Restaurants, hotels, bars and wineries in Crete from the En Primeur Club guide.
Accolades in Crete
Salis in Chania Town and Alibertos in Kounoupidiana hold Wine Spectator awards, and both show how serious wine programming works in Crete.
Salis is a waterfront restaurant in Chania Town with an extensive wine list. It holds Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2026, plus World’s Best Wine Lists Awards WBWL 3-Star awards in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, and a Star Wine List award in 2026. The kitchen is innovative Greek with a regional base.
Alibertos is a ten-table restaurant in Kounoupidiana with over 500 wines and an exceptional wine program. It is sommelier-led and offers both à la carte and tasting menu formats. The venue also holds Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence and two Star Wine List awards in 2026.
Almyra is a seaside restaurant and beach bar in Agia Pelagia with a wine list, craft cocktails, and an extensive wine list. It works through à la carte and small plates formats, with a Cretan and Mediterranean seaside menu.
Alibertos in Kounoupidiana offers the clearest tasting-menu option, and the other picks show different formats within the island’s dining scene.
Alibertos in Kounoupidiana combines a tasting menu with a sommelier-led wine programme and over 500 wines. Its modern Cretan and Mediterranean fine dining style fits an intimate room with ten tables.
Salis in Chania Town works with à la carte and small plates, backed by an extensive wine list. The setting is waterfront, and the kitchen focuses on innovative Greek cooking with a regional base.
Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa is a hotel in Plaka, Elounda with 116 rooms, private pools, and dining selected by chef Lefteris Lazarou. It holds Michelin Selected status for 2025 and World Luxury Hotel Awards recognition, with a full-service spa and an indoor pool overlooking Spinalonga Island.
Chania Town and Kounoupidiana are the clearest neighbourhoods for serious wine lists in our guide. Salis in Chania Town and Alibertos in Kounoupidiana both hold Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence, and Alibertos also has over 500 wines and a sommelier-led programme.
There are no Michelin-starred restaurants in our Crete guide. The guide includes 24 restaurants, 13 bars, and one exceptional wine programme. Salis and Alibertos carry Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence.
Alibertos in Kounoupidiana offers a tasting menu in our guide. It pairs that format with a sommelier-led wine programme and over 500 wines, and it is the clearest dedicated tasting-menu pick in the city selection.
Two places in our guide hold Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence, Salis in Chania Town and Alibertos in Kounoupidiana. Salis is a waterfront restaurant with an extensive wine list, and Alibertos is a ten-table room with over 500 wines.
By Emmett Haley · Updated October 8, 2026 · Editorial standards
Crete
Selected entries from the current guide for Crete.
Crete, Greece
On the waterfront of Chania's old Venetian harbour, Salis brings a creative approach to Cretan cooking, built on house-grown produce and hard-to-find local ingredients. The wine list holds a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence and a World of Fine Wine 3-Star Accreditation, placing it among the more seriously wine lists in the Aegean. The kitchen skews contemporary without losing its regional grounding.
Crete, Greece
Alibertos operates as a restaurant and wine bar on the outskirts of Chania, holding two Star Wine List awards in 2026 including Italian Wine List of the Year (International Open) and Best Long List of the Year. Open Tuesday through Saturday evenings from 18:00, the venue pairs serious wine programming with a setting that sits outside Crete's resort circuit, positioning it among a small tier of Greek destinations built around cellar depth rather than seasonal tourism.
Crete, Greece
Almyra sits in Malia on Crete’s north coast, a part of the island where resort dining, seaside tavern culture, and Cretan produce meet in close quarters. Treat it less as a destination built on awards or chef mythology and more as a practical coastal table within a broader island dining circuit.
Crete, Greece
Amalthea Main Restaurant belongs to the Agios Nikolaos side of Crete, where hotel dining often draws on the island’s produce-led grammar: olive oil, vegetables, herbs, seafood, dairy and slow-cooked meats rather than theatrical plating. Its value is contextual, a main-restaurant format in Havania that suits travellers using the Mirabello Bay area as a base for Crete’s broader food culture.
Crete, Greece
Ambrosia belongs to the Elounda dining circuit, where Cretan produce, resort polish, and waterfront geography shape the meal as much as the kitchen. The case for going is ingredient-led rather than trophy-led: this is a Plaka address for readers who want Crete’s eastern coast interpreted through local sourcing, measured service, and a setting tied to the island’s working food culture.
Crete, Greece
Bacchus Restaurant belongs to Agios Nikolaos’s waterfront dining circuit, where Cretan cooking meets the resort rhythms of eastern Crete. With public details on pricing, chef, awards, and booking format not listed, the useful read is contextual: expect a city restaurant judged less by spectacle than by how well it handles Greek island hospitality, seafood culture, and the pace of a harbour town.
