JW Marriott opened at Marathi, on Crete, in June 2025, with 160 rooms, suites and villas spread over more than 100 acres above Souda Bay. The resort is owned by Vasilakis SA. Its density is the story: roughly one room for every two-thirds of an acre, on a rocky headland where the design studio Block722 stepped long, low buildings down the existing slope.
The setting
Marathi is a coastal village east of Chania, the main town of western Crete, on the shore of Souda Bay. The resort covers Akra Pelegri, a headland that narrows towards a small islet just offshore. From above, the rooms follow the contours of the land in several bands, with olive and carob groves left between the buildings and the shore.
The large site does not put the resort at the centre of things. Chania and the rest of western Crete are a drive away, and close at hand are the bay, the village and the resort’s own coast. That suits a stay spent mostly on the coast. It is less convenient if you plan to use the hotel as a base for daily trips across the region.
The design
Block722 designed both the buildings and the interiors. It stepped the buildings down in long horizontal lines, and seen from higher ground, their planted roofs continue the scrubby terraces of the hillside. Olive and carob trees still stand among the dining terraces, and stone, marble and wood bring the same short list of materials inside.
This gives 160 rooms space to spread out, but the aerial photographs still show a large development. The buildings do not vanish. They stay below the skyline and follow the land, which is a real achievement on a site this size.
Inside, terracotta, olive, sand and stone set the colours. Wide windows and shaded terraces turn the rooms towards the bay, and the furniture stays low so that it does not block the view. Because one studio designed both outside and inside, the move from one to the other feels consistent, without every surface having to refer to Crete.
The rooms
Most of the 160 rooms, suites and villas have a private pool. On a site this spread out, that matters. Guests can swim on their own terrace instead of crowding the shared pools, which eases some of the pressure that comes with so many rooms. The pool is also part of the view, with its far edge lined up with Souda Bay beyond.
Where a room sits on the headland will shape a stay as much as its category. Rooms higher on the slope have a wider view and a longer walk to the shore. Lower villas sit nearer the water, with more of the resort rising behind them. The amount of land per room creates space, but the distances remain.
The table
The resort has six places to eat and drink. ANOEE is the Cretan restaurant, cooking over open fire under Manolis Papoutsakis. The JW Garden grows thyme, oregano and capers for the kitchens and bars. These two give the strongest link to the site. The other restaurants and bars add seafood, Italian cooking, sharing plates and drinks. That range is useful at a resort where the nearest other restaurant may be a drive away.
The terrace among the olive trees, shown in the photographs, makes the link clearest. The old trunks set the layout of the tables and keep part of the old ground inside the new resort. On a site this size, keeping a tree exactly where dinner is served matters more than any description of Crete.
The wellness
ANOSEAS, the spa, has five treatment rooms, hydrotherapy and a beauty room, with a yoga deck and a fitness centre beside it. Four shared swimming pools are cut into the terraces above the sea. So the spa and the pools are spread across the same wide site as the rooms.
The environment
Marriott lists geothermal and solar energy, heat recovery for the domestic supply and treated grey water, used water from sinks and showers, for irrigation. These systems serve a large property: 160 rooms, private and shared pools and more than 100 acres of planted ground. At the seaward edge, the buildings stop short of the rocky point and the islet beyond it.
Who is this for
JW Marriott Crete suits travellers who want their own pool and a choice of restaurants without leaving the grounds. Private terraces have a timber dining table, daybeds and a pool whose far edge meets the still bay, with a rocky islet and a mountain range beyond. At dusk, a long pool above the rocky shore looks across to timber shade pavilions by the water. In the spa, a rock outcrop rises through one wall beside a small pool.
