Daios Cove
Crete, Greece
Super stylish hillside sanctuary offering fitness and healing retreats
Located on a stunning hillside overlooking crystal clear Aegean waters, Daios Cove is an expansive, plush getaway where you can improve your fitness on an intensive retreat, have sessions with visiting healing masters and relax in KĒPOS, a cutting-edge wellbeing hub. With its own bay, gorgeous rooms, villas and suites, private pools, first class treatments, and cuisine by some of the world’s most renowned chefs, this is a truly luxurious way to retreat.
our Reviewer Alice Barraclough says:
‘What makes this retreat stand out – besides the team of first-rate BXR trainers who each offer buckets of expertise and charisma – is the state-of-the-art facilities at Daios Cove’
Queen of Retreats says:
‘Fitness coaches on the BXR retreats are the best in business - some are elite athletes with contagious enthusiasm. You’ll need an armful of activewear. Look out for a daily sprig of lavender left on your pillow. Daios Cove is set across five levels with a labyrinth of tunnels – it’s easy to get lost, but there’s a handy funicular to whizz you from lobby to beach’
Experiences
Choose from the intensive, set-date BXR Retreat fitness retreat and wellness programmes with visiting healing masters, or just mix and match your own retreat to target ageing, vitality, detox, fitness or stress relief. Activities include hiking, mountain biking, water sports, yoga-style mobility and Pilates classes, and time out to relax on the private sandy beach.
The BXR Retreat includes a 3D body scan, daily functional training, cardio conditioning workouts, boxing sessions and Pilates and mobility classes to build 360 degree strength. Experts include head fitness coach Alex Nicholl, master trainer Liberty Cox and former Muay Thai world champion Charlie Peters.
The pioneering hub of wellbeing, KĒPOS, offers cutting-edge treatments including cryotherapy, colon hydrotherapy and IV infusions, as well as signature rituals such as rejuvenating facials with 111SKIN products and invigorating full body massages.
Head to the beach and chill out on sleek sun loungers with pretty parasols or relax in the infinity pool that gazes over clear cove waters. Additional activities include diving and windsurfing, hiking, mountain biking and snorkelling.
Further afield, embrace Greek heritage and visit the temple ruins at Knossos, which date back 4,000 years, or hike the 16km Samaria Gorge, in the White Mountains of western Crete.
Spaces
KĒPOS is a 2,500 sq m wellbeing hub with treatment rooms, wellness suites, a leisure pool, a vitality pool, infrared sauna, shower walk experience, hammam, hyperbaric oxygen chamber and a full-immersion cryotherapy chamber. There’s also a stunning Mind and Body Studio and a hairdresser and beauty salon.
Fitness sessions take place in the BXR Gym (within KĒPOS) and at the BXR Arena, a specially designed training space that’s fully kitted out with the latest ROGUE exercise equipment.
Activities like walking, trekking, biking and paddle boarding are carried out in the wild nature of Crete, or on the private beach of the Cove.
Accommodation includes 39 villas and 251 rooms and suites – 165 have a private sea water pool, while others have a balcony. All have sweeping sea views, a large living area, and huge en-suites with baths and showers, as well as plush robes and slippers.
The main restaurants are Pangea, Taverna and the Ocean. For a more laid-back, open-air experience, choose The Beach House. For drinks, Ocean Bar and Crystal Box can cater to every need.
Sustenance
Menus feature local, seasonal ingredients, with an emphasis on meticulous, simple, frugal dishes offering freshness, authenticity and exceptional flavours.
Breakfast is an all-you-can-eat buffet, with seasonal vegetables, fruit, quality meat, cheese, honey and artisanal delicacies. If you’re on a fitness retreat, you’re urged to swerve the pastries, pancakes and waffles!
Lunch features starters such as sofrito mushrooms with fava, parsley, garlic, vinegar, followed by salads and pastas and dishes such as grilled chicken leg, with potato, smoked mayonnaise, herbs and black garlic. Dessert might be cream of almond, agave syrup and citrus fruits.
For dinner, starters include quinoa, tomatoes, raspberries, watermelon and zucchini. Main courses might be homemade carob raviolo of anthotiro cheese, with zucchini and oregano herb sauce, and braised lamb shoulder with anchovy.
Drinks range from vitamin-dense smoothies to coffees brewed by talented baristas and signature cocktails made by award-winning mixologists. The Ocean Bar and Crystal Box are lovely spots for sundown drinks.
