Creta Palace, Grecotel Luxury Beach Resort

I’m really saddened and very disappointed to have to write this review - my first ever truly horrific holiday experience, in the hands of Creta Palace, Crete. We all came home stressed, unwell, exhausted and shocked over what we had experienced in a supposed 5* resort. We booked the Presidential Villa and paid 80% in advance. We were promised extensive luxury, privacy and exclusivity. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. We we arrived and stood in and outside the villa, it was difficult to tell where exactly any of the photographs from the website had been taken. THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE VILLA LOOKED TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO THE ONLINE IMAGES. Our initial trip was for 10 days - we left after 7 days, following 6 days of the worst vomiting and diarrhoea my children have ever experienced. We were booked in the ‘comfort package’. All food and drink was included. We were surprised to find that for 1334.26 euro per day, this was buffet only. We did not leave the resort for the length of our stay. A Greek doctor came to visit our villa twice during our stay and in the end we were so concerned that my 6 year would be hospitalised, we paid £400 to change our flights and got back to the UK. The symptoms cleared up once we were home, however the long term effects of my son’s sickness, lingered in his system for almost a week - with another visit to our local GP. A nightly rate for this ‘Presidential Villa’ was 1,334.26 euro. Please take a moment to consider that my honest review is of the most luxurious room Creta Palace state they have. Can you imagine for a second what you might find in the rooms that are 157.00 euro per night? I have put up photos of what’s on their website verses the truth. A summary of what we truthfully, found is below; Ant infestation in the Master bathroom suite - screen grab from video in the review Outside pool area lacked any privacy at all. Unlike the photos online there was no privacy wall or screen of bushes. Children kept coming by our pool, people walked up past your sun loungers to look in and footballs kept flying into our pool. Also, what you can’t see from the photos is that the villa is not private at all as you are led to believe. It sits side by side to many other villa-style suites and you can look over balconies into all of the garden and pool spaces. Only by eating dry bread and dry plain biscuits purchased in the shop, were we adults able to recover enough to move around and care for children. My children were not so lucky. Stained, dirty mattresses without mattress covers or protectors Damp patches on the floors by AC units - AC units that were smelly and dirty inside People seen eating with their hands directly from unmanned stations at the buffet. (We refused to eat there once we saw this). Private Pool was murky and smelly despite somebody coming by daily to ‘clean it’. Saw men throwing handfuls of salt-like substance in but you could never see the bottom steps no matter how many times you asked them to clean it. Water in the large shared pool also smelled weird, despite being serviced by a team daily. Hotel state bad weather as an excuse for dirty pools - watching them be cleaned and then checking them, they were no better. Patio and outside areas were tired and in need of decorating and a clean No proper shower in either bathrooms in the Villa - just little rinse heads on the taps Extra charge to eat at any restaurant on the ‘comfort package’, their top food and beverage offering, despite paying a whopping 1,334.26 euro per night. FOR BUFFET! Poor selection on the buffet for what we saw. Buffet area understaffed and badly managed - other guests eating with their hands directly from buffet Was told transfer was included and then once we’d booked and pre-paid the holiday was told it would be upwards of an extra 160 euro more if all 4 of us wanted to be in the taxi together, with one piece of luggage each. Despite booking and paying for a 4 bed villa and 4 people. No luxuries in the room. No international satellite TV package, no smart TVs for downloads like Netflix etc, no iPod docs, no decorative extras to add a sense of luxury or comfort. The beach is not private. Either side of the resort are abandoned sites and nothing of interest to report. Access to water is very stoney and difficult for children Stray, sad looking dogs on the beach We looked into the windows and doorways of many of the other hotel rooms in the resort and these also looked nothing like their offering on the website. We have asked for some of our pre-paid money back based on the fact we were totally mis-sold this accommodation and the offering. All requests have been aggressively rejected. The hotel company did not and have not inquired after my children’ health nor have they apologised. Staff were rude, aggressive, belittling and lacking in basic levels of customer service. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE WE HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED. They dispute all of our honest claims, call us liars and insult us. They have stated in writing that their offering is a high luxury one. The hotel and group also state that they are not misleading customers with their online images and descriptions. We will let you decide. We left three days short and were told that we did not have to pay for the last three days we would not be there. Management later stated that this was because they didn’t want hassle and wanted us gone However, we have still given this resort 12,080 euro PLUS, the cost of our flights, our parking at the airport and the hundreds of euros that we tipped the cleaning and serving staff who tried to help us. Some reviews of this resort are average to good. Had I not regularly stayed at Ritz, Marriott, One and Only’s or any of the Leading Hotels of the World that we frequent annually, I might think this resort looked okay for a basic, budget holiday break. IT's NOT! 150 euro a night this is too much to pay to stay here let alone thousands. Hard earned money is hard earned money no matter the amount you are spending. You deserve the best that your money can buy and Creta Palace is far from the best your money can buy. If you are looking for luxury, amenities, great food, excellent service and high levels of customer care, please restart your holiday search right now and do not give this company a penny of your hard earned money.

One of the best hotel we have stayed in. The staff very friendly, very attentive. Though it was the last week for the season, still top service. We felt very welcome from the beginning till the end. Bufférestaurang always something for everyone. Well-cooked food. The a´la carte restaurang Baronessa superb. We will be back. We stayed in room 426 wonderful with seaview.