Athina Palace Resort & Spa

This hotel is not 5 star food very sub standard hygiene none existent don’t like the British only French it’s punishment

Beautiful view, but the rest was a big disappointment – not worth 5 stars The view from our room was absolutely stunning – we were lucky to get a room facing the sea, and waking up to that sight was a true highlight of our stay. The room itself was nice and clean, and the overall hotel design looks promising at first glance. Unfortunately, that’s where the positives end. We were extremely disappointed to find out that drinking water was not included – something we’ve never experienced in any other hotel. In a hot climate like Crete, water should be considered a basic necessity, not an extra charge. The hotel grounds are huge and everything is very spread out. Be prepared to do a lot of walking between the rooms, restaurants, and the beach. This layout made it tiring, especially during the heat. To make things worse, the shuttle service was completely unreliable. We waited over 30 minutes at the beach for a ride back after being told it would arrive in 10 minutes – but it never came. The food was very mediocre – repetitive, bland, and definitely not up to the standard of a 5-star resort. The cocktails were extremely poor, mostly watered down and tasting artificial. On top of that, all drinks were served in flimsy, single-use paper cups, which felt not only cheap but also very unsustainable for a resort claiming to be luxurious. Overall, our experience did not meet expectations, and we left feeling disappointed. This place might look nice in pictures, but the lack of service quality, organization, and basic amenities speaks louder than the view. Definitely not a place we would return to or recommend to others seeking a true 5-star stay.

Overall an OK experience, but in my opinion this resort is not a 5* hotel (even taking into consideration qualities/ratings may differ in different countries) as there were quite a few negative points… The only positives that I can take away from our stay would be the friendliness/professionalism of the staff at reception, the housekeeping manager when we encountered issues with our room cleanliness (detailed below in negatives) and in the resteraunt areas - the manager at the main resteraunt buffet would often come over, smile, ask how were were and wish us a nice evening/meal which was nice. Food was good, quite a lot of options and desserts very nice. Quite a lot of negatives however which I will list below:- 1. This resort has nice views but due to it being positioned on various levels on a cliff/mountain, moving around is not easy if you are looking to walk. The beach is at the bottom which is about a 10 min walk if you are positioned by reception at the top and walking back up to reception from the beach or if your accommodation is at the bottom by the beach is not an easy walk especially in the sun/heat - you feel like you are having to hike just to get from A to B. 2. The shuttle bus service - to make it easier moving around the resort there is a shuttle bus that has 4/5 different stops to take you around to reception/beach/spa bar area/different areas of accomadation but it is absolutely horrid! Very cramped, bars at the top of the open shuttle bus which you have to be careful not to hit your head on, and when driving around it was sometimes so bumpy that you would come off your seat and be thrown slightly left to right. Reception did not also mention that these shuttle buses run every 20 mins but only up until 18:00/19:00 (or whenever there aren’t as many people on beach) and you have to instead call down to reception for someone to pick you up in a golf buggy car which to be fair is a lot smoother but sometimes waiting up to 15/20 mins for it to show up as they also pick up other guests on the way. 3. MOLD!! I did not notice until our last day when we were waiting in the bar area for our transfer back to airport but there was a very large area of Mold on the right hand side of the bar on ceiling area, when relaxing on the sofa I was looking up and was horrified to spot this! Looks like there may have been a leak or something from the ceiling. 4. Room - Standard, even after upgrading to a room with lateral sea view (views only good thing about the room) it was small, mini fridge would only be stocked with two bottles of 500ml water each day which is rediculous considering this room was for two adults, and if you ask for bottles of water at shops/resteraunts they charge you €2 - you only get free water from dispensing machines with paper cups. Our room seemed to be getting quite a few mosquitoes coming up through the drainage system from the shower which was very annoying. We noticed a coffee stain on one of our bed sheets which was th

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!!!