Kernos Beach Hotel & Bungalows — Hotel in Municipality of Chersonissos

At first glance, the Kernos Beach Hotel leaves a great impression. It is truly large in space, with many bungalows and quite a big area of a beautiful sandy beach. I don't think anyone is interested in the pros of the hotel, you can find plenty of reviews, but I want to share the minuses.||1 star - the "so-called gym". I have never seen such old, and dangerously rusty equipment anywhere. Perhaps you would see this in a 1-star hotel. Of course, this hotel is for non-athletic families, where adults don’t care about their look, and kids won't go to the gym.||1 star - Taverna "Tavernaki", the only cafe on the hotel premises, where you can eat if you have Halbpension. But it's impossible to eat there because the food is so disgusting and inedible that it casts a big negative shadow on the hotel, as the same people cook for the hotel. Don't eat there! Leave the hotel and go left, where you'll find decent taverns with delicious Greek food.||1 star - a special mention for the old, near-retirement or retired hotel staff helping during dinner and breakfast on the main terrace. I wish they would finally be replaced with younger staff, who are clearly there but suppressed by the older ones. It was noticeable that the older staff took everything happening at the tables too personally, disliking new guests who only took water for dinner (€3 per bottle, when a pack of 6 costs €2) and didn’t leave tips. Hello? Tips for what? This is your job, and people have already paid to stay at this hotel, which is quite expensive for a 4-star. Especially since dinner is a buffet, and you serve yourself. It was unpleasant, and because of this, we hardly dined at the hotel, choosing wonderful greek tavernas in town instead. The food was very generic, even nothing special to mention about. ||3 stars - bungalow room with a sea view. Old, spotted furniture, a dying air conditioner in the heat of 34°C, and a shower cabin that needs repairs, cockroaches every morning inside. The sea view is nice, but you would see even more of the sea from a cheaper room without a bungalow. We only realized this after inspecting the hotel...||5 stars - room cleaning. A very nice woman cleaned thoroughly and well.||5 stars - hotel reception. Very good and fast service.||4 stars - the beach. There are plenty of sunbeds, but be prepared for German tourists who just throw their towels early in the morning and come whenever they want. The only solution is if you see sunbeds clearly empty with just towels and no personal belongings, feel free to take them.||During breakfast or dinner, you can laugh while watching a neat queue of hotel guests (of course, Germans) standing in front of an empty veranda with set tables, waiting to be shown to a table. Tables are not reserved! You can sit at any table! And the old hotel staff doesn’t like this...||When you leave the hotel, you’ll be shocked by the poverty, the horrific roads, the lack of any sidewalks for tourists, and the endless cars and motorcycles driving in all directions. You’ll have to leave the hotel to buy food or necessary items at any supermarket. There are plenty of them on the left side as you exit the hotel. There are many taverns, and all the interesting places are on the left side, but you’ll have to walk a long way down a broken street.||I particularly want to recommend a Meriem Greek & Mediterranean Cusine with delicious homemade food.||Conclusion: 3 stars. Will I come...

Great hotel with a beautiful location, but a few things could be improved

We really enjoyed our stay at this hotel. Its main advantage is the incredible location. On one side there are mountains, and on the other a wide sandy beach with crystal clear and beautiful sea water. The territory is well maintained, there is a tennis court, and inside you can play table hockey.

The food was very diverse. There were plenty of dishes with shrimp and salmon, delicious desserts, and fresh pastries. The staff were generally very friendly. The hotel also has a private parking area, which is very convenient if you rent a car.

The atmosphere deserves special mention. Most of the guests were Europeans, mainly German visitors aged 50 and over. Because of that, the place was calm and quiet, which makes it perfect for a family vacation.

However, there are a few points that need improvement. The first one is the organization of drinks. Tea was available only if you asked the waiter, but the waiters were often busy setting up the tables and could not serve guests quickly. As a result, the food you had already taken could get cold while waiting for your tea. Sometimes the tea arrived late, and once it was forgotten completely. It would be much more convenient to have a hot water dispenser and a box with tea bags so that guests could make their own tea. The same applies to cutlery. It would be faster and easier to take it yourself rather than wait for it to be brought to the table.

It was clear that the staff were trying their best, but because of poor task organization they often did not have enough time to clean the tables promptly, which created a feeling of disorder in the restaurant.

Another issue was the teapots. When you pour hot water from them, it spills everywhere except into the cup, so you need to be careful when using them.

It is also worth mentioning that all drinks at dinner were paid separately. One Lipton tea bag with a cup of hot water cost 4 euros, which means 8 euros for two people. That was probably the most expensive and at the same time the least tasty tea we had on Crete.

Another drawback was that the “Do not disturb” system did not work properly. The rooms do not have traditional door hangers. Instead, there is a button inside the room that turns on a small light outside the door. However, even when the light was on, the cleaning staff still entered the room and did the cleaning. This was unpleasant because we did not want our room to be cleaned that day.

Overall, the hotel left a very positive impression thanks to its location, food, and peaceful atmosphere, but the restaurant service and cleaning system need some improvement. In the modern era of automation and self service, it would make sense to let guests handle simple things like tea, coffee, and cutlery by themselves, while the staff could focus on what really matters, keeping the place clean and...

We stayed at Kernos Beach Hotel & Bungalows recently and unfortunately had several disappointing experiences that left us with mixed feelings. • Arrival experience: The staff member who carried our luggage made unnecessary political jokes in a passive-aggressive manner and acted arrogantly when showing us the room facilities. This was not the warm welcome we expected and immediately put us off. We arrived late, and instead of clarifying whether we had any dietary restrictions, the reception handed us a box with a ham-and-cheese sandwich and soggy supermarket chips. For guests who might be vegetarian or have other restrictions, this was not thoughtful. A simple alternative like fruit would have been much more appropriate. • Buffet: Another issue was the lack of clear food labeling. While some dishes had signs, most did not. For example, breaded items were unlabeled, leaving us unsure whether they were fish, chicken, or something else. At the very least, any dish containing meat should be labeled to let guests know exactly what they are eating. Beyond that, the overall food quality was low — especially the meats, which tasted cheap and poorly prepared. The food was not presented with care or passion, which made the dining experience less enjoyable. • Service at dinner: The system for handling drinks at dinner was confusing and inconsistent. On the first day, we were asked for our room number and given a yellow slip. The next day, we were given the slip plus a receipt, which we assumed we needed to take — only to be chased after and told otherwise. On the third day, another waiter ran after us in the dining room and loudly told us we had to sign the receipt, which was uncomfortable and unnecessary. Each time the process was explained differently, leaving us unsure what was expected. After that, the waiter stopped greeting us and gave us unfriendly looks, which made dinners unpleasant.

On a positive note, the Asian staff members were extremely kind, professional, and welcoming, which we really appreciated. Unfortunately, most of the local staff came across as arrogant and unhelpful, creating a stark contrast in the overall service experience.

We had hoped that the initial bad impression would improve, but sadly these issues kept repeating. While the hotel itself has potential, the lack of clarity, inconsistent service, and the attitude of some staff left us...