Amirandes, A Grecotel Resort to Live — Attraction in Municipality of Chersonissos

We had a faboulous experience in the hotel. Staff, food, drinks, beack all were great. Definitely recommend and we will be happy to come back in the future. Below is a detailed overview for each area as we are always appreciating those kinds of details when looking at reviews for hotels ourselves||Food: they don't have a particularly big buffet but everything in there was tasty and we almost always could find some really delicious dishes. In general, the breakfast and lunch where what you might expect with dinner having much more interesting dishes such as grilled fish. One downside of the buffet was if you're unlucky to be sitting next to smokers which is pretty common in Greece's hotels though. ||Desserts: this part was fantastic. Every time there were a few finger licking options. A few of such particularly good were paris brest, berry's cheesecake. ||Drinks: iced lattes for breakfast, house wine for evenings, and soft drinks from glass bottles were great!||Cocktails: they had a reasonable selection of cocktails all made with authentic alcohol and we found a few which worked for us really well. Main bar has very attentive and welcoming staff serving you some nuts with cocktains, which is a nice touch (thanks Nadia among others for handling our orders) You can also get drinks from a beach cocktain where there was one particular bartender putting quite an effort to make nicely mixed cocktails (unfortunatelly, didn't catch his name). They were one of the best cocktails we had in a hotel.||Beach: hotel has its own sandy private beach with plenty of seadbeds all nicely prepared with towels to you. We could always find one when we come to a beach, thanks for hotel's encouragement of fair usage of them. Beach itself was sandy with a nice sandy cost which really nice for swimming (about 1.2m pretty quickly and then you need to go like 30m to get to a deeper water).||Rooms: we've got garder view rooms which were what you might expect. Rooms were also nicely cleaned every day with fresh sheets/towels. There were a few downsides to give a full picture but they were mostly insignificant for us:|1) rooms were pretty dark, where we had a single lightbulb for sizable room; |2) pretty poor wifi connection (both in rooms and across the hotel). Although, when we brought up the issue, hotel staff put a separate router which resolved the issue. |3) mini-bar was a pretty sad sight. It only had some still water despite us having free access to a wide variety of drinks at the bar or buffet||Activities: they had sufficient indoors/outdoors gyms with free weights. We enjoyed different sap and gym's fitness excercises a lot (separate shout outs to George and Nikki for being great). There were also volleyball and tennis sessions we enjoyed. ||Kids: we usually visit adults only hotels so we weren't sure how general hotels would make a difference. Surprisingly, this was not affecting our stay in any way. That's probably thanks to kids having separate pool, activity program and even in resourants they ended up sitting mostly a bit separately where was more space for bigger tables.||Vibe: hotel has a very uplifted vibe. Decorative pools in front of main bar and inside bugget were catching our breath every time we saw them. Hotel's also seemingly new and has nice stone finish throuout. ||Pool: we didn't visit it much but overall it seems pretty nice and big with salty water. There was also a pool bar although unfortunately you couldn't get any kind of snack include in comfort package over there (or in a beach bar). Otherwise, we could have skipped some lunch to get food on a beach instead.||Mobile App: it's not the smoothest experience but it got the job done with different kinds of reservations. It also had a way to contact reception via whatsapp which was particularly handy||A la carte: with 7 days stay you get 2 complimentary a la cart dinners. And there are only 4 tables on the deck in the middle of the pool, so you got to book them well in advance. The went to Minotaur, which wasn't the best (duck was a bit hard, salad with cheese was fine and dessers wasn't particularly to our liking). Another one was lago di cantia, where we had ok-ish prawn salad, great suft and turf burger and delicious strawberry dessert. Staff was very welcoming although one waiter in particular was fantastic with real passion when presenting food (Alexandrus? I didn't quite catch the name)||Service: last but not least, the service was great. You can see staff being very helpful and welcoming from reception to restourant to pool bar. For example, when we lost e-book the first staff member we approach immediately got on a radio and in 10s we knew it was already delivered ||Suggestions:|1. Fix wifi. If you can make sure across the hotel you have a good strong connection, this will remove this kind of problem entirely. It doesn't sound like something expensive to address but it would entire remove one of few downsides we had|2. It would be fantastic if you could try to seggregate a bit smoking vs non-smoking tables in the restourant. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, simply askings guests if they plan to smoke when asking for a table and then trying to sit those in different parts of the restourant will make a huge difference.||Just to reiterate, above are small downsided but overall we had a fantastic vacation and will...

