Every year, my girlfriend and I go on holiday with a couple we've known since university. It's our turn to choose a late summer break, and we are thinking of eastern Crete at the end of September. Could you suggest a good hotel from which to explore; something luxurious with plenty to keep us occupied when not lazing? Mark England, St Albans

Sunday Times travel expert, Richard Green, responds: An hour's drive east of Heraklion is the attractive former fishing port of Agios Nicolaos, now a lively summer town with restaurants and bars stringing its seafront and small lake. The superb 107 room St Nicolas Bay Hotel (00 30 28410 25041) is a pleasant 15-minutes walk north of the town, and spreads cleverly over a private peninsula with it's own Blue Flag beach.

Rooms are bright and good-sized, with whites and creams broken up with splashes of Cretan-themed colour in rugs and wall art. Its five restaurants are set in flower-filled gardens, with a tiny old church, art gallery, Elemis spa, and water sports centre. Prestige Holidays (01425 480400) has a week in September from £984pp, including flights and private transfers.

If you prefer something further away from it all, there's the family owned Istron Bay Hotel, eight miles east of Agios Nicolaos.

This whitewashed ocean liner of a building presides over a beautiful sandy bay, with a large pool, four restaurants, tennis courts, and good water sports. The 145 rooms aren't as eye catching as those at St Nic's, but the beach is broader and there are terrific views from the large cliff side pool. Simpson Travel (0845 811 6500) has a week from £718pp, with flights and private transfers.

Drive a few miles south of either and your in classic Cretan terrain; orchards backed by mountains, pretty villages, and spectacular cliffs on the south coast. You're near to the stunning Lasithi Plateau, the ruins of Knossos, and the fortress like monastery on Mt Toplou.

Other Greek specialists include CV Travel (020 7384 5895), or Islands of Greece (0845 675 2600).

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