The Hotel With a Soul
There are luxury hotels that impress you with their scale, their technology, their facilities. And then there are luxury hotels that charm you — quietly, slowly, the way a place charms you when it has been loved by the same family for decades and when every stone, every tree, every corner tells a story. Elounda Mare is the second kind.
A member of Relais & Châteaux — the prestigious association of the world's finest independent hotels and restaurants — Elounda Mare sits on the shore of Mirabello Bay in Elounda, on Crete's northeast coast. It is part of the Elounda Collection, a family of three resorts (Elounda Mare, Porto Elounda Golf & Spa Resort, and Elounda Peninsula Luxury Resort) that together form one of the most comprehensive luxury destinations in the Mediterranean. But Elounda Mare is the heart of the collection — the most intimate, the most personal, and the one that carries the Relais & Châteaux seal.
What sets Elounda Mare apart from the other luxury hotels on the Elounda coast is not any single thing but an accumulation of small ones: the ancient olive trees in the garden, some of which are centuries old. The millstone at the heart of the Old Mill restaurant, which gives the hotel its signature dining venue its name and its soul. The way the staff remember your name, your drink, your preferred sunbed. The feeling — increasingly rare in luxury hospitality — that you are a guest in someone's home rather than a client in someone's business.
The Rooms: Cretan Heritage, Modern Comfort
The accommodation at Elounda Mare is divided into four categories, each designed to reflect the rich cultural heritage of Crete while providing the full infrastructure of a five-star resort. The aesthetic is what can only be called Cretan luxury: natural materials, earthy tones, handcrafted details, and a deep connection to the landscape outside.
Main Hotel Seaview Rooms and Suites
The main hotel building houses the Seaview Rooms and Suites, ranging from 30 to 80 square metres. Each is designed with Cretan heritage in mind — local stone, warm woods, textiles in the earthy palette of the Mediterranean — but with modern bathrooms, smart climate control, and the kind of bed that makes you sleep like a child. Every room has a sea view, and the views here are genuinely special: Mirabello Bay stretching to the horizon, the island of Spinalonga floating in the middle distance, and the mountains of the Sitia peninsula rising behind.
Bungalows with Private Pool
For those who want privacy and a pool, the Bungalows with Private Pool are the heart of the Elounda Mare experience. These standalone units are set in the hotel's gardens among the olive trees, with a bedroom, a living area (some with a dividing door), a furnished private garden, and a private swimming pool. The pools are generously sized — not plunge pools but real swimming pools — and they are positioned so that you cannot see or be seen by your neighbours. The feeling is of having your own villa within a resort, with all the services of a five-star hotel at your disposal.
Minoan Royalty Villas with Private Pool
The Minoan Royalty Villas are the next step up — approximately 90 to 150 square metres of indoor space, with a spacious living room, multiple bedrooms, and a furnished private garden with a large private pool. Some have two floors. The views from the villas are spectacular: the sea extends from the bedrooms, the balconies, and the garden, creating a sense that the entire villa is floating above Mirabello Bay. These villas are designed for families or groups who want space, privacy, and the full Elounda Mare experience without compromise.
Minoan Palace with Private Pool
The newest addition to the Elounda Mare accommodation is the Minoan Palace — a four-bedroom beachfront villa with direct access to the sand. Approximately 120 to 150 square metres of indoor space, with a split-level sitting area, a private balcony with comfortable loungers, a private pool, and al-fresco dining. This is the ultimate Elounda Mare address: a private villa on the beach, with the hotel's full service infrastructure, designed for dream family vacations. It is, quite simply, one of the finest private residences available for rent on the island of Crete.
The Old Mill: A Restaurant With a Story
If there is one reason above all others to stay at Elounda Mare, it is the Old Mill. Set around an ancient millstone — a literal millstone, preserved in the restaurant's interior — the Old Mill is one of the most celebrated restaurants in Greece, and it has been the hotel's signature dining venue since the resort opened.
The setting is extraordinary. The restaurant is built into and around the original stone mill, with the millstone as its centrepiece. The interior is warm, candlelit, and intimate — exposed stone, wooden beams, and the kind of atmosphere that cannot be designed but only accumulated over time. In the evening, the terrace opens to the sea, and the combination of the ancient stone, the starlight, and the sound of the water creates one of the most romantic dining settings in the Mediterranean.
The cuisine is Greek with a contemporary sensibility — Cretan ingredients treated with French technique, a reflection of the hotel's Relais & Châteaux heritage. The menu changes seasonally, but the philosophy is constant: the best local ingredients, treated with respect, presented with artistry.
