Esperides Resort Crete

"Just returned from a week at the Espirades lovely hotel but just not quite 5 star. Hotel is in a great location just at the end of the village overlooking the sea. We paid for a room with private pool and I think we hit lucky with the one we got. Sun all day from 9am till 6pm pool area with a high wall and was a complete sun trap. Pool was massive loads of space with large balcony looking over it - other people with own pool were not as lucky totally overlooked with minimal sun would have been gutted if we got one of those. If you are booking a room with a pool ours was room 101. The room itself was a little tired although big hence why not giving it 5 stars. All communal areas are spotless and staff can’t do enough for you. Hotel has two pools adults only with about 20 beds around and the main pool which is larger but the sunbed situation is not good heard loads of people complaining at reception that they were unable to get a sunbed. Pool states they were not allowed to be occupied before 10 but people were there at 7.30 reserving them needs addressed. We nearly booked to go in the signature part of the hotel but didn’t but went for a look and I am pleased we didn’t not worth an extra £1000 although lovely. We were upgraded to half board free only ate in restaurant 1 night as so many nice places to eat in the village although food was really nice at breakfast and lunch varied on the buffet. If you do eat out try Nicos the fisherman, locasti, Atrium, and Harakas in Old Hersonnisos ( 5 mins in taxi ) all amazing food loads of places to drink cocktails try Marel all day long (chico has the best drinks in the village)."

"Rating is more 3.5 to be fair. Positives - very well maintained throughout, spotlessly clean, room cleaned thoroughly every day with clean towels. Cleaner was lovely. Comfy bed and good pillows Rooftop bar was excellent and the 2 barman were so professional and friendly despite working long hours daily. Food was good we only had breakfast Some staff in reception were lovely others not so but did offer help when requested Excellent location Used the option to be taken to the beach/pool - 12.50€ each it was worth it due to issues noted below Negatives - we booked a premium deluxe room with balcony and whirpool with sea view. We could see the sea at a distance, our balcony was completely covered and had no sun at anytime of the day! Nothing like the pictures on the Jet2 website. We the had to use the pools.. pool 1 was tiny and completely overlooked by the dining area.and around 10 sunbeds only. The other pool was crowded and again little chance of a sunbed, loud music blaring just an awful area. Due to this we had to use a pool further down the street and pay for our lunch there. This pool was full of other hotel guests too. The rooms beside us had pools and they were also completely covered with no sun. Our bedroom was lovely but the sink was in the bedroom right next to the bed!"

"We had a fantastic 11-night stay at Esperides Resort at the beginning of September, staying in the new Signature area of the hotel in Room 543, and genuinely couldn’t have asked for much more. Room 543 was perfect for us. It’s very close to the Signature pool and had its own lovely warm plunge pool on the balcony, along with a double sunbed and table and chairs. The position was ideal too – we got the sun in the morning and then again later in the afternoon, while still having plenty of opportunity to relax in the shade during the hotter part of the day. The room itself was spotless and cleaned beautifully every day. A fresh bottle of water was left in the fridge daily and we also had a bottle of sparkling wine waiting for us on arrival, which was a lovely touch. One of the biggest benefits of staying in the Signature area is the atmosphere. The Signature pool was incredibly quiet, peaceful and relaxing, but you still have the option of using all of the other hotel pools if you want a change. Fresh pool towels are available every day and, during the day, staff would occasionally come around with fresh watermelon and freezing cold scented flannels – such a simple touch, but absolutely brilliant when you’re lying in the Cretan sunshine. The Signature area also has its own breakfast restaurant with a beautiful sea view. Breakfast was excellent, with a great selection of pastries, breads, yoghurts, porridge, fresh fruit, a made-to-order omelette station, hot fried breakfast buffet, teas, coffees and fresh orange juice. The breakfast team were fantastic – friendly, attentive and always happy to chat. We stayed half board but changed our evening meal to lunch on most days as we love going out and trying the local restaurants in the evening. This worked really well. There was always plenty of choice at lunch and the food was generally very good, including an ice-cream station which went down particularly well! We did have dinner at the hotel on two evenings and enjoyed both. The Greek night was especially good, with gorgeous chicken gyros. The location of Esperides is another huge plus. The hotel sits perfectly on the edge of Koutouloufari, with Piskopiano and Old Hersonissos (Ano Hersonissos) also within easy reach. These three traditional hillside villages were one of the highlights of our holiday – beautiful little streets, some fantastic restaurants and lovely places to simply sit with a drink and watch the world go by. If you enjoy being somewhere with character rather than surrounded by large resorts, the location is difficult to beat. There is also an excellent shop immediately next door to the hotel with a fresh bakery, which is perfect if you happen to miss breakfast or just fancy picking something up during the day. We in the end didn’t need it but the hotel had a luggage room, changing area and showers. Most importantly, the staff throughout the hotel were excellent. Everyone we dealt with was friendly, talkative, helpful and genuinely seemed interested in making sure guests enjoyed their stay. We came to Esperides wanting a relaxing holiday and that is exactly what we got. The combination of the Signature area, Room 543, the peaceful pool, excellent breakfast, great staff and the location beside Koutouloufari made it a fantastic 11 nights. We would absolutely stay again, and if we returned we would happily choose the Signature area – and Room 543 – all over again. Highly recommended."