"Where do I even start with Begeti Bay Hotel…
Firstly, the hotel is located in a very quiet and secluded area of Crete, which can either be a positive or a negative depending on the type of holiday you’re looking for. For us, it took around 1 hour and 20 minutes by car from Chania Airport, so definitely prepare yourself for quite a long transfer after your flight. The surrounding area is extremely peaceful and there isn’t really much nearby in terms of nightlife, entertainment or busy tourist attractions. If you’re someone who enjoys calm surroundings, relaxing by the pool and switching off from everything, then the location may suit you perfectly. However, if you’re expecting a lively resort atmosphere with bars, music and things happening throughout the day and night, you’ll probably be disappointed.
When we first arrived at the hotel, I’ll be honest — the exterior looked very nice. The outside of the building appeared modern, clean and quite stylish, which gave us a really positive first impression. The reception and outdoor areas looked well maintained and the resort overall looked attractive when we walked in late at night.
We arrived at around 11:55pm after a long day of travelling. The night receptionist was polite and friendly, but our check-in experience was honestly very strange. The first thing he told us was that we couldn’t check in until “tomorrow,” despite the fact I had booked the hotel starting from the 15th May 2026. Before travelling, I had even emailed the hotel days in advance to explain that our flight landed late at 9:35pm and that we would arrive close to midnight. As soon as I explained this to him, he suddenly gave us a room key without any further issue. It just felt confusing and slightly unorganised, especially after travelling for hours when all we wanted to do was get into the room and sleep.
When we entered the room, the first thing I noticed was that it was actually fairly spacious, which was a positive. There was enough room for luggage, moving around comfortably and generally settling in for the week. However, the room itself definitely looked more outdated than the photos advertised online. The pictures made the rooms look far more modern and fresh, whereas the actual room felt older and didn’t really match the aesthetic shown in the promotional photos. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but it definitely wasn’t what we expected based on the advertising. It also looked noticeably different from some of the newer-looking parts of the resort.
The bed situation was mixed for us. The mattress was very firm. Personally, I found it slightly uncomfortable and struggled a little with it during the first few nights, but my girlfriend absolutely loved it because she prefers firmer mattresses. So I’d say that part really depends on personal preference. The room itself was generally okay in terms of cleanliness when we first arrived, although after the second night we started noticing quite a lot of ants appearing in the room during the evenings and nighttime. That honestly wasn’t pleasant at all and definitely affected the overall experience for us. Seeing insects crawling around the room every night became frustrating pretty quickly.
Now onto the food — probably one of the biggest positives and negatives of the hotel at the same time.
Breakfast was genuinely my favourite part of the all-inclusive meals. I’m usually not even a breakfast person, but I actually looked forward to breakfast every morning here. There was a decent variety available, the food was fresh enough and the coffee machine was surprisingly good. I found myself enjoying breakfast much more than lunch or dinner.
Lunch was okay overall and there were usually enough options to put together a decent meal. Dinner, however, became repetitive very quickly. The biggest issue was the lack of variety across the entire week. By the second and third day, we had already started noticing the same types of meals appearing repeatedly. By the fourth and fifth day we were honestly bored and tired of eating there. There also weren’t many good vegetarian or vegan options available, which made things difficult for my girlfriend as she’s vegetarian. Most meals seemed heavily focused around meat dishes, and while there were some salad and side options available, there wasn’t much creativity or variety for non-meat eaters.
One thing I will say though is that the restaurant staff were all lovely. Every staff member we interacted with throughout the hotel was polite, friendly and always willing to help. The staff were honestly one of the best parts of the stay and they worked hard despite some of the hotel’s shortcomings.
The bar experience was another disappointment unfortunately. The alcohol tasted very weak and heavily watered down. There were no branded spirits available — it all felt like very cheap low-quality liquor. Cocktails were average at best and lacked any real strength. Thankfully I had bought some bottles from duty free before arriving because otherwise I genuinely don’t think I would have enjoyed the drinks much at all. For an all-inclusive hotel, the drinks selection and quality definitely left a lot to be desired.
The pool area itself was actually one of the nicest parts of the resort. Although the pool wasn’t huge, it was clean, relaxing and never overly crowded. There was always space to sit and unwind, and it was perfect for simply laying in the sun and relaxing peacefully. However, again this comes down to what type of holiday you want. There was no music playing around the pool, no entertainment team creating energy, no games or activities and absolutely no “party” atmosphere whatsoever. The entire resort had a very calm and quiet vibe from morning until night.
By around 10pm every evening, the hotel became extremely quiet — almost too quiet. There wasn’t really much happening socially and it definitely wasn’t the type of place where you meet lots of people or enjoy nightlife. If you’re a younger couple, a group of friends or someone wanting fun evening entertainment, music and social energy, you’ll probably find yourself bored after a few days.
As a whole, I personally would not class this hotel as a true 5-star experience. It feels more like a decent 3-star or average 4-star at best. The biggest disappointment for us was the all-inclusive package. Paying extra for all-inclusive honestly felt pointless because pretty much everyone staying at the hotel appeared to already have access to the same meals, snacks and unlimited drinks anyway. The package included breakfast, lunch, dinner, one snack between lunch and dinner, and unlimited drinks from the bar — but beyond that there didn’t seem to be any additional benefits or premium experience.
Overall, the holiday itself wasn’t terrible and we still managed to relax and enjoy parts of the trip, mainly because of the peaceful atmosphere, nice weather and friendly staff. But there were definitely quite a few things that stopped this from feeling like a luxury or memorable 5-star holiday experience.
I’d recommend Begeti Bay Hotel mainly to older couples, people wanting complete peace and quiet, or travellers simply looking for somewhere calm to relax away from busy tourist areas. But if you’re someone looking for entertainment, nightlife, modern luxury, amazing food variety or a lively social atmosphere, this probably isn’t the right hotel for you."
