Phāea Blue Palace, Crete

In short… Phāea Blue Palace is a new-look Elounda escape which eyes Spinalonga Island, made over by a creative Cretan family and their artisan friends.

The surroundings… Hugging a hillside between Elounda and the dinky fishing village of Plaka, Phāea Blue Palace cascades down several rugged tiers towards its pebbly, palapa-dotted beach (have the hotel’s zippy buggies on speed dial to avoid the steep ascent back to your room). Rock roses and pink oleanders climb up weathered stone walls, and an old carob tree offers some much-needed shade in the hotel’s organic garden—which shares its fragrant patch of cocktail-bound herbs with several adami bee hives (a breed that’s been buzzing about since the Minoan age).

The vibe… Cretan-born sisters Agapi and Costantza Sbokou recently reimagined their father’s property into a smaller-scale boutique hotel, enlisting Greek artisans like Athenian marble atelier Onentropy, ceramicists Melina Xenaki and Kallia Panopoulou, and porcelain craftsman Thomais Kontou to fill the halls with handmade objets d’art. The Sbokous’ late grandmother, Agapi, also contributed a dreamy assortment of textiles—all woven by hand on the island—to dress the entrance, lounge and library. Here, sun-kissed residents, many clad in floaty Zeus + Dione (also stocked in the boutique), sip homemade lemonade while perusing beautifully bound copies of the Greek myths.

The rooms… Split between sea view bungalows, suites and a three-bedroom villa, bedrooms are breezy, light-filled, and designed to direct the gaze towards the Mirabello Gulf. Electric blue and gold-foiled works by Greek painter Philippos Theodorides splash color across the suites’ whitewashed walls, while the bungalows are styled with summer-infused snaps from the Benaki Museum’s photography archives. Villa residents can gather around for chef-prepped barbecues, seated on a little slice of furniture history—the iconic klismos chair, made in the ‘60s by Saridis of Athens. The blue-and-white bedecked Kefalonia Suite was my home for several nights, one of the hotel’s island-inspired suites with a canopy-draped bed, deep soaking tub, private pool and terrace—all facing the deserted islet of Spinalonga (which felt even more special when a copy of Victoria Hislop’s The Island was thoughtfully placed on my bedside table at turndown).

The wellness… There’s no spa in the traditional sense, just a healing tonic of sparkly sea dips and air-drying on the windswept shingle.

The food & drink… Stuffing yourself silly is easy to do here, and yet I still found myself coming back for more hearty, home-cooked helpings. Greek culinary heavyweight Athinagoras Kostakos (of Bill & Coo, Scorpios Mykonos, and Notting Hill’s Mazi) is consulting chef, alongside Cretan-born Giannis Kalivretakis, who personally presents every dish throughout the farmers’ feast—a pop-up held in the organic garden after diners have picked their own ingredients—and each evening at Anthós, the hotel’s fine dining restaurant. The kitchen is alfresco, with a rustic set-up under an olive tree, where tender cuts of lamb and goat are rubbed in sea salt and homegrown herbs, then grilled over open flames. A breakfast spread of local cheeses, traditional pastries, seasonal fruit with Greek yogurt and honey-drizzled pancakes is laid out inside (the best table is beneath the Hellenic hanging plates from the Benaki Museum). Head down to the beach for seafront dining at the Blue Door Taverna, a converted fisherman’s cabin with salt-baked fish and massive meze trays (including some of the best tzatziki I’ve ever eaten) on the menu. You can also learn how to make dolmadakia (stuffed vine leaves) in a Cretan cooking class, taste your way through a Greek wine flight, and help yourself to the martini trolley wheeled around Votsalo Bar.

Extra tip goes to… My mother and I quite seriously discussed moving in with Maria, who welcomed us with a hug (and shots of raki) before every meal, and generously gave us some bottles of olive oil from her family’s groves. “Don’t waste it in a saucepan,” she warned, “you can taste it best in a Greek salad.”

Be sure to… Sail around Spinalonga aboard the hotel’s caïque (a traditional fishing boat). The skipper also stops off in a crystal-clear cove for you to swim in, and prepares a picnic on deck of watermelon and feta salad, garlicky pita bread, hummus, and mint-cucumber sandwiches.

Parting words… Take the scent of Cretan holidays home with you by purchasing the hotel’s Zeus + Dione collab candle set, molded into shapes of Greek pottery and oil lamps using the island’s honeysuckle and honeycomb.

Date of stay… May 2024