Nema Design Hotel & Spa

My experience at Nema was amazing, from the warm welcome with treats to the nice ambience, delicious breakfast with amazing views. The staff were very welcoming and my birthday happened to fall on one of the days during my stay and the staff remembered that and put a nice package in my room which I found very thoughtful. I could literally write a book if I could about the hotel😊. I enjoyed my stay and I would definitely visit again

This year my friend and I choose NEMA Design Hotel & Spa for our annual girls holiday and we were not disappointed. We had room 2205 an essence retreat room with a sea view. On arrival (late) at nearly 1am we were taken to the room and found it had been made as double and not a twin. This was rectified the next day but the beds had no room between them as the actual rooms are quite small. However, we were happy with the room as didn't plan on spending too much time in it and the terrace was massive! The room had very poor lighting, no physical chair and no full length mirror which made it difficult to get ready each day. The spa was great, lots of treatments available and great happy staff. We had a facial, massage and use the the sauna and cold waterfall showers. The restaurant (buffet) for both breakfast and dinner had a vast selection of food and was themed each night. I'm a fussy eater and found something every day. The restaurant staff again were attentive and did a great job. The a/c didn't seem to work inside as the restaurant was open to the reception and the balcony/terrace. The balcony isn't large and can only accommodate tables of 2-4 due to the width. If you are a larger group it's best to request a table be setup for you. The serving times are only a couple of hours and they do close up on time (which is to be expected). We also tried the food from Rizes by the sea, lunch and drinks by the pool too. Everything was delicious. Note that you cannot order on the phone app only see the menu. The same applies at the beach, if any staff actually go down there. The beach is lovely, but understaffed. The app doesn't work down here and you are meant to be able to order food and drinks but can't if no staff. The beach area also isn't exclusive to the hotel, locals and others can use it for a fee, meaning that children can also use a beach owned by an adults only hotel. I only saw one family get charged. The beach area should be exclusive hotel use only. The pool area was very stylish, low key music, great vibes. The beds very comfortable but would have been better with white or cream towels to reflect the sun. The grey beds and towels got very hot. The entertainment in Rizes was very hit and miss, much better evening entertainment further down the road. That said I'm happy there wasn't an entertainments team as that was not the vibe we wanted. Our terrace was amazing but far to hot to use during the day time. To use the firepit, it needs to be turned on by reception and even then took a few goes to light it. This place as an excellent relaxing vibe as it's adults only, the spa, pool, restaurant, bars and staff were all fantastic. One lady with a large family was complaining alot on our last day, her attitude was awful to the staff, but they handled the situation well. We didn't book any trips as they were a bit expensive but instead took the little train from outside the hotel into Hersonissos. We used the courtesy room to shower on our last day and this was a lovely gesture after being in the sun all day. Thank you for making our annual break the best so far, we hope to return soon.

My husband and I stayed at NEMA Design Hotel & Spa in June, and we’re so pleased we upgraded to the Essence Retreat Suite. The room itself was on the small side, but the exceptional balcony more than made up for it. It featured a fire pit and a stunning sunbathing area, and we loved relaxing there each evening with a glass of wine after dinner. The breakfast was very good, with plenty of choice, and the staff were friendly, welcoming, and always happy to help. We also treated ourselves to a massage in the spa, which was excellent and one of the highlights of our stay. The pool area was lovely, with very comfortable sun loungers, and the beach was literally just a few steps away. There are several great bars and restaurants within walking distance, and it’s only around a 20-minute taxi ride to both Hersonissos and Stalis if you fancy exploring. The sun sets opposite the hotel are out of this world!! Overall, we had a wonderful stay and would happily return. However, I do think we would have been disappointed if we’d booked one of the standard rooms, as they felt quite compact. If your budget allows, I’d definitely recommend upgrading to one of the suites for the extra space and outdoor area

