"A balm for overworked, whacked-out parents, with stone-built villas dotted around an olive-tree-covered cove. It may be big—there are 300 rooms and 39 villas—but service is as smooth and polished as the marble floors, with fragrant hand towels, ice water, and electric buggies to glide you noiselessly to your door. Villas are split over two stories, with sitting rooms leading out to the infinity pool and terrace, and the primary suite and balcony below. Children can sleep on a sofa bed in the top half, with their own bathroom—an arrangement that works surprisingly well. What the rooms may lack in character they make up for in quality and extravagant extras: lengthy pillow menus, iPod docking stations, a choice of mango, vanilla, or violet fragrances to be fed into the air-conditioning, and Château Margaux (at $2,000) on the room-service menu. Whenever you return, a little treat is waiting: pastel-colored macaroons, giant cupcakes, or feta muffins. Bars, restaurants, and the swimming pool area are all on different levels up the rocky sides of the bay, accessed by a funicular rail car. And though it feels rather resorty, the Crete hotel's eco credentials are impeccable, with water recycling and heat-recovery systems all working behind the scenes. Evenings are low-key and family-friendly with help-yourself buffets that major on Greek classics, from souvlaki and dolmades to filo-wrapped prunes. There's also, of course, a kids club, with mini discos, the occasional games night, and babysitting. At the beach, the sea is shallow and shelves some 50 feet out, making for child-friendly rippling waves. Children can while away the time with their complimentary buckets and spades."
