The southernmost of all Greece’s islands has, unsurprisingly, the longest summer. This is why at almost the end of October, it is still swimsuit weather by day and the evenings are balmy enough for outdoor dining. Some 260 miles from Athens, Crete’s long hot, dry summers are more similar to the north coast of Africa (187 miles away) than those of many Mediterranean islands.
At St Nicolas Bay Hotel (with just over 100 rooms, a member of the Small Luxury Hotels group), everyone is down at the beach for a dip in the sea or by one of the pools (there are several of these, with a choice of salt or fresh water). As I write, it’s the last hurrah of summer here, while back at home there are reports of the autumn’s first named storm. The season is, though, about to come to a fairly abrupt end. Come November, there are no direct flights to Crete (you can get here via Athens) and most of the hotels, including this one, close and won’t throw open their doors again till early April.
St Nicolas Bay is on the northern end of the east coast close to Agios Nikolaos, a small town with a horseshoe-shaped bay, dotted with fishing boats and a small public beach. The hotel has its own private beach and tiers above that of pools, bars, restaurants and quite gorgeous gardens filled with olive trees and the many sweet scented herbs for which Crete is so famous. The outside space is beautifully laid out and extensive – you never really feel there’s a crowd here – and all of the restaurants have inside as well as outside space.
The main restaurant, Labyrinthos, offers a five course dinner every night but there are also separate restaurants for breakfast and lunch, as well as two speciality restaurants. The Greek Kafenion offers, as you might imagine, Cretan cuisine including lamb and fish dishes and quite delicious salads. The Minotaure is the hotel’s fine dining restaurant with candlelit tables under the stars and often live music on a stage that seems to float on yet another pool.
And, of course, this being the spa column, they have the Poseidon Spa, too. Tucked away in a quiet corner of the property, they have the only heated indoor swimming pool in the hotel as well as a steam room and a sauna. This is a spa, though, that is primarily about the treatments and they have quite an array of them. There are hot stone, Polynesian, Ayurveda and more on the massage front, as well as body scrubs, a hammam, reflexology and a Poseidon Massage – vigorous and deep, it uses “Cretan beeswax” infused with such herbs as thyme, dittany and mint. Having been constantly travelling for several weeks, I felt I needed a gentler but relaxing massage and my therapist, Eleni and I settled on a local almond oil to restore my dry skin, too. A combination of circling movements (using arms, hands and thumbs), heating cloths and an intensive scalp massage did the trick and Eleni found all the knots that airline seats so generously give us.
The next day I was with Natalie for an Elemis facial. They use Elemis for all the facials at this spa but they take many different forms. There are the hi-tech ones using Oxygen Infusing Therapy, Blue & Red Light Therapy, Galvanic Rejuvenation, Ultrasonic Exfoliating Spatula and Microcurrent Liftin Technology. All very impressive, of course, but I was still in search of relaxation and decided on the Pro-Glow Renewal Facial that also includes a good deal of massage – at various points I had hand, arm, neck, shoulders, scalp and, of course, facial massage.
The Elemis products are lovely both in terms of texture and scent. I particularly liked the Papaya Enzyme Peel and the Soothing Apricot Toner but these are highly effective products and during the course of the facial I had a double cleanse (Nourishing Omega Rich Oil and Pro-Collagen Energising Marine Cleanser), the Pro-Collagen Marine Cream and Mask, Pro-Collagen Definition Facial Oil and, for my body, Frangipani Monoi Body Oil and Pro-Radiance Hand and Nail Cream. I was promised healthier looking skin with a lit-from-within glow – and duly received it.
St Nicolas Bay is about much more than just the spa, however. The food is great, the staff charming and the ambience is super relaxing. You’re also in Crete (my favourite Greek island) and there’s so much to see that the hotel will happily arrange for you. You can spend a day visiting the real Knossos Palace (I think much better than the version in Kaos) and see the treasures that have been found there at the Heraklion Museum.
The local hills are full of walks and you can go up to the nearby village of Kritsa, try the delicacies of the Women’s Co-operative Bakery, drink the herb-rich Cretan mountain tea, watch women working at the same looms Helen of Troy would have known and visit ex-Marathon champion, George Afordakos, in his remarkable one-man natural history museum, filled with bunches of drying herbs, fossils and family weavings over a hundred years old.
I’d spent the first part of the morning with a family of olive farmers who, at the end of October, were just starting on the annual harvest. Arriving at their morning break, they asked me to join them at their feast of goats’ cheese, salads, bread soaked in olive oil, everything home grown and made (including the raki that appeared, already diluted, in a plastic water bottle). It was some of the most delicious food I think I’ve ever tasted.
St Nicolas will be opening again in early April. Spring in Crete? Yes, please.
St Nicholas Bay is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World. For more information, including details of the Early Booking and Early Spring offers, please visit www.stnicholasbay.gr.
