and Porto €350), this is top-end luxury
My two-level junior suite has glorious sea views from the bed, a huge oval bath with a window that opens wide with views across the bay, a spa-like rain shower, and a private pool so large that when I send my family a photo they assume it’s the hotel’s main swimming pool.
Elounda Collection
Peninsula guests also have their own private sunbathing areas of waterfront with swimming points off pontoons and jetties. And for those in search of absolute privacy, there’s a scattering of even more secluded villas around the spit with views across the ocean and direct sea access, as well as a range of privately owned holiday homes known as the Diamond Residences.
Elounda Collection
Peninsula has the largest private pool seafronts in Greece.
Some are enormous; the seven-bedroom Diamond Villa, for example, can house 14 guests with a private pool perfect for multi-generation holidaying. With living areas, full kitchens and enormous pools – Peninsula apparently has the largest private pool seafronts in Greece – there's a sense of unlimited space and calm.
Elounda Collection
Despite the grown-up feel, this is a family-friendly hotel. There’s a gently sloping baby pool, a well-equipped kids club with its own pool and playground, a home cinema room and easy access to a small sandy protected bay where the water is crystal clear and blue and sheltered from waves and wind by the mountains.
We are visiting in June, and although the hotel is 80% full, it feels curiously quiet. Winding pathways and widely spaced villas maintain a sense of quiet and calm.
In three days, I don’t see a single guest walking to or from their villas, although the pool area and restaurants are buzzing.
Elounda Collection
Food & Drink
Breakfast is served at Calypso, a big light-filled room with views across the bay. There’s a small buffet of pastries, fruit and cereals, with an à la carte menu of hot dishes – eggs cooked various ways, porridge and Greek classics.
Guests can ‘eat around’ the three linked hotels, catching five-minute boat or golf buggy transfers between the sites, and there’s a wide range of options from beachside bars to traditional fine dining. But for those staying at Peninsula, the mainstay is likely to be the Greek/Italian waterfront Il Borro (above), serving pizzas, pasta and Italian takes on grilled octopus, fried lamb and stewed beef.
It's good food, beautifully served – but a pricy option for all but the deepest pockets, with dishes such as herb-crusted sea bass at €48 and T-bone at €160.
There’s no all-inclusive here, but half-board options may be a sensible option for families planning to eat at the resort regularly.
Over three days we try most of the eating spots. Two in particular leave a lasting impression...
Samantha Laurie
Yacht Club at Elounda Mare
Looking out over the water on a deck shaded by sail parasols, The Yacht Club is everything you imagine when you think Greek holiday – blue water, bobbing boats, crispy Greek wines and the smell of whole fish cooking in salt.
The menu includes all the holiday staples – fried calamari (€26), grilled sardines (€20), grilled octopus (€26) and a very beautiful Greek salad (or village salad as the Greeks call it, €18).
Top billing goes to the sea bream baked in salt and filleted at the table. All the key ingredients to a very happy big Greek lunch.
Sumosan
Sumosan at Elounda Peninsula
This Japanese big hitter has won plaudits around the world for its sushi, sashimi, and contemporary twists on authentic cuisine.
Perched over the cliff directly above the water with a kitchen seemingly hewn into the rock, it’s an extraordinarily atmospheric setting on an evening with twinkling lights and the sound of the waves.
Samantha Laurie
With none of us in the party confident about ordering, the restaurant manager takes charge and brings a selection of signature dishes – bluefin tuna taquitos (€23), grilled black cod marinated in miso (€52) and the most delicious salmon crispy rice (€19), a crunchy rice base topped with salmon, furikake, cucumber, and a chilli tomato salsa.
It's superb value – and the highlight of our trip.
Six Senses
What is there to do?
An all-singing spa:
The three sister hotels share access to the giant Six Senses spa. This luxury wellness chain opened its first spa in Europe at Elounda in 2007, and it’s become a driver for wellbeing visitors from all over the world.
Samantha Laurie
The distinctive domed building attached to Porto is home to a magnificent indoor/outdoor infinity pool, jacuzzi, sauna and ice bath. There’s a weekly rota of yoga, pilates, cardio & strength training and wellbeing programmes built around fitness, weight loss and pilates run throughout the summer.
Golf, tennis, hiking, sailing...
There’s a nine-hole golf course, two outdoor tennis courts, one padel court and one pickleball court. Tennis pros offer personalised tennis coaching through the summer. If you can ‘beat the pro’, the lesson is free. (No one has yet!)
Along with top-name tennis stars – former world champion Juan Carlos Ferrero was in residency this August – the hotel brings in premier league football players for kids' coaching experiences. In May, it was midfield legend Paul Ince
For those looking to explore more of the local countryside, there are excellent hiking trails, climbing, canyoning and abseiling. These activities are best until May or June before the weather gets too hot.
Samantha Laurie
Closer to home, the hotel’s 82-foot gleaming wooden sailing yacht can be hired for excursions.
Accommodating up to 10 people, it’s a popular way to visit quiet bays, sea caves and the nearby island of Spinalonga, which has created its own mini-tourism boom for Elounda.
What are the sister hotels like?
Elounda Mare - traditional Greek charm
At the furthest end of the bay from Peninsula is 82-room Elounda Mare, where the styling is traditional Greek — wooden dressers, framed textiles, colourful bedding.
Mare has the most returning regulars — couples, honeymooners, older families. Its quiet stretch of the bay is full of shady nooks and places to sit beneath the carob and olive tree to enjoy the views. Many of its bungalows are designed for family groups, with a kitchen, living space, pool and garden; some even have a gym and lift. Often families bring in private chefs to add an extra layer of relaxation.
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Elounda Collection
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Elounda Collection
Porto Elounda - family-friendly
Higher up the hill away from the beach, the collection’s most affordable offer, Porto has been completely remodelled and opened afresh in 2026. The lobby is light and minimalist, and a large breakfast room juts out toward the sea.
We stay for the last night here, and there are still a few wrinkles to iron out – more parasols are hopefully on order for the sun-baked terrace and a rethink of the breakfast coffee service may be needed.
But the room spec here is excellent.
We stay in the Junior Deluxe suite, one of the Porto’s 40 rooms (of 115) that have their own pools and sunbathing nets. (Guests can also use the main pool by the beach, a ten-minute walk away through the golf course or a quick buggy transfer).
Super smooth sliding French windows lead out to the pool deck. Inside is a bathtub perfectly positioned for sea views and push-button Grohe shower fittings so neat and elegant I save them onto my ‘Interiors Wish List’.
When to visit?
Crete is particularly glorious in spring and autumn. Direct flights currently stop at the end of October, but it's hoped that the new airport will extend the season and develop a winter sun trade akin to that enjoyed by nearby Cyprus.
In conclusion:
As multi-gen holidays continue to boom, it's hard to imagine a location more perfectly equipped than Elounda – crystal clear waters for the swimmers, waterfront villas with giant private pools for the deck-dwellers, superb Japanese food for the foodies, quality local Greek favourites for the families, plus sport, ancient history and spa treatments for every taste.
Open May-October; Prices: Elounda Mare from €367, Porto Elounda from €350, Elounda Peninsula from €582.
See more at Elounda-collection.com.
