Enorme Santanna Beach

On Crete’s southern coast near Ierápetra, Enorme Santanna Beach cascades towards the Libyan Sea in a series of contemporary terraces, pools and sea facing spaces built around an extraordinary near 180 degree view of the water.

The view is the first thing that makes sense of Santanna Beach. From its elevated position, the hotel looks straight across an enormous expanse of blue, with little between the terraces and the horizon. The architecture takes advantage of that openness, arranging the property in levels so that pools, restaurants and lounging areas repeatedly reconnect with the sea as you move through the hotel.

At the centre is a striking infinity pool where the water appears to continue towards the coast below. Canopied daybeds line its edge and broad terraces create plenty of room to settle in for the day, giving Santanna Beach a confident, contemporary look without losing the easygoing character that suits this quieter side of Crete.

Rooms & Suites

The rooms take the hotel’s relationship with water a step further. Even the Double and Superior Rooms retain a clean, understated feel, but the real character of the collection emerges through the numerous private pool and swim up categories, where stepping outside means being almost immediately in the water.

Double and Superior Rooms can be booked with individual pools or direct swim up access, while the Junior Suite introduces more space alongside its own private pool. The Maisonette goes further again, spreading the accommodation across two levels with an individual pool outside and a stronger sense of having your own retreat within the hotel.

Interiors are deliberately restrained, with light colours and simple contemporary furnishings leaving the emphasis on terraces, pools and the landscape beyond. It is the outdoor space that changes these rooms most significantly, particularly during the long southern Cretan afternoons when there is very little reason to go inside.

Dining

The Main Restaurant occupies an elevated position beneath the pool terraces, so meals arrive with the same uninterrupted sweep of sea that defines the rest of the hotel. Breakfast and dinner combine buffet stations and live cooking, with menus moving between Greek and Mediterranean flavours and a broader international selection throughout the week.

Daytime eating is deliberately less structured. Light dishes, snacks and drinks can be enjoyed around the pool and terraces, allowing lunch to slip easily into an afternoon on a daybed rather than becoming a separate event. Cocktails and chilled drinks take over as the heat begins to ease, when the broad horizon and changing light become particularly impressive.

Experience

Santanna Beach is very much a hotel for living outdoors. Two swimming pools provide different places to spend the day, while the beach and sea below bring snorkelling, diving, windsurfing and fishing into the picture. Hiking and horse riding offer another way to see the landscape around Ierápetra, a part of Crete that still feels wonderfully open and untamed in places.

Live music and occasional themed evenings add some energy after dark, while cultural tours and local experiences can take the day beyond the hotel altogether. There is enough happening to keep a longer stay interesting, but the pleasure of Santanna Beach is equally found in claiming a daybed, watching the sea and allowing absolutely nothing to interrupt the afternoon.

Wellness

Wellness fits naturally into that slower rhythm. Yoga and fitness classes are available alongside the gym, while massages, facials and body treatments provide a gentler counterpoint to days spent swimming or exploring the coast.

Much of the restorative quality comes from the setting itself. A morning yoga session facing the sea, an afternoon massage and a final swim from the terrace can become part of the day without needing to disappear into a formal spa environment for hours at a time.

Where

Enorme Santanna Beach is approximately 2.5 kilometres from Ierápetra, with Livadi Beach around 200 metres away and the landscapes and villages of southern Crete opening out in either direction along the coast, while Sitia Public Airport is approximately 58 kilometres from the hotel.

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