Creta Maris Beach Resort has been honoured with the titles of Greece’s Leading All-Inclusive Resort and Greece’s Leading Beach Resort at the World Travel Awards.

Here Breaking Travel News speaks to Nikos Vlasiadis, Creta Maris Beach Resort general manager, to find out more about this one-of-a-kind property.

Breaking Travel News: How does it feel to have won at the World Travel Awards?

Nikos Vlasiadis: Seeing Creta Maris Beach Resort being recognised as Greece’s Leading All Inclusive Resort and Greece’s Leading Beach Resort in an institution as the World Travel Awards for the second year in a row is a great honour.

Creta Maris Beach Resort has been operating as a 5-star premium all-inclusive beach resort based on the principles of sustainable development and authentic Cretan hospitality since 1975.

We consider ourselves as one large extended Greek family welcoming guests to our home, providing them a great range of high quality, all-inclusive services. 

This distinction wouldn’t have been possible without our loyal guests, and in particular our personnel and their constant effort to provide our guests with unforgettable holiday experiences.

We extend many heartfelt thanks to them all. 

BTN: Can you tell our readers a little about the property; what is on offer there?

NV: Creta Maris Beach Resort, a member of Metaxa Hospitality Group, is a five-star all-inclusive resort for families and couples in Hersonissos Crete, Greece, which combines tradition, elegance and Cretan hospitality in a safe and sustainable environment.

During its 46 years of operation, Creta Maris has gained a long-lasting legacy in hospitality industry.

The hotel is situated in Hersonissos, Crete, just 24 kilometres from the Heraklion Airport, and features 681 rooms and suites as well as a wide range of facilities and activities both for children and adults.

The Greek village-style layout of the resort with its picturesque and quaint twisting paths, piazzas, blossoming gardens of bougainvillea, numerous gastronomy options, local events, and the blue flag awarded beach make it the ideal setting for relaxing holidays in Crete. 

Creta Maris Beach Resort provides its guests with a great range of facilities on an all-inclusive basis that make for carefree holidays for both couples and families.

Guests can feel the authentic Cretan experience while enjoying the picturesque paths, the wide range of sports activities, the extensive entertainment programme, and different dining options in the hotel’s six restaurants and nine bars. 

We have a huge variety of activities in which guests can take part throughout their stay, which are included as part of the all-inclusive rate.

We also have Europe’s largest outdoor amphitheatre cinema where we show films and theatrical productions, as well as our hugely popular on-site Aquapark, which is a particular favourite with kids and families. 

BTN: How useful will the World Travel Awards victory be in promoting the property as we move into the key summer months next year?

NV:  Being awarded as Greece’s Leading All Inclusive Resort and Greece’ Leading Beach Resort for a second year in a row by a significant institution such at the World Travel
Awards stands is a proof of excellence to us, the guests, and our partners. 

The hard work and effort of our team are recognised, and our guests are assured that we can guarantee truly high-quality services, activities, and with that, carefree holidays. 

BTN: Creta Maris Beach Resort has been keen to put sustainability at the heart of its actions – what can you tell me about that?

NV: Since its founding in 1975, Creta Maris Beach Resort has been operating based on the principles of sustainable development.

Our mission is to provide the highest quality of hospitality services with respect to the destination, the local communities, the guests, and the environment.

With the slogan ‘Local resources for a better life in rural areas,’ in 2020 Creta Maris collaborated with 54 local food producers, supporting the economies of Crete island, and promoting Greek gastronomy.

Solar panel fields were installed for water-heating, in addition to the use of swimming pool cleaning robots to avoid water waste.

Creta Maris also manages sustainably its hotels’ outdoor spaces.

As a rule, endemic plants are installed in outdoor spaces, and a constant effort is made to increase the variety of native species and the number of plants, beneficial insects, and micro-organisms endemic to the local ecosystem.

All hotel guests can participate in environmental actions, so that our visitors can contribute to environmental protection and strengthen the local community. 

Creta Maris has been publishing its own sustainability report since 2013 which outlines the hotel’s latest efforts with regards to the environment, employees, supply chain, and local community.  

For example, Creta Maris sources 70 per cent of all ingredients from Greece. At the end of the tourist season, all leftovers are donated in sealed packages to food collection organisations for those in need, such as the ‘Help at home’ programme of the Municipality of Hersonissos. 

Since 2017 to 2020, Creta Maris has participated in the LIFE-F4F (Food for Feed) project whose goal is to evaluate, through a pilot-scale demonstration, an innovative and simple technology, the low-emission process that enables the safe transformation of food waste, mainly from hotels (and more generally from the hospitality industry and restaurants), into animal feed.

With this action, the resort uses recycling and waste management within the hotel facilities to recycle thousands of tons of food waste every year.

Creta Maris now participates in the WWF Program “Hotel Kitchen” to work with the hospitality industry to increase awareness and understanding of reducing food waste.

More Information

Find out more about Creta Maris Beach Resort on the official website.