Crete, Greece
Bahia Mar Grill belongs to the casual seaside grammar of Agios Nikolaos: shade, salt air, grilled food, and a Cretan pantry that matters more than ceremony. The appeal is not awards or chef theatre, but the island habit of letting fish, vegetables, olive oil, and open-air dining do the work.
Crete
Selected entries from the current guide for Crete.
Crete, Greece
Domes Zeen Chania holds a Michelin Key distinction for 2025, placing it in a small tier of Cretan properties where accommodation quality is assessed against the same criteria applied to fine dining. Set along the Apteron Road corridor outside Chania, the hotel operates within the Domes collection's Crete footprint alongside Domes Noruz Chania, positioning it as a design-led address for travellers who prioritise editorial recognition over resort scale.
Crete, Greece
A restored 16th-century Cretan village awarded a Michelin Key in 2025, Kapsaliana Village Hotel sits in the olive-covered hills of Rethymno, where centuries-old stone buildings have been converted into guest accommodation. The property occupies a former working settlement, and that architectural authenticity places it in a distinct tier among Greek boutique hotels.
Crete, Greece
Strung across two kilometres of Agios Nikolaos coastline, Minos Beach Art Hotel is a 2025 World Travel Awards winner for Europe's Leading Luxury Hotel Villa and a Country Winner for Luxury Design Hotel. The property pairs waterfront bungalows and private-pool villas with a programme rooted in Cretan food, wine, and an art collection that runs throughout the grounds.
Crete, Greece
The spectacular Mirabello Bay on the northeastern coast of the island of Crete is the setting for Minos Palace Resort, an unapologetically high-end boutique-style resort whose peninsula location gives it sea views in just about every direction. The private-island illusion is only heightened by the fact that it’s an adults-only hotel; even though it’s just a mile outside of the seaside town of Agios Nikolaos, it achieves a laid-back tranquility that’s reminiscent of some much more secluded hotels. Its visual language, on the other hand, keeps things lively, with a healthy mix of natural materials, traditional craftsmanship, and contemporary design. A wide variety of accommodations are available, from double rooms to the Waterfall Suite, with its own private pool; some look across the water back towards the island and the town, while others face directly out into the open Mediterranean. Terraces or balconies are universal, and there are plenty of common spaces from which to enjoy the views, none more impressive than the spectacular infinity pool. Minos Palace Resort offers a collection of stylish restaurants and bars that celebrate both Cretan tradition and contemporary Mediterranean cuisine. From refined fine dining to relaxed seaside venues, each setting highlights fresh local ingredients and sweeping views of the Mirabello Bay.
Crete, Greece
Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa occupies Plaka, on the eastern Cretan shoreline near Elounda, where the Mirabello Gulf delivers one of the Aegean's most composed coastal settings. The property has earned Country Winner recognition for Luxury Design Hotel and Continent Winner status for Luxury Conference and Event Hotel, positioning it among the eastern Mediterranean's more architecturally considered resort addresses.
Crete, Greece
Positioned on the Rethymno coastline, Nautilux by Mage Hotels & Resorts holds two significant awards, Regional Winner for Luxury Lifestyle Hotel and Country Winner for Luxury Beachfront Resort, placing it among the stronger beachfront options in western Crete. The address on Afstralon Polemiston puts guests within reach of Rethymno's Venetian old town, with direct access to the sea as the primary spatial offering.
Crete, Greece
Akrogiali Beach Hotel & Apartments sits within Crete's premium seaside tier, having earned recognition as both a Regional Winner for Luxury Seaside Resort and a Continent Winner for Luxury Ocean View Resort. The property's positioning reflects a broader shift in Cretan hospitality toward smaller, view-led properties where the Aegean horizon does the work that lobby grandeur once did.
Crete, Greece
A Michelin Selected suites-and-spa property in Platanias, positioned between the Chania coast and the White Mountains in western Crete. The address provides beach access and easy road connections to Chania's Venetian old town, placing it in the smaller, quality-conscious tier of the island's accommodation market. Its 2025 Michelin recognition anchors it within a curated subset of western Crete's boutique hotel offer.
Crete, Greece
Domus Blanc Boutique Hotel occupies a restored Venetian-era building on Mavrogenidon street in central Chania, earning Michelin Selected status in the 2025 guide. Its position in the old town places guests within walking distance of the Venetian harbour and Chania's dense concentration of tavernas and wine bars. For travellers who prefer architecture and neighbourhood character over resort-scale amenities, it sits in a distinct and smaller tier of Crete accommodation.
