- 🏖️ The resort · Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa, in Schisma Elounda, on the bay of Plaka, in northeastern Crete.
- 🗝️ The capacity · 116 accommodations: eight room categories and three suite categories, most with private pools and sea views.
- 🤝 The transaction · The resort joins the portfolio of Mar-Bella Collection, a Greek family-run hotel group.
- 🇬🇷 The group · Previously present in Corfu and Parga. Crete is its third destination.
- 🏝️ The view · Overlooking the fortified islet of Spinalonga, one of Crete’s most visited sites.
- 🍴 The dining · Kelari, Ambrosia, Sage & Thyme, and the Avra and Emerald bars.
Greek hotel groups rarely grow by building from scratch: they acquire. Mar-Bella Collection, a family-run business based in Corfu and Parga, has just integrated Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa and its 116 accommodations, on the bay of Plaka, just minutes from Elounda. This is its first address in Crete, and by far the largest in its portfolio.
A bay, an islet, and one of Crete’s most visited sites
The resort occupies the hillside sloping down toward the bay of Plaka, in the Gulf of Mirabello. Opposite, a few hundred metres away, the fortified islet of Spinalonga·a former Venetian fortress and later a leper colony until 1957·attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every summer, making this stretch of coastline one of the most sought-after on the island. Elounda, just minutes away, has been the hub of high-end Cretan hospitality since the 1970s. Establishing a presence here is not a gamble on a yet-to-be-developed destination, but rather an entry into an established market.
◆ Cayo Exclusive in pictures
116 accommodations, most with private pools
The inventory explains the appeal of the acquisition. Cayo features eight room categories and three suite categories, the majority equipped with a private pool and sea view, ranging from Superior Rooms to two-pool Grand Suites, alongside family duplexes. In short, the resort is built on the format that has dominated the Mediterranean for the past decade: minimal common areas, maximum privacy, and a premium paid for not sharing one’s pool. On the dining front, there are four addresses and two bars, including Kelari on the terrace overlooking the bay.
| Accommodations | 116 · 8 room categories, 3 suite categories |
| Location | Schisma Elounda, bay of Plaka, Crete |
| Facing | Spinalonga, Venetian fortified islet |
| Restaurants and bars | Kelari, Ambrosia, Sage & Thyme, Avra, Emerald |
| New owner | Mar-Bella Collection |
| Group addresses | Corfu, Parga, and now Crete |
What Mar-Bella is looking for in Crete
The group was built in the Ionian Islands to the west, with mid-sized properties in Corfu and along the coast of Parga. Expanding to Crete means changing scale and season: the southern island opens earlier and closes later than the Ionians, which mechanically extends the operating season by several weeks. It also means entering a market where international clientele is more evenly balanced between Northern Europe, the United Kingdom, and, more recently, the United States. For a family-run business, the risk is dilution: three destinations, three commercial strategies, and a brand still relatively unknown outside Greece.
Our perspective
The acquisition is coherent, and it comes at the right point in the cycle: Cretan resorts built around 2018 are reaching the age where their owners look to sell. However, Cayo on its own is larger than everything Mar-Bella operated previously, and a family-run group that doubles in size changes its business model. The real question is not the quality of the product, which is certainly there, but the group’s ability to maintain the same level of service across three destinations simultaneously. The 2027 season will tell.
Practical information
- Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa · Schisma Elounda, PO Box 108, Plaka 72053, Crete · cayoresort.com
- Access · Heraklion airport about a 1-hour drive away · Agios Nikolaos 15 minutes away · Elounda a few minutes away
- To see · the islet of Spinalonga can be reached by boat from Plaka and Elounda, a crossing of about ten minutes
