Daios Cove

The entire holiday has been fabulous; the accommodation, service and attention to detail have been exemplary. The Kids Club has been an absolute hit with our two year old and the care second to none. Grace, Beth and Amy have allowed us to relax knowing Charlie is in his element in Kids Club and are all an asset to Scott Dunn. Thank you.

This is the first time weve used a travel company to book our holiday and we have been so impressed with the service from start to finish. We will definitely book with Scott Dunn again.  The kids club is brilliant and we were grateful that they let us stay with our daughter as she was a bit unsure about being left.

Childcare stands out and needs calling out as amazing.Staff and facilities better than most nurseries in the UK. Made the holiday for us.  We had a few unusual asks (nappies, medicine) which the team helped with very quickly.  Grace, Beth, Amy (nannies) and Fortis were all amazing and made it one of our most relaxing holidays.

The Scott Dunn team at Daios Cove were awesome. Kids had an absolute blast and parents got to have fun and relax. A great holiday facilitated by a super team.  Childcare team were first class. Kids really enjoyedthemselves and looked forward to going in every day for afun packed time.

Beth in the Kids Club was fantastic absolutely superb and thanks to her, Max (18 months old) has had the best possible introduction to nursery in the sense that for the first time ever, he was left completely alone. Up till now there has always been either Mummy or our nanny with him in classes and at activities. So to be left alone with strangers, in an alien environment, with others hes never met/barely knows was a big ask and Beth looked after him so well and has made the whole concept really comforting and fun for him. It was wonderful to see his progress and his confidence grow throughout the week, and reassuring to have Beth caring for Max with such calmness, patience, sensitivity and fondness. Beth, Grace & Amy were all so welcoming and accommodating, the varied and inventive themes for the kids each day in the club was impressive and provided great stimulation and opportunities for learning and fun. The club was always beautifully clean, tidy and safe; and the large, shady outdoor area a real bonus.

On arrival at Daios Cove, the first thing that greets you is the stunning view out over the resort's private cove. During the course of your stay, this view never ceases to tire, and, with all rooms enjoying beautiful outlooks over the cove, you will find no end of opportunities to appreciate your wonderful surroundings. The rooms, suites and villas here all offer plenty of space and privacy, and whether you are travelling as a couple or a family, you will be sure to find an option which is right for you. If you can, I would highly recommend upgrading to a suite or a villa so that you can benefit from the fantastic all-inclusive Residents' Club. A fully inclusive board basis like no other, the Residents' Club offers guests a la carte dining in all of the resort's four restaurants with very few menu exceptions, a bottle of wine with every meal, unlimited room service and minibar, and all drinks, snacks and ice creams during the day. Perfect for families, this means that you can ensure that everyone is kept fed, watered and happy at no extra cost! Food, service and attention to detail at this resort is absolutely superb - there truly has been no stone left unturned in the quest to ensure that every guest has the most  amazing stay.

Peering down over its own secluded bay, Daios Cove is certainly a hotel with a view. Having arrived late at night the resorts lights give the appearance of a tranquil village nestling into the hillside. A short nightcap in the cool and contemporary Crystal Box (one of two bars at the hotel) we headed to our rooms. First impressions were very positive; the room was extremely well proportioned with a large and very inviting bed as well as a beautiful Villeroy and Boch bathroom. Tired and weary from our long day it was an extremely welcome surprise to find the hotel had provided a complimentary light meal and snacks including a smoke salmon wrap and mixed antipasti!

In the morning, I was greeted by the most amazing view over the cove beach. I was staying in a Deluxe Sea View Room (Daios Coves entry level room) however I was really surprised how much of a sea view I got as well the fantastic outdoor balcony area which was perfect for Sun Downers! There were many highlights on our first day, including a very relaxing massage, a wonderful but refreshing swim in the sea and a long afternoon in the pool bar but the biggest impression was left by the amazing food. I have never really been a fan of Greek food but following our evening in the Greek Taverna I was a convert. Do not confine yourself to the conventional three courses; make sure you get a selection of dishes and share, particularly your starters which were all amazing particularly the calfs tail.

Another highlight of our short trip came on the second day when we were treated to a private Catamaran trip. The boat leaves from Daios Cove beach giving you a fantastic alternative perspective of the hotel from the water. There is much to explore along Cretes coastline and I cannot think of a better way to see the beauty of the island than from the sea. The hotel can arrange a number of personalised trips but I can thoroughly recommend a short dip in Pirate Bay followed by a tour of the fascinating Spinalonga Island finished off with lunch in the amazing and incredibly authentic Giovanni's restaurant in Plaka. The hotel is 30 minutes by land transfer from Plaka, so if you dont feel like the Catamaran I would thoroughly recommend a visit none the less.

