"You wouldn't pick 10 people out of a supermarket and go on holiday with them, would you?" muses Karen, a primary school teacher, as we stroll along Chania harbourfront, a warm wind at our backs. As the last supermarket I visited was Asda on the Old Kent Road at 3am, I take this as a given. However, that's more or less what we are doing at the Mistral, a resort for solo travellers. It's a family-excluding hotel run by a family, which treats its guests as family.
Its strapline, "Sociable holidays for the independent traveller", captures the paradox pretty well. Last year the small hotel enjoyed an extraordinary 65% repeat business. Karen's been back seven times and obviously knows more than she's letting on.
Crete itself, the greenhouse of Europe, is undeniably Edenic. During spring weeks, the island blooms a ripening green, studded with densely hung olive, orange and lemon trees, sweetly exuding scent. As winds from Libya raise the temperature, a blanket of sun illuminates the snowcapped White Mountains, which run like a spine through the island. The Mistral is located in Maleme on the north-west coast of Greece's largest island, and almost all of the resort's 33 comfortable rooms boast sea views. Maleme is quiet and undeveloped, with few amenities outside the hotel, although bustling Chania is a bus ride away. The hotel is now run by genteel entrepreneur Vassillis Gialamarakis with his roguish brother Adonis – their father built it.
But why do so many singles return to the Mistral, even out of season? Well, it's not for the promise of red-hot coupling, at least not during Greek Orthodox Easter. Our group comprises 15 women and only three men, which at times feels like being inside an extended version of How to Make an American Quilt. However, the broad range of personalities means everyone finds a place within the group adjacent to like-minded souls, and shared evening meals cement the bonds quickly.
The food is a highlight – four courses every night, with an emphasis on seasonal dishes sourced locally and cooked traditionally. Stuffed cuttlefish, artichokes in lemon and dill sauce and Cretan speciality kalitsounia (sweet cheese pastries) are all excellent. Snail dishes pop up occasionally, as do intestines and other grisly things when a whole lamb is spit-roasted and hacked up on a garden table for Easter Sunday.
"This came from a relative's flock in the mountains nearby. We eat every part – eyes, brain … " explains Vassillis, as his family arrive to celebrate with the English visitors.
"I want my guests to enter real Cretan life and culture, so they're not simply tourists." Engaging in the native experience with such authenticity is a genuine privilege, I later reflect with gregarious barman Stelios, as I munch on a testicle.
"I wouldn't eat that if you paid me," he cheerfully replies.
While guests are free to sit out as much of the menu and itinerary as they like, the daily excursions are a big draw. Springtime (or early autumn) here is perfect for outings, before the imposed torpor of the sun-baked summer months. We take in Easter processions, monasteries and food markets; other low season weeks are dedicated to spring flowers, photography, and walking. They are predominantly led by Vassillis, a voluble enthusiast as comfortable discussing Minoan architecture as military history or the migratory habits of the hoopoe.
The traditional "booze and bouzouki" lure of the Greek islands is in ample supply here, but it's the warmth and largesse of Vassillis and Adonis that keep this extended family returning year after year, staying in touch in the interim with cards and text messages. As trust develops in our group over wine and fine food, even the reticent among us start to share their stories. Some are here because they value time away with friends, separate to dutiful family trips; many are widowed. "When you're on your own, travelling again is hard. It takes a long time to get up the nerve," one confides.
Donna, the hotel's English hostess, shows me the lengths of personal care she takes with each visitor, which can involve months of reassurance and remote counselling before a booking, and as much support as each needs during their stay. It's a remarkably protective environment, and bears the homely hallmarks of a family venture – vegetables come from the garden, Mama bakes the bread. Each guest is collected from and driven to the airport, taking home a bottle of the hotel's home-pressed olive oil.
For those travelling alone – perhaps for the first time – who want to meet other people in a relaxed and civilised setting, the Mistral is a perfect choice.
"Couples and families can go anywhere and are always catered for," says one first-time guest. "But where can I go?" It's a rhetorical question. As she deliberates between perfectly cooked calamari at the poolside bar or family lunch in a mountain village, I have a feeling she'll be back.
• The Mistral hotel (0871 990 2070, singlesincrete.com) provided Rhik's accommodation. It has seven nights' half-board (including single occupancy in a double room) from £525pp, with transfers from Chania, with availability from 25 August. EasyJet (easyjet.com) provided the flights; returns to Chania from Gatwick, from £77
