8. Acro Suites, Crete

This is a special place: high on Crete’s north coast, a clifftop complex of pod rooms and cave grottoes offering a standard of design and detail few other hotels on the island can match. It feels like the secluded island retreat of a tech billionaire: shell-like sun loungers look out to sea, pools snake out right to the cliff edge, and clever combinations of concrete, stone and picture-window glass create a really unique look for the rooms. The cave suites, with their grotto pools, are probably our picks, but it’s the hilltop villas that arguably have the wow-factor views.

Spa Y
Pool Y
Price doubles £££
Restaurants 1