An intimate sea view guesthouse above Agia Pelagia, Crete
Eight rooms and suites for adults only, high above the bay, facing the Aegean Sea. An infinity pool, a Cretan breakfast included every morning, and Giannis’s table three evenings a week.
Book nowas recorded on 3 Sep 2026
The view
The sea, from morning to nightfall
Maison Meltem sits on a wide plot overlooking a bright, unspoilt bay, a few minutes from the little seaside village of Agia Pelagia. From the terrace, the overflow edge of the pool merges into the Aegean: it is the first thing you see when you wake up, and the last before dark.
Heraklion is a 25-minute drive away — far enough for quiet to settle in, close enough that no day is lost getting there. And because being somewhere quiet should not mean being cut off, Starlink wifi reaches every corner of the grounds.
Your hosts
Giannis and Olivier welcome you into their home
One of them was first a pharmacist; later, both became restaurateurs and then guesthouse owners. Giannis and Olivier, a couple, now welcome you to their own quiet corner of Giannis’s native island. Born in Heraklion, he trained in Mediterranean cooking in several Greek establishments, then worked for years in Lyon, where he rounded off his craft with a spell at the Institut Paul Bocuse, before running his own restaurant, Resto Halle, in the Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse. He cooks every meal served in the house.
“Maison Meltem is our chance to meet other travellers — around the bar, the pool or the sunken lounge and its fire pit — and to share what we have all seen along the way.”
Staff rated 10/10 on Booking.
Where you sleep
The rooms
Eight rooms and suites, every one of them turned towards the sea. The six independent 33 m² suites occupy a building separate from the hosts’ villa, partly set into the Cretan hillside. Each has its own terrace and private infinity pool. In the hosts’ villa, the 21 m² panoramic room is on the ground floor and the 40 m² studio is at garden level, each with its own entrance.
The place
The sunsets, and everything around them
The sun drops behind the hill: it is the moment the whole day builds towards, and you can watch it from the guests’ pool, from the sunken lounge and its fire pit, or from the bar counter. Lower down the grounds, the hot tub has nothing but the sea in front of it.
The house also has a Finnish sauna, open from October to May on request, a yoga space facing the open sea, a fitness room open from 8 am to 8 pm, and massages you can book on site.
Explore the place
The table
Giannis’s table
Breakfast is included in the price of the room and served every morning in the shade of the olive trees, facing the sea: a Cretan and continental buffet, plus a few à la carte options.
In the evening, Giannis serves a single Cretan set menu on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only, by reservation — around the hosts’ own long table, or at tables for two on the terrace facing the Aegean. Local produce, Cretan olive oil. There is no lunch service.
See the table
Around the house
Agia Pelagia and the rest of Crete
Crete is Giannis’s native island: he knows which cove, which Minoan site or which taverna to recommend, depending on the season and the hour. The village of Agia Pelagia and its restaurant-lined bay are a few minutes away by car.
Agia Pelagia and its surroundings