Aquila Rithymna Beach

Great hotel, everything was exactly as described. The food was delicious, the staff were friendly, and the atmosphere was amazing. The biggest positive surprise was the entertainment team, especially the Polish animators, Bartosz and Max. Thank you for the great fun. We highly recommend this hotel!

In early July we spent a lovely 10 days here. Half board suited us perfectly as we tended to eat very well at the extensive breakfast buffet and so did not need anything more to eat until dinner...whereupon we would again feast heartily at the buffet. Huge choice and high quality. A minor observation at both meals would be that the waiters were occasionally rather slow to take our drinks order (even after making allowances for it being high season and, therefore, relatively busy in the restaurant). The spa is absolutely first class. I'd particularly like to mention Kiki who gave me two excellent massages, the first when I was suffering from sunburn. She was most caring and skilful, using cooling oils where necessary to help my skin recover. And the second massage, when I was feeling much better, was very relaxing. As were the many dips I took in the spa's cool water pool. Overall, a serene and restful atmosphere. Top marks to Elena for running such an excellent service and for being so concerned to help me in my sunburned state! Back to the restaurant. I need to end with a serious point, which is about the insufficient precautions taken in relation to nut allergy sufferers. My wife and son were greatly restricted in their choices of dessert because of the high risk of cross-contamination from serving tongs that were all too clearly being used both for desserts containing nuts and nut-free dishes. They couldn't even have ice cream because the one serving spoon provided had equally clearly often been used to smear pistachio ice cream into the other ice cream flavours that were available. Might I suggest replacing the pistachio ice cream with a nut-free alternative? That said, we do love the hotel. It's also a great base for forays into Rethymno, which is only a 2 euro and 20-minute bus ride away and is well worth exploring. We very much hope to return.

Unfortunately, this hotel didn’t live up to our expectations of a 5-star resort. In reality, it felt more like a fairly average, below-par 4-star hotel. The hotel wasn’t terrible by any means, but there was very little about it that gave us the feeling of being somewhere genuinely 5-star. For the price and the rating, we expected a much higher standard overall. The rooms and corridors in the main building also felt a little dated and could probably do with some modernisation. Nothing was particularly bad, but again, they didn’t give us the impression of being in a 5-star hotel. The waiting staff, cleaning staff and reception staff were generally good and did their jobs well. The bar staff, however, didn’t always seem to have the same level of urgency, and they weren’t always particularly warm or engaging when speaking to guests. That said, they did seem to be rushed off their feet at times, so this may well have been more down to how busy they were rather than a lack of willingness to help. The pools themselves were actually okay, but we felt they could have been much better. They weren’t particularly child-friendly, and it would have been nice to have had more family-friendly pool areas, particularly ones with views of the sea. For a 5-star hotel, we expected the pool facilities to offer a little more. The snack bar was also incredibly underwhelming. The choice was very limited and the snacks on offer were extremely basic. Having stayed at other 4-star hotels where the snack bars have been genuinely impressive, with a great variety of food and plenty of choice, we were surprised at how little was available here. Again, it just didn’t feel like what you would expect from a 5-star hotel. One area that really did impress us, however, was the grounds. They were beautiful, extensive and clearly very well maintained. You can tell that a huge amount of work goes into keeping the gardens and surrounding areas looking so immaculate, and this was definitely one of the strongest aspects of the resort. Overall, there was nothing dramatically wrong with the hotel, but it simply didn’t feel like a 5-star experience. It was adequate, but when you’re paying for and expecting 5-star standards, “adequate” isn’t really good enough. We left feeling quite underwhelmed and wouldn’t be rushing back.

An ABSOLUTE BANGER My girlfriend and I booked a photoshoot with Ema, and it was hands down an incredible experience. This was actually my first time doing a photo shoot, but Emma put me at ease right from the second we met. She is genuinely adorable, not just in her conversation, but in her whole demeanor and gentle way of guiding us. Even without words, her body language and small gestures are so sweet, reassuring, and thoughtful. She has an incredible eye for detail and captures the most natural moments. The entire session was so much fun, and the final photos are breathtaking. If you’re looking for a warm, deeply talented, and lovely photographer, go with Ema. Thank you so much, Ema ! We couldn't be happier. We love you ❤️

Our great satisfaction with our holiday at the Aquila Rithymna Beach hotel in Crete was due to the cleanliness and regular cleaning of the rooms, the wide and varied selection of meals in the all inclusive program, the proximity of the beach, the swimming pool and the aquapark, the offer of trips, but above all the opportunity for our son Peta (8 years old) to visit the FUNTAZIE children's club, which is offered here by CK Fischer - DER TOUR. Under the guidance of the very skilled animators Oli and Dory, he and his peers enjoyed a lot of fun in the areas of sports, art, dance and other activities. He definitely did not get bored and for us parents it was also a way to treat ourselves to, for example, massages in the hotel Spa. We definitely recommend it to all families with children. Nebuchlovi.