I am highly surprised by the hotel's high rating, which, by the way, guided my choice in the first place. This place turned out to be a major disappointment. First of all, there is construction work going on within the hotel grounds – a big construction site – which, as you can imagine, completely ruins a chance of a peaceful vacation. The construction itself wouldn't even be that big of an issue if it weren't for the fact that despite being inside the resort, the workers show up as early as past 7 AM. Not only do they bang and drill, but during breaks from the noise, they shout to each other and joke around at full volume. They have absolutely no consideration for the kind of environment they are working in! On top of that, they should be starting much later – at 10 or even 11 AM. Sure, you can eventually go to the beach to escape the noise, but then I don't really see the point of paying for a room with a private pool. When it comes to "Adults Only" hotels, the primary motivation for choosing such a place is PEACE and QUIET, so I have no idea how the management failed to take this into account. And yes, after four days of this "bliss," we were offered another room, but it was so tiny that after unpacking our suitcases, we wouldn't even have a place to put them (it’s worth noting that most rooms here are really small – apart from a large, comfortable bed, there’s basically no room to move around; we came for a 10-day stay and had quite a bit of luggage; also there is no make-up desk nor a full-lenght mirror! only horizontal mirrors where one can see only middle part of its outfit). When my Partner asked about a room of the same size that had just become available, the response was a flat "no, because of blah, blah, blah...". Another issue is the breakfast hours. It is served until 10:30 AM, but it must be emphasized that Crete is in a different time zone than most of Europe (and Europeans clearly make up the majority of the guests). We flew in from the UK, so for us, it felt like breakfast was only until 8:30 AM! And again, who wants to wake up to an alarm clock for breakfast while on vacation??? As a result, almost everyone shows up at the last minute, creating a massive rush, overcrowding, and a shortage of tables on the terrace. What a surprise that people on a child-free vacation finally want to sleep in and then enjoy their breakfast on the terrace in the sun – which is generally the main reason they flew to Greece in the first place! Here lies another design flaw: the number of indoor tables is significantly higher than on the terrace. I have no idea why, because people don’t fly to Grece to sit cooped up inside a building. There are massive, sliding glass windows that could easily create a semi-outdoor space, but somehow they were never opened... Then there’s the issue with tables for four. Most visitors are couples, yet they get seated at four-person tables. Consequently, when you actually show up as a group of four, there is nowhere to sit, even though there are plenty of empty two-person tables around! And once again, their bright idea is to seat you inside 🤦🏻‍♀️. When you ask them to just push the free two-person tables together, the answer is "no" because of "hotel policy" 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️. This requires yet another conversation with the manager. And yes, the manager made an exception and so on and so forth, but I think the Reader already understands how tedious all of this is... You don’t pay 50 grand (Polish Zloty - £10k) to spend your time constantly negotiating with another manager. You pay that kind of money precisely so you don’t have to discuss anything with anyone or fix problems, because you are FINALLY not at work and you just want some peace of mind! There are other shortcomings as well, but I don’t even feel like writing about them anymore, and you probably don’t feel like reading them... On the positive side, the hotel definitely has: (1) The staff – very polite and seemingly genuinely concerned about all these inconveniences. (2) The food is also good, and above all, there is a large variety. (3) Also, there were absolutely no tiger mosquitoes, which we had been heavily warned about. (4) The location, in terms of easy access to shops, restaurants, and other attractions where you can buy lunch for reasonable money. It also feels very safe. However, regarding another aspect of the location, there are airplanes flying overhead every few minutes. NEMA is a 25-minute taxi ride from the airport, but the flight path covers the entire coastal strip – which some brilliant engineer must have designed. The hotel has no control over this, but it’s simply another element that ruins the "peace and quiet" PR built around this Adults Only resort. So yes, someone else's screaming brats won't ruin your vacation here, but plenty of other factors certainly will. 😉👍🏼 As a nearby alternative, we highly recommend Ikos on Crete or Corfu – it’s a tad more expensive, but you will get some real rest. [My actual rating is a 2.5 out of 5 (half), but since TripAdvisor doesn't allow half-bubbles, I have to settle for a 2].

Wonderful experience. Everything was 10/10. The people, service, food, cleaning. Peacefull area which I needed. For your rest, you’re at the right address.