We arrived at Daios Cove on a late evening flight and the resort was beautifully lit, with the bars DJ playing cool tunes adding to the sophisticated ambience. I headed straight to my lovely, bright and contemporary deluxe room and the delicious light supper laid out for me was just the thing, setting the tone for the hospitality and excellent quality Greek fayre that we would enjoy throughout our stay.

All restaurants serve great quality and choice, with an extensive kids menu. If your little VIPs are lucky enough to be going to the Scott Dunn Explorers kids club, they will eat food from a menu designed by Masterchef champion Ping Coombes! I didnt have my little angels with me on this trip but I was beyond impressed with what I saw in the Explorers club to echo a previous guest, it is just like an Ofsted Outstanding private UK nursery, but 10 times more exciting! Other little things about the resort my kids would have loved are the funiculars which take you up and down the resort and alternatively the golf buggies can whizz you around to save tired little legs.

Relaxing in the spa is a great way to spend adults-only time and my massage therapist was of a very good standard, as was the whole facility. Some people may be surprised to find they have both male and female therapists so make it clear if you have a preference. Later, in the cocktail bar I opted for my favourite Cosmopolitan, which were consistently perfect.

Daios Cove is a beautifully set resort camouflaged into the hillside on which it is built offering sea views from all rooms! The service is fantastic from the personal and friendly Anna, the guest relations manager, to the creative and qualified Nannies in the Scott Dunn Explorers kids club as well as the waiters and waitresses giving impeccable table service. From the moment you arrive, you are offered a cool towel, a welcome drink and the chance to relax before you are escorted to your room where your luggage awaits you. The resort is relatively spread out so they provide Golf Carts to chauffeur you wherever you wish to go, but this also means that it feels extremely quiet even at near full capacity.

The private beach is lovely with shelving water making it perfect for paddling in the clear waters, whilst at the bottom of the resorts hill the funicular means you dont have a long walk down. There are also watersports available on the beach for the more active families - I would really recommend a thrill ride on the inflatable tube, alternatively, Stand Up Paddling Boarding for a more tranquil option!

The main Pangea restaurants offers an expansive buffet for breakfast and supper, but without the food feeling mass produced. Ocean is a beautiful fine dining restaurant and has a truly stunning menu Id certainly give the Black Cod main course a try! Taverna still offers an impressive menu, but with a slightly more relaxed and makes a perfect location for lunch or dinner.

All rooms are well-sized and have lovely views, but as always you get what you pay for and as you step up the levels, there is a noticeable upscale in terms of space and what is on offer. The villas are absolutely perfectly set up for families with a private pool meaning you can escape to your own place should you wish, but the facilities and atmosphere in the hotel are still nearby.

The spa is extremely impressive, Id recommend booking a treatment, possibly a couples massage, giving you the chance to use their impressive wet area with varying saunas, steam rooms and with refreshments including an ice machine available. There is a daily programme of activities from yoga and pilates to a diving taster session in the main pool as well as evening music and entertainment, this is certainly worth checking out if you struggle to sit still by the pool for too long!

"So shall we drop him off at the kids club?

It was a question asked more in hope than expectation. My wife arched a solitary eyebrow and cast me a look that was somewhere between disbelief and despair. Her answer was a perfectly weighted: Are you joking?

Was I joking? It was day one of our first family holiday and we had opted for the considerable charms of Daios Cove resort on the north-east coast of Crete. The last nine months had been a blur of doe-eyed doting on our newborn son, juggling full-time jobs, broken sleep, midnight bottle feeds and the rest. I could think of nothing better than sun, sand, sea and silence. There was no shame in that, so I held her gaze, stiffened my resolve and told her exactly how it was: Er, yes, of course, I was joking.

One thing you quickly learn as a new father is that your holiday time is not your own it is goodbye to a week of novels, siestas, sundowners and lie-ins, and hello to a week of being entertainer, lifeguard, porter, waiter, feeder, carer and cleaner.

Of course, I had little to complain about. Yes, I had heard all the horror stories about flying with babies Mumsnet seemed to be a recipe for a nervous breakdown for the first-time travelling parent from stories of babies being on the terrorist watchlist and burst ear drums, to husbands being force-fed breast milk at security.

