Knossos Royal — Hotel in Municipality of Chersonissos

Looking at responses to reviews on this hotel they’re quick to put fault with travel operator but travel operator has nothing to do with lack of service by serving staff or cleaning staff. Wholey disappointed with entire stay. ||From the moment we checked in as a family of 3 (five year old child) the first thing my husband was asked was if he was there for the conference (we weren’t) followed by being asked what day we were leaving as the hotel was closing that day…. Not exactly the five star welcome. ||We were then taken to our room, which hadn’t been set up for two adults, one child…. So we had to request the fold out sofa bed be put out. On closer inspection of the room we had two (not three) dirty water glasses, no coffee pods and an incomplete complimentary toiletry box. Worse still the walls were covered with splattered dead mosquitos and a few live ones waiting for fresh blood! We know that Greece/Crete is prone to mosquitos but to see them splattered all over the walls wasn’t ideal. We popped the air con on to coldest and went out to the shop on site to pick up a mosquito plug in and on returning to the room the air con clearly made no difference as the room was still stuffy and not cold. We feel sorry for those people staying in peak summer heats!! ||That afternoon we headed to the pool to discover no real shallow area for children to enter the pool, the kids pool by the beach was more for 1-3 year olds and far too small for a number of children and adults. ||The evening we ventured to the hotel restaurant where buffet style there was a huge selection available though no real plain veg for our five year old. I picked spaghetti with Neapolitan tomato sauce, along with carrots and a Greek salad. After a few minutes I felt a reaction, one I only get to kiwi or sesame so had to stop. On checking all the allergen docs by the food they didn’t list sesame. And certainly no mention on any of the cards of the dishes I chose. It was at this stage we really felt like the outsiders, this place was far more concerned with the conference attendees than the holiday makers.||On returning to our hotel room we did a mozzie sweep and started getting our son to bed, only to discover a cockroach in the bathroom….. not exactly a nice thought on top of the mosquitos for me being pregnant and our five year old. We were all so tired we covered all drains and shut all plug holes and went to sleep. ||The following morning my husband went to speak with reception who seemed unbothered about the cockroach, and gave off an air of them being pretty common place. No offer of a room change etc. He decided to pick up with Guest relations when they opened at 9am and they were much more understanding, said they’d have the room sprayed and that they would show us another room if we wanted. We decided, so long as it was safe for me being pregnant that we’d let them spray and see how we got on. The mention of sesame was met with understanding too and we were told that on our next meal there to let them know and the chef would walk me around what was safe and didn’t include sesame and what did.||Another day spent around the pool and feeling out of place sunbathing given the conference guest attendees outnumbering us.||From this moment on we were left continuously disappointed with the room clearance, no dirties were ever removed, the floor didn’t appear to be mopped our beds changed but towels were sometimes changed and other times not…… our empty bottles weren’t removed, the bathroom didn’t appear to be cleaned. And our trusty drain guard (a mosquito splattered laminated hotel map with a glass over it) was left in place on the floor the whole time, unmoved, parts of the pumice stone we brought that had crumbled off was left around the bath and the coffee cup used to rinse out our sons hair left on the side. ||The evening we returned to the hotel buffet and I was walked around by the chef, I noticed that at least all allergen signs had been updated to show sesame as an allergen BUT I didn’t see a warning on any of the items the chef pointed out to me MAY include it. If you’re going with an allergy be sure to express it to staff and make sure you’re entirely happy it doesn’t include any allergen you should avoid.||Also most mornings and evenings we found ourselves being ignored by waiting staff who seemed to favour the conference attendees than us, and on our final morning were totally ignored and tables around us offered coffee and fresh orange juice but not us. ||NOT FIVE STAR BY ANY STRETCH!!||We really had such high hopes. The ONLY saving graces for us was the lovely litter of hotel kittens we aptly named and enjoyed seeing pop up by the pool etc, and also the Greek Taverna on site where the staff went above and beyond, and food was INCREDIBLE!!||As one of a very few families left at the end we felt so uncomfortable that we decided to check out a day early and find another hotel.||Yes, we were aware it was end of season, and yes our tour operator could have made us aware potentially of the lower than usual service to expect………however I’m not sure they have anything to do with staff who just didn’t seem bothered in guests, a five star service and the fact we appeared less important than conference guests.||A massively...

