The Tanneries, Greece Hotel

Chania, Crete

Four 19th-century tanneries on the rocky shoreline near GREECE’s historic town of Chania in Crete have been transformed into an impressive waterside hotel and spa, while preserving the treasured building.

Architectural beauty born of an engaging past is a highly prized attribute in the world of luxury hotels. Two centuries ago, Crete’s Egyptian rulers established a series of tanneries on the rocky shoreline east of the island’s capital, Chania. Now heritage-protected, four tanneries are home to the well-designed Tanneries Hotel & Spa, whose 20 waterfront suites have a view of the Mediterranean Sea and Chania’s 16th-century fortress-wall 2km across the bay. The transformation of the impressive stone buildings, with their arched doorways, tiled roofs and industrial history, includes a spacious, sea-level spa with a gym, heated indoor pool, indoor/ outdoor Jacuzzis and massage, steam and fitness rooms. West-facing windows fill the area with natural light and, at sunset, a red-gold sky. Following the hotel’s ethos – past knowledge and skills as keys to future health – spa products are from bee derivatives: honey, propolis and royal jelly.

A 20-minute walk from The Tanneries takes you from the alleyways and workshops of this suburb of Tabakaria along the shore-road of Halepas and its 19th-century mansions to a beachside promenade lined with cafés, tavernas and the cobbled lanes of the Ottoman city of Chania. Keep Saturday morning free to visit the vibrant local market of Odos Minoos.

But you don’t have to leave the hotel in order to enjoy fine Cretan foods. In Periplous restaurant chef Christos Saridakis sources his ingredients from trusted island producers and, on the restaurant’s stylish stone terrace, you can sit as close to the sea as it’s possible to get without getting your feet wet. Breakfast here too on traditional breads, local cheeses and preserves and a choice of superb Greek honeys. Doubles from £132.

Words by Rosemary Barron.

This Article was taken from the October 2024 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe today, click here.