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Four outdoor pools, a heated indoor pool, six tennis courts, sauna and water sports that include scuba diving make this huge beach resort one of the best hotels in Crete for an active holiday. Accommodation is in suites or bungalows.

Situated between two sandy beaches on Souda Bay, this hotel overlooks the river and has 150 rooms in two wings, each with a pool. There is an attractive riverside terrace restaurant, and a bridge leads the way to the beach.

Fields separate this lowrise hotel from the nearby beach. Its rooms surround a large pool (with poolside bar) and some suites have their own small pools. Other facilities include a gym, sauna, tennis court and playground.

This very attractive hotel just above the beach at Loutro has 36 rooms (plus four self-catering studios). They are in two buildings in separate parts of this village, set among palm trees, bougainvillea and tamarisk. It is accessible only by boat.

Only a minute’s walk from the village centre, the hotel has three pools. Designed in Neo-classical style, the low-rise buildings are prettily painted in cream, blue and pink.

This hotel overlooks a fine, sandy beach and has two pools, a tennis court and a range of other land and water sports, including a scuba diving centre. It also has a mini-market and a children’s playground.

Built around a complex of lagoon-like swimming pools on the beach at Maleme Bay, the Louis Creta is a tropical-style resort with an excellent range of sports, including tennis, football, archery, mini-golf and basketball.

Across the road from one of Crete’s best beaches, this family-run hotel is the best in Plakias. It has a children’s pool, freshwater pool and pool-bar, a supermarket and restaurant.

A large beach hotel with three outdoor pools and its own beach. Accommodation comes in a choice of two- or threeperson bungalows, family bungalows sleeping two adults and two children, and four-person maisonettes with sea view.

Opened in 2001 at Scaleta, 11 km (7 miles) east of Rethymno, the Rethymno Mare Royal has landscaped gardens and a pool, a restaurant, three bars and its own nightclub. It also offers a wide range of water sports, including a diving school.