IDENTITY CARD
Area code : + 30.
Time difference : + 1 h.
Currency : the euro.
Best season : As resorts in Crete generally only open at the end of April and close at the beginning of November, spring and autumn are the best seasons for incentive trips, with summer being reserved for family tourism. Group sizes: all sizes.
GETTING THERE
AEGEAN AIRLINES, voted best European regional airline by Skytrax, connects Paris CDG to Heraklion with one daily flight in summer. These services are operated by Airbus A320-200 two-class aircraft. The Star Alliance member airline also offers numerous flights to Heraklion from the regional airports of Bordeaux, Brest, Deauville, Geneva, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Metz, Nantes, Nice and Toulouse.
Tel.: 01 70 03 13 23 Internet : en.aegeanair.com
TRANSAVIA operates a daily service to Heraklion from Paris Orly. Air France's low-cost subsidiary also offers three weekly flights from Lyon and Nantes.
Tel: 08 92 05 88 88 Internet : www.transavia.com
TO FIND OUT MORE
Hellenic National Tourist Office
3, av de l'Opéra. 75001 Paris - Tel : 01 42 60 65 75 -Email : info@ot-grece.fr Internet: www.visitgreece.gr
HOTELS
EAST OF HERAKLION
KNOSSOS ROYAL
With its bungalows featuring brick-red columns, Knossos Royal's décor is inspired by the famous Minoan palace. Or should we say 'its' decor, as the resort is divided into a hotel section with 351 rooms and 40 suites, and a VIP section, the 'Knossos villas', with its own reception and 40 bungalows sharing private pools. While the resort, located around twenty minutes from Heraklion airport, caters for families in summer, it is also open to corporate events, with two conference rooms and eight sub-committee rooms for a total capacity of 400 people. As the resort stretches right along the beach, incentive groups have every opportunity to enhance their stay with a myriad of seaside activities. In the evening, gala dinners can be organised around the main swimming pool or on a platform set alongside the sea. Beach parties can continue at the hotel's discotheque.
700 14 Limenas Hersonissou Tel: +30 28970 27 400 Internet : www.aldemar-resorts.gr
CRETA MARIS
As you enter the vast lobby of this resort, one of the first to open in Crete in the 1970s, you quickly get an idea of the gigantic scale of the place. Also located just a short distance from Heraklion, the resort has 690 rooms, including around twenty suites, and, with its convention centre and open-air amphitheatre, has a capacity of 5,500 people. Yet the hotel has managed to remain on a human scale, organised like a dapper Cycladic village. As you stroll through the narrow streets, you'll be reminded of Santorini - only two hours away by boat - as you pass between bungalows built like traditional houses and overflowing with bougainvillea. The main building opens onto a large terrace overlooking the hotel's main swimming pool, which is surrounded by one of the hotel's six restaurants. The Creta Maris also offers seven bars. For team-building activities, there is a wide range of sports activities available on the seafront, in addition to mini-football and archery.
700 14 Hersonissos - Tel: +30 28970 27000 - Email: resort@cretamaris.gr Internet: www.maris.gr
DAIOS COVE
From the belvedere where they are greeted, guests can quickly guess the programme that awaits them at Daios Cove: luxury, contemporary design and a truly gentle way of life on the edge of a divine private cove. Built in 2010, in the midst of the monetary crisis, Daios Cove, located near Agios Nikolaos and an hour from Heraklion, cost at least €120 million, with the setting naturally matching the investment. The hotel's very mineral architecture blends into the rocky landscape. The flats, most of which have private pools - Daios Cove has no fewer than 165, a record for a resort in Europe - are scattered around the coves, and are distributed not by a lift, as is usual in a hotel, but by two funicular railways. The funiculars take guests from the beach to the top of the resort, stopping at each 'street' to let them return to their rooms. 1st street, 2nd street... and so on down to the eighth street, which has a helipad. From here, groups can organise a ballet of helicopters in 15-minute rotations to fly over the fortified island of Spinalonga and the Lassithi plateau. Another option for discovering the region is to book catamaran cruises that moor in the cove. Gala dinners for up to 200 people, either by the pool or barefoot on the beach. Conference centre. 290 rooms, including 42 suites and 40 villas.
Vathi, 72100 Agios Nikolaos - Tel: + 30 28412 00488 - Email : info@daioscove.com Internet : www.daioscovecrete.com
ELOUNDA
One of the most exclusive resorts in Greece, the coastline is lined with luxury hotels: Porto Elounda and its neighbour Elounda Mare, which is part of the Relais & Chateaux group, then two members of the Leading Hotels, Elounda Beach and Elounda Bay Palace, the latter not to be confused with Elounda Blue Palace, part of the Luxury Collection of Starwood Hotels, which is located a little further away, almost in Plaka, where the caiques embark for the island of Spinalonga. Next door to the Blue Palace, the Domes of Elounda is part of Marriott's Autograph Collection.
