The Maldives fantasy, rerouted to Crete.

There is a fantasy that used to require a very long flight: the overwater suite, its private steps descending straight into still turquoise, the horizon uninterrupted.

Stella Island Luxury Resort & Spa makes the case you can have it without leaving the Mediterranean. According to the property and the operators who sell it, suites are poised above a tranquil lagoon pool, with guests able to swim and sunbathe directly from the room into the water below: overwater bungalows appointed with Jacuzzis, scaling up to Island Villas with private pools.

Two details reframe the whole thing. It is adults-only, which tells you exactly who the lagoon theatre is for. And the setting is Crete, so the tropical staging arrives wrapped in something the Maldives can't offer: Cretan sun, the island's seafood, warm local hospitality, and a plural dining program, all a few steps from the room rather than an ocean away.

Clever geography: a much-desired aesthetic, rooted somewhere with its own culinary and cultural weight.

Travel like a Bause.