But the journey had proved remarkably easy. It helps that the Scott Dunn version of family travel is not reality. It may not come cheap, but I was sold on its merits before we even left south London. We had been emailed in advance by one of their representatives with our requirements nappies, cots, rash vests, sun hats, milk monitors, pures, sterilisers, strollers, wipes, toys, books, bibs all would be ready and waiting in our room on arrival. As a result my wife's luggage went from oversized to (almost) normal-sized. With the promise of child care on tap and a kids club for all ages, things were looking up.

Just 10 minutes from the town of Agios Nikolaos, the resort was the idea of a German businessman in the Seventies. The story goes that he was sailing his yacht along the coast and was forced to seek shelter from a storm in the nearest bay. The clouds lifted to reveal a horseshoe bay of sand and crystal-clear water, flanked by rocky cliffs, and he was smitten. It is not hard to see why.

But, alas, he was unable to complete his labour of love, selling the plot in 2007 to the Daios family. They finished what he started in 2010. It has been quite a feat of construction. Clinging to the hillside like an amphitheatre, the resort is built in the style of a Cretan village, with 300-plus villas and apartments lining eight streets, cascading down to the private beach below.

The architects seemed to have an understanding of the things that matter most to families: space, privacy and anonymity. The 42 sq m apartments rival any resort for size and each has a private pool. The views are the real bonus the bay flanked by parched hills on one side and the endless Aegean on the other. Only the small island of Spinalonga, the former leper colony made famous by Victoria Hislops novel The Island, interrupts the vista.

But with all this height and space came compromise. The novelty of the funicular rides up and down the floors of this multilayered property wears a little thin when you realise you have left your sun hat behind (wife), mistaken the sun cream for the aftersun (husband twice) or forgotten the nappies (husband never again) and face a 15-minute round trip to recover them. However, the pain is alleviated somewhat by the chauffeur-driven buggies at resort level that whizz you back to your rooms at all times of the day.

The drinking options were impressive the rooftop cocktail bar, swim-up bar and a beach bar were music to the ears of new parents. Meanwhile, eating choices included the Greek-style Taverna, fine dining at the Ocean restaurant, and family-friendly meals at Pangaea. If the food was a little underwhelming (the lobster evening at the Taverna excepted), the staff were the opposite they could not have been more helpful.

Family mealtimes were a military operation in which the staff played a key role moving sharp implements out of reach, catching glass objects, and blocking anything ejected. As parents we wore Stepford Wives-style grins and offered profuse apologies in that very British way. We may be new parents but we are in complete control, thank you very much.

And when the waitress on the third day offered to whisk our son around the room for a few precious minutes while we sat back and sipped our coffee, we looked on her like a saint. Peace at last.

There are kids clubs. And there are kids clubs. The resort's own kids club seemed to be everything I imagined it would be screaming kids tearing around like they were on a permanent sugar high. The beleaguered staff were doing a sterling job but they had their hands full. By contrast, the Scott Dunn Explorers club next door was the picture of serenity the highly qualified English staff seemed almost to be on a one-to-one basis with the children, there was every toy imaginable, quiet rooms for babies, bespoke kitchens and a whole range of activities on offer.

On the first morning, we peered through the window two or three times only to see him merrily playing. Then it was just a telephone call as we slipped into a rhythm: breakfast followed by kids club, followed parent time (beach, walk, lunch), then a post-lunch pickup and an afternoon of water-filled fun as a family after which our son was ready to collapse. We even enjoyed a sundowner or two and evening out, courtesy of those Scott Dunn babysitters. Selfish? Perhaps. Self-sustaining? Absolutely.

Parents are given ample opportunity to escape and unwind at the Daios Cove, which nestles on a hillside overlooking its private bay, as the resort comes fully equipped with childrens clubs for babies to teens.

Under the close supervision of highly qualified, multi-lingual nursery staff, younger family members are free to enjoy the child-friendly beach, outdoor pool and playground, while the grown-ups indulge in pampering sessions at the spa.

The beachfront location and year-round sunshine of the island ensures a host of watersports are also available, while tennis enthusiasts and sailing pros are also well catered for. Nearby attractions include Knossos Palace, the remnants of the great Minoan kingdom.

Returning home from Crete last month I peered over my shoulder at three sleepy heads in the back of the car, and asked my children so what was the best bit?

The apple pie flavoured villa! came one reply.

Making a movie at Scott Dunn Explorers! came another.

The friends we made! was the final vote.

Quite frankly Im not sure anybody could better the family holiday weve just had with Scott Dunn.

As many of you know, earlier this year I was asked to design a new childrens menu for Scott Dunn Explorers, the exclusive childrens clubs available at four stunning resorts in the Med. And over the June half-term I was invited to actually experience a family holiday, the Scott Dunn way you know, just to see what all the fuss is about.