We stayed in Aldemar Knossos Royal at the beginning of the UK school summer holiday period for 7 nights. ||We arrived around lunchtime where we were informed our room was not quite ready (which was expected based on their online check in times) and were told to go get some lunch at the lunch buffet and by the time we were finished our room was ready.||We had booked the garden view room with all inclusive plus package. We were a family of three (2 adults and a 6 year old). The child's bed was a sofa bed. With the extra bed set up the room was a little cramped but fine to stay in for a week or two. We noticed the room was quite dated in style but I do not think this stops the hotel from being 5 star. ||The first night in the room the air con was not working properly at all. We woke in the night hot. We reported this the next day and was told someone would be out to look at it. We don't know what the outcome of their visit was, the air con seemed a little better however, it never worked efficiently in our opinion. Like many hotels when you enter the room you put your key card in the activation slot for the air con and lights to work. For the duration of our stay we left our key card in there 24/7 to try and get the room to cool to 20 degrees, but it never seemed to reach the set temperature, although it was more comfortable than the first night.||The room was not cleaned very well, one day it was completely missed altogether. I reported this when we went to dinner and someone came around and did a quick whizz around but to be honest I don't know why they bothered. Bed sheets had rips in them. We were only supplied 2 glasses, even though the room was for 3 people. I accidently broke one glass and this was not replaced. ||You are given a bottle of water daily in your room (again one day this was missed). The bottle is quite small and left on the sideboard. In that heat I think the water should be in the fridge as I don't want a room temperature water when I've been in the sun all day. You can get extra bottles of water by asking at the bar, which we did most nights.||Along with the air con issue the other item that let this room down was the smell. It smelt like a damp old boot bag. There is a open drain in the bathroom floor and as you shower the water and bubbles come up and out of the drain. We did complain about this, again we don't know what the outcome of the hotel looking into this was, but it never got any better. ||The toilet flush was on the wall, you had to hold part of it whilst flushing to stop it coming off the wall. The towel hook on the wall was broken so as you tried to hand your towel it would just spin around. The hairdryer was one of those old fashioned ones attached to the wall where you had to hold the on button constantly for it to work.||For us the room lets this hotel down and it why we cannot say it was a 5 star. ||As we did not have a private pool room we had to use the main pools. These were lovely deep pools but they are salt water. The sunbeds around the pools are jammed in like sardines. You have a choice of full sun or full shade. We always managed to get a space around the pool but would have to put towels down before breakfast. ||You can help yourself to soft drink throughout the day in the lunchtime/pool bar area. On a couple of occasions , in the late afternoon staff did come around the pool with a tray of drinks but you just had to choose a drink already on the tray, it wasn't a poolside waiter service. ||The lunchtime buffet was a bit hectic. Although online it says no swimwear to be worn everyone did. I did not have an issue with this. One day a lady was carrying her naked toddler around the buffet choosing food - I do think the hotel staff shouldn't have allowed this.||Dinner buffet there was a good selection of food, but I feel there could have been a better selection of plain food for children. We would get there around 7pm and walk straight into a table. When we would leave around 8pm there was normally a queue for people waiting for tables. We did try the a la carte Italian. The food was delicious here and we were well looked after. We also had the beach bar lunch, which again was delicious and we were well looked after.||There is a lot of steps at this hotel so I would only recommend it if you're quite mobile. The private shared pools looked nice but I think you could have quite a walk from some to get drinks from the bar.||The beach area was nice, but again the sunbeds are all crammed in together (although this may be to do with recent law changes out there). The sunset from the beach in the evening was beautiful.||Although I identified issues whilst we were there I don't think they were fully resolved. In hindsight I should have pushed more whilst we were there but I don't go on holiday to have to keep complaining, this is why I chose a 5 star in the first place. The quality control of the rooms is low and more time should be spent actually reviewing rooms by the hotel. ||Would we choose to stay here again? No,...

