I Fell in Love With a Secret Cretan Hotel. Now, It Has a Brand New Name.
A look inside Heraklion’s newly rebranded gem—and why one extra night in Crete is never really enough.
Some people have relationships with other people but me? Only when absolutely necessary: relationships with places are far more complex and interesting and, in the Odysseusan sense, that much more authentic.
Relationships with places include those with hotels, which is of course truer on the Continent than in corporate cookie cutter-land U.S.A. The right hotel will make your trip — the wrong one will break it.
I had the privilege of staying in the Legacy Gastro Suites, a 12-room all suite hotel in the center of vibrant Heraklion in Crete, on the very first night it opened, before the covid pandemic. I’ve always felt that one should wear one’s solitude as if it were a perfume, and that summer evening was particularly fragrant.
The hotel’s local owner, a gregarious Cretan businessman, was kind enough to allow me a few hours to chronicle my impressions: here they are.
I love Heraklion’s functional harbor and loved the views from my suite, here they are — bear in mind this was before TikTok and all that took off:
So fast forward to today and the Legacy Gastro Suites is now the Metaxa Hotel Heraklion. Thematically it’s a little different than before, but the location and service level are still spot on. Still highly recommended.
Remember, from this spot you can easily walk to the port, if you’re traveling light. The problem is, once you get into the Heraklion vibe, you may find yourself putting off your return to Athens for one more day. Or another. Or…
Photos courtesy Metaxa Hotel Heraklion
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