Kapsaliana Village Hotel

Style

Verdant village

Setting

Amid the olive groves

Kapsaliana Village Hotel’s history-steeped settlement, set in the island’s largest olive grove, has an 18th-century olive press and its own museum. The original press and pitharia (clay storage vessels) can still be admired and there’s a homely restaurant and a flower-flanked outdoor pool. Rooms are soothingly simple: stone interiors and arches.

Facilities

Rooms

29, including suites.

Checkout

Noon (flexible subject to availability). Earliest check-in, noon.

More Details

Rates include traditional breakfast. A three-night minimum stay applies for this hotel.

Also

The rather important-sounding Ministry of Planning and Public Works has pronounced the hotel a site of ‘significant cultural importance’, and no wonder: the lounge is built around the original olive press and there’s even a little museum, stocked with artifacts.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pet Friendly

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

Spa

At the Hotel

Gardens, CD/DVD library and free WiFi in reception, the restaurant, the lounge area and by the pool. In-rooms: flatscreen TV, CD/DVD player, minibar, Nespresso coffee machine and free bottled water.

Our Favourite Rooms

All rooms share the same distinctive decor: stone walls, floors and arches, wooden beamed ceilings, chunky wooden furniture including carved benches beside the beds; with private terraces and bathrooms boasting turquoise and jade tiled showers. What distinguishes the living quarters are the views; Orion has seductive seascapes, as does Pegasus. If you’re a fan of the characteristic stone arches that separate the bedrooms and living areas, book Perseus or Lyra.

Poolside

The rectangular pool (heated from April to October) is set amid the olive groves, on a pretty white stone patio. Vivid flowering shrubs, sunloungers and parasols are dotted around the turquoise water.

Packing Tips

Cool cotton, bikinis and beach shorts, a paperback copy of Homer’s Odyssey.

Also

Give the owners advance warning, and pets can come too for free. Smoking is allowed in all communal areas apart from the restaurant.

Children

Little Smiths are welcome, with free cots and beds for 14 year olds and under (€20 a day, high season; €15, low season).

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Sit out on the terrace and feel the sun on your skin.

Dress Code

Relaxed rustic: loose linen, soft shirts and heel-free shoes for the uneven floors.

Hotel Restaurant

The restaurant at Kapsaliana is a real gem, serving stand-out local cuisine. Styled around a typical Cretan kitchen, with wooden tables and chairs, white arched walls and bright tapestries, the chef and olive oil expert whips traditional delicacies using organic, locally sourced ingredients. The simply delicious (literally) dishes include lamb with artichokes, chicken with lemon and olives, meat pie with wild herbs and delicate sugared pastries. A relaxed breakfast is served here daily.

Hotel Bar

During the restaurant's opening hours, drinks are served in the lounge area, and the zingy home-made lemonade is worth being teetotal for. There's an honesty bar of sorts by the pool, stocked with drinks and ice-creams. You can also use the pool bar's telephone to have food brought to you. The latest edition to the hotel is the Lemonies Bar, where you can enjoy sundowners such as the Mediterannean Manhattan (local raki, sweet vermouth, angostura, grapefruit juice, orange juice and soda water).

Last Orders

Breakfast from 8.30am–11am; lunch between 1pm–4.30pm; dine between 7pm and 10pm. Lemonies Bar is open 6pm to 11pm.

Room Service

Drinks can be ordered from 9am and 7pm. There are no in-room snacks but you can stock up on nibbles from the pool bar.

Planes

Heraklion airport is 79km from the hotel, and Chania airport is 86km away. The hotel can arrange a taxi for €130 each way.

Automobiles

Rethymnon is a half-hour drive away.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Begin by making the most of the hotel; have a dip in the secluded pool, dry off on one of the loungers and ramble through the olive groves. Visit the hotel’s museum and eye up the artifacts. Make an appearance at one of the regular olive-oil tastings, and ask the concierge to book you on some guided excursions. The 14th-century Eastern Orthodox monastery of Arkadi is 4km from the hotel and is rich in history – used as a headquarters in the 19th century by Cretan rebels evading the Turks. The surrounding villages have a stash of Byzantine relics. Sandy beaches are just 10 minutes away by car – choose from Stavromenos and Geropotamos. Both come with sun beds, parasols and a taverna or two. Visit Rethymnon and its Venetian fortress, 18km away. The gardens, mosques, castle and loggia are all impressive. Chania, on Crete’s north shore (an hour’s drive from Rethymnon) is worth a visit for its glorious Venetian architecture, backdrop of the White Mountains and seductive sandy beaches. At least one Bounty advert was filmed at Preveli beach, in Agios Nikolaos – stake out a spot on the stretch of sand and make your own movie.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .