Despo in Kato Gouves

I am absolutely disgusted. The standard of cleanliness is none existent. The food is disgusting. The room I was in was falling apart, cracked tiles all throughout the bathroom. Told me not to sit on the bed for the first hour I was in the room because I was waiting for someone to come fix it. No TV, No aircon (unless you paid 8€). All inclusive is absolutely shocking drinks selection. And even worse started our holiday off without a room. They said we could sleep on the sofa in reception until it was sorted (this took them until 14:30. I arrived at 04:30am) waiting 10+ hours for a room, so no access to tend to personal hygiene, no saftey for my belongs. I would never recommend this hotel to anyone.

Do not go! Minimal food and not labelled! Wild cats will jump on the table. Staff are awful apart from receptionist. Nothing is clean and no effort made. Rooms are basic and extra large for air con 8 euros per day. All inclusive is a con.. bar isn't open until 11 so will have to pay for water! Also no spirits until 730pm another extra charge. Was not worth it at all! Hated the hotel. Not even a local beer and only one choice as with wine! Got told off for talking on the phone at 11pm in my room being loud. Terrible place. I watched the kitchen staff come and get shots for to young women on their own who asked me to step in. There was I light right above your head in bed I cant help but knock. No netting for mosquitos or anything thing else so room will be covered. Just do not go!

Rooms are basic maybe cleaned every other day due to water droughts?? Tourist tax is €35 per room then if you want air con it’s €56 for the week. The food isn’t great and not much options same things over and over again. Plates and forks are always dirty which is very off putting. Snack bar is open 3-6 and consisted of ice creams and some small feta pastry’s every day that’s it. Drinks served all day but they must be low on cups as always asking to bring them back which we done but sometimes everyone’s not finished. Honestly the bar staff are very unfriendly. Also spirits such as vodka and gin are only served between 19:00-22:30 then all drinks must be paid for which is crazy considering one night bar man said he’d run out of vodka and that was that basically. I went to reception and she said he must call other hotel to deliver some and sorted it out. This place is so cheap cutting corners on most basic things. Luckily we met lots of other families who were lovely and together we made the most of the place but all thought the same thing about the hotel. Not good at all!! Where the hotel is it’s very secluded because there’s a huge main road to cross with no crossing it’s crazy busy most of the day with cars bikes and lorries.this place isn’t and all inclusive it’s very limited. I wish I’d spent just a bit more and went elsewhere

Awful hotel. I would not recommend at all. Not only was the room not safe and dirty the food was atrocious. The evening meal contained the most disgusting slop that had an awful smell, the lunch comprised of recooked/over cooked fries everyday. The salads were the same salads put out everyday, by the end of the week they began growing mold. The plates, glasses and cutlery was dirty, you had to play a game of find the clean crockery, in the end we ate out every night as we just couldn't stomach that food. Apparently room is cleaned daily, towels every 2 days, bedding every 3, this is absolutely not the case, we had to ask reception twice for clean towels!! Bedding wasn't changed the whole 7 days there. Also you have to pay 8 euros per day for Aircon, not clear in the holiday booking. The all inclusive drinks are very restricted to cheap watered down beer and wine, really not great at all. The pool was okay but as the week went on you could see it become more cloudy. The WiFi rarely works and there is a really dangerous road to cross to go to the beach, I would hate to have had young kids with me trying to cross the gauntlet everyday. The management/owners sit in the bar and food areas and just scowl at guests, not friendly or comfortable at all. Not the relaxing holiday we had hoped for, I would not recommend, particularly for families as there is absolutely nothing there for them. Crete is a lovely little island but I would highly recommend looking for somewhere else to stay and steer clear of this place.

Room Facilities Bed. We were supplied one pillow each. The bedding was very old (I would suggest 1990s at the latest) and showing its age with frays and threads hanging from the blankets. There were stains and what looked like bodily fluid on one of the blankets, luckily, there was no need for use of a blanket due to the heat. There was a loose nail sticking out of the bed frame which I cut my leg on. Cleanliness. The hotel claimed that towels would be changed every two days and bedding every three days. This was not the case. On day three (evening) we had to complain to reception that our room had not been cleaned, towels and bedding not changed and bins not emptied in the room or bathroom since we had arrived. We were told it was okay because the cleaner "had told reception that she did not clean our room". On day four our room was "cleaned", our bins were emptied, dirt pushed to another part of the floor and our towels were changed. Our bedding did not get changed, the sheets were simply refolded and the blanket with bodily fluid put back onto the bed and folded in a deliberate fashion to hide the stain! I had to take a brush from the cleaners trolley left in the corridor to sweep the room correctly myself. This was the one and only visit from the cleaners we had in seven days. Electrics. There was an electrical plug socket hanging out of the wall with wires exposed next to the bed. The light fittings were clearly from the late 80s, early 90s and the chrome covering had peeled from them. Very cheap and tacky looking. Aircon. We were surprised to learn that we had to pay extra for use of the aircon (8 Euros per day) despite no asterix to denote additional charges stated on the booking and spec details for a standard room on Tui website! We later learned from other guests that the aircon units in their rooms did not work, instead they simply leaked a pool of water onto their floors (and they were still charged for the use of them). Bathroom. The en suite had no plugs in the sink or bath, the shower head hung in a dated and loose wall fitting which moved under water pressure. This resulted in having to hold the showerhead when showering. A 1980s wall mounted hairdryer was in the en suite next to two large kitchen fluorescent 4ft long bulbs repurposed as mirror lights. The hair dryer only worked if we constantly held down the power button as the spring within the power switch probably gave way in the late 90s. Wifi. It was stated that we had wifi but this was not the case, neither in the room or in the communal areas. A wifi network for 'Hotel Despo' was showing but we could not connect to it on any of the three phones/tablet that we had with us, we would simply get an error message. Balcony. We had a lovely view from our balcony of the mountain and old village of Gouves to the rear of the hotel, however, the chairs on the balcony were cheap plastic garden chairs. On day three of our stay whilst sitting on the balcony enjoying the v

