Athina Palace Resort & Spa

A last minute booking for us and we were very pleasantly surprised with our nine night stay at Athina Palace. The hotel is a 30 minute drive from Heraklion Airport and very isolated which was exactly what we wanted. Spread out over a large area of hillside our seaview room had spectacular views and even though we didn’t arrive until midnight a meal was left for us in the main restaurant. Our all inclusive package gave us access to one night in the alacarte restaurant which was excellent and another at the Greek ‘Taverna’ evening, also very pleasant but far too much food for us. The main buffet restaurant offered a large choice of food, especially enjoyed our breakfasts here. It did get quite noisy which we didn’t enjoy but found a much quieter area to the left at the far end. We were looked after here most nights by an excellent guy called Costas. There were two distinctly separate pool areas, one quiet and the other more lively as well as a private beach at the bottom of the hill. We took lunch by the lively pool area, also quieter to sit at the far end as this restaurant also got noisy. There was a large bar area at this pool serving drinks, snacks and ice creams throughout the day, brilliantly run by Georgio Staff at the front desk were excellent and must mention Sofia who was charming and went the extra mile. Extensive bar area to the left of the front desk , some drinks weren’t included, Prosecco 9 euros a glass. There were so many pleasant , hard working staff who I haven’t mentioned everyone was charming and made our stay memorable. There were very few English guests here, we only heard six other English speaking people during our stay , the hotel appeared to be 99% French and all animation was limited to French guests. Never bothered us but may be a concern to others. No problem getting a sun bed and it was great to stay somewhere without the towels down brigade. Athina Palace ticked all the right boxes for us and for an out of season break we would highly recommend it.

Our stay at the hotel Athina Palace Resort & Spa was also our first visit to Crete. My daughter and I are thrilled. The hotel provides great service. The staff is nice, helpful and very friendly. Like all Greeks. I would like to thank the two girls who served us at dinner - Maria and Popy - they were really nice. Crete is a beautiful country. I would like to recommend a trip to the town of Ágios Nikólaos and a boat trip to the Spinalonga island.

Where do I start?? Arrived 2am due to flight delay. Fine, check I'm was smooth, give sandwiches and water, which was cool, wasn't expecting anything more. Then bus dropped us to out room, driver helped with luggage. Very friendly... Room had great views, very basic, not 5 star more 3/4 star... The resort is massive There are a lot of stairs and like a maze, initially difficult to navigate but you get the hang of it. We're in our late 20's so stairs was fine for us, liked the climb and walk, I can see why some people complain but not a big issue, exterior or buildings absolutely beautiful & pool decent. We paid for the couples massage, was amazing and the Spa can't fault them.. fantastic.. but that's where it ends.... the Hotel is not a 5 star hotel, I don't know how they managed to claim that's. Very low 4 star but really a 3 star if you take away the pool and Spa.. the food was okay, nothing amazing, pizza at dinner was the best, breakfast basic. Cocktails made at the bar, all poor and sugary, no real effort and terrible. This is a very French oriented hotel and most things are in French, with the odd English here and there, the staff initially speak French but when notice we could understand spoke English. The entertainment was all in French. So you do feel a bit second glass... We found cockroaches in our room after dinner on the 3rd day!! My wife absolutely terrified of them couldn't and didn't want to sleep in the room. I called reception, only to be told there's nothing they can do, after some protest they sent one of the drivers down to inspect. I told him and showed him where I killed the cockroaches & he was basically like okay back to bed. I told him you guys need to change our room, he called reception who rebuffed our calls for a different room. We were very tired and told him at least for them to spray the room, they could br more. Driver left got the spray and came back to which had to leave and stay the room for 40 mins at 1am.. I was told the hotel manager would call me to speak to me in the morning... that didn't happen. The level of service... poor, facilities decent. Food mediocre and rooms mediocre. To round things of our flight was delayed a day, so we booked a hotel called seaside view...5 stars absolutely flawless and impeccable... AMAZING... & exactly what a 5 star hotel is... I will not be returning to Athina Palace & will never recommend my friends either... 3star rating is very generous from me

This is not 5 star hotel. Rooms are very old and everything in the room falling apart. In addition, the rooms are not clean. Beds are not comfy, they are hard as rock. Food selection is poor - almost every day the same food. Food is below the average. We stayed with the baby and the baby's chairs in the restaurant had not been cleaned so we had to clean them before use all the time. In the room we tried to use kettle, it turned electricity off multiple times so hotel staff had to fix it. Also pipe under the bathroom sink was leaking, they had do change it. Otherwise there were amazing views and most of the staff were friendly and hardworking. We arrived late when the dinner was already over, reception offered us sandwiches. Pools are without heat. It is possible to move around the hotel well with a stroller.

