Minos Beach Art Hotel spreads low across two kilometres of Mirabello Bay shoreline near Agios Nikolaos, whitewashed bungalows and villas set among rock, sand and a permanent sculpture collection.
NEMA Design Hotel & Spa is an adults-only five-star on Analipsi Beach Road in Hersonissos, part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, working a dark, contemporary palette against the Cretan light.
NIKO Seaside Resort MGallery sits on the waterfront at Agios Nikolaos, an adults-only address of 137 rooms and suites, most with their own plunge pool, looking out over Mirabello Bay.
Pnoe Breathing Life sits above the coast at Karteros, an adults-only resort where every room comes with its own private pool and the service, by all accounts, does the rest.
King Minos Retreat rises amphitheatrically up a green hillside above Crete's north coast, its Cretan-style stone buildings and garden bungalows arranged for sea views, some with private pools.
Minos Palace Resort occupies its own peninsula above Agios Nikolaos Bay — an adults-only address on the Cretan coast where a dark-bottom freshwater infinity pool opens onto Mirabello Bay.