Athina Palace Resort & Spa

The location is fantastic, perched on a hill overlooking the sea with rooms in small blocks cascading down the slope on 3 sides giving the place a village feel. Do upgrade to a sea view balcony! Everything is modern and clean, the English speaking staff are friendly and helpful, there are 2 main pool areas (one for adults only) and a small private beach with bar at the bottom of the hill. The food is excellent with a huge choice and enough changes from day to day. This is not a place to go B&B as you’d need a hire car or taxi to escape, although a regular bus goes directly from the hotel to Heraklion. The hill will be an issue for anyone with mobility issues. There is a shuttle down to the lower levels and the beach but there are still lots of steps around the place. You could ask for a room near the top by reception, bar and restaurant. “The French Connection”: TUI Club Marmara fill most of the hotel with guests from France. We found them very polite and well behaved (no teenagers in mid May) so no risk of British “lads” drinking themselves silly. In exchange the hotel have given the club complete control over the “animation”. This is both exclusive and intrusive. No amount of language skill would enable you to join in so keep away for a quiet life. This is harder in the main pool where loud music and games are blasted from huge speakers from 11 to 5. We survived by moving locations to avoid the worst of it. This was made harder by the fact that, although there are plenty of sun beds, only the ones around the children’s pool have parasols. There are plenty of both down at the pretty little beach. Note that the pools are not heated (even the promised inside one) so it is “fresh” in May but probably a welcome relief later in the summer.

We have just arrived at this resort. The room is VERY basic, coffee mug dirty and split all the way down. Coffee tray is unclean, tiny balcony, way too many steps and far from all the pools. The fridge is very loud going on and off which wakes us from sleeping. We booked through Sunshine holidays and the pictures and description of this hotel is nothing like what you expect from a 5 star. The "Promo" room is not what it looks like in the advertisement. Those coming from the UK really should not stay here. Will be looking to move hotels and it's only our first day. We will update again at the end of today.

This was the worst 5* hotel I've ever been to. It absolutely should not have so many stars, maximum 3.5*. Very poor choice of food, and the coffee is a real tragedy. The coffee machine is equipped with cardboard ready-made coffee drinks!!! In the lobby bar, the staff is rude, they only wait for tips. The drinks are as diluted as possible with sweet drinks, and the wine is not served from a bottle but some mix from a supposedly carafe. The only thing I can write positively about is the service at the reception and the cleaning service. The sunbeds on the beach are probably 30 years old, worn and dirty. The Greek tavern does not deserve this name, you can be very disappointed! However, the a'la carte restaurant surprised me very pleasantly, very tasty. In both restaurants you get a survey to fill out and the managers immediately force a very good opinion, which is not true. I would never go back to this hotel!!!