Aquila Rithymna Beach

"A little bit late writing my review but better late than never. We’ve been coming for a few years now, previously stayed at the Porto in Rethymnon, but Mr Damanakis is an exceptional general manager and his attention to detail and customer care is reflected by his entire staff so when he moved to this hotel so did we. We stayed 4th to 14th September 2025 and as always our stay was fantastic. The hotel is lovely, yes it does get busy with families in school holidays but that can be said of many places, the staff are all fantastic and nothing is too much trouble for their guests. We love them all and in all of our travels we have never found anywhere quite so comfortable and that makes us feel like we are at home while we are away. We will see you all next year."

"My partner and I stayed for two weeks at this hotel mid October. Room 258 had fabulous sea views and most nights we were treated to the most wonderful Sunsets. People have mentioned that some of the rooms are dated which I don't understand because the room we booked was pretty much the same as the one pictured on the hotels and Jet2 s websites. Our room was slightly old-fashioned, but the furniture was comfortable and good quality and the room was kept spotlessly clean by Housekeeping. I was a bit dissapointed to not find any Beach Bags and Slippers in the room, as these are pretty much standard in a 5* Hotel, so when I was asked for feedback on their App, I told them, and the next day Beach Bag and Slippers were delivered along with some extra toiletries. Another slight gripe was the mini-bar in the room was not always topped up and there was a charge for crisps and Nuts! Comfy bed and a great shower in the bathroom made for a comfortable stay, but do take a multi pot adapter, as there are not many sockets. The hotel is massive, the gardens are beautiful well worth a stroll. Not much going on in the way of more traditional entertainment, to see the Cretan dancers, meant you had to go to the Mournies Tavern, which was very difficult to get a booking. You could get lunch bookings fairly easily, but the breakfasts were huge, so we skipped lunch most of the times. The food was generally very good and the service fantastic, considering how busy they were. My favourite place was the Rimondi Brasserie, they served a Brunch menu for AI guests which was a great and more peaceful alternative to breakfast in the main dining room. A special shout out has to go to Manolis and Emmanouela at the Rimondi, first class customer service, they made our holiday special. Afternoons on the beach, the Beach Bar was a great place to chill out with a book and a Cocktail (try Orchid Flower and Utopia). Dissapointingly, the Beach Bar closed on the last Wednesday were were there, completely without warning, there was a stream of disgruntled holiday makers, approaching the bar to be told it was closed. That was poor, they should have put something on the App. It didn't make sense, the hotel was still busy and was still open for another week. With not a lot else to do, most evenings were spent in the Lobby Bar, it sometimes took a long time to get served, because they were rushed off their feet. I needed to be able to swim in a pool with steps not a ladder, but there were no sunbeds available at the main pool, however there is a lovely smaller pool right at the other end of the complex, it has steps, and I was the only one in it! There were also plenty of empty sunbeds. The Spa pool also has steps and was lovely and warm. I didn't try the sauna, but it looked nice and all the pools were very clean. Outside of the hotel there are a few shops, restaurants, a pharmacy and a mini-mart. We hired a car which was half the price of the one on offer in the hotel. We used Minoan Car Hire, they were great. Because we arrived very late at 2am, the hotel allowed us to use All Inclusive on our last day, which was a bonus, we were getting picked up at 19:30, so we opted to keep our room until 18:30 for a small charge which made the last day stress free. All in all we had a lovely stay, the staff at this hotel are fantastic, friendly and helpful, there were just one or two little inconsistencies which stopped me giving 5/5."

"one of the best hotels i have stayed at all the staff was brilliant check in was easy the food was fab room 239 will go baxk there"