Athina Palace Resort & Spa

The hotel does not really correspond to the declared stars – it is definitely no more than 3*. The food selection is average, nothing impressive. Another big minus – the hotel is basically oriented towards the French. All animators and events are only in French, so for other guests this “entertainment content” becomes completely inaccessible.

Lovely hotel but not a lot to do. Mainly French speaking hotel. Unless you are French they will not allow you to book any trips at the hotel. The animation team only involved those speaking French as we were never approached to join in any activities around the activity pool. Our room was at the opposite end of the hotel with lots of steps to get to the main pool. There is an adult only pool. The pool bar food is very basic with a small selection of pizzas that have been sat there all day and not very fresh, not a large selection of cocktails which you usually see in all inclusive such as mojitos, margaritas, pina coladas we’re none existent. The hotel is clean and we got fresh towels and pool towels every day. You only get bottles of water in your fridge. The food was very samey samey considering they advertised themed nights which we didn’t seem to experience any. All inclusive ends at 11pm and from then on you have to pay for your drinks. You can catch a bus from the hotel at 9.45am into town for €3.60 each way but be aware that the bus only returns at 2pm, 5.30pm and then 9pm. Once you are you town you can pay for an open to bus €20 adult and €10 child which runs every 20mins and you can get off and see some of the places that are on the trips you’ll see in the hotel. Market day in town is open mon and weds am and then Tuesday Thursday pm and every Saturday. Staff are very helpful and friendly. Unfortunately will not be returning.

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

An extraordinary experience. The staff at the restaurant is a 10. The service is impeccable.We thank them for everything.

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

The location is fantastic, perched on a hill overlooking the sea with rooms in small blocks cascading down the slope on 3 sides giving the place a village feel. Do upgrade to a sea view balcony! Everything is modern and clean, the English speaking staff are friendly and helpful, there are 2 main pool areas (one for adults only) and a small private beach with bar at the bottom of the hill. The food is excellent with a huge choice and enough changes from day to day. This is not a place to go B&B as you’d need a hire car or taxi to escape, although a regular bus goes directly from the hotel to Heraklion. The hill will be an issue for anyone with mobility issues. There is a shuttle down to the lower levels and the beach but there are still lots of steps around the place. You could ask for a room near the top by reception, bar and restaurant. “The French Connection”: TUI Club Marmara fill most of the hotel with guests from France. We found them very polite and well behaved (no teenagers in mid May) so no risk of British “lads” drinking themselves silly. In exchange the hotel have given the club complete control over the “animation”. This is both exclusive and intrusive. No amount of language skill would enable you to join in so keep away for a quiet life. This is harder in the main pool where loud music and games are blasted from huge speakers from 11 to 5. We survived by moving locations to avoid the worst of it. This was made harder by the fact that, although there are plenty of sun beds, only the ones around the children’s pool have parasols. There are plenty of both down at the pretty little beach. Note that the pools are not heated (even the promised inside one) so it is “fresh” in May but probably a welcome relief later in the summer.