As soon as you cross the threshold of this hotel, you will immediately feel the level of service of high service. Gorgeous huge territory, this hotel has everything you need for a vacation! Spa, children’s discos, playground, outdoor cartoons and movies as well. A lot of different restaurants on Lacarte, live music in the evenings, DJ on Sundays! Whatever your soul desires. Stylish hotel, beautiful rooms (but it’s time to refresh them already) The rooms are cleaned every day, towels are changed every day and this is a huge plus!!! Breakfast and dinner are pretty good! Especially desserts for dinner are very tasty! Not too sweet - all in moderation and there are enough of them, there is plenty to choose from. But there’s a huge drawback and it’s a beach area! To be honest, this is the first time I’ve encountered such a situation. I believe that the hotel administration is obliged to notify on its official website about such nuances. And so, the first is a beautiful first line, a clean beautiful sea, But! There are a lot of huge cobbeles in the sea! During my time, a lot of people suffered because of them, there was a storm and no stones were visible. The second is an incomprehensible story with sun loungers. The hotel is huge - but there are not enough sunbeds for everyone. It’s a live queue, whoever takes it first is lucky. The sunbeds are divided into three positions, Some are located on the lawn by the sea, the second on the sand by the sea near the bar, the third are the most interesting..))) are also located on the sand by the sea, but nothing is clear with them. The administrators say that these sunbeds are for everyone! On the beach, the waiters say no - it’s only for villas! You need to make a reservation I’m going to the reception again and asking for a reservation, which I’m told again, it’s for everyone I take a place with my child on these sunbeds, a bartender runs to me and screams, no!!!, you can’t lie here!!! It’s only for villas!! I show correspondence with the administration, where they write that these sunbeds are for everyone, but if there are rooms on the tables, then they have been booked and you can lie on an empty sunbed. But!!! The most interesting thing is that everyone who wants to comes to this beach! That is, as it seemed to me, it’s a closed territory, but no. There is open access to the beach, where people enter the hotel’s beach and enjoy these sun loungers. It’s a shock to me!! When I left a complaint and not only me, your bartender replied - if people paid, they have the right to use it! There is a security guard on the beach (a man of 65 years old already) who monitors your things. This guard went to the beach a couple of times and no one was watching my things except me! Moreover, people not from the hotel went further and used the hotel’s restroom, walked around the territory! Is that normal? I don’t feel safe in your hotel. Where is justice, I come to the beach with my child and want to lie on a sun lounger - I’m kicked out for my paid money, they say look for a chaise longue somewhere there... And an outsider who does not live in a hotel has the right to pay and lie wherever he wants. For the amount I paid, I want to rest, not strain. On the weekend, a lot of strangers came to the beach of the hotel, lie right in front of you, smoke, do what they want! And no one from the hotel can do anything - because there is such a law, the beach is not the property of the hotel. What are you doing!? I am a frequent guest of Greece, all the hotels I have lived in, I have never heard of such a thing! Closed territory, no one has the right from outsiders to enter the territory. Especially to use sun loungers even for a fee! Sunbeds are made first of all for vacationers!!! You are obliged to notify all future vacationers on your website that you have such hotel rules on the beach. Because knowing about it, I wouldn’t come here. You also have a terrible Internet connection. Judging by the comments, you don’t do anything to resolve the issue. But in general, the...

Review: Amirandes Exclusive Resort, Crete – Quality vs. Expectations

We recently returned from a week-long vacation at the luxury hotel Amirandes Exclusive Resort* in the resort town of Kato Gouves on Crete, operated by the Grecotel chain. We booked our stay through the Slovak travel agency Hydrotour for the last week of August this year (2024). While the hotel initially appears to be an oasis of luxury (as advertised online), our experiences left us with mixed feelings.

First impression: Luxury with top-notch care

The arrival at the hotel was an excellent experience. From the moment we entered, we were greeted with professional and personalized care by the staff. During the hotel presentation by a member of the concierge team, we enjoyed refreshing drinks like sparkling wine, water, or iced tea. This pleasant introduction gave us the feeling of stepping into a true oasis of luxury and care. In our rooms, we were greeted with sparkling wine and a small sweet treat, and our luggage was delivered correctly to our rooms.

Entertainment and leisure activities: Missed potential

The kids' corner is very well-equipped, which is great for families with small children. However, the amphitheater only offers discos for the youngest children, which is a weak substitute for a broader evening program. Entertainment for older children and teenagers is practically non-existent. The hotel's "evening program" is limited to live music until 10:15 PM, after which there is silence. The open-air cinema by the beach is interesting but only operates every other day, which doesn't compensate for the overall lack of entertainment. For sports, you can play tennis, padel, soccer, or basketball. The tennis coach and his team are from Slovakia. The tennis courts could use a bit more attention. The fitness center is available both indoors and outdoors and is equipped adequately. The SPA is elegant, and the treatments, as well as the staff, are very good.

Beach and sunbeds: An unpleasant surprise

The biggest disappointment was the number of sunbeds on the beach. This is something you would not expect in a hotel of this category. On the hotel’s most beautiful beach, there are four rows of sunbeds, with the first two rows reserved for the villas, which are the most expensive accommodations. This system creates an uncomfortable sense of guest hierarchy. The remaining two rows are often overcrowded, making it nearly impossible to find a free sunbed. If you leave your sunbed for more than 30 minutes, the staff will remove your towel, which feels like a punishment for trying to enjoy your vacation. The beach in the central part of the hotel and the area near the "Water Sports" zone do not feel exclusive at all, and you lose the sense of luxury. This makes you start to wonder what you paid so much for.

Conclusion: Price doesn't match the value

The price of approximately 15,000 EUR for 8 days for four people (2 adults and 2 children) in this hotel did not meet our expectations. While the architecture, environment, and initial welcome were excellent, the overall experience reminded us that it's important to be careful when choosing a hotel. If you are looking for a truly luxurious stay where you are taken care of at every step and don't have to constantly monitor what is and isn't included in your package, we recommend considering other options. Despite its five stars, this hotel fell short in several aspects, making it essential to thoroughly verify what the accommodation truly offers to ensure you get the value you expect...