Elounda Beach Hotel & Villas

When Elounda Beach opened in 1971 it effectively invented the Greek luxury resort, and its stretch of Mirabello Bay has been synonymous with high-end Crete ever since. The property occupies a garden peninsula of olive trees and lawns running down to sheltered beaches, looking across some of the Aegean's calmest, clearest water towards the fortress islet of Spinalonga.

Accommodation ranges from classic sea-view rooms to the waterfront bungalows and villas for which the resort is best known—many with private pools or direct rock-and-ladder access to the bay, several at a scale and seclusion that have long attracted heads of state and screen names. The architecture is traditional whitewash-and-stone rather than fashionable minimalism, and the mature gardens soften everything.

Days revolve around the water: swimming platforms, watersports, boat trips to Spinalonga, and long taverna lunches by the shore, with a substantial spa and multiple restaurants from Greek to pan-Asian filling the rest. Elounda village and its harbourfront tavernas are close by. Newer rivals may out-design it, but few resorts anywhere match this combination of sheltered sea, maturity and space.