Well let’s start with the pros: 1) The pool. Cool, refreshing, clean, not too busy and very enjoyable 2) No sun-bed wars - lots of loungers usually available after breakfast so no need to reserve 3) Breakfast was usually good, lots of choice of hot and cold foods 4) The gentleman on night shift on reception who greeted us when we arrived at 2am. He came out to greet us as we arrived as we couldn’t really see/tell where we were going. He guided us to reception and explained everything very clearly. We paid the tourist tax (which is standard for every hotel in Greece and not just at this hotel) and also opted to pay for the air con. 58 Euros for the week -which for also inclusive should have been included 5) Room was clean, nice balcony 6) The 2 bar staff were friendly and helpful The cons: 1) Location. Yes on flight path - but not too much of a problem. Personally we quite enjoyed watching the planes fly over. The main issue the busy main road right outside the hotel that makes you feel trapped in the hotel. We had huge anxiety every time we had to cross this road. Choices were to cross directly opposite the hotel which involves climbing over a barrier to cross a main road and then clambering over the barrier the other side also. We usually had to wait 3-4 minutes to ensure it was safe to cross but even then you felt like you were taking your own life into your hands. The second choice was to walk around 4 minutes out of the hotel to the right where there were no barriers but where the other roads also joined. Again could wait up to 4 minutes for a safe window to run across. Very unnerving when there is a memorial to someone who died at the spot to cross 2) The food. Breakfast was standard. Lunch was a 5 year old kids birthday party. Chips every lunch time which were ok. Then chicken nuggets, fish fingers and mystery meat offering. Salads and pasta salad were edible. Evening meal was the biggest disappointment. 2 choices of meat with rice or potato. Salads there again. We struggled the most with evening meals and decided to go out of the hotel at least twice to pay for a meal rather than sit and be disappointed. 3) Drinks selection. Paying all inclusive to ensure you at least stay hydrated……however……..the water from the machine was undrinkable. Just tasted weird. Also cups were usually dirty. Cola was nasty cheap cola just about drinkable. One beer in tap. Crete larger, drinkable but not the best. Red, white and rose wine available, none of which were particularly tasty. No other alcoholic drinks available other than ouzo and raki. So if you don’t like wine or beer you’re screwed. Then suddenly a new sign said that gin, whiskey and vodka were available but only from 7pm. The bar stops all inclusive at 10.30 which seems very early. 4) Dated rooms and awful bathrooms. Room was clean but straight out of the 80s. Bathroom was smelly and lots of cracked tiles. Faulty Towers springs to mind. 5) Noisy at night. If anybody above or below you or

This was honestly one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve ever had. • The food was so bad we had to eat out every night. • Rooms were dirty, even after “cleaning.” One room had cockroaches under the bed, another stank whenever the shower was used. • Towels weren’t changed daily and the basement rooms had a horrible smell. • We were hit with extra charges on arrival for air con and room tax, plus you have to pay for water, certain drinks, and anything from the bar after 10pm. • Staff were rude and unhelpful. You even have to clear your own plates and put them on a tray. We also had a leak in two of the rooms from aircon in both of these situations we reported to reception and nothing was done for five days apart from putting towels on the floor which did nothing. causing a 70 year old woman slipping over and causing unimaginable pain. • No entertainment, nothing for kids, and the place is definitely not family-friendly. • After travelling and arriving at 4am we had to wait around till 2pm because our room was not ready.— we were told to sit by the pool and, unbelievably, advised to sleep on the sofas in reception with an elderly person and children in our group. With this the hotel didn’t offer us any drinks or food as we was not checked in so they refused to let us have any breakfast • In the end, we spent more money outside the hotel than what it cost for one person to stay there. As a big group of 16 we really was disappointed after paying the amount we did to stay at this hotel of horror!! This hotel is badly run, unhygienic, and a complete waste of money. Do yourself a favour and book elsewhere.