Esperides Resort Crete, the Authentic Experience

It’s been a year and a half since we had our trip to Esperides, (June 2023) I think about it all of the time, it was one of the best holidays I’ve had. The hotel was stunning, we got picked up at the entrance in a buggy and taken to the reception to check in. Was a fun and welcoming arrival! We had half bored with breakfast and dinner, the food choices were incredible, and in the evening they had a live chef food station with a themed dish. Cocktails were lovely, we both drank so many frozen daiquiris and accidently got ourselves a large bill 😂 worth it! The area is perfect too, we hired a car and drove through lots of town around Crete, so good for exploring! The local town by the hotel has so many restaurants to choose from, a truly authentic place. Walk down to the beach to the far left and the water is stunningly blue! We also did a quick day trip to Santorini, beautiful! This was mine and my partners first holiday together and it was perfect, the hotel, the staff, the place!

This is a nice resort, it’s clean enough and friendly and every rooms seems to be different, built into the hillside there are various steps and twists and turns, a couple of pools, swim up bar and rooms with hot tubs or pools. We did go at the end of season and I really don’t think the heated pools were on, and of course it feels very quiet and a bit eerie at times, yet we had a really nice time. We did have to change rooms after the first night as don’t believe we were offered the correct one and we are still not sure we had the right one then, they are fairly basic and we did see much better rooms available. It was our 25th wedding anniversary, part of the reason for going away at this time, and whilst everyone was friendly at the hotel they didn’t make it special so I would book for a holiday, perhaps not for a wedding or anniversary. Maybe everyone was just tired at the end of the season like they were in all the shops and restaurants, as there was no spark from the staff. Food was good, breakfast had a good selection and pool snacks excellent.

Amazing staff, pleasant Made us feel comfortable, all hard working and they all couldn’t do enough for us . We are happy all round apart from a couple of issues which we have let management know. The room and the resort were very clean. The breakfast and dinner buffet were of good quality and had lots of variety.

We liked everything! The room (looks more like a small apartment), the heated pools, the double poolside beds, the pool bars, the look and feel of the whole place, the welcoming staff, the go cart ride with our luggage to and from the reception on our arrival and departure :)

This hotel was everything we expected and more! We stayed here for a week at the end of September and it was the perfect holiday! We arrived late evening and the kitchen staff had prepared a wrap and salad for us. If you have any dietary requirements for this late arrival food, I'd suggest letting the hotel know. It was very thoughtful though. Our hotel room was 308 which is next to the pool bar which was no issue. This room has a private pool that we enjoyed every morning. In September the pool space only had the sun in the morning, which was no problem for us as we'd venture to the main pool just outside our room. The room itself. This is only info on the room and not a complaint as it didn't really affect our holiday. The bed was huge but is quite firm. Yoy have coffee & tea facilities in your room. The decor maybe wasn't as exciting as it looked on the video we saw, but still a nice room. We only used the upstairs pool as it was outside our room. It was the perfect spot for chilling out in the sun. The pool bar has a great selection of drinks that you can charge to your room. Just be mindful of your end of week bill! The food at the hotel was great! There was so much choice of food each day. Everything cooked fresh and was tasty. We are vegetarians and had plenty of choice. We were half board which meant breakfast and evening meal. We ate at the hotel restaurant 3 evenings. If you're someone who likes to eat at the hotel only then this is great for you. However, the village of Koutouloufari has so many great restaurants you should definitely try! Meals aren't too expensive either. The average meal was around 40€ for 2 glasses of wine, a starter to share and 2 mains. Be aware food portions are big and we couldn't finish any meal! The staff were all so friendly and happy to help. I would definitely recommend this hotel! You're a short walk away from the bars and restaurants, but far enough away to not hear anything. The food and drinks were great. The atmosphere was calm and relaxing. A real gem in Crete

Our second visit to Esperides. We stayed in room 414 which we were a little disappointed with due to it's location which is at the front of the resort in an enclosed area. It is also right next to where all the towels are stored and sorted in a morning. On the first two mornings we were woken up early by very loud chatter and laughing and on entering the area where our table and chairs are we were surrounded by stacks of towels that were being counted by team members. We were really unhappy about this and spoke to Toni, the host on breakfast. He was fantastic and listened to us and assured us he'd speak to his colleagues. The next morning and after that there was no noise early in the morning but unfortunately the towels were stacked on the wall again. We just felt this was an intrusion into our space. Every other aspect of our stay was great. The breakfast is wonderful, pool area really nice. The team are incredibly friendly and helpful and they do make every effort to ensure you have a great stay. It's a shame about the room location this time as it had put us off booking again next year. It's a lot to pay for such a poor room location in my view.