Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa

Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa sits on a hillside at Schisma Elounda on Crete, looking across to the island of Spinalonga. Italian designer Gian Paolo Venier laid it out in eco-minded terraces that blend modern design with Greek and Cretan tradition, and rooms and suites, many with private pools and sea views, step down the slope.

There are infinity pools, a spa, a gym and a yoga centre, and restaurants including Kelari and Sage & Thyme, with menus by Michelin-starred chef Lefteris Lazarou. For weddings, the resort offers tailored ceremonies with panoramic views, dedicated planners and an open-air amphitheatre. Elounda itself sits on a lagoon between Spinalonga and Mirabello Bay.

The resort shapes each ceremony to the couple, and its open-air amphitheatre is part of the offer. Its own wedding gallery includes a church image, so ask whether a ceremony at a nearby church can be arranged. Dedicated planners handle weddings, vow renewals and family celebrations.

The resort tells us it hosts weddings for 20 to 150 guests. The three conference rooms, Orion, Sirios and Epicuros, hold up to 100 between them, though that is for meetings. Ask the team which spaces suit your numbers, the legal ceremony and the music curfew, and whether the kitchen can add Cretan dishes such as dakos to the menu.

Rooms and suites come in several categories, many with private pools. Ask how many can be blocked for a group and which suit families or older guests. Elounda has more hotels if the guest list is bigger.

Guests can use the spa, gym and yoga centre, and the resort runs live music through the season, with piano on Mondays and Thursdays, saxophone on Wednesday evenings and a DJ at the Emerald Bar. Spinalonga is the outing to plan, the Venetian fortress island made famous by Victoria Hislop's novel The Island. Ask the team about transfers from Heraklion airport.