Mitsis Royal Mare Thalasso & Spa Resort — Hotel in Municipality of Chersonissos

Overview.||The Strap Line states it all. I believe that the original concept and design of the buildings and layout belonged to the founder of the Aldemar Group, Dr Nikolaos Angelopoulus and the first thing that strikes when entering the grounds of the Mitsis Royal Mare Thalasso and Spa (MRM) is the sheer elegance of the architectural design. In contrast to the concrete blocks purporting to be hotels or buildings, (think of the Barbican Centre and the current London Riverside Developments), it is an aesthetic pleasure to view the exterior of the rooms, which resemble exclusive private villas, connected by floral walkways.||This feeling was enhanced when entering the main administrative buildings, which encompass a beautifully designed Atrium with the striking feature of a large chandelier, which; in itself; is a work of art. The décor, of marble floors and appropriate furniture, matches the thought that was given into producing such a pleasing space. Within this area is the Reception and Guest Service Areas, and the Staff, especially Anna of Guest Services, were phenomenally helpful, pleasant and professional. ||Location and Public Transport.||The MRM is located within a ribbon of hotels; from the beach turn left, walk along the wooden boardwalk and you arrive at the Mitsis Cretan Village, keep going and you come to the Mitsis Laguna. Basically, Hotels to both the left and right.||As walking and investigating the surrounding area is a key part of our holidays, we wandered around the countryside of Anissaras and whilst there are a number of agricultural activities, and a few small hamlets, supermarkets, tavernas and travel agents, where Tours can be purchased. Hotels do seem to dominate. We did however discover three different walking routes to Hersonissos, the most pleasant being taking the coastal path. If you turn left at the security gate and follow the road; it’s not busy, then the walk is about 4.8 km approximately 3 miles. It’s downhill to Hersonissos and obviously uphill returning, there are however very few signposts. By Taxi each way I believe the cost is about 10 Euro’s.|There is one local Bus per day going to Heraklion, which stops just outside of the MRM, it’s usually at about 09:15, but ask Anna at Guest Services for a Timetable. On this specific ‘Hotel’ route the only return Bus does leave Heraklion at about 13:15, so after that you would need to catch a Bus back to Hersonissos. There is also another service going East to Agios Nikolaos, but again you would need to ask Anna for a Timetable.|It really is worth visiting Heraklion because, apart from its other attractions, the Archaeological Museum is magnificent. It’s open 08:30 -15:00 every day except Wednesday and for 6 Euro’s entrance fee, is wonderful value.||Food and Drink.||The main Restaurant, which serves Breakfast, Luncheon and Dinner, is named Symposio, and there we were made welcome by Nectorina, the Restaurant Manager, and the Front of House Staff, Spridoula and Pella, also by Anna who looked after our table.|From our experience and opinion, the food served in this Buffet Restaurant; which serves a myriad of dishes to a large number of people; all with different tastes, is exceptional.||Normally, at Breakfast, the wonderful fresh fruit, yogurt, honey and nuts are more than sufficient but I was very surprised to see how the Chef had managed to prepare the scrambled eggs. Normally, from my experience at other establishments, they resemble and taste like an egg brick, but these were first rate, as were the fresh mushrooms.||At Luncheon and Dinner there were a multitude of high-quality choices; langoustines, swordfish, sea-bass, prawns, calamari as well as meat, pasta and salad dishes. Once a week a Roast Beef joint was presented and, although we don’t often eat meat, this beef, plus gravy was exceptional. Added to these courses, the Pastry Chefs could start their own Patisseries.|Symposio is light, spacious and airy with adequate space between tables, so you are not too close to other diners The only negatives being that there were no tablecloths, and that Management do not implement the dress code. ||The al la carte restaurants; which in general, observe a dress code, are all excellent and, since we prefer fish and seafood to meat, there is plenty of choice. We particularly enjoyed however the Ravioli Al Fungi, Pizza Margarita and Tagliata Di Manzo at the Italian: The Veal Steak and Lobster Youvetsi (Giouvetsi) at the Mediterranean Candia; and the Chilopites with Saganaki Shrimp and the Sea Bas en Papillote at the Beach Restaurant.|Obviously, the Executive Chef has created a very talented and efficient Battalion. ||Whilst the various Bars and Restaurants serve a variety of Beers, Cocktails, Spirits and soft drinks etc, we mainly drink wine with Dinner and the extensive wine list contains a large number of very good quality Greek wines, which, as we enjoy wines from Greece, was extremely pleasant.||The Private Beach.||Like most of the Beach’s in the area, it’s quite narrow and mainly shingle but very well maintained with a very friendly Beach Bar and all of the amenities that you would expect. ||The Grounds.||These are very well maintained and blend perfectly with the MRM buildings. ||Rooms. | |We took a Side Sea-View room which was precisely what we required, quiet, spacious, well equipped, spotlessly clean, very comfortable bed, large walk-in shower and extremely well soundproofed. The latter point being very important as we have experienced holidays which were ruined by the noise from adjacent rooms. ||The Staff.||As always, they make guests feel extremely welcome and greatly contribute to the enjoyment of the holiday.||Extraneous information which may be of use.||The ‘Climate Crisis Resilience Tax’, often known as the Environmental Tax and now virtually standard throughout Europe and the USA, is, within Greece, levied on all hotels, holiday apartments and short-term lettings, and is not included in the prepaid price. It must be collected separately upon arrival and all rates were increased on the 1st April 2025, for 5 Star Hotels the Tax per room per night was raised from 10 Euro’s to 15.||It is not an extra charge imposed by the hotel, but it is an extra cost. ||Overview.||We often visit Mitsis Hotels and, having just returned in May 2025 from the Mitsis Alila in Rhodes, we have booked, and are looking forward to returning to the MRM later this year. The ‘Strap Line’ really does encompass...

