Think you know Crete? Think again. Stylist’s editor-in-chief Lisa Smosarski is captivated by the island’s charms at the picture-perfect Domes of Elounda resort

“There are two hot tubs!” I shouted across the suite. “We have two hot tubs in our hotel room!” I ran from the bathroom to the balcony, where my husband stood, smiling. “There are more hot tubs than toilets,” he whispered. We laughed. We like hot tubs.

This glut of hot tubs (indoor and outdoor) was the finishing touch to our suite in Domes of Elounda, a luxurious resort hotel on the eastern edge of Crete, the largest of the Greek islands. I’d never been excited by the prospect of Crete, put off by its reputation as an Eighties resort, eclipsed by the glitzy reputations of the smaller isles. Forty minutes into our drive from the airport, I realised just how wrong I’d been. As we approached the resort of Elounda (every one of the villages the town is made up of has 10 different spellings, a sat-nav challenge), I was in awe. Olive tree-flanked beaches curved around a gulf of turquoise water, and alongside this paradise was our hotel, a village of terracotta domed suites, dotted over the hills.

With 80 suites and 40 villas set over 10 acres, Domes of Elounda is expansive, and golf buggies ferry guests from the original part of the property to the more recent development. On the ‘old side’, domed suites overlook the sea and sit beside the spa, adults-only pool and three of the five restaurants; this is honeymoon territory. The newer side of the resort is dominated by a huge freshwater pool (and two smaller kids’ pools), a bar and stylish restaurant, and a different vibe –contemporary design with primary-coloured basket chairs, daybeds and squishy pillows; chill-out music and large suites with kitchenettes, catering more to families.

Get away from it all at a luxury Cretan idyll