not a lot of vegetarian options, the pool is really nice, they only have beds of singles, the cleaning and change of towels wasn’t good as we wished but overall was okay, the employees are nice and there’s a bus every 20ish minutes from the rooms to the beach and hotel. We enjoyed our time there, the views are amazing

Pros: beautiful location in terms of the views. Beach bar has a nice vibe and staff are good in the bar, very nice cocktails but you have to pay extra for these. That’s about it for the pros I’m afraid. Maria in the restaurant was so lovely. Cons; hotel is set on a cliff and is extremely hilly and steep, if you have any kind of walking difficulty this is not the hotel for you. Food is pretty average and drinks are the usual watered down all inclusive rubbish. The pool vibe is LOUD, there is something odd with the pool chlorination as it turned all our swimsuits green, soaking them didn’t bring out the chlorine so they are pretty ruined. The rooms are awful, we paid extra for a refurbished room with a sea view but it must have been refurbished 20 years ago….very dated and horrible old shower curtain, thin and worn towels. This hotel is very French centric, the entertainment is all in French which I’ve never encountered before. One evening we were told we could not get involved as it was a French game! Not very inclusive at all. All in all, not the best but we made the best of it. Not somewhere we will return to.

We went in August for 10 days and was totally disappointed. When the bus dropped us off down a dirt track road into the resort, we thought how nice the reception was and that when thing went downhill. Our room was tiny bearings in mind there is 3 of us, the beds were rock hard, the bathroom was dirty, shower curtain was dirty, bath was old and discolored and there was just a shower in the bath, which was facing the wrong direction.all the silicone and tiles was disgusting, the air-con was on constant but the room was still warm.Basically it was a 2/3 star rated room. The pool was ok and also the food was very good and most of the staff were friendly, except the animations team, they completely ignored myself and my family on our whole trip, not sure why they would talk to people next to us on sun beds on many occasions and walk straight past us MAYBE THEY DONT SPEAK ENGLISH or just plain rude. All the entertainment was in French Overall experience 2/3 star hotel that needs a lot spent on it and a lot of training to animations team.

TUI flight delayed so we ended up having one night in this hotel. We go hiking and this place put us to the test as its on a steep hill with loads of stairs and like a maze to add to it. Bar and dining room has no toilets you have to go to another floor for them which is odd. First room was ok a sea view walk in shower but they moved us into a dire 70`s style room with someone`s socks under the bed, nice. It also smell terrible and made our clothes stink too. Food and Drinks were worst I have ever encountered with added pleasure of chipped tableware and grubby cutlery. It is mainly French clients so they smoke everywhere which I disliked eating lunch n smelling cigs. The reception moved us as a group and made a complete mess of it with wrong keys etc, so we got their paperwork off them and advised what was wrong and how to fix it. I hated this place and was so happy to leave.

Our flight was delayed so TUI arranged this as overnight accommodation - what an absolute shambles. On arrival we were herded off the coach into reception. We then had to hand over passports and were given a room key. We then waited an hour and a half outside reception for one minibus to cart people around the hotel because you need three Sherpas and a donkey to find your room. They left a woman with crutches to get on the minibus herself, myself and my husband assisted her on. Halfway down a cliff whilst carting 2x 20kg suitcases and hand luggage - one of these my wedding dress - down at least 40 steps (don’t know how we are getting it back up) we eventually got to our room. Having actually stayed at a five star before our flight was delayed we can assure you this is not a five star hotel. Room was clean but outdated, A/C was very noisy (my sisters room had A/C that didn’t even work). Bedside lamp shade had been burst with holes in it. When the room door was closed there was still a gap outside. The balcony was too hot to sit at - the sun we can accept but the external part of the A/C unit sat on the floor of the balcony blowing more hot air at you which just made it intolerable. The pillows were so high I nearly had whiplash getting up in the morning, though the mattress was comfortable enough. I was terrified to flush the toilet because it made a horrible noise like something was about to explode. The breakfast wasn’t that enjoyable… orange juice had a weird after taste (a bit chemically maybe from the glasses), a staff member seen me try to lift an egg onto my plate was too impatient to wait on me doing this that she bumped my arm out of the way and proceeded to wipe the counter under me and my egg burst in the tray… ***. Pancakes and hazelnut spread was banging but nothing else all that appetising. Hotel layout reminds of Squid Games when they all follow in single file across multiple levels of hallways - bit of a maze and not for people with mobility, cardiac, or respiratory issues. The gym is a bit of a joke and the pictures are a bit like expectation versus reality. I don’t normally do reviews but this whole experience has been a horrible end to what was supposed to be a luxurious holiday for our wedding in Crete. Disappointed with TUI and disappointed with our new digs that should be two star max. If I’d booked this for two weeks I’d be devastated. Staff were unhelpful and quite rude.