I have just come back from 9 nights at Knossos Royal, this was our second visit, our first being June last year in a standard room.|This time we decided to go for 9 nights and upgraded to a room with a shared pool which was a dream! Saying that unfortunately, this will be our last visit.||One of the main reasons we returned was the animation team. Last year, the entertainment was AMAZING, they had an in-house animation team that put on full-on shows after the kids disco in the amphitheatre, and we loved it. Our son fell in love with The Greatest Showman off the back of their show last year, so we couldn’t wait to go back and see what they had to offer this year. Not only were the shows great, but the team were also so friendly and made such an effort with the children.|We knew the name of the hotel had changed from last year, and unfortunately, with that many changes and one of which was the animation team. The evening entertainment was a shambles in comparison! A few nights, they had outsourced a dancer and singers, which they had also done last year, but it felt a bit samey/pub singer.|One of the nights we attended the white party, which he had high hopes for, but it consisted of them putting music on and trying to get everyone up to dance; half the theatre left straight away. It was a joke and unfortunately, the last night we decided to go. |Because we have last year to compare it to so we knew how good it could be. The kids' disco is still good for the children. Nothing major, but ok.||The animation team also ran the kids club, they have a park, and a water play which are really good (swings in the park need some TLC as they are falling apart) you can leave children, I think over the age of 4 in the kids club.|Last year, our son was too young, but this year we had said if he found a friend and was comfortable to stay, we would be ok with that, but I made the decision on the first day that wasn’t going to happen.|The building within the kids club grounds always had the door shut to, it was never fully open and welcoming. One morning we walked in as my son wanted a drink, and I said morning to the woman there, and she barely spoke and scurried into the back room. It wasn’t welcoming at all. I took my son to the park every day, and only 1 of those 9 days was the doors fully open with children getting their faces painted. Whereas that was every day last year with the door fully open so children could venture in and out and do some fun activities.||The room this year was a lot better than last year. we have a 4-year-old. So the extra room was nice, and the shared pool was a dream as he could nap in the room whilst we were just outside!||We agreed with the reviews in terms of lunch, last year it was chaos but this year it was a lot better, we found a table on the days we went no issues.|The lunch food is nice, but for 9 days got quite boring, the salad bar was nice, hot food was daily chips, pasta and bolognaise sauce, then mixed with nuggets, pizza, nuggets and hot dogs.||The evening meal was lovely, one of the reasons we came back. Last year, there were more themes. Mexican was our favourite! Unfortunately, they have gone down to 3 themes with Mexican not making the cut, which was disappointing. Food is still amazing though.|Must try the restaurants offered, beach bar and the Italian were our favourite. |Breakfast is also good, some stressed our staff in the mornings though, one particular woman wasn’t very pleasant, unlike the evening staff who were all so lovely.|Considering they class themselves as a 5 star (Tui/Easy jet/Jet2 as a 4 star), the evening dress code wasn’t upheld to, one night we saw people in their swimming stuff.|I love dressing for the evenings, but ended up stopping as I felt so overdressed, not sure if it was due to the nationalities that were there as there were not many English guests. But I do feel if you class yourself as a 5-star you shouldn’t be letting guests in the evening buffet in swimwear!||Same grudge as last year in terms of the paper cups. Again, if you’re a 5 star I think you can do more than paper cups. A cocktail in a paper cup is not the same! ||Overall it’s a lovely hotel, the setting is stunning, food is lovely, but it needs a lot of work. I don’t know if the new owners will be putting money into it or taking it away as from comparison to last year that’s what's happening.|For the price we paid, and for the apparent 5-star hotel, you can get better elsewhere, which is why this was...