Seaside A Lifestyle Resort - Adults Only

We really couldn’t recommend Seaside enough. We came here for our honeymoon and it really was the best holiday we have ever been on. Upon arrival we were greeted by the lovely reception staff, and were given a sea view room upgrade. A bottle of Róse was also waiting in our room for us. The room was perfect, and in an ideal location on the site. The food was amazing, we visited the three A La Carte restaurants during our stay, and each one was brilliant (Umi was our favourite!). Even the ‘standard’ buffet restaurant was very very good with plenty of variety. We booked in for Spa treatments on one of the days, and had a facial massage and a back massage (these treatments were fairly expensive, but SO worth it). All of the staff on site were amazing, and each one catered to our every need, they were all very friendly, accommodating and helpful. Our favourite waiter had to be young Denys - he’s such a friendly guy who was rushed off his feet every night, but still kept smiling every night. The location of Seaside is a bit isolated and there isn’t much around, however the hotel has everything on site (such as a gym and a mini market) so there’s no need to leave the resort much - if you do, then Heraklion is only 45mins on the coach. Overall, there really isn’t one reason to fault Seaside. We had an amazing 7 nights. The only downside was having to come home 😢 Highly recommend!

We stayed here for 5 nights and the resort itself is absolutely stunning, so well-kept, and beautifully designed. Everywhere is aesthetically pleasing and Instagram-worthy, with amazing interior touches that give it a really luxury feel. We had a Cape Suite with a private pool, and it was gorgeous. The pool area was peaceful with sea views, comfortable loungers, and the water temperature was just right. The restaurants are beautifully styled with some of the most incredible views, and the staff were genuinely friendly and helpful , especially the lovely lady at the pool bar and the lady greeting you at the buffet. The buffet food was great too overall. That said, there were some disappointing elements that stopped it from feeling like a full 5-star experience: Dining: None of the à la carte restaurants are included in the all-inclusive package. They cost €98 per visit, and drinks aren’t included either. We arrived and went straight to book a few evenings in the restaurants, only to be told they were fully booked for our entire stay bar 1 the last night. You can’t book in advance before arriving either, which makes it frustrating. We were lucky to grab a couple of last-minute cancellations, and although the meals were lovely, we ended up paying nearly €200 for just two nights, plus another €40 each night for a bottle of wine. No room service or poolside drink service: There’s no way to order food or drinks to your room or your private pool. You have to go get them yourself, which really takes away from the luxury feel, especially when you’ve paid for a private suite it would have been nice to order some lunch to our pool and some cocktails through the day. Cocktails: Only around half the cocktail menu was included in the all-inclusive. My favourite Cocktails like margaritas or mai tais came weren’t included and about €11. The free ones were served in standard glasses or pint glasses with no garnish or presentation even on an evening! more like a bar mixer than a resort cocktail. At other 5-star resorts like IKOS, pages of cocktails are all included and beautifully presented in varied glasses with salt rims etc. Entertainment: This was probably the weakest part of the experience. In the evenings, there was usually a singer or DJ for about an hour in a bar area with not much atmosphere - no one really dancing or interacting, and once the entertainment finished, it was very quiet again. During the day, there were no activities or entertainment at all, which was a surprise given how often this is mentioned in other reviews yet nothing done to enhance the entertainment programme This is genuinely a beautiful, very peaceful resort with so much potential, but a few key areas let it down. With a bit more attention to the all-inclusive offering and the overall guest experience, it could easily be a true 5-star. For now as it has the conditions and venue for it as well as lovely attentive staff but those mentioned above , I’d say it’s a 4

Stars of this hotel are its staff, they are all so pleasant and attend to your every need. Hotel is well equipped and clean. We stayed in a loft suite as we had 3 adults in our room. Lovely room with upstairs loo and full bathroom downstairs. Sea view was breathtaking from room 93. We downloaded the hotel app and tried to book the 3 a la carte restaurants, couldn’t get the app to work. Did eventually manage to book the Minoan restaurant but didn’t go as the main buffet is so good, why bother. Buffet Food is outstanding, exceptional quality and as always served with a smile. Some AI drinks were a bit questionable but OK in the main. Wine served with dinner was nice, Beefeater gin and tonic was ok. Location is again OK. Nice walk pathway to local beach, only a few taverna’s but still worth a visit. Used Blue water to hire a boat for a few hours which was fab. All in all, we had a group of 5 and not once have we had any complaints, plenty of sunbeds available all day, we stayed around smaller pool. Pool bar manned again by happy and efficient staff, big shout out to Denz from Ukraine serving in the evening, very pleasant young lad, credit to hotel and his family. Would recommend this hotel to anyone who wants a relaxing time with good food and good company

