"I’ll start by giving the context that this isn’t the hotel we initially booked. We had booked the Aquila Rethymno Porto as we wanted to be in Rethymno itself, but Thomas Cook overbooked and moved us. So take this review with the context that we’d not choose to book a resort like this.
Firstly, the hotel is huge and well maintained. It has everything from a shop, to a diving centre, even a church. It’s very clean, there’s lots of information about the part they play in conserving turtles and plenty of recycling bins to ensure those staying at the hotel can do their bit in protecting the turtle’s habitat too.
This is 100% a family friendly resort, there’s a water park, kids club etc. If you’re looking for peace and quiet, I don’t think this is for you. There is a spa and wellness centre but children are allowed in the pool in there so it’s not somewhere you could go for a quiet swim. When we used the sauna and steam room, parents had to be told they couldn’t take their children in with them. With so much catering to children it would be nice if there was, at least, some adult only hours.
We didn’t use the main pool but a quieter pool near the wellness centre. It was lovely but really cold (we went in October so perhaps it’s better in the height of summer). The beach was huge and beautiful, with plenty of sunbeds. It is, however, more pebbly than sandy and it can hurt your feet. Water shoes would probably be helpful. There’s also a line of big rocks about 5 metres into the sea which can be hard to notice and make it hard to get in. Obviously there’s nothing the hotel can do about this, but just a flag of you’re going there for the beach or have children that love the sea, it’s probably a bit treacherous.
We went into Rethymno every night and one day. It takes about 20 minutes on the bus that comes every hour. It costs €2 and you can get tickets from the shop in the hotel. For us, it was too far out of town. By the time we were ready to come back the bus had stopped so we had to pay for a taxi which was €15. It’s just time and expense we didn’t want. I didn’t like running my evening by a bus timetable for a bus that was always late and only came once an hour. It was also very busy in October so I imagine during summer it would be hard to even get on. Again, not the hotel’s fault, and if you aren’t bothered about venturing out it won’t be a problem but it didn’t suit us. I’d suggest a hotel of this size and stature could provide a shuttle bus service.
We were upgraded to half board due to being moved and had breakfast most mornings and as we wanted to go out for dinner they were happy to let us have lunch instead. The food is good quality and there’s lots of choice. Breakfast has a pancake and egg station, in addition to bacon, sausage etc., bread, pastries and continental. Lunch always had pasta, a meat carving station, salad, and plenty of other tasty options. The drinks are very expensive, but then what do you expect in a 5* hotel.
Overall, it is a fabulous hotel especially if you have kids or like to stay in the resort. It has lots of amenities. We had a great holiday, it was just different than the usual holiday we would have had."
