Cut into the cliff above a glistening bay in Crete’s north-east, Daios Cove Hotel offers all the things that discerning holiday-makers want from their escapes: a powdery soft beach, infinity saltwater pools surrounded by swaying palms and striped umbrellas, water sports, yacht rentals, four excellent restaurants, breakfast buffets that make you feel happy to be alive, two splendid funiculars (just me?) and epic childcare — should you be blessed with the breed of baby happy to relinquish parents for kids’ club. (I, alas, am not.)
This loveliness aside on Greece’s largest island, the glittering jewel in the Daios Cove crown lies in its wellness centre: Kepos by Goco, a 2,500 sq m space that gazes alluringly over the bay. In a land heaving with the legacies and mystique of the ancient Minoans, followed by the Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman empires, it combines a holistic approach to health and happiness under the meticulous curation of wellness director Eleni Papadopoulou, with spanking-new technology for heavyweight results.
Yes, the hydrotherapy pool and steam rooms are flawless. And yes, the facials and massages are second to none, executed by talented therapists who use beautiful 111Skin products and ask insightful, sometimes uncomfortable questions that elevate brilliant treatments to the meaningful and memorable. Still, it was under the kind and careful guidance of the spa doctor and nurses that we unpacked the recharge and reboot that I needed.
And so it was that following state-of-the-art PNOE testing to measure my body’s functionality, from cardiac health to metabolic efficiency, plus a Styku 3D body scan (the less said about that the better), my prescription set out a functional workout programme (there’s an outpost of London boxing gym BXR) followed by cryotherapy to aid muscle recovery. I took infrared saunas daily (the best way to boost low mood) and nervously strapped in to the pessurised hyperbaric oxygen chamber where I was fed 100 per cent oxygen and emerged feeling zing-y and revitalised. Guests may also book in for colonics and IV drip therapy. Fitting neatly into the void between medical retreat and luxury hotel spa, Kepos delivers flawlessly for clients who don’t want to commit to the former, but need rather more than the latter.
