Athina Palace Resort and Spa

"During our 14-day holiday, we visited Athena Palace À La Carte twice—and both visits became true highlights of our stay. After our first evening, we couldn’t wait to return. The food was absolutely sublime. Every dish was beautifully prepared, full of flavour, and clearly made with care and passion. Every course was a pleasure, and the quality was exceptional. What truly makes this restaurant unforgettable is the people. Manolis has an incredible gift for making every guest feel like family rather than just a customer. His warm, genuine, and relaxed personality immediately puts you at ease. Listening to him share stories about his family and the restaurant with such pride made the experience even more special. His hospitality is authentic, heartfelt, and something you don’t come across every day. A special thank you also goes to Tasos, whose kindness and friendly service helped make both evenings so enjoyable. Together, they create an atmosphere that is welcoming, personal, and wonderfully relaxed. Dining here is so much more than enjoying an outstanding meal—it’s about feeling at home. We left both evenings with huge smiles on our faces and were already looking forward to coming back. If you’re visiting Crete, Athena Palace À La Carte is an absolute must. And don’t just visit once—you’ll almost certainly find yourself wanting to return, just as we did. A heartfelt thank you to Manolis, Tasos, and the entire team for making our holiday even more memorable. We can’t wait to see you again!"

"5 star hotels should always cater for all nationalities and abilities. Dedicated entertainment for one nationality is segregation and bordering racial preferences. The lack of elevators from the lower floor accommodation and top floor communal areas is a hugh issue for any ability. Climbing over 200 stairs multiple times a day in 31° heat in no easy feat. The lack of safety hand rails and lighting on the stone stairs is also a safety issue. These very steep stairs also in places have very low walls. During our stay we noticed at least 7 adults with a plaster leg cast and crutches. Possibly a fall on these steps. There was a lack of evening entertainment for adults. The Greek dancers were good, but this was the entire entertainment for the 7 days we were staying at the Athina palace. The Hotel was modern and well presented. Most staff were pleasant and helpful. Restaurant food had a good variety. however the meat was of poor quality. The restaurant was extremely busy and noisy, often waiting for clean plates, tables to be cleaned and cleared. The staff were very helpful and working to the best of their abilities. Possibly staggered pre booked sittings might have been better, to cope with the sheer volume of guests. The views are breathtaking and the hotel is very well appointed and clean."

"Overall Rating: 4 stars (The daytime staff earned this hotel its high rating, though the basement situation and room layout were a bit unsettling.) Our Arrival Experience After a very long, exhausting flight, we finally arrived at the Athina Palace Resort & Spa around 1.00 am. Unfortunately, our first impression was quite disappointing. Instead of a warm welcome or an efficient check-in, we were greeted by a man at the front desk who made us feel like we were a complete inconvenience to him. We were forced to fill out numerous forms while exhausted, and the hospitality at that hour was completely lacking. It was not the start we hoped for. The Room Accommodation We stayed in a 2-bedroom room that was meant to accommodate four people. The sleeping arrangements were incredibly strange. It featured one double bed, one sofa bed, and an extra bed in the corner that looked exactly like a hospital stretcher. It was a very bizarre and unexpected piece of furniture to have in a holiday resort room, and it added a slightly clinical, odd vibe to our accommodation. The Staff Who Redeemed Our Stay Thankfully, the rest of our holiday was completely saved by the phenomenal daytime team. The service we received from them was so outstanding that it truly rescued the review. • Maria: She was absolutely exceptional. Maria made sure we never went thirsty, constantly offering us drinks and proactively checking in to ensure everything about our stay was satisfactory. • Georgos: Our mornings were brightened every day by Georgos. He made sure we always had an amazing table at breakfast and served us very nice, high-quality coffee every single morning with a great attitude. • The Reception Team: The two female receptionists who worked during the day were incredibly lovely. Whenever we needed assistance, they were helpful, polite, and eager to solve any issue. • The Booking Desk: We also want to give a special mention to the lovely woman who helped us book our day trips and restaurant reservations. She spoke about six individual languages perfectly! Listening to her communicate so effortlessly made us feel incredibly included and well taken care of. Dining & On-Site Entertainment When it comes to the food, it was okay but not exceptional. It did the job and kept us fed, but it wasn't anything memorable. As for the evening entertainment, it was quite sparse. As English guests, we felt largely left out of most of the scheduled activities. The one major exception was the Greek Night, which was very lovely, incredibly inclusive, and a lot of fun! We highly recommend attending that. An Unsettling French "Cult" Situation in the Basement We do feel the need to address a deeply strange and somewhat alarming aspect of our stay. There was a large French group operating out of the basement area that felt very much like a cult. Every single night, they all dressed in identical outfits of the exact same colors and made highly unusual, loud noises.Right next to where they gathered, there was a conference room with a massive map board positioned right at the front. It left us completely baffled as to what their motive actually was—whether they were plotting out some kind of intense corporate strategy, running a highly exclusive private seminar, or mapping out a plan to target and recruit other hotel guests! While they didn't directly approach us, it was definitely more intense than just a quirky group of tourists. It felt a bit predatory and boundary-pushing for a holiday resort, to the point where we felt like if we stayed much longer, we might have been targeted for conversion or recruitment. Having a closed group conducting bizarre, noisy evening rituals over a map board in the lower levels made us feel quite uncomfortable and raised some questions about what hotel management allows on site. An Amazing Day Tour with Olga On a much better note, the day tour we booked through the hotel was absolutely amazing. We visited three great locations: a local market, a beautiful aquarium, and a shopping center. Our tour guide, Olga, was very lovely. She tried her absolute hardest to communicate with everyone on the trip, despite the various language barriers, and she made the entire excursion wonderful. Final Verdict While the night shift front desk service needs serious hospitality training, the room layout had its quirks, and the basement situation was genuinely unsettling, the daytime staff completely make up for it. Because of Maria, Georgos, Olga, and the wonderful women at reception and booking, we had a fantastic trip. If management can address the odd activities downstairs and improve entertsinment and food, this would be a flawless place to stay."