On Saturday 29 August 2026, Maison Meltem was the subject of a ten- to fifteen-minute report broadcast by TF1’s 50′ Inside. The house is named and shown; Giannis and Olivier, who run it, appear on screen. The programme can be watched again on the channel’s own site: 50′ Inside — 29 August 2026, on TF1.
What is here
50′ Inside is billed as France’s weekly celebrity news magazine, presented by Isabelle Ithurburu, and promises dream destinations among its stories. Those tend to be places you hear about long before you can find them on a map.
Maison Meltem is that kind of place. From the road climbing above Agia Pelagia, you would never guess what lies beyond: the stepped terraces, the overflow edge of the pool or the bay that opens all at once as you come through the gate. It is a place that reveals itself at the last moment, which is probably what films best.
We will not retell the report on behalf of the people who made it: it is there to be watched. What the crew found on site, though, did not leave with them. Here is what you walk into.
The house above the bay
Maison Meltem sits on a wide plot overlooking a bright, unspoilt bay, a few minutes from the little seaside village of Agia Pelagia and a 25-minute drive from Heraklion. From the terrace, the infinity pool merges into the Aegean: it is the first thing you see when you wake up, and the last before dark.
Eight rooms and suites all face the sea. Six independent 33 m² suites have their own terrace and private infinity pool; a 21 m² panoramic room and a 40 m² studio occupy the ground floor and garden level of the hosts’ villa, each with its own entrance. Around them are the Finnish sauna, the hot tub with nothing but the sea in front of it, the yoga space facing the open water, the fitness room, and the sunken lounge where guests wait for the sunset.
Giannis’s table
The other thing the road does not tell you is that the chef lives here. Giannis was born in Heraklion, trained in Mediterranean cooking in Greece, then worked for several years in Lyon, including a spell at the Institut Paul Bocuse. He cooks every meal served in the house himself.
Breakfast is included in the price of every room and served each morning in the shade of the olive trees, facing the sea: a Cretan and continental buffet. In the evening, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only, Giannis serves a single Cretan set menu, by reservation — around the hosts’ own long table, or at tables for two on the terrace, under the pergola. There is no lunch service: Maison Meltem is a guest house, not a restaurant.
The spirit of the place
“Maison Meltem is our chance to meet other travellers — around the bar, the pool or the fire pit lounge — to share our experiences and compare notes,” say Giannis and Olivier. This is a house run by its owners, on the home island of one of them, and that changes almost everything: nobody simply points you towards a beach; they tell you what time to be there.
Come and see for yourself
The report can be watched again; the rest has to be visited. Details of the rooms and suites — floor areas, terraces, private pools and the dates still open — are on our rooms and suites. Details about what happens at the table, what is included and how to put your name down for dinner are on the table page.
And if you would rather ask before you book, write to us: it will be Giannis or Olivier who answers.