Internet : www.elounda-sa.com ; www.lhw.com ; www.bluepalace.gr ; www.domesofelounda.com
TO RETHYMNON
CRETA PALACE
At night in June, this resort dims its lights so as not to disturb the turtles that come to lay their eggs on its beach. So much the worse for groups wishing to end their stay with a traditional beach party. But they won't be disappointed: Creta Palace has a thousand and one places to hold events without disturbing the cycles of nature, whether around the main pool, at the rooftop bar or in the three à la carte restaurants. And even four, since the hotel's owner, the Grecotel group, has its own farm just a few kilometres away. Supplying the hotel with ultra-fresh organic produce, the Agrofarm welcomes groups for Cretan-style dinners. As for the hotel's 335 rooms, ranging from standard single rooms to private villas, they blend into a sort of traditional village with its little shops and its kafeneion - a real one, moved with its owner from the centre of Rethymnon to show the place as it was 80 years ago. Around its terrace, Greek evenings can be organised for up to a hundred people. Conference centre and numerous seaside activities.
Missiria, 74100 Rethymno. Tel: +30 28310 55181 - Email: reservations.cp@grecotel.com Internet : www.cretapalace.com
THE ARTEMIS PALACE
Let's face it, the Artemis Palace lacks the architectural grace of the Ephesus temple dedicated to the goddess of hunting. But beyond that, it has all the makings of a top-of-the-range city hotel, with the advantage of being just a few metres from the beach and a fifteen-minute walk from the centre of Rethymnon. The establishment offers corporate groups what hotels in the historic centre cannot, namely real capacity with 245 recently refurbished rooms and several options for hosting events. In addition to a meeting room for 40 people, the hotel, which has been awarded a Green Key for its environmental commitment, can meet the needs of organisers by converting other areas for events or entertainment such as Cretan dances. Cocktails and gala dinners around the outdoor swimming pool.
M. Portaliou 26, 74100 Rethymno Tel: +30 2831053991 Email : info@theartemis.gr Internet : www.theartemis.gr
RESTAURANTS
HERAKLION
PESKESI
Housed in a historic mansion in the centre of Heraklion, Peskesi offers a tangle of shaded terraces and vaulted courtyards, either of which can be made private for 30 to 60 people. From the raki served as an aperitif to the rose liqueur accompanying desserts, everything is strictly Cretan in this tavern, which offers a contemporary interpretation of the famous diet for which the island is famous. The authentic, traditional recipes are based on organic ingredients, as the restaurant has its own farm. The meat and poultry are sourced from small producers, and the wines come exclusively from the island's vineyards.
Kapetan Haralampi 6-8 - Phone : +30 2810 288887 - Email : info@peskesicrete.gr - Internet : peskesicrete.gr
LADOKOLLA
Aubergine caviar, marinated anchovies, dakos - rye breadcrumbs with tomato, olive oil and feta cheese - and grilled squid are just some of the mezzés served at Ladokolla. Just a few minutes' walk from the Venetian fort, the restaurant, which is mainly frequented by locals, can accommodate groups on its terrace overlooking a charming little square, in the shade of an old olive tree.
18 Agiou Titou, Heraklion Tel: +30 2810 256391
RETHYMNON
PRIMA PLORA
Far from the touch-and-go tables of the Venetian port, this restaurant is ideally located, on the edge of a small beach, for gala dinners with an unforgettable view of the fortress of Rethymnon. The menu features organic produce from small local producers and, of course, freshly caught fish. Groups can enjoy whole grilled grouper and sea bream, as well as specialities such as prawn risotto flavoured with ouzo or octopus with lemon and olive oil. For up to 70 people.
4 Akrotiriou, Rethymno - Tel: +30 28310 56990 - Email : info.primaplora@gmail. com - Internet : www.primaplora.gr
AVLI
Whether in the vaulted rooms of this 17th-century Venetian house or in its shady garden, Avli offers creative gourmet cuisine, with its own take on traditional moussaka or Cretan-style snails.
Xanthoudidou 22 & Radamanthios, Rethymnon - Tel: +30 28310 58250/26213 - Internet : www.avli.gr
RECEPTIVE
Select Holidays & Travel
22, Dimokratias Avenue 71306 Heraklion Tel: +30 2810 344206 Email : manager@select-holidays.gr Internet: www.select-holidays.gr
