Domes Noruz Chania, Autograph Collection — Hotel in Municipality of Chania

I recently returned from a very enjoyable 6 night stay in Domes Noruz and I will start by saying I would recommend it. In fact it was my second time visiting. I was first there in 2017 with a friend. This time with my husband.

We stayed in a ground floor sea view suite with plunge pool overlooking the main pool by Raw bar. It had a lovely outside space with comfortable lounging furniture and an electronic shutter that you could close for privacy or open for a view.

The resort is a boutique adult only hotel and the crowd ranged in ages mainly made up of couples and some small groups of friends.

Both pools were peaceful and super relaxing during our stay. The loungers were very comfortable and plenty of towels available. We spent most of our time lounging on the beach or at the main pool beside Raw bar. Our suite overlooked this pool with a nice view. The bed was super king and very comfortable.

We had breakfast each morning in Topas (hotel restaurant) which was buffet style and offered pretty much everything one would want. We had lunch here a couple of times also and dinner on our last night. Both were pleasant if a little over priced. I would love to see more Greek wine choice especially by the glass. It would also be great to see staff in Topas offering Greek still and sparkling water as an option and not assume that one automatically wants over priced Italian water. Filtered water would be even better and we dined in several fine dining restaurants in Chania during our stay that offered filtered water.

Things that could be improved -

The spa pool area looked lovely but we never used it even when we had a few rainy days. This was due to the fact that the hotel charges an extortionate rate for use of steam and sauna (€20 for 30 minutes I believe) and we would have only used the pool if we were to avail of the sauna and steam rooms. This is unacceptable in my opinion for a 5 star hotel to charge for facilities such as this.

There was a small gym in the hotel that was absolutely fine for a workout as long as too many people didn’t use it at the same time. There was an outdoor gym area also located by Topos which I didn’t get to use but the equipment looked decent.

WiFi could be improved. It was sporadic once you stepped outside your room even on the private terrace.

The music played in Raw bar and in general around the pool area and in Topas Restaurant was not good at all and really needs improvement. Something more upbeat and to suit the time of day would be welcome. There was a singer called Nikos singing and playing guitar in Topos one night which we really enjoyed over dinner. We only stumbled upon him as we happened to be dining at Topos that evening and were never made aware in advance there would be live music. Nikos was excellent and I highly recommend you look out for him.

Raw Bar did not serve sushi as we had expected which was disappointing as we would have definitely eaten there if on offer. We were advised it was too early in the season and they were not offering it yet.

Positives-

25 minute drive from Chania Airport. Chania town is a short 15 minute taxi drive away. Costing between €12-€15 each way depending on your driver and time of night. The hotel called us a taxi and there were ranks in town for the return trip. We dined in lots of great restaurants and the quality of restaurants was noticeably different between restaurants local to the hotel and those in Chania.

Plenty of complimentary drinking water (Greek!) provided in the room and the toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body lotion) were a Greek brand and very nice. The shower was excellent. Spacious and great pressure.

The sea was beautiful to swim in. Crystal clear, shallow and no stones in the area right in front of the hotel. The beach was short but nice.

Staff were super friendly and efficient throughout our stay. Nothing ever seemed too much for them. There are too many names to call out individually but everyone we experienced was fantastic.

Local supermarkets & tavernas within short walk...

