Daios Cove

Last summer after almost 2 years of staying in Athens we finally went for vacations in Crete. A mix of COVID-19, pregnancy and postpartum kept us from traveling all that time. We saw family and friends and let our one-year-old daughter roam around. We also escaped for 3 days sans baby in Daios Cove.

The choice of the hotel was a case of “Instagram made me do it”. That’s where I encountered many photos of the resort (and the beach) which enticed me.  It was worth it though! For the first time in my life, I spent 3 days in a resort without venturing out for sightseeing (we did some on our way there). Our stay was very relaxing, and I’m going to tell you all about it.

The Hotel

Daios Cove is located roughly 8km south of Agios Nikolaos in the regional unit of Lasithi. The nearest airports are those Heraklion (66km) and Sitia (62km). The easiest way to get there is by car. The hotel offers complimentary airport transfer for those staying in Suites or Villas.

The resort’s main building is on the tip of the cove. It houses the reception, the restaurants, the spa, the gym, and some stores. On the right-hand side from the main building (when you look out at sea) is where the most rooms, suites and villas are built. On the other side there are some rooms as well and that’s where our room was. It was convenient as we were close to the main building and the restaurants. There was also a path (albeit long) that connects that part of the resort with the beach. That’s where I shot those panoramic photos.

The beach is exclusive to the hotel and you can access it by stairs or by the funicular in the central building. As you reach the beach the staff hands two (2) towels to each person to use. We really didn’t use our own towels at Daios Cove because everything was provided by. One thing to keep in mind is that the cove faces north east. That means it can get very windy at times, especially in August.

Related: Crete Road Trip: Heraklion to Ierapetra

The Room at Daios Cove

The room we booked was a Deluxe room with pool and sea view. To be honest, all rooms have sea view here. I actually did not take any photo of the room (shocking I know), so you’ll have to rely on the website for that one. It was very spacious and what I liked the most was the bathroom. Which was an open space between the entrance and the bedroom. It had a shower, a WC, a bathtub and of course a sink.

The Restaurants at Daios Cove

The hotel has one (1) buffet restaurant and three (3) a la carte ones. We had half-board so we had breakfast at the buffet restaurant and could have dinner there as well. The hotel gave us the opportunity to use our half board meal allowance in the à la carte restaurants.

The buffet restaurant, called Pangea, is light and airy. It has both indoors and semi-outdoors seating areas. The breakfast buffet had different “stands” with egg and baked dishes, a variety of bread, desserts etc. The food in each stand was served by a member of the staff.

The first night we dined at the Ocean restaurant. The team at Ducasse Conseil has tailored the dishes drawing inspiration from the Greek sea and land. We had tuna tartare, sweet corn, and lemon confit as a starter. For main course I got Lamb chops with herb crust and eggplant. My husband got the day special which was a risotto dish with prawns and tomatoes. The dessert we chose was the vanilla eclair and salted caramel sauce.

The following two nights we dined at the Taverna. Initially we planned on dining on the Beach House during our last night at the resort. We loved the food at the Taverna so much, that we came back for more. It seems that we weren’t the only ones excited with the food there. Taverna was listed in the Top-Notch category at Golden Chef Hat awards (Χρυσοί Σκούφοι) 2021. The dishes that excited us the most were the grilled calamari and the baclava. The calamari dish also contained edamame beans, pickled raisins, and onion sauce. The baclava had pistachio cream, almond ice cream, honey foam and orange compote. The baclava looked deconstructed but looks don’t matter. It was amazing.

The Beach House is the third a la carte restaurant. It is located on the beach and that’s where we got our (light) lunch from. It offers sunbed service as well, so we didn’t even move to have lunch.

Overview

We really enjoyed our stay at Daios Cove. The room was spacious and comfortable. It’s easy to get around the resort and it offers so many amenities. What I forgot to mention is that the hotel is very family friendly. It offers a children’s and creche club, activities and babysitting options.  In the menus there are options for baby food as well. So yes, maybe next time we will visit with our daughter as well!

As always you can find more information about Daios Cove and its amenities on their website.