Domes Zeen Chania stands on a hillside at Parigoria, west of Chania town, and it reads as a village rather than a hotel. It was built with 106 single-storey rooms, clad in concrete and timber, and they step down towards the sea as a run of interlocking terraces. The bungalows are gathered around a central agora, which the house takes from the kafeneio, the village coffee house where everyone meets. Below the rooms there is a private beach, and two pools, one for adults and one for families. It trades as Domes Zeen Chania, a Luxury Collection Resort, on Apteron Road.
The hands that drew it
The house was completed in 2019. The architecture is K-studio, Athens, with Lambs and Lions, Berlin: the Berlin studio held creative direction, and the two practices shared the masterplanning and the architectural design between them. Konstantinos Karampatakis led the architecture for K-studio and Michael Schickinger the design for Lambs and Lions. The interiors are Lambs and Lions; styling by Annabell Kutucu, and Fytron Landscapes drew the planting.
The ground slopes, and the modernist design was the answer to it, a way of laying out a great deal of single-storey space on a hillside. The smooth concrete forms separate as they near the water and turn heavier, and the beach club, the concept store and the pool carry that bolder language, which stands up better to sea and salt air. Inside there is stone, dark timber, rattan weaves, textured linen and tree-trunk stools. The year after it opened, the design won the AHEAD Europe 2020, Best Resort award.
The rooms
There are ten room categories. The smallest is the Tropical Bungalow, 30 square metres for two adults, with a walk-in shower and a garden view; the Sapphire Bungalow is the same size and faces the sea. Above them are open-plan and junior suites, some with a shared pool and some with a plunge pool, and family rooms that sleep two adults and two children. The pavilions have private pools. Pavilions and villas are the top tier, the Haute Living Selection, and come with a dedicated concierge. Every room opens onto a private terrace, to the gardens or to the water.
The kitchen
Executive Chef Dionysios Pliatsikas leads the kitchen and the cooking is neo-Greek, built on Cretan produce and Greek wine. Zamana and Beach House are the two restaurants. Beach House does breakfast, a Greek and Cretan lunch after the beach, and an eastern Mediterranean dinner in an airy room by the water. Zamana is the newer of the two, a beach bar and restaurant by Remo Masala, with fish from the grill, meat cooked slowly over fire and dinners that run from sunset into the evening. Dinner can also be laid privately, by the sea, in a villa or at one of several quiet spots on the site, with drinks paired by a sommelier. Three bars cover the rest of the day: Beach House Bar, Ef Zeen at the pool and Ammos on the sand.
The spa and the fitness centre
Soma Spa The Finest is the flagship of the group’s wellness programme. Each treatment is built around the guest, using the medical-grade formulas of Augustinus Bader, ELEMIS and iS Clinical, LED light and oxygen therapies, and rituals drawn from Cretan plants and the island’s healing traditions. The fitness centre is equipped for serious training and a personal trainer works with guests there. The resort also puts on mountain biking, horse riding, diving and sailing, with yoga and Pilates for anyone who wants the quieter discipline.
The kids club
The kids club is Montessori-inspired and hidden in the foliage, a set of yurts and Bedouin tepees under the planting. A qualified team supervises it, and the idea is play and self-expression with no pressure on the child.
Who is this for
A family who would rather stay in a low village of concrete and timber than a tower, and couples content in that company. The mood is barefoot and slow, stone alleys under tropical greenery, sea or garden beyond every terrace. Old Town Chania is within walking distance: Venetian and Ottoman streets, artisan craft shops, flea markets, restaurants and the Etz Hayyim synagogue, the only standing Jewish monument on Crete. Chania International airport is 23.2km off.
