5* Cayo Exclusive Resort and Spa, Plaka, Crete

In October 2024 we headed as a family to Crete for our half term holiday, our first stop (as part of my Designer Travel “On Location” trip this year) was to the stunning 5* Cayo Resort and Spa in Plaka, Crete, where we stayed two nights.

This gorgeous property is family owned, the resort is built into the hillside overlooking Plaka and Spinalonga island, the views are to die for, particularly in the higher rooms, we were in a 3 bedroom villa with private pool on level 6

The hotel is in an Eco* friendly terraced design to blend in with the landscape, Italian Designer Gian Paolo Venier has designed interiors and exteriors, the hotel has a full sustainability policy too with energy saving, recycling, composting, no single use plastics, eco-friendly toiletries to name but a few

The resort has a boutique feel with 116 rooms (there are actually 117 as the owner has his own private Villa Ariadne on site)

Originally built in 2019 with 70 rooms (although no full season until 2021) and 46 rooms were added in May 2024, these rooms and suites were very sympathetically added, like they have always been there.

The Resort offers eight distinct room types and three unique suite styles.
Rooms
• Superior Room – Sea View
• Superior Room – Private Pool – Sea View
• Superior Family Room – Private Pool – Sea View**
• Executive Room – Private Pool – Sea View
• Family Duplex – Private Pool – Sea View
• Premium Room – Private Pool – Sea View
• Two Bedroom Interconnecting Rooms – Private Pool – Sea View
• Family Retreat Room – Private Pool – Sea View
Suites
• Duplex Two Bedroom Suite – Private Pool – Sea View
• Executive Suite – Private Pool – Sea View**
• Grand Suite – Two Private Pools – Sea View
• **The two best selling rooms types are:-
• Superior Family Room – Private Pool – Sea View**
• Executive Suite – Private Pool – Sea View**
• There are also more of these rooms types than any others at 25 and 27 respectively

Plus 6 villas with individual names and an owners Villa, these are at the top of the resort on level 6
We stayed as a family for two nights in the 3 storey, 3 bedroom Villa Gaia with private pool

One of the quirkiest things about this hotel is that it had two funiculars to take you up the hillside to your rooms, which we loved, the views were amazing

The property has two gyms, one of which is in the new hotel part with a separate yoga studio, they can arrange for a yoga retreat and can bring in a teacher, this works well with the award winning Armonia spa for a wellness break

Ambrosia is the main buffet restaurant, open for breakfast and dinner, lovely staff and great service here.

Sage and Thyme is open for lunch and snacks and is next to the pool bar on the same level as Ambrosia and is a Mediterranean restaurant

Kalari is a fine dining restaurant with menu’s curated by Michelin-starred Chef Lefteris Lazarou.

New this year (2024) is Filema - Cretan restaurant, the plan here is for Michelin-starred Chef Lefteris Lazarou to present innovative interpretations of timeless Greek and Cretan recipes, the dining space is lush

Stone Beach- the hotel it’s own beach bar in Plaka with access to waterfront dining and also sun beds, the beach is not private, but this is a set area on the beach with call buttons to Stone Beach and as guests in busy times you can reserve beds through the hotel, so you don’t miss out on beach time.

The hotel was at 76% occupancy when we stayed, but because there are so many different areas it never felt too busy

Upstairs off the main lobby (with stunning views through huge glass windows) is Emerald Bar, selling cocktails, wines, craft beers etc. This bar leads on to an open style roof type terrace, think DJ sets (low key) it has a chilled out vibe with sofas, lanterns, a fire pit (weather permitting) and shisha pipes too.

Enastron is another outdoor bar outside Sage and Thyme and Ambrosia restaurants, there is also Avra bar in the new part, next to the new 3rd pool, this bar opens seasonally and closed on the 2nd of October.

The hotel also has an open air amphitheatre and a conference centre too

Evening entertainment consists of a range of artists such as:- saxophonist, DJ sets (chilled out vibe) and on the day we checked out it was due to be a Greek evening with dancers

Activities, you can enjoy are:-
• You can hire an electric car for the day or longer
• The hotel can arrange private or shared trips and boat hire, to Spinalonga or other areas of Crete
• Caique cruising
• Cretan wine tasting
• Olive oil tasting
• Cretan cuisine and cheese making
• Cycling
• Hiking
• Climbing
• Scuba diving

You can walk the 5-10 minutes downhill into the gorgeous little resort of Plaka, with taverna’s, shops and restaurants, or you can take the hotel free courtesy bus each way, the resort of Plaka overlooks the infamous “Spinalonga” island which we were able to take the ferry over to visit on the day we checked out of our hotel, highly recommended as a place to visit whilst you are in Crete.

This hotel is highly recommended for couples of all ages and families, the two bedroom duplex suites are huge!!
I would not hesitate returning here to stay