Michelin-Starred Events
The Old Mill regularly hosts guest chef events that bring Michelin-starred chefs from across Europe to cook special tasting menus. In September 2025, the Old Mill hosted Michelin-starred Chef Jérôme Nutile and Chef Jean-Charles Métayer for an exclusive gastronomic journey — the kind of evening that makes Elounda Mare a destination for serious food lovers, not just hotel guests.
These events are part of what makes Elounda Mare more than a hotel restaurant — it is a culinary institution, one that attracts diners from across Crete and beyond, and one that has helped establish Elounda as a gastronomic destination in its own right.
The Yacht Club: Top Notch in Greece
The hotel's second restaurant, the Yacht Club, has been awarded the 'Top Notch' award as one of the best restaurants in Greece. Set on the waterfront, with a terrace overlooking the marina and the bay, the Yacht Club specialises in seafood — fresh catch from the morning's boats, prepared with a light, modern touch.
The seafood here is extraordinary. The lobster, caught locally and prepared to order, is the signature — grilled, with olive oil and sea salt, or in a pasta that is one of the best dishes on Crete. The sea bream and sea bass, grilled over charcoal, are prepared with the simplicity that only comes from absolute confidence in the quality of the ingredient. And the raw bar — oysters, tartare, carpaccio — is the best on the island.
The Deck and the Elounda Collection Dining
For more casual dining, the Deck restaurant is the setting for the beginning of the day — breakfast served on a terrace overlooking the bay, with fresh breads, Cretan cheeses, local honey, fruit, eggs any style, and the kind of coffee that makes you understand why Greeks take their coffee seriously.
But one of the great advantages of staying at Elounda Mare is access to the Elounda Collection's broader dining universe. The three Elounda Collection resorts share their restaurants, and the combined offering is extraordinary: Il Borro Tuscan Bistro (authentic Tuscan cuisine from the legendary Il Borro estate), Sumosan (award-winning Japanese), Calypso (Mediterranean), Elies (Greek), and Cosmos (international). The exclusive sea transfers — boats that connect the three resorts across the bay — mean that dinner at a sister property is not a taxi ride but a boat trip, which is considerably more appealing.
Karavia Wine Cellar
The Karavia Wine Cellar is the Elounda Collection's temple of wine — a climate-controlled cellar with an exceptional selection of Greek and international wines. The sommelier team offers tastings and pairings, and the cellar itself is available for private dining — a dinner among the bottles, with a menu designed by the Old Mill chef, is one of the great dining experiences on Crete.
The Six Senses Spa: Wellness by the Sea
Elounda Mare is home to a Six Senses spa — one of only a handful in Greece, and one of the best. The Six Senses brand is the world leader in integrated wellness, and the Elounda Mare spa lives up to the brand's reputation.
The spa's philosophy is what Six Senses calls 'high-tech, high-touch' — a combination of advanced wellness technology and deeply human, hands-on therapy. The treatment menu is extensive, ranging from traditional massages and facials to holistic wellness programmes that span multiple days. The treatments draw on both Greek traditions — olive oil, honey, herbs from the Cretan mountains — and international techniques.
Wellness Programmes
The spa offers multi-day wellness programmes for sleep, detox, stress management, and fitness. These programmes combine daily treatments, nutritional consultations, fitness sessions, and wellness cuisine. The sleep programme, in particular, is exceptional — the combination of the Cretan climate, the sea air, the spa treatments, and the quiet of the resort creates the conditions for genuinely restorative sleep, and the programme is designed to help guests maintain those conditions after they return home.
The New Fitness Centre
The resort has recently opened a brand-new 250-square-metre fitness centre — a modern, fully equipped space with cardio equipment, free weights, and functional training areas. The fitness centre offers personal training, group classes, and specialised programmes, and it is one of the best hotel gyms on Crete.
The Beach and the Sea
Elounda Mare has its own private beach — a stretch of sand and wooden decking overlooking Mirabello Bay, with sun loungers, parasols, and a beach bar that serves cocktails, fresh juices, and light meals throughout the day. The water is warm, calm, and crystal-clear — protected by the headland and by Spinalonga Island, which acts as a natural breakwater.
The beach is the social heart of the hotel in the daytime — where guests gather to swim, sunbathe, and enjoy the kind of long, slow Mediterranean lunch that is one of the great pleasures of a Cretan holiday. The beach staff are attentive without being intrusive, and the standard of service is what you would expect from a Relais & Châteaux property: cold towels, fruit skewers, frozen drinks, and the quiet efficiency that comes from genuine care rather than training.
