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Wyndham Mirabello Bay Luxury Resort is a sprawling and inclusive five-star resort sat just outside of Crete’s pretty seaside capital of Agios Nikolaos. Ahead, one editor's honest review.
It's pretty rare in your adult life to spend a full, uninterrupted week with your family. Or it is, at least, for me. Life gets busy, and while weekend breaks are plentiful and cherished, they always whiz by too quickly. That's exactly why, at the beginning of last year, myself, my mum and my sister vowed to go away together before December was out: somewhere hot, somewhere relaxing, and for a full seven days.
After much deliberation on holiday destination, as I'm sure you can imagine, we settled on a trip to a Greek Island. In retrospect, we'd hardly whittled things down at that point: there are over 220 inhabited Greek islands to consider, with choices spanning far past the classics of Mykonos and Santorini. I won't bore you with the conversations that followed – other than one which saw us decide on staying in a hotel which we wouldn't need to leave. Mirabello Bay Luxury Resort fit the bill.
Arriving at Mirabello Bay Luxury Resort
When flying from London to Crete, you can land into one of two airports: Heraklion or Chania. Mirabello Bay Luxury Resort is located less than an hours' drive away from the former, on the North-Eastern side of the island and just outside of the beautiful seaside town of Agios Nikolaos. So, despite our late landing – and the chaotic nature of Heraklion's small luggage hall – our transfer was speedy and seamless.
It's always a little unnerving arriving at a new hotel in the middle of the night, but the team were nothing but welcoming. The approach to the hotel – which is split into two halves; one each side of a busy road – is impressive. A sweeping canopy stretches over a taxi-clad driveway to frame the main and original hotel building: the heart of the resort. Inside, the marble reception space – which smells divine, may I add – features a stylish shop selling local Greek clothing and accessories, as well as plenty of low leather sofas to kick back on.
After picking up our all-inclusive wristbands, we were taken by golf buggy – over the bridge which joins the hotels' two parts – five minutes up the hill. We drove past countless other bungalows and suites which were scattered across the cliffside. There are 343 in total, 120 of which have pools, and while the uphill scramble gave me some idea of the size of the resort, it wasn't until I woke up the next morning that I realised quite how sprawling it is.
Our room was split over two levels: on the ground floor, a bedroom, dressing room and bathroom, and on the top floor, a slightly-larger repeat – plus a terrace with a sea view. It was the perfect-sized room for a mother-daughter trip. My mum made herself at home on the ground floor, while my sister and I shared the upstairs master bedroom. Both spaces were designed around a palette of creams, beiges and powder blue, complete with rattan furniture and more sparkling marble. I couldn't fault the design or cleanliness.
After a great night's sleep, I woke up to a half-eaten plate of snacks which the hotel team had very kindly put out for us the night before (half-eaten by myself, just to be clear), and stumbled out onto the sun-drenched terrace. The resort spans almost the entirety of Mirabello Bay, with its own private beach, water sports centre, tennis courts, football pitches, water park and multiple pools. From the edge of our balcony, you could almost see it all, and I felt beyond excited to explore.
Here, it's worth noting that each of the two sides of the resort feel quite different. The side which I was overlooking – that which hugged the shore and housed the resort's infinity pool, main hotel block and several restaurants – is lively with a tendency to get a little noisy in the evening. In contrast, the village side – comprised of more pools, the gym, stone-built rooms like ours and the newly-opened water park – was much more subdued. I was pleased to be able to dip in and out of the buzz.
The food
As hungry travellers, breakfast was, of course, our first port of call – so, we ventured over the road and away from the village to the main heart of the hotel. The experience was, in all honesty, a busier-than-preferred affair – I'd recommend avoiding the 9am rush if you're to steer clear of the hungry children – but the food was a total treat and we quickly got into a routine each day.
A little like the hotel, the buffet was sprawling, with local yoghurt and honey, fresh fruit, pastries, fresh bread and continental options – plus an omelette bar and station for drinks. Pleasingly, everything was restocked readily and piping hot.
