Castello Boutique Resort & Spa

If I could give more than five stars, I genuinely would. From the moment we arrived at Castello Boutique Resort & Spa, we felt something that is becoming increasingly rare on holiday – complete relaxation. Within minutes, the stresses of everyday life had disappeared, replaced by an overwhelming feeling that we were exactly where we needed to be. The hotel doesn’t just provide accommodation; it creates an atmosphere where you can truly switch off and simply enjoy every moment. The entire team deserves enormous credit. Every single member of staff greeted us with genuine warmth, smiles and enthusiasm throughout our stay. Nothing ever felt like too much trouble, and every interaction felt sincere rather than rehearsed. Two people, however, deserve a special mention. Epthimios was simply outstanding. His knowledge of wine was exceptional, and every evening he guided us towards the perfect bottle to accompany our meal. His recommendations never missed the mark and genuinely elevated each dining experience. Beyond that, he was incredibly friendly, engaging and somehow always seemed to know exactly how to make every guest feel special. As fellow football fans, our nightly conversations became something we genuinely looked forward to! Jennifer was equally wonderful. Friendly, knowledgeable, professional and always happy to help with anything we needed, she represents everything great about Greek hospitality. One moment perfectly summed up the attitude of the staff. I asked whether they could make an iced coffee, barista style. They admitted they hadn’t made one before, but rather than simply saying no, they embraced the challenge with smiles and enthusiasm. The result was fantastic, and it perfectly demonstrated the team’s willingness to go above and beyond to make guests happy. It’s that attitude that separates good hotels from exceptional ones. The housekeeping team also deserve huge praise. Our room was immaculate every single day, maintained to an exceptionally high standard, allowing us to return each afternoon to a space that felt fresh, comfortable and inviting. The food throughout our stay was absolutely exceptional. The evening à la carte menu was nothing short of outstanding. Every dish arrived looking like a piece of art, beautifully presented and bursting with flavour. Each evening became an experience rather than simply dinner, and it was consistently one of the highlights of our day. Breakfast catered for absolutely everyone. Whether you wanted fresh fruit and cereals, continental options, a full English breakfast or freshly prepared dishes from the à la carte menu, everything was plentiful, fresh and of excellent quality. It was the perfect start to every day. The hotel itself is beautifully maintained, peaceful and stylish without ever feeling pretentious. It strikes the perfect balance between luxury and comfort, allowing you to completely unwind. We also fell in love with Sissi. What a beautiful village. It offers everything you could want from a Cretan escape – charming harbour views, welcoming tavernas, friendly locals, peaceful walks and a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere that encourages you to slow down and appreciate life. It still feels authentic, and that’s something incredibly special. We arrived hoping for a lovely holiday. We left with memories we’ll treasure for many years. To everyone at Castello Boutique Resort & Spa, thank you for your kindness, professionalism, humour and genuine hospitality. You made us feel less like guests and more like friends. We cannot recommend this hotel highly enough and will be talking about it for a very long time. Until next time… ευχαριστώ πολύ. ★★★★★

This is really lovely hotel but again 4 star not 5 The staff are all excelleant, especialy the reception staff and the bar staff, they could not be anymore pleasant and helpful if they tried, always smiling chatting asking how your holiday was going. The bar staff would daily bring little treats around the pool, nice touch Our room was beautiful overlooking the pool and the church and there was nothing to complain about, the cleaner came in each day, and we had fresh towels as needed, lovely cake and free local greek drink left for us each day The food was nice but the restaurant a little under managed, no spoons with tea and coffee, no clear direction on arrival and the soup always cold. The menu is varied and very nice but the salad bars and starters all very much the same night after night. We ate out locally every lunchtime as we were half board but also ate twice in the week in the local greek restaurant. We attended a Greek night at Amelias, it was fantastic The sunbeds were very worn in places, ripped cushions and the parasols were not very secure. There was room for more sunbeds and i dont see why they cant have enough sunbeds for all guests seeing its such a small hotel

