Athina Palace Resort & Spa — Attraction in Municipality of Malevizi

Overall an OK experience, but in my opinion this resort is not a 5* hotel (even taking into consideration qualities/ratings may differ in different countries) as there were quite a few negative points…||The only positives that I can take away from our stay would be the friendliness/professionalism of the staff at reception, the housekeeping manager when we encountered issues with our room cleanliness (detailed below in negatives) and in the resteraunt areas - the manager at the main resteraunt buffet would often come over, smile, ask how were were and wish us a nice evening/meal which was nice. Food was good, quite a lot of options and desserts very nice.||Quite a lot of negatives however which I will list below:-|1. This resort has nice views but due to it being positioned on various levels on a cliff/mountain, moving around is not easy if you are looking to walk. The beach is at the bottom which is about a 10 min walk if you are positioned by reception at the top and walking back up to reception from the beach or if your accommodation is at the bottom by the beach is not an easy walk especially in the sun/heat - you feel like you are having to hike just to get from A to B.|2. The shuttle bus service - to make it easier moving around the resort there is a shuttle bus that has 4/5 different stops to take you around to reception/beach/spa bar area/different areas of accomadation but it is absolutely horrid! Very cramped, bars at the top of the open shuttle bus which you have to be careful not to hit your head on, and when driving around it was sometimes so bumpy that you would come off your seat and be thrown slightly left to right. Reception did not also mention that these shuttle buses run every 20 mins but only up until 18:00/19:00 (or whenever there aren’t as many people on beach) and you have to instead call down to reception for someone to pick you up in a golf buggy car which to be fair is a lot smoother but sometimes waiting up to 15/20 mins for it to show up as they also pick up other guests on the way.|3. MOLD!! I did not notice until our last day when we were waiting in the bar area for our transfer back to airport but there was a very large area of Mold on the right hand side of the bar on ceiling area, when relaxing on the sofa I was looking up and was horrified to spot this! Looks like there may have been a leak or something from the ceiling.|4. Room - Standard, even after upgrading to a room with lateral sea view (views only good thing about the room) it was small, mini fridge would only be stocked with two bottles of 500ml water each day which is rediculous considering this room was for two adults, and if you ask for bottles of water at shops/resteraunts they charge you €2 - you only get free water from dispensing machines with paper cups. Our room seemed to be getting quite a few mosquitoes coming up through the drainage system from the shower which was very annoying.|We noticed a coffee stain on one of our bed sheets which was there for 2 days, so this showed us that although the room was being “tidied up” sheets were either not being changed or washed properly, which was concerning. When we complained we had one of the housekeeping managers come who was actually very attentive, professional and friendly. She arranged for housekeeping to come back to correct this and the last housekeeping lady that came also gave us extra coffee and water for our room which was nice however we shouldn’t have to complain in order to get this !!?|5. During the day when main meals are not being served they offer “snacks” in the pool areas/bar areas/beach bar but they are not good at all! They offer small pizza slices/chips which look dry and stale as well as the cakes, although well covered they do not look good at all.|6. In my opinion the main meal times are not running for long enough considering the time it can take to get certain areas in the resort - they seem to only run for 2/2.5 hrs each time, breakfast is 7-9:30, lunch 12-2:30 and dinner 7-9:30. Considering they are also buffets you need to ensure you get there in good time to enjoy the wide range of foods as they start clearing away (leaving only the desserts) as soon as finish time comes. They will however let you stay and finish up until around 10 but food will be gone! Lunch for example could be run longer until maybe 3:30/4 and dinner should be given longer too. Breakfast I personally did not go to.|7. Entertainment was not up to standard and seems to be mostly in French so does not cater to all audiences, we did not notice much advertisement for events either and the booklets we were given seemed overloaded but still did not make it clear when/what/where things were happening. |8. Due to the way the resort is situated/positioned , the only type of room service available to you would be a shuttle bus or buggy to take you somewhere so if you were planning a chilled day in your room relaxing on balcony you would still have to venture out to get decent food/drink to walk back to your hotel or take back on the shuttle bus which is just not ideal at all.|9. Beach - ok but small. Clear waters, not much of a challenge to find a free sun lounger but some of the loungers further up from the beach had a nice view but were riddled with ants!! So you couldn’t really keep your food or drink next to you on the table otherwise it would be covered!||Sadly we expected more of an enjoyable experience and a better quality especially from a 5* start hotel - We will not be returning and would advise others to save their money and book...