It's the same Amalthea buffet restaurant which serves an international buffet for lunch and dinner every evening, so we became quite well-acquainted. While there is a selection of other restaurants on-site at the resort, you have to book in advance for a feeling of exclusivity, so it's nice to have a more relaxed option to fall back on. We ate our evening meal at the Amalthea buffet restaurant multiple times over the course of the week and I never ate the same thing twice. I particularly loved the offering of traditional Greek options. Think: moussaka, Greek salads and chicken gyros.
Top tip: get there early to bag a rare-but-special table on the terrace and eat while you watch the sun go down.
As for the other restaurants on-site, the traditional Cretan taverna, Kafenion, was my favourite. It was so pretty and picturesque, hidden in a quiet spot down the hill from the main Amalthea buffet and with exceptional service. It had sweet, green-painted chairs and tables, and the food was divine: salads, fresh fish, stuffed courgetti flowers and raki shots.
We had two dinners at Kafenion since we loved it so much, and enjoyed walking five minutes up the cliff to the local church to watch sunset afterwards. It was so peaceful and the perfect way to work off all the lamb and potatoes I had tucked into. It was one of my favourite experiences of the entire week.
Things to do
I say “one of” my favourite experiences, because we were totally spoiled with wonderful things to do over the duration of our stay. Sure, you could spend the entirety of your holiday on a sun-lounger, but when there are local villages to explore, wine tastings to take part in and water sports to rinse, why on Earth would you?
Let's start at the top: with the local towns and villages that are just crying out to be explored. Agios Nikolaos is the most obvious – a pretty large seaside town which can be reached by a local bus which departs from just outside of the hotel (and which costs less than two Euros). With restaurants lining the harbour and countless shops selling local produce to wander around, it's a lovely place to spend a couple of hours of an evening. Or, visit during the day and take part in a perfume-making workshop at the divine, family-run Bioaroma Natural Products store. We spent three hours there and each made fragrances which we've been wearing ever since. Talk about a unique souvenir.
If you fancy venturing a little bit further, also best visited during the evening is Kritsa – a quiet and traditional village set around 30 minutes in-land, which was recommended to us by the owner of Mirabello Bay Luxury Resort's on-site shop. It's such a gorgeous and off-the-beaten-track place to wander around, with a plethora of gift shops and ice cream parlours to break at. While we headed back to the hotel to eat dinner, there seemed to be plenty of restaurants to choose from to elongate the night. A must-visit for any length of stay at Mirabello Bay Luxury Resort.
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If you don't want to leave the hotel but still want to keep yourself entertained, I'd recommend splashing (apologies) your entire holiday budget at the water sports centre. Though water sports are at an extra cost (as expected), bookings aren't needed: you simply approach the friendly team and take your pick from kayaking, paddle-boarding, jet-skiing – the list goes on.
We went out on a sofa boat which was a tad terrifying, but incredibly fun nonetheless, and took a speed-boat ride around the local island of Spinalonga. (Famed for being a leper colony in the early 20th century). This was so fun – I spent at least an hour jumping from the boat into the sea and climbing back up again – and loved whizzing past the local coves, caves and towns that we otherwise wouldn't have spotted.
Otherwise, the hotel has an outdoor cinema, a swim-up bar (a great spot for an Aperol, tried and tested), an open-air gym (not as hot as you'd assume, also tried and tested), and an on-site water park. Again, not as ridden with children as you might expect – even my mum tried her hand at the water chute.
The verdict
We had the dreamiest of weeks at Mirabello Bay Luxury Resort, rating it highly for its stellar location, water sports offering, stylish bedrooms and vast choice of food. While some details slipped – we had a tricky time getting herbal tea delivered to our bedroom, and didn't get bottled water regularly restocked – they weren't deal breakers. For a fly-and-flop, all-inclusive trip with my sister or a friend – where everything you need is on your doorstep – I'd book Mirabello Bay Luxury Resort again in a heartbeat.
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