We chose this hotel as I'd rather 48 rooms (like this hotel) than 480 rooms and you do trade facilities for that choice (there was a small gym and a spa). Good size room with a fridge (no drawers but plenty of hanging room) . Plenty of hot water, towels decent and tea/coffee/ kettle in the room. The 'mountain view' from the balcony wasn't wrong but we actually overlooked waste ground with the mountains in the distance. Our room was really clean; but my usual comment applies of when they say they are a green hotel so hang towels up if you don't need them changed ,as usual.... they were changed every day! Pool towels provided, pool area nice but sun beds could use a varnish and some parasols were really hard to put up. Music in the background but not thumping thank goodness. Food. This is where we come unstuck...the hot food was tepid at best...every night whatever we had. The dining staff are lovely but on our first day we walked in and they just look at you so we had to approach and say "do we sit anywhere?" , what's the drill sort of thing. The evening has a buffet style set up but you are handed a small menu card also which we figured by the third night they expect you to order from but no direction was given or explained. This food was then brought to you so if you chose from the buffet first, you would then sometimes get the menu card afterwards? Bit confusing so some guidance on your first visit would be useful. Overall, the staff were all lovely, everywhere was clean, drinks from the bar weren't overpriced and there was some evening entertainment but we didn't partake. In my opinion, this is really a 4 star hotel, not 5. They certainly fall down a bit on attention to detail. A prime example is we arrived about 10pm so had missed our evening meal. Nothing was mentioned about food but I had a few bits as had anticipated our late arrival. On putting some water in the fridge the next day, we found two wraps, water, fruit and juice..obviously meant as our out of hours meal but no one mentioned this! A few tweaks would make all the difference but we did enjoy our stay.

This is more a 4-Star hotel. Rooms are well equipped but the whole environment does not breath the extra star they claim. The first days all sun bed’s already claimed in the morning, while in the welcome letter it’s requested not to do. Walking through the hotel to our room in the back, the smell of the sewer was not very nice, and was there every day, so structural problem. The staff is very friendly and makes sure you can relax.

We have just returned from a week in this hotel and felt we needed to share our experience so future travellers know what to expect. The reason this hotel is classed as 5* is because it is rated on the number of rooms to the facilities it provides so as less than 50 rooms & offering a spa & gym it gains a higher star rating however there are areas that do not reach its 5* status. The good points- hotel very clean, polite staff, room nicely decorated & great air con. Nice chilled vibe and music around the pool. Not so good - on several occasions we had no hot water for a shower. We went to reception to raise this & was told someone would look at this. The next evening it was better but then went back to luke warm. We saw a manager who listened and said it would be fixed. In all fairness he sent a nice note,a bottle of wine and offered us a spa treatment. All very nice but we needed a hot shower We also tried to raise this with Jet2 via WhatsApp only to be asked 100 questions by Jetbot! Needless to say I didn't waste my holiday time on this. We saw the Jet2 rep who visited the hotel 5 days after we arrived, she took notes, said she would raise our issues and call us the next day to check if it was fixed. No call ..... Again 1 day of hot water and that was it. You will also see another review regarding lack of hot water so this is not a room issue. I decided not to feedback any more as we only had 2 days holiday left but the manager knew our room number or could have found us around the pool to check if things had been resolved. Our bathroom had a small badly fitted corner shower with a broken soap dispenser but instead of fixing it or replacing it another one was added to a different wall - definitely not 5* quality. At breakfast alot of pleasant staff faff around with no real manager to guide them. I totally agree with other reviews regarding tinned fruit at breakfast, lack of choice and hunt the teaspoons as they are hidden away every day! Ham & cheeses were not in a cool covered area and flies were on them. We never ate in hotel except for bfast but looking at the quality of bfast compared to the brilliant restaurants in Sissi I dont think we missed out. Some of the furniture and fittings were worn and not maintained. The last morning of our holiday a new bfast menu appeared so they are trying to make improvements but I think they may be lining up for more complaints as instead of keeping it simple with fried,poached & omelette they offered eggs benedict which my husband took a gamble on. 1 thin slice of white bread, 2 eggs and a cheese sauce arrived. The mushrooms at breakfast are not fresh but frozen and watery with no taste and scrambled eggs are powdered. As the average age is 50+ at this hotel it would be lovely to turn it around & guests to return but I heard others complaining too. Please see pictures of shower, chairs in restaurant and tables around pool. Sissi is a lovely town with wonderful restaurants and amazing food so it would be great if the hotel could step up and provide what it advertises - a 5* holiday. Too be fair this hotel could be a little gem with some investment and good management.