Crete, Greece
A Michelin Selected property on the Elounda peninsula, this all-suite hotel occupies one of Crete's most coveted positions on the Gulf of Mirabello. Guests who return season after season do so for a combination of suite-level privacy, direct sea access, and the kind of operational consistency that only long-established properties in the Greek luxury tier tend to sustain.
Crete, Greece
A Michelin Selected boutique hotel on Crete's Elounda coastline, Elounda Stories sits in the smaller, more personal tier of Greek island accommodation where scale is deliberately limited and the guest relationship with place takes precedence over resort-scale amenities. Recognised in the Michelin Hotels guide 2025, it positions alongside Crete's considered independent properties rather than its large resort operators.
Crete, Greece
Mirabello Bay Luxury Resort sits on the Cretan coast near Agios Nikolaos, carrying dual recognition as a Regional Winner for Luxury Private Villa and a Continent Winner for Luxury Beachfront Resort. The property positions itself in the smaller, design-attentive tier of Greek coastal hospitality, where beachfront access and villa-scale privacy operate in tandem. It represents a particular strand of Aegean luxury that answers to place as much as programme.
Crete, Greece
A Michelin Selected property on Crete's northern coast, Nana Princess sits along the Old National Road at Drapanos, where the Apokoronas hinterland meets the sea. Michelin's 2025 hotel guide places it in a curated tier of properties recognised for quality and character. For travellers moving between Chania's old harbour and the quieter villages of western Crete, it offers a considered base with genuine regional positioning.
Crete, Greece
NEMA Design Hotel & Spa holds Michelin Selected status for 2025, placing it among a curated tier of Cretan properties where design discipline and spatial quality carry as much weight as location. Situated in Analipsis on the Chersonissos coastline, it occupies the quieter, design-conscious segment of the north-coast hotel market, positioned for guests who prioritize considered interiors and spa access over resort scale.
Crete, Greece
Numo Ierapetra Beach Resort sits on the southern coast of Crete in the Ierapetra area, holding a place in the Michelin Selected Hotels 2025 list. The property occupies a quieter stretch of coastline than the island's more trafficked northern resorts, positioning it within a smaller tier of formally recognised beach properties on the island. Travellers drawn to the Libyan Sea side of Crete will find it a considered base for the region.
Crete, Greece
On the northern coast of Crete near Malia, Phāea Cretan Malia positions itself at the quieter end of the island's luxury spectrum: a property where expansive outdoor space and a family-oriented retreat format take precedence over high-density resort programming. The approach reflects a broader shift in Cretan hospitality toward grounded, place-rooted stays that draw on the island's landscape and wellness traditions rather than replicating international chain formulas.
Crete, Greece
Stella Island Resort & Spa holds a Michelin Selected designation for 2025, placing it among a curated tier of Cretan properties recognised for quality of environment and experience. Located at Analipsi Hersonissou on the north coast, the resort occupies a position between the large-scale convention hotels of the Heraklion corridor and the smaller boutique properties further west. For travellers who want resort scale without sacrificing a considered physical setting, it represents a credible base.
Crete, Greece
Michelin Selected for 2025, The Nest Resort sits in the design-conscious, smaller-scale tier of Hersonissos accommodation on Crete's northern coast. It positions itself well away from the volume-driven resort model that dominates this stretch of coastline, offering a more considered base for guests engaging with both the island's interior and the Aegean. Peak-season advance booking is advisable.
Crete, Greece
Michelin Selected for 2025, The Royal Blue Resort occupies a position in Crete's premium coastal accommodation tier where architectural scale meets the island's deep Mediterranean heritage. The property holds its own against a competitive set that includes some of Greece's most recognised resort addresses, with the Aegean providing an ever-present counterpoint to the built environment.
Crete, Greece
A MICHELIN Selected property on the northern Cretan coast between Rethymno and Heraklion, The Syntopia sits in the quieter resort belt of Adelianos Kampos, away from the Old Town crowds. Its MICHELIN recognition places it among a curated tier of Cretan hotels where setting and atmosphere carry as much weight as facilities. For travellers timing a stay around the shoulder season, it represents a considered alternative to the island's larger resort complexes.
Crete, Greece
A converted tannery on Chania's waterfront, The Tanneries Hotel & Spa occupies one of the Old Town's most architecturally layered addresses, where industrial heritage and minimalist design coexist in a boutique format.
Crete
Selected entries from the current guide for Crete.
No venues found.
Crete
Selected entries from the current guide for Crete.
No venues found.
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