The stunningly glamorous Daios Cove is positioned on the fashionable east coast of Crete with a number of villas, ecologically built into the rock face that encircles this resorts pice de rsistance: an extremely pretty cove. And here basks a sandy beach that has something for everyone: romance for couples (try lunch at The Taverna, overlooking the sea); pampering for stress-heads (prompt beach-side service ensures you can quite literally lose yourself in a book if not, the spa); kicks for adrenalin junkies (with regular scuba dive and boat trips); and quite simply good old fashioned seaside fun for kids. The sea is not only dotted with gorgeous pockets of warmth but the tides are gentle and the waters meander slowly to their depths, creating a distinct shallow end for children. And somehow all of us - families, couples, execs and even a well-behaved hen party - co-existed quite happily alongside each other. No mean feat.

We stayed in a two bedroomed villa, overlooking the sea. Plaudits first for a generously sized and beyond comfortable bed. Ive always maintained that a hotel room can be as beautiful as the interiors team fancy (and ours was indeed very luxe) but if youre not getting a good nights sleep then no amount of scatter cushions can undo this. Matt and I slept like babies.

Having said that, if the interior of the villa scored points, it was the outside space that we were really impressed with. Our private pool was (unexpectedly) big enough to swim lengths in and was temperature controlled. This was a wonderful plus point for those mornings that we simply fancied a bit of privacy.

Our villa also had two extremely spacious bathrooms to match its two bedrooms, replete with Greek-made (paraban free) ethical toiletries - nice touch.

Add in the impressively stocked mini bar, Sky TV, air con, and wifi well quite frankly we could have holidayed in our villa and still not felt short changed. But theres a lot to awaken the senses here not least the food.

At Daois Cove the food choices are varied. There are three main restaurants. The waterside Taverna serves traditional Greek dishes with a twist (do also try the local wine its really good). The Ocean restaurant does gourmet Italian and while we didnt try it, I heard high praise from other guests. And the Pangea serves a variety of international cuisine with various theme nights, on a sort of posh all-you-can-eat basis. The kids were in their own little food nirvana. Im not a dessert person but oh boy the dessert choice at Pangea is quite simply phenomenal. They do a wonderful Rebani (a traditional, fragrant semolina-based cake) that my younger daughter and I kept going back to.

And if you overdo it on either the rebani or the raki theres the option to work it off either in the (very beautiful) infinity pool or at one of the gym classes in the spa. I did a yoga class outside, under the just-getting-going early morning sun. These are the things memories are made of. It was blissful.

Saving the best until last though and what really made this holiday so special was the time our kids spent at Scott Dunn Explorers. They had an absolute blast so much so that by the penultimate day I almost had to drag them out in order to spend at least another day at the beach with mummy and daddy.

At Scott Dunn Explorers they take entertainment very seriously the itinerary was just incredible. On directors day they made a gorgeous mini film (later given to parents on a USB stick how cool?!); on splash day they went to the local water park; they even undertook a cookery class. With me! Take a look

And of course they made new friends. Lots of them. That in itself was a big pull (as by the way were the two funiculars that got us up and down from beach to resort. What a cool idea).

My best memory? Making new friends ourselves actually - with the lovely parents of our kids new friends! We all took to meeting at the gorgeous cocktail bar, which overlooks the entire resort (this is also the place where youll be taken to on arrival with complimentary cold drinks all round and cookies and milk for the kids). Here, while the kids played (waaay past bedtime), the dads watched some of Euro 2012 on big screens set up especially (hey, Greece were playing after all), and the gals giggled and chatted over seriously - the single best mojitos I have ever tasted.

The thing is, its sometimes the small touches that make a family holiday. Arriving with young kids and seeing that your villa has already been baby-proofed (God bless the stair guard). Or having somebody from the childrens club meet your children in advance because they know that no matter how excited kids may be to meet new friends or have new adventures, its always a bit scary going to new places.

Basically the kids had fun, Matt and I had a rest and in-between times we had great food, plenty of sunshine, and quality time with the children on a stunning beach. Now thats how to do a family holiday.

Highly Commended Best Family Hotel 2012 - Daios Cove, Crete

Fabulous location, amazing amenities, delicious food and lots of brilliant stuff for families: this fine overseas hotel has it all.

A Grecian idyll of calm and relaxation for the grown-ups at least. The children may prefer the lively activities on offer at Daios Cove's first-class childrens club, with trips to the beach, treasure hunts and games, while parents enjoy the spa or fabulous eateries. Combine the best of the best by using winner of our Best Family Tour Operator Award, Scott Dunn, to book your holiday at Daios Cove.