Stayed 28th June - 5th July 2025, all inclusive package ||General comment|We had a really lovely holiday at Mitsis Royal Mare, and would recommend it to family and friends. Staff were very friendly, and there were lots of highlights. We think it was worth the money, however there are just a few things that we want to highlight to people looking to book that should be made aware of, and some things that could/should be changed, see below. ||Hotel & Rooms|The hotel is very impressive, and is exactly like the photos. It is very private, feels big but not too big, and has been decorated beautifully. Our room was spacious, bed was very comfortable, and we had a great shower. The rooms also come with a mini bar which is stocked every two days with soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, and tea and coffee is supplied however we didn’t use this. Drinking water was a slight issue in the beginning, and we had to keep going down to the bar/reception to ask for more. They should supply water bottles more frequently to the rooms (I.e once/twice a day) to ensure people have a good supply. There was only two of us, and can imagine for a large family it might be an issue. The beach was good, we only visited once due it being very windy but lots of sunbeds and nice views. The hotel was very clean, toilets were always immaculate, and it felt well looked after from a maintenance perspective. Overall, a really lovely hotel and in a good location. ||Pool |Pool facilities were great. We had the option of two pools, one by the main reception and one further down. We preferred the one further away as it felt slightly quieter, but this was purely personal preference. Securing sun beds was never an issue for us, there was always some available at the main pool near reception (other pool filled up quicker but no earlier than about 10am). Some people do reserve which isn’t allowed, but we didn’t think it was an issue. We were however out of school holiday season, so this may have been in our favour. Overall, there were comfortable sunbeds, close by to bars for drinks and toilets, and guests are regularly given clean and fresh beach towels. ||Food |Overall, the food was pretty average. The main restaurant had a variety of dishes each night, but nothing memorable. They do theme nights (Italian, Asian, Greek), but personally, we feel that Greek should always be a staple option. There should always be some authentic Greek dishes at every meal (we are on holiday in Greece after all!) and we’re quite disappointed to see this wasn’t the case. I will say though that the salad bar was really good, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables available and a wide selection of bread. This was perfect for lunch time, but couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed when it came to dinner. The main restaurant is also waited drink service which was frustrating as once it took about 15 minutes to be served a drink. They should make it self-service just like the buffet. ||The Al a Carte restaurants were better than the main restaurant, and we had a fantastic meal at Candia. Pacifico and Albatros (the beach bar) were also good and had a nice ambiance. However, we were very disappointed with Royal Palm Asia. Food was incredibly bland, dishes felt microwaved, and rice was very overcooked. The sushi was fine, but not the kind of experience you expect from a 5 Star hotel, and would not recommend. We actually ditched the meal and headed into the main restaurant for some Gyros (luckily it was Greek night!).||Drink|We were very impressed with the drinks available. All drinks were made fresh (not out of machines or pre-mixed), and were readily available at both the pool bars and main bar in the evening. The cocktail list was extensive, and it included Aperol Spritz which was a win! Wine was very average, only one type of red, white and rosè for the whole hotel, and it was often serviced slightly too warm. Minos Bar was our favourite, it had a great atmosphere and gorgeous views all day round. Herson, one of the waiters, was fantastic. He was always super friendly and helpful, as well as many other waiters throughout our stay. ||Excursions |We did go on a sunset boat trip to Dia Island, however this was booked separately to the hotel. They do offer excursions but out of preference, we decided to book this way in advance of our holiday for ease and planning. The hotel offers car rental services and spa facilities, however we did not use these. There are also water sports nearby on the beach, however we did not use these either. ||One evening we ventured into the nearby town (Hersonissos on the coast) to have an authentic Greek meal, and would recommend Ristorante Vesuvios. Lovely food and not too pricey either. We would recommend checking restaurant ratings on Trip Advisor before going - they have a lot on the main strip which can be quite overwhelming (people trying to grab your attention etc) but we ignored them. The overall vibe of the town felt very party, but it was a nice escape for the evening. We used the taxi app Free Now which was super easy (equivalent of Uber and Bolt). It cost about €10 each way (a...

