Elounda Mare

The Hotel

Elounda Mare Relais & Châteaux holds the Elounda Relais & Châteaux flagship position, the property's 147-key footprint sits on a 12-acre waterfront in Elounda with Mirabello Bay sightlines. The property opened in 1972 under Spyros Kokotos's family-run stewardship (the broader Kokotos family Cretan hospitality empire also operates Porto Elounda Golf & Spa Resort and Elounda Peninsula All-Suite Hotel as part of the Elounda SA cluster); Elounda Mare was admitted to Relais & Châteaux in 1986 as the first Greek-island Relais & Châteaux member and has held continuous Relais & Châteaux membership for nearly four decades, the longest-tenured Greek-island Relais & Châteaux property by a substantial margin. The distinction is the convergence of family-run Cretan-hospitality continuity, the founder Spyros-Kokotos's pioneering Greek-luxury-hotel vision, and the Relais-&-Châteaux longevity at Greek-island scale.

Accommodations split across the Elounda Mare categories, Hotel Rooms (the entry-tier 35-45 sqm configurations with garden-or-sea-view sightlines), Bungalows (the upper-tier 50-65 sqm configurations), Private-Pool Bungalows (the milestone-tier 70-110 sqm configurations with private outdoor heated pools, 33 such bungalows are distributed across the waterfront footprint), and the named Royal Suite (the milestone unit at 280 sqm two-bedroom configuration with private heated pool and direct Mirabello-Bay panoramic sightlines). The Relais-&-Châteaux Greek-island decorative register runs throughout, restored Greek-island-vernacular architectural integrity, contemporary Cretan-textile-and-furniture commissions, structured natural-stone-and-Cretan-craft material palette, and the property's signature private-bungalow-and-Aegean-terrace configuration unique to each accommodation type.

Operationally Elounda Mare runs the Relais & Châteaux contemporary-luxury register. Dining anchors at the property's signature contemporary-Cretan and Greek-island fine-dining flagship (the Cretan-cuisine-and-Mediterranean tasting-menu programme is anchored on the broader Kokotos-family Cretan ingredient sourcing across the Lasithi region), the waterfront tavern and Greek-tavern-and-seafood-restaurant programme, and the structured in-villa private-dining programme. Property programming includes the Elounda Mare Spa with structured Cretan-traditional and Mediterranean-cellar treatment programmes, the in-property private-beach and waterfront-pool complex, structured Spinalonga Island private-boat-tour programmes, structured Knossos Palace day-trip programmes, and the broader Elounda-SA cluster cross-property booking pathway with Porto Elounda Golf & Spa Resort and Elounda Peninsula All-Suite Hotel.

What gives Elounda Mare its considered Crete Relais-&-Châteaux position is the convergence of family-run Cretan-hospitality continuity, the Relais-&-Châteaux longevity (the longest-tenured Greek-island R&C property), and the 33 private-pool-bungalow waterfront footprint. No other Greek-island Relais & Châteaux property runs the same continuous-Relais-membership tenure; no other Crete property runs the Spyros-Kokotos-pioneering Greek-luxury-hospitality heritage; and the Elounda-SA cluster cross-property booking pathway gives the property the most-considered Crete cluster-luxury context. For the Crete Relais-&-Châteaux honeymoon, a multi-property Elounda-SA cluster anniversary, or a Greek-islands Relais-&-Châteaux pilgrimage, Elounda Mare is the most-considered Crete Relais alternative.

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