Ethereal White Resort

Heraklion's old town sits close enough to reach on foot, with the Venetian harbour and the city walls a short walk from the door. Ethereal White Resort is a white-fronted, adults-only hotel built into the grid of streets near Georgiadis Park, closer to café tables and church bells than to any beach. Rooms run white and sharp-edged, with tablets at bedside controlling lighting, curtains and temperature. It is a fully digital build, one of the first of its kind in Greece. Suites on the fourth floor open onto balconies with heated plunge pools, and swim-up deluxe rooms give direct access to the rooftop pool from a private terrace. The largest suites run to 30 square metres; essential rooms, the simplest category, cover 20. Marble bathrooms carry rainfall showers and cotton towelling. A rooftop bar looks over the rooftops toward the harbour, and the breakfast buffet stretches from pastries to made-to-order omelettes. There is a spa with sauna and steam room, and a couples' massage can be added to any stay. Business travellers get conference space and fast Wi-Fi alongside the leisure crowd. Reception check-in runs through iPads rather than paper forms, in keeping with the hotel's smart-building brief. It reads more city hotel than resort, and it makes no attempt at the sea.