Water Sports and Yachting
The resort offers a full water sports programme — sailing, water skiing, paddleboarding, kayaking, and snorkelling. For those who want to explore further, the hotel can arrange yacht charters, from day trips along the Crete coast to multi-day charters around the Aegean. The skippered sailing yachts are available by the day, and the hotel's skipper knows every quiet cove and hidden beach along the coast.
Exclusive Sea Transfers
One of the unique features of the Elounda Collection is the exclusive sea transfer system — boats that connect the three resorts across the bay. Rather than taking a taxi or a shuttle bus between properties, guests travel by boat, skimming across the turquoise water of Mirabello Bay. It is one of the great hotel transfer experiences in the world — and it is included for hotel guests.
Tennis and Sport
Elounda Mare is part of the Elounda Collection's Racquet Club by Lux Tennis — a tennis programme that brings visiting legends to the resorts. Recent guests have included Juan Carlos Ferrero (former World No. 1 and Roland-Garros champion), Paul Ince (one of the most iconic midfielders in English football history), and Fabio Fognini and Flavia Pennetta (both Grand Slam champions). These are not token appearances — the visiting legends coach guests, play exhibition matches, and host social events. For tennis enthusiasts, it is one of the great hotel tennis programmes in the Mediterranean.
The Elounda Collection also offers a Valencia Soccer School Camp for young footballers, golf at the Porto Elounda resort, and a Kid's Ark children's programme — making the collection one of the most family-friendly luxury destinations in Greece.
Sustainability: A Genuine Commitment
Elounda Mare has been awarded the Green Key Certification for 2026-2027 — the international standard for environmental excellence in hospitality. The hotel has also received the Zero Waste HoReCa Gold Distinction, and the Elounda Collection has been awarded an ESG Score A (Excellent) by Synesgy and the METRON Sustainable Tourism Verification Mark by SETE (with a score of 87.1%), certified by TÜV Austria Hellas.
These are not marketing badges — they represent a genuine, measured commitment to sustainability that is visible across the resort: local food sourcing, waste reduction, energy efficiency, and a deep respect for the Cretan landscape that the hotel occupies. In an industry where sustainability claims are often more aspiration than achievement, Elounda Mare's certifications are evidence of real, audited progress.
Elounda: The Village and the Bay
Elounda is a small fishing village on the north coast of Crete, on the shores of Mirabello Bay. It has been a destination for discerning travellers for decades — drawn by the calm water, the mountain scenery, the olive groves, and the unique quality of the light. The village itself is charming — a harbour with fishing boats, a few tavernas, a waterfront cafe, and the sort of slow, authentic Cretan atmosphere that is increasingly difficult to find on the more developed islands.
The bay is dominated by Spinalonga — the small fortress island that was once a leper colony and is now one of the most visited historical sites in Crete. Boats from Elounda make the short trip across the bay several times a day, and walking through the ruined village on Spinalonga — with its streets, its houses, its cinema, and its fortress walls — is one of the most moving experiences on the island.
Beyond Elounda, Crete rewards exploration: the Minoan palace of Knossos (the oldest palace in Europe), the Samaria Gorge (one of the longest gorges in Europe), the Venetian harbour of Chania, and the beaches of Elafonissi and Balos (among the most beautiful in the Mediterranean). The hotel can arrange private tours, guided hikes, and cultural excursions across the island.
Who Will Love Elounda Mare
Elounda Mare is for travellers who want luxury with personality. It is not the biggest hotel on the Elounda coast, nor the most modern. It is the one with the most soul — the one that feels like it belongs to a family rather than a corporation, the one where the Old Mill serves food that you will remember for years, and the one where the olive trees in the garden are older than the hotel itself.
It is for couples seeking a romantic escape — the Old Mill at sunset, the private pool villa, the boat trip to dinner at a sister property. It is for families who want a resort with genuine children's programmes and the space to relax. And it is for food lovers — those who travel for restaurants rather than pools, and who will appreciate the Old Mill, the Yacht Club, and the Michelin-starred guest chef events more than any spa treatment or water sport.
In a coastline of luxury hotels, Elounda Mare is the one with charm. And charm, in the end, is the luxury that cannot be bought — only earned, over years, by people who care. Elounda Mare has been earning it for decades. You can feel it the moment you arrive.