We were expecting a five star experience when we booked this holiday. We got something else completely. Let me start on the positives the pools and apartments are very beautiful. I would go as far as to say with the spa, the visual appeal and overall design is gorgeous. The only five star aspect of the hotel. Rooms not quite 5 stars. I suspect some of the five star reviews on trip advisor are false as some reviews are totally untruthful.||We checked in at 1120pm after a flight delay and had not a nice experience. This was our first realisation that this might not be as expected. They asked us to go sit and wait for five minutes whilst they logged our passports then forgot about us. The staff are lovely and I’m sure none of our experiences have anything to do with them, it is how the hotel is managed and most likely understaffed.||My rating of the food is 2.5 stars in 4 out the 6 restaurants. The Italian and The Asian I would say was 4 stars. Also the brunch was a higher rating, however it’s in the South American restaurant and eating there at night was not great. Food overcooked and fatty and not good quality. There is nowhere outside you can have a pool lunch ad-hoc. There is the Italian and beach bar which you can only book once a week, same goes for every other restaurant and when the restaurants are sub-standard especially the buffet you feel the need to travel outwith the hotel. There is a snack bar that offers a hot dog or fruit. Again not five star. This was the only food available to have outside for lunch without booking. When you pay for all inclusive this isn’t ideal, especially as there is nothing decent nearby and you need to get a ten minute taxi into town, it is not walking distance. The difficulty most people have booking a restaurant every night for their stay is problematic and some people couldn’t get booked into the hotel restaurants. It was also a hassle you don’t need on holiday. ||Service is 3 stars, there are not enough staff. There are empty drinks cups lying around for hours. Every five star hotel I have been to before has had service round the pool, staff are so overworked they cannot collect glasses never mind offer you drinks from your sun lounger. There is a poor selection of drinks and I suspect they are watered down. You have to wait at breakfast to be offered drinks, you can’t just go and get them yourself and since they didn’t replace milk in the room for the coffee machine after the first day, I couldn’t even start my day with a coffee before heading out for breakfast. Several times my family had sat down then went to get food and I had to go and find cutlery for them. We would arrive at a restaurant booked and have to stand around before getting shown to your table as again there are not enough staff||Cleaning wasn’t great of the rooms and the mini bar service which is supposed to replenished every second day didn’t, we actually only got mini bar replenished 4 out the 14 days and one time was because I had to complain. Water is only replenished every 2 days also. No irons are given out to any hotel residents so you are forced to use their laundry service. There are also three PowerPoints in the room and the double does not fit two European plugs so there were only two theoretically. ||There are 29 pools, dont let this fool you, 27 are private we had a pool view but as we requested a floor higher up as I don’t like bugs on ground floor rooms, we were unaware that by being one floor up that we not allowed to use the pool our balcony overlooked. However after our experience with bad service a member of staff told us we could use the pool and we did for 12 days until they tried to remove us because of another family with children causing chaos. I did say to them we had permission to use the pool but this gave me total anxiety for the rest of the holiday.||There were also small things like shower caps not being replaced after use which again is not five star. I will not be back. I don’t recommend this hotel. Book somewhere else. My overall rating is this hotel is 3.5 stars based on food drinks package and service. Remembering I’m paying tax on 2 ‘5 star’ rooms for 14 nights at a cost of over £400, when the hotel overall is not five stars. The hotel wants to take your money but not offer you the...