We stayed at Domes Noruz for our Honeymoon and enjoyed it but are a bit surprised it is a 5-star resort -- we would consider it 4-star in our books. To start, the service was all-around absolutely excellent -- the food was probably some of the best resort food we've ever had. The green salad with chicken was absolutely superb and a must try. All of the staff were welcoming and very accommodating. Whenever we had a solvable issue, the staff was always very quick to remedy it. We loved the architecture and design of the resort and that it was generally on the quieter side. The fact that it was adults only and that it had separate "quiet" and "normal" pools were all big plusses for us. While most of our downsides were typically minor inconveniences, we were expecting more out of a 5-star resort and would hope that some of these would be remedied if we planned a visit again. To set the stage, we are tall (6'+) Americans and Domes was just one part of a 3-part trip for us so we had a lot packed. Additionally, while we have done quite a bit of travel in Europe, we are more familiar with what 5-star resorts offer in the US. That said, if you are planning a longer honeymoon and have big or multiple bags, know that the rooms are on the smaller side. We unpacked our suitcases directly on the small chaise because there was nowhere else to unpack and this made the room feel even smaller. The closet space barely fit one of our hanging garments. In the staff's defense, as soon as we brought it up with them they immediately attempted to remedy the situation by wanting to move us into a bigger room but we didn't really want to go through the hassle. Turndown service was surprisingly different some nights than others. Sometimes they would refill things like tissues and toilet paper and remove dirty dishes, and other nights they didn't. The rooms are semi-hear-through even though they seem sturdily built. We were able to hear neighbors next to and we believe above us almost every night -- luckily they were not being loud. At dinner some nights, the service felt extremely slow -- though this seemed to be across all of Greece and not just at Domes. The food and drink prices at Domes were relatively high after having just come from Athens -- downtown Chania prices seemed more reasonable. There are very few hooks in the bathrooms which really meant choosing between hanging things such as cosmetic bags or towels every day. We noticed that some of the rooms had privacy screens for the outdoor bathtub but some did not -- including ours -- which really prevented us from using the tub. This applied to more than just the tub as well -- some rooms had full privacy shades and others did not depending on the room -- it would have been nice for all of them to have had them. For all the pools, both private and communal, while there was shade for the seats, there was no shade in/over the pools -- it would have been nice to have had moveable umbrellas or umbrellas that could cover parts of the actual pools themselves so you could relax in the pool without sitting in the direct sun. Lastly, it seemed we had to reach out to the staff to have things fixed that in a 5-star resort you would have expected to be working without needing to call it in -- it seemed there was more of a reactive approach to fixing things at the resort rather than proactive -- for instance, two devices we used simply needed new batteries. Overall, while we enjoyed our stay at Domes and thought it was nice by European standards, and would consider staying again in the future, we would likely look elsewhere before booking again. The reactive rather than proactive approach to things and the general European standards for the resort left us with a desire for a bit more from a Crete resort...

Its a nice hotel but service a bit lacking for a 5 star/prices charged. Very slow response to simple requests in the restaurant at times and when a process breaks down (eg a computer glitch) it paralyses everything and staff don't think to explain, apologise or offer an alternative solution until guests ask to see a manager or complain.|| Rooms are nicely furnished and decorated and very clean with comfy beds but pretty pokey due to their double storey aspect. Not a lot of room to manoeuvre or have a suitcase open anywhere in the sleeping part. Larger people would not be able to walk fully around the bed. We ended up moving a lot of the minibar bits and glasses to utilise that prime cupboard for easy access clothes storage. There were fairly good numbers of hangers though. Seating upstairs was pretty under used but is a nice space. Balconies are nice with various seating options. Beach is lovely and comfy sun beds with good shade at the beech and pools.||Spa is super expensive. Probably more to the (many) Americans' budgets.||Housekeeping were very nice and did a good job at sensible times.||Music plays quite loudly in the main restaurant, pool bar and Raw restaurant. The quiet pool is quiet but has poor shade at some times of the day. Not sure anyone really needs a Careless Whisper cover played at high volume over breakfast but when we asked to turn the volume down there they did. Staff seem to want to please but don't seem to always intuitively understand expectations. The pool bar music is loud and clubby in genre. Some of the lyrics really NSFW which amused me (the managers really ought to vet the oft repeated song list for f bombs but I think they went over the heads of most guests).||Staff wear an odd varied uniform including strange black pyjama type for some of the reception women and ill fitting white t-shirts over beige elasticated slacks for other staff. These often simply looked quite scruffy (and sometimes grubby). I could see the more casual and comfortable look they were going for but I'm not sure it really works at a high level hotel.||On arrival we were asked about food preferences and intolerances. We wrote these down but there seemed zero follow through. The chocolates and cookies given as part of the turndown service all contained dairy.||Asked at Reception about vegan options for the main restaurant which they promised to send us. Nothing appeared in 5 days. The menu promised vegetarian options on request but we didn't fancy booking only to discover nothing we could eat as most Cretan vegetarian food is heavy on eggs and cheese. Raw Restaurant was nice and our options were explained.|Breakfast had a wide range of meats, cheese and dairy based pastries alongside salads and fruit. Occasionally something plant based like a tofu scramble appeared. They did find me a soy yoghurt which was great but again for a 5 star that had a lot of notices up about lactose intolerance I would have expected a more pro active approach to variety beyond a selection of plant milks. The porridge was made with water (and was tasty) but it wasn't labelled as without dairy.||The Scirocco restaurant next door has a good veg and vegan menu and is beautifully situated. Tallus down the road had great (really interesting plant based) food but the setting is not quite so nice. Pulse Vegan Restaurant in Chania was amazing,||So conclusion. If you are vegan it's not terrible as a hotel and there are other eating options nearby (however beyond Scirocco and Tallus nowhere else local seemed to get it). But you pay a lot of money for a breakfast where you can only eat about 1 in 10 of the things on offer. Lovely location and more of a boutique hotel feel to the rooms due to size...