I have read some of the reviews both before we went and on our return. Everyone has different experiences and expectations but for us it was one of the best Hotels we have ever stayed in and a genuine 5***** Hotel. There are a couple of negatives but the positives far outweighed them. to start with the Hotel is well maintained and well kept, the staff are amazing, so well trained and polite but we have to say that we were served by Eleftheria and what a joy and pleasure she was by far the best waitress we have ever had. The food in the main restaurant was always of the highest standard so much so I put 5lbs on over 10 days. There are 3 A La Carte restaurants and we were told we could visit them 3 times, we assumed the choice would be ours and didn't fancy the Minoran so booked twice at the Oceana and once at the Umi. the Umi was not to our taste at all and the Oceana was very plain on the first night, a Tuesday but on the Friday it was much better, seeing as you only had a choice of 3 for each course it shouldn't be so different as I had the same order again, we were informed on the 2nd visit that we were supposed to use each one only once although we wern't told that at the start and were supposed to pay for the 2nd visit however they waived the charge. We prefered the restaurant. The room was 1st class, we paid for a seaview and what a view, the room was well laid out and decorated and I can honestly say I've never had a bed that was so comfortable, even better that my own at home. only gripe is there is a 1cm difference in the floor level when you exit the toilet or shower from the rest of the room, I assume this is a water containment reason but in the middle of the night after a few Ouzos it caused a few bashed toes. The location is quite remote with about 10 levels of rooms and a pool at the top and one at the middle, a lot of other either private or shared pools on other levels but a lot of slopes and steps makes it not ideal for people with restricted mobility, although the Hotel provides a shuttle service if required in a type of golf cart. The beach is a 15 minute walk down and the nearest village took us 45 minutes to walk to and a 10 Euro taxi ride back. Being so remote you really want the Entertainment to be good, unfortunately it was very hit and miss. A brilliant trio on Mondays really give it everything and 2 blokes on Saturdays were very good but the rest not so much and getting a drink could take half to 3 quarters of an hour, very slow. No activities during the day, maybe a water gymnastics in the top pool and a water volleyball game in the other to break the day up a bit would be good. Overall we loved our stay and we would definetley return.

This is definitely not 5*, for those that have been to ikos - that is 5* and this is not a patch on ikos. Firstly, AI is limited on the drinks, you even have to pay for a Bailey's!! That shows it is about the money and not the customer. Right the title of my review. We booked our loft suite with private pool based on the photos and description. We emailed before our visit to check everything was in order. The photos showed a beautiful paved terrace, pool and sea view from the terrace. What we got was totally different! We had a loft suite and pool but an inland view from the wooden terrace and pool. The room was right next to the service road, we had vehicles and mopeds all day driving around to service the resort. There were also steps along the side of the pool for other guests to access their rooms. We spoke to some other guests and they had the same issue, not the room as described - so be CAREFUL when booking. Our original room had a shower upstairs next to the bed but also had the shower downstairs. You have to navigate the stairs to go loo in the middle of the night. The second room was laid out better with a toilet upstairs instead of the shower and full bathroom downstairs. When we emailed to check the sea view, remember as per the photos, we were assured there was a sea view. What we had was a tiny balcony with two deck chairs that was it. The pool in our second room has an issue with the filter and was covered in dead insects, we were told it was because if the wind that day. The maintenance guy was there for over an hour checking and fixing the filter. As soon as it was done you could notice the difference in the pool straight away. The last few days of our holiday was very windy and guess what, no dead insects in the pool. Food, the buffet restaurant is amazing. Excellent food every day, always hot and refreshed regularly. The desserts are top draw restaurant quality. The only downside, you can only have wine, beer or soft drinks, no spirits. The a la carte restaurants were poor in my opinion. Minoan was the better one with good service. But Oceana, wow, so bad. Everything over seasoned, the lamb covered in salt. Umi, was not much better. Don't be fooled by the menu!! Location is good, layout is good, not to far to get anywhere in the hotel. There is a bus that runs to Heraklion daily at various times, €4 per person per trip. This is not run by the hotel. The hotel will respond and say they moved us as soon as possible and took care of any other issues we had. But why, get it right in the first place. I'm not sure they take feedback very well, always excuses. I would not stay here again, I'm sticking with ikos thank you very much. So much better.