The new JW Marriott Crete Resort & Spa, located in the small coastal village of Marathi in northwestern Crete, was designed by Athens-based architectural studio Block722. Set on the rocky headland of Akra Pelegri, with uninterrupted views across Souda Bay, the five-star retreat sits in harmony with its wild coastal setting. Drawing inspiration from local architecture and the island’s ethos of slow living, it sets a benchmark for immersive, environmentally driven hospitality, embodying a quiet, sustainable luxury that honours both place and tradition.

Hospitality in harmony with nature
Spread across a 59,700-square-metre terraced site, the resort comprises 160 rooms and suites for up to 450 guests, alongside generous shared amenities. Arrival is marked by a planted square filled with native shrubs — here, the sea gradually comes into view, a carefully choreographed sequence that reveals both the architecture and the landscape in tandem. Inside, planting continues into the lobby, where a skylight draws daylight into an internal garden, reinforcing the bond between architecture and landscape.

Guests move through a sequence of calm, earthy-toned interiors: the reception, bar, restaurant, and the JW Market, a casual café space. These volumes form the communal heart of the resort, oriented towards the sea and shaded by grand pergolas that mediate between indoors and outdoors.

Spaces of meditative calm
Pergolas, their simple supports recalling the rhythm of Doric columns, filter the Mediterranean light through natural materials. The shifting shadows fall across verandas and the reflecting pool that surrounds them, animating the spaces throughout the day. Raw boulders set against the clean geometry of the architecture emphasise tactility and anchor the design in its rocky setting. Sunken seating areas, reached by stepping stones across the water, provide quiet places of retreat.

Further amenities — restaurants, shaded lounges, pools, and a wellness centre — are arranged across the lower site, woven between rocky outcrops and the shoreline. Higher up, accommodation units step gradually up the slope, creating a natural transition between communal and private zones.

Rooms immersed in the landscape
Guest rooms are arranged in one- and two-level structures that follow the natural contours of the headland. Their amphitheatrical placement ensures both views and privacy, while the scale of the buildings remains in keeping with the terrain. Each unit is conceived to extend daily life outdoors, with shaded terraces, planted rooftops, and private pools integrated into the topography. Orientation towards the sea provides consistent outlooks, while the combination of greenery and water helps moderate microclimates across the site.

Craft, materials, and place
The architecture is rooted in collaboration with local suppliers, artisans, and builders. Stone walls are constructed with material excavated on site, while aggregates from the same soil are used in the concrete, binding the buildings directly to the land. Interiors take their palette from the surrounding landscape: raw linen, terracotta, ceramics, woven fibres, and timber establish a material language that connects interior spaces with the outdoors.

Regenerative design principles
Sustainability underpins every aspect of the project. Built forms are embedded in the slope with minimal disturbance and the terrain was restored following construction. Planting is limited to native, drought-resistant species that support biodiversity while reducing irrigation needs. Passive strategies — including solar orientation, natural ventilation, and deep pergolas for shading — improve thermal comfort and reduce energy demand. Active systems such as photovoltaic panels, geothermal heat pumps, on-site water sourcing, and green roofs further reduce environmental impact while integrating the resort into its setting. Excavated stone and aggregates were reused across the architecture, minimising embodied carbon and turning construction by-products into material assets.

A blueprint for restorative hospitality
On this stretch of the Cretan coast, construction and conservation are brought together to embed hospitality within one of the Mediterranean’s distinctive landscapes. The resort demonstrates how architecture can respect and respond to its context, offering experiences that are both rooted in place and attuned to the wider rhythms of island life.