Peninsula Resort & Spa

We would like to sincerely thank Peninsula Resort & Spa in Agia Pelagia, Crete, for making our stay truly unforgettable. From the very beginning, we were surprised with an upgrade from a standard room to a private pool room, which was absolutely amazing. The staff also decorated our room with balloons and towel art for my friend’s birthday – such a thoughtful and heartwarming gesture! We were also gifted two complimentary spa massages and four free cocktails at the beach bar, which made our experience even more special. The hospitality and professionalism of the entire team were outstanding, and the food was excellent – fresh, high quality, and full of flavor every single day. We are grateful to the whole staff for their kindness and efforts in making us feel so welcome. The resort offers breathtaking views, a great vibe, and everything you need for a relaxing yet fun holiday. We will definitely come back and we highly recommend Peninsula Resort & Spa to both young people and adults looking for an unforgettable experience in Crete.

good: - location of hotel is extremely beautiful (sea on 3 sides out of 4) - lobby bar (great paid cocktails) bad: - awful food, practically nothing to eat, all food is "old", overcooked (just black meat) and not yammy at all. The worst food from all the hotels I've been - dirty toitets everywhere - in order to visit all the beaches you have to walk and walk and walk, e.g. no elevator for Tsimento beach - no toilet on the beach (again you have to walk via stairs a lot in order to get to the toilet) - "stone" pillows impossible to sleep - you cannot visit one of the hotel beaches for fee, you have to buy smth at the bar - walls are made of very cheap materials, as result you hear literally everything

This hotel has some great elements and so much potential, but there is just a long list of niggles that spoilt pur overall holiday which is such a shame! Will start with the good points: 1) the views are stunning 2) the gardens and external areas are immaculately maintained 3) in/around hotel buildings and pool/pool areas very clean 4) Entertainment team great, not at all pushy, just friendly and fun 5) the cleaner who maintains the row of Bunglows incl. 717 is just an absolute dream. She spoke little English, but always helped and ways smiling 😍 6). If staying AI and have late check they will try and let ypu stay in your room or they have day rooms. There is no extra charge and have access to all facilities including restuarants Onto the niggles and frustrations: 1). Booked airport transfer via Hotel website, received email confirmation, but they weren't at airport on arrival. Called hotel, was told they didn't have a booking for us. Just told to get a cab, with no apology! 2). Booked a 2 bed room Bunaglow, confirmation stated this, emailed before arrival, they confirmed this, doubled checked when room key was given and assured it was 2 bedded Bunglow. On arrival to our allocated room, it was in fact a 2 bedded family room in main hotel building. Back up to reception to complain, receptionist tried to fob us off that it was a Bunglow but there was an issue which the descriptions being lost in translation!!!! As late at night and children with us decided to stay in the room for one night. Back up to reception to complain. No apology whatsoever, just told to go view and Bungalow and come back and confirm if we would like to move! We did because we wanted to be away from main hotel building but a few things to note if deciding between a 2 Bed Family Room or 2 Bed Bungalow. The family rooms are much bigger and more modern. The Bungalos smaller older and do not have terrace seating for 4 people! 3). No hot water, complained three times, nothing done about it. 4). Main restaurant has no outdoor seating, and very hot/humid, no air con. 5). If you arrive when restuarant opens the tables are set. Otherwise, you have to hunt for a table, then find someone to clean it/provide cutlery. Somedays it was so bad I had to clean our own table and get our own cuterly!!! 6). The live grill food had good variety but even that was sometimes cold as the queues were so long 7). Glasses by drinks station very dirty 8). AI food section very limited. Cheese/Ham Toasties or Pancakes only,everyday. No variety at all. 9). The main meal at the A La Carte restaurant (Meremeti) was cold after waiting over a hr for it. When we complained, they just took our sons meal back and put it in microwave. It was disgusting and adult meal was not edible. We cancelled deserts and left the restuarant. Children had to go to the buffet to get food! We made a complaint but still they made us paid for our 2 glasses of wine!!! 10). Parasia Restuarant not even open!! 11). You can't get AI drinks in the lobby bar so very frustrating if you are up there with children as no soft drinks available! 12). We witnessed a lday take a nasty fall in main restaurant. Not one waiter or waitress came to assist. It was only fellow holiday makers helped her. Took nearly 10mins for a member of senior staff to come and assist! We had a lovely holiday, but would I recommend this hotel. Unfortunately not, fair too many niggles, and no effort or interst in apologising or trying to make things better. Overall a big disappointment for a 4 star hotel with so much potential!

Of all the good things, I can only highlight one - the food, which was delicious. The beach is very small and crowded with sun loungers, which are not included in the hotel price, costing €5-12 per lounger for half a day. It is difficult to get into the water because it is full of rocks. The cleaning was terrible. When we checked in, the water in the shower wouldn't drain, there was black hair scattered around, and they cleaned up a little bit throughout the week, for about 5 minutes at a time, which means they cleaned very quickly and not very well. The room was good, with a sea view. We got a room where you could see the whole sea from the balcony. It was a corner room, so we had a good view of the sea. At the end, when we checked out, they demanded that we pay for some order. They gave us papers stating that we had ordered lattes to the room, but we hadn't. We had to argue and prove that we were right.

Very clean and comfortable hotel. Professional staff on all levels. Start on reception and end on misses from room service. The most important thing is amazing and breathtaking views. Of course food is delicious and every day kitchen serve something other.