King Minos Retreat Resort & Spa

Great location ,beach just across the road ,Best rooms ive stayed in with your own garden and hottube .or you can have a small private pool ,very clean beautiful decorated hotel with fantastic friendly staff.Nice sunbeds large and comfy (no sunbed war too 😀. ) Great food and lots of choice . Good value for money if you go the right time of year still nice and hot in October.

This hotel is actually in Hersonissos just down from Koutouloufari & if you're a fit person you can walk up cardiac hill to visit KTLF (which is lovely) or get a taxi costing 10euros. In June 2026 I will be making my 33rd visit to King Minos Retreat Resort & Spa so you will guess I love it there. Because of my long association I do admit I get spoilt but so are other guests to the hotel, some of whom are returnees like me. It's a very relaxed place, so comfortable, food is good & all the staff are fab. If you have young children there is a "Little Ones" play area now but older children may get bored unless they are happy to spend all day in the pool. I'm getting on a bit now & sometimes find steps difficult but there are lifts on every level & it's not a high rise hotel which I would hate. Entertainment is very chilled so if you are after racous evenings this isn't the place for you. Hope this helps. I consider this hotel my happy place!!

So this was an overdue solo trip after a pretty eventful year and a treat for myself in what i imagined to be a 5* luxurious hotel with all the extras. I was expecting to be treated like a Queen and certain standard of care. This was not the hotel for this, however, i will keep it fair and comment on the good and needs improvement areas. Starting with good.....Drinks selections, interior decor and layout, Joanna (Esp) and reception staff, restaurant staff (especially filipino gentlemen), Manos in the Day bar, cleaning ladies, Spa treatments were amazing and indoor pool (although small was lovely). Needs Improvement......If you are liked by staff then you are greeted warmly everyday ( i didnt receive this in the pool area and questioned if this was due to the colour of my skin. (it was dealt with but wasnt a nice feeling. I was later told that this is sometimes due to solo female travellers being a 'problem' in the past (how offensive). I assured the staff manager that as a widow i wasnt going to be a 'problem'. Needless to say i was then treated with respect and seen. My room wasn't anything like the picture on Expedia and was small - fine for me but you couldn't swing a cat in it. Also no bath, just a shower. All lovely but not what i had expected. Also no free room service (charged) and they only fill your fridge once on arrival! Not what you'd expect from a 5*, No pillow service and i had a small balcony. Felt like i got the booby prize being a solo traveller - there were plenty of rooms free next to me but no free upgrade based on my above complaints of treatment. Bar menu (charged) only thing available was a roll or yogurt, food was limited and i was told in the summer there is more options. Same deserts every night pretty much. However the food i did eat was nice but samey, no stations etc. Pool is freezing and i didn't go in once in 7 days - not warm at all - i spent all my time in the indoor pool or just sunbathed. Evening entertainment is dire - one night a guy on a keyboard and all over by 10pm. If you want luxury and i certainly paid the price for it then book the Belvedere Resort or Stella Island as this is 3* maybe a 4* at a push. I was massively disappointed in my experience but i can tell that most people go for the swim up or jacuzzi rooms when opting for this hotel. The best part of my holiday was the excursions i booked myself to Elafonissi and a Yacht experience from Heraklion.

Beautiful hotel , very clean and great location. It has a very luxurious feel to it. Staff are super attentive, polite and very well presented . A huge shout out to the lady in customer relations who helped solve an issue swiftly and professionally. Also to Dionysius, staff at the pool bar , who made us feel so welcomed immediately and every night we came. It was like meeting an old friend, such a valuable member of staff. We had some treatments in the spa which were delightful, my husband used the gym daily, even though on a bit on the small side. Highly recommend this restaurant , and a couple of mins walk the Avra restaurant is fabulous .

We just returned from our stay after our little mini moon. We’re a couple in our 20’s and we both agreed having stayed 5 star before this really is a high 4 at a push. The hotel aesthetic is beautiful, plenty of sun beds, towel service etc. There is a beach, supermarket about 20 min walk but there’s isn’t much else round if you don’t want a good walk or a taxi. The hotel has 2 restaurants the main buffet one that is nice food but will do a lot of the same thing. No themes just the same but different eg tomato pasta one night, crème pasta the next. We went off peak and every night you have to join a line for food the food area is quite small. The other is a al a carte restaurant that they said changed theme and you could book but was seemingly never open. I don’t know how they cope when busy. Here’s why we don’t agree it’s a 5 star- 1. This might be because it’s end of the season but the staff arent tentative or friendly really. You don’t get a good morning and the only time we ever received friendly nice service was our last day by George in the pool bar. Nobody asks you if you want a drink but if you go to the bar and order one you’re basically told to go sit down and they’ll bring it. Restaurant staff will just look at you but unless you wave them over you can’t get a drink really. Other 5 stars we’ve stayed in you always get acknowledged at the very least. One morning nobody came for a coffee order I physically had to go ask to which the lady just looked at me up and down and said “ok”. 2. Mini bar is full on arrival 6 soft drinks, 2 beers and 2 proseccos. This is your entire trip it isn’t restocked. 3. We got delayed so missed dinner when checking in. Reception explained this and said not to worry we will bring you room service. Us not really having anything much to eat on the flight and breakfast at the airport we’re starving at this point. Room service was 1 cheese and ham sandwich, 1 salad wrap and a banana. Safe to say we had grumbly tummy’s. 4. Entertainment isnt any shows etc. it’s different people playing musical instruments. Friday night there’s nothing at all because there’s a sax player by the pool in the afternoon. Overall it served a purpose for a quick 4 day break but would be more upset and have to eat out if we’d been there a week or longer.