BLUE PALACE

There are 251 spacious rooms, suites and villas, almost all with a full sea view and many with their own private plunge or infinity pool. There are also three outdoor pools, a heated indoor pool, two tennis courts and five exclusive restaurants serving a variety of cuisine including traditional Greek/Cretan, Italian and Polynesian.

Suitable for:

• Families
• Couples and honeymooners
• Spa lovers

Things to do at the property:

• Enjoy a massage or treatment in the Elounda Spa and Thalassotherapy Centre
• Take a swim in the sea or in the indoor or outdoor pools
• Go diving, water-skiing, wake-boarding or snorkelling from thebeach
• Two floodlit tennis courts
• Work up an appetite in the gym
• Kids Club
• Enjoy a mouth-watering range of cuisine in five different restaurants, including traditional Cretan dishes at the Blue Door Taverna
• Sip cocktails in the Arsenali Lounge

Things to do nearby:

• Enjoy a cruise on a traditional caique around the Gulf of Mirabello
• Visit the ruins on the nearby island of Spinalonga
• The fishing village of Plaka is a 10-minute walk away
• Lake Voulismeni, bathing place of the Goddess Athena
• Knossos Palace, centre of the great Minoan civilisation
• Visit bustling Agios Nikolaos about 20 minutes' drive away

Nota bene:

Access to the beach (which is pebbles, not sand) is by funicular, which isa littleslow on its journey back upto the hotel. Private swimming and tennis lessons are available on request at the Kids Club, along with Cretan dance lessons.