WITH the recent launch of British Airways flights to Crete, the island is looking to trade in its bucket-and-spade image for something more glamorous. Such has been the success of the twice-weekly service to Heraklion that BA plans to raise this to four times a week for the 2006 season. On both my flights, the club section was full, proving, perhaps, Crete is already appealing to discerning clients. GB Airways commercial director John Morgan said: “We are delighted with the interest and take-up of these flights and are keen to make more seats available next year. The four flights each week will benefit UK and Greek customers alike and the extended season of Tuesday and Friday flights demonstrates we are listening to our partners’ requests.” Our visit to Crete – the birthplace of Zeus and King Minos – on BA’s inaugural flight gave us a chance to witness the changes on the island. We stayed at the Blue Palace Resort and Spa in Elounda, one of an increasing number of four and five-star properties that give operators the option to sell Crete as an upmarket destination. The Blue Palace, which opened in 2003 and is now part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection, provides a good example of this move upmarket. Set on a steep hill, overlooking an idyllic, sheltered bay, it has top-of-the-range facilities that include a spa and thalassotherapy centre. All the rooms are low-rise and more than half have their own private pools. The shallow, clear waters of the bay make it an ideal place to learn to dive, sail or water ski. We joined a sunset cruise in the hotel’s traditional Caique fishing boat, the Meraki, which took us past the legendary island of Sinalonga, where, in the 18th century, the locals held out against the Turks for 40 years longer than the rest of Crete. In true Jason and the Argonauts’
Elounda is just an hour’s drive from Heraklion and is close to some of Crete’s best ancient sites, including the 4,000-year-old Minoan palace at Knossos. For those wanting to escape the crowds, there are hidden coves and the spectacular Zakros Gorge, known as the Valley of the Dead, makes a great walk.
Greek National Tourist Office UK director Panos Argyros said: “More people will pay a higher price for quality hotels. This is reflected in an increase of 10% on early bookings to get what they want. There have been more four and five-star hotels built in Crete and Santorini than in any other category in the past five years.”
There has been concern in the past about the state of some of Crete’s beaches but Argyros said: “Over the past few years there has been investment in addressing this problem. Greece has just received the largest number of Blue Flag awards, not just for quality of the water but for the beaches as well.”
A two-hour hovercraft ride from Crete took us to one of Greece’s most dramatic islands, Santorini. With its brooding volcanic mountains and exquisite villages, Santorini has seduced everyone from the jet set to backpackers but has managed to avoid mass market exploitation.
No stranger to celebrities, Santorini recently welcomed Angelina Jolie and the Tomb Raider cast and crew.
The jewel in its crown is the hill top village of Oia, where the white cottages cling to the volcanic rock that plunges down into an azure sea.
The capital, Fira, is no less dramatic with much of the town built along the edge of the cliffs. The Cosmopolitan Suites, jutting out over the bay and seemingly defying gravity, are straight out of a Vogue photo shoot.
Although tourists can swamp Fira and Oia during the day most are day-trippers from Crete, so come the evening a welcome tranquillity returns to Santorini.
There are a number of hotels on the island, most with stunning views, and as Santorini dovetails so well with Crete, it makes sense for agents to push twin-centre holidays to more discerning clients.
Harlequin product manager David Pollard said: “I wasn’t convinced Crete could be marketed as a luxury product but having seen the properties on offer in both Crete and Santorini we will be including a number of upmarket hotels in our 2006 brochure.”
First Choice product executive Kelly Apps added: “Guests are now driving for a wider range and a higher standard of facilities and the properties we offer in Crete and Santorini, like the Aldemar Knossos Royal Village in Hersonissos, cater for that.”
Accommodation in Crete has certainly come a long way since the newborn Zeus holed up in the Dikteon cave more than 4,000 years ago.