We stayed here 25th August - 5th Sept 2024. We read with some concern some of the reviews , but had no reason to be worry at all as we had a fantastic stay.|The Rooms|There are a variety of rooms, we initially had a land view, but requested to change after a couple of nights because of noise. The room was off an open walkway where the noise echoed throughout, with people arriving with suitcases all night. The receptionist was great and 2 hours later had a wonderful room, quiet and with a view down to the bay. The rooms are kept spotlessly clean, there was a welcome bottle of wine, toiletries and towels changed daily. The safe is free too.|The Pools|We went to the quiet pool once, clean and easy to get drinks. The towels are collected from your rooms or the reception. There was no sun bed reserving, we went down at 9.30 to both beach and pool throughout our stay and lots of sun beds were available. The activity pool had music playing and lots going on, which was very popular. |The activity notices and the shows are predominantly in French.|I used the gym a couple of times, the machines were all working and there were plenty of weights. There are shops by both pools with lots of local items to buy. There is also a supermarket 5 minutes walk from the hotel.|Running was interesting. It's relatively flat for 400m out the main entrance. Then 1 mile down hill to Ligaria and 400m along the waterfront. Tough coming back. |We walked to Ligaria a couple of days too for something different. The beds and parasols are only Euro7. There are a bars and restaurants along the front as well as a supermarket. We ate at the Tavérna Anatolí which was fantastic.|The Beach|You can either walk or get the fun bus down to the beach, lots of beds on the beach and dotted around the beach bar, lots of umbrellas and tables. The bay is great for swimming and snorkelling, where we saw fish, crabs, sea urchins and I saw a lion fish too! Poseidon Adventures on the beach have canoes, kayaks, pedloes and boats to hire, there is also scuba diving. For 15 euros we took the kayak around the bay for an hour.|The beach bar offers hot/cold drinks, biscuits and cakes and snacks, there are toilets and showers also.|The food|Wow oh wow, so much on offer|Breastfast|Cooked breakfast, salads, breads, meats, fish, fresh fruits, yoghurts, juices, cereals, croissants, tea, coffee on tap. Even Champagne available a couple of times!|Lunch|Both the beach bar and activity pool bar had snack food at lunchtimes, but was quite limited. We went to the Activity pool a couple of times for lunch where they did Gyros and chips. It was surprisingly un-popular. I think most people went to the main restaurant.|Lunch and dinner - main buffet restaurant|Cretan foods, cooked meats, veg, pots and chips, pizza and garlic bread from the pizza oven, fresh pasta, soups, breads, amazing salads, and the most yummy desserts. It was a little repetitive, but with so much choice, there was always something different to try.|A La carted|You can book once a week here - we had the most amazing lamb dinner|The Greek Taverna|A medley of dishes brought out, so good to try traditional dishes. You can book once a week here too.|The staff|All so friendly, hard working, polite, funny, bi-lingual and many have other family members working there too. Maria looked after us in the morning with lots of coffee and Athina in the evening for dinner, they were our faves. All the staff make the hotel the success it is.||The main bar has a good spacious area with comfortable seating and a wraparound balcony. Lots of delicious cocktails and other alcoholic and soft drinks available. Tea/coffee, Raki and popcorn for the kids.||Trips|We took the bus from the hotel into Heraklion and walked around the Venetian harbour, shopped and had some beers, wished I’d gone to see the museums, not enough time though.|Spinalonga|We booked through viator and had a great boat trip out to the Island and Agio Nikolias.||We took euros with us and credit card, the hotel can break any notes into smaller change which we tipped the staff with.||We only heard a couple of English speaking families, people when we were there, but that wasn’t a problem as everyone was very friendly.|Please note, the hotel is situated on a cliff and there are slopes and lots of steps. Whilst there are golf carts and buses that will transport you around. You need to be fairly happy to walk up and down hills and steps. It's a good way to burn off the calories from the excess...

I'll be as honest as i can with this review ive given it a 3 but like to think of it as a 3plus. Ill start witht he pros then the cons, the things to be mindful of. review as family of 4 (2 adults & 2 kids ages 2 and 6)

pros our room was fantastic, situated in the middle of the resort near the active pool, it was clean and tidy, was cleaned and restocked with water everyday, had lovely sea views also. the aircon in the room was great and worked a treat given it was in excess of 34 all week. size of the room was good we really had no complaints.

views were tremendous and the sunset was really pretty definatley instagram worthy.

plenty of choice for food at breakfast, lunch and dinner to suit everyones taste, was cooked well and the waiters/waiteress worked tirelessly so make sure tables were cleaned and people had drinks restocked. Maria was fabulous with our kids.

small beach at bottom of the resort was fantasic and great for the kids, the beach bar was great and plenty of room to enjoy, again very instagram worthy. sunbeds always available.

the a la cart resteraunt was great its says under 4 are not allowed but they are and our kids loved it the service was great and the food was nice, and the views were fantastic.

cons

the main restraunt is a bit of a rat race and if you dont get there early, you will struggle to get a seat, quite often families were wandering around looking for seats.

the main active pool does not have enough sunbeds and again if your not up and out early there is no chance of you getting any beds, im not sure about the quiet pool as we didnt attend due to the kids.

the greek taverna was probably the worst meal ive had in a long time food wise, the food was not great and the service was slow and we felt like we had just been left out at the back, michelais however was a shining light of it and was fantastic with our kids. And the views again were fantastic.

snack bar selection of food at pool and beach is the same and is not great it doesnt change at all, very basic and bland. but you can order other things that are extra.

says there is a gym now i know not everone likes to train while on holiday, well, your on holiday but if your like me and do then dont bother half the machines are broke and theres only about 4, a few dumbells and 4 cardio equipent again of which only half worked, theres a reason why theres not photos.

Be mindful not really bad or good just things i wish we knew !

we regularly read reviews before we book holidays and i wish id read more indepth, we are from wales and this is a french hotel, everything is in french from the activity schedule board to the mini dicos, the holidaygoers are all french, we came across 2 families speaking english all holiday. now for us i dont really mind if there are all french speaking families there but if you want your kids to join in and have fun in the activity schedlue or if you like to join in the fun then you'll struggle to say the least, all announcemts in french and you will initally be greeted in french (staff worked out by day 2 we were a english speaking family and can speak english so if you have any issues you can still communicate in english).

this resort is a bit secluded we like to get out and walk which we did but there is nothing other than a mini mart about 500m away from hotel enterance, if you wish to have a day out then its 10euro each way on a bus about 45mins with traffic into heralkion centre, bus runs as set times shown on poster in reception. or we paid 15 each way taxi about 10/15mins to agia pelagia wich is the nearest what id call a village with beach, few restraunts and bars but not loads.

we knew this already but to confirm like other reviews this resort is hilly lots of steps and if your not a fit person you may find it a struggle if your room is further from the main resteraunt than we were. (there is a shuttle but that runs back and forth the beach and reception daily takes minutes as its only about 500m away).

This in my opinion is only just a...