Aris Hotel Paleochora

Aris Hotel is the impressive art hotel of Paleochora, Crete. It is open all year round to offer you the chance to experience Crete every season of the year.

Paleochora is the travel capital of southwest Crete. It is a big village, and a very unique and popular destination in South Crete for decades. The great advantages of Paleochora are its superb climate, its stunning collection of no less than 10 nearby beaches, and its traditional-Cretan-village feeling that is still alive today.

Aris Hotel is a family business. It is run since 1988 by the Liatakis family – now in its second generation. The latest renovation of the art hotel took place in the winter of 2015.

Aris, unlike other hotels, is called an “art hotel” for good reason. In the outside and inside spaces of the hotel, there is an open gallery of excellent handmade art items, made by the artists of the family. This open gallery is constantly changing, as the older items are sold and newer items are created. During the 2015 renovation, the hotel and room interiors were carefully designed and decorated with excellent art items made by our family’s artists.

Apart from the art items, the architecture of the hotel – for both the building and the lush gardens – compliments the art profile of Aris Hotel. Every year many of our beloved guests say how stunned they are by our magnificent hotel gardens.

Aris Hotel is located on the edge of the old town of Paleochora. This way, it is away from the summer noise in the village, but at the same time it is within five minutes’ walk from the town center.

In Aris Hotel we firmly believe in the value of the traditional Cretan diet. The Cretan diet, based in the diet of the Minoan Civilization thousands of years ago, is the basis of the now famous Mediterranean diet. In Aris Hotel we serve the – certified by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels – real “Greek Breakfast”, which includes the best local food.

As we are also open during the winter months, we are the local experts in alternative tourism and activities like walking and trekking. So, no matter the season you visit Paleochora, we can always advise you for great activities to do during your stay.

Regarding the area around Paleochora, for many visitors it is one of the most interesting not only in Crete, but in the whole of Greece. Around Paleochora you can find things like:

• Elafonissi, a protected tropical beach unique in Europe, and well known the world over.
• Samaria Gorge, the longest gorge in Europe, and the smaller but equally impressive Agia Irini Gorge.
• Gavdos island to the south of Paleochora, which has some of the best beaches in Crete.
• The picturesque small coastal villages of Sougia, Agia Roumeli and Loutro.
• The magnificent E4 long distance path for walking and trekking.
• The Selinos region with its impressive byzantine churches.
• The archaeological sites of Lissos and Elyros, and the Fortezza Venetian castle in Paleochora.