Iberostar Selection Creta Marine — Hotel in Municipality of Milopotamos

This was our second visit to the Iberostar Selection Creta Marine and although late arriving due to a flight delay, we were welcomed with a glass of champagne and a rose for my wife. The reception/lobby area is very spacious and immaculate, check in was pretty quick and we went to our room, the same room as last year, which was on the second floor in the main building with a sea view. The air conditioned room was spacious with a king size bed a couple of chairs, coffee maker, kettle with breakfast tea and Nescafe coffee and minibar. The mini bar was stocked with beer and soft drinks and there were two half bottles of red wine in the room and a plate of chocolates. The bathroom was large with walk in shower, plenty of hangers in the wardrobe and sufficient drawer and shelf space. |The hotel is set on the edge of a cliff and comprises the main hotel and numerous bungalows in the grounds some with swim up pools, there are three coves at the base of the cliff with small sandy/pebbly beaches at each. There are steep paths down to the coves but there are also three pools that are accessible if you are not that mobile. One of the coves is a harbour and contains Lottie Watersports where you can hire a jet ski, go out on a banana boat, etc., but we just opted for trip round and into the caves on the coast. |The hotel has the main buffet restaurant which has plenty of choice, daily "roasts of the day" plus Cretan specialities and a lot of honey. There are also three speciality restaurants, La Locanda, Italian trattoria and Vegghera, Cretan taverna, which are close to the main hotel and Thalassa, Mediterranean restaurant which overlooks the sea. We went to all three and found the food and service to be best in La Locanda, Victoria our waitress was so pleasant. The food in Thalassa and Vegghera were very good but we found that there was too much food. All the restaurants offer a selection of starters for sharing which consist of bread with dips and 4 or 5 other dishes, such as saganaki mussels, crab croquettes, calamari, prawn salad. The main course are also quite large and the whole meal is very good but very filling. For main courses in Thalassa I had beef cheeks, so tender, and sea bream, also very good, my wife had salmon on both occasions but I had to help her eat it as there was so much; in La Locanda I had porchetta saltimbocca, very nice but there were two large pieces of pork, one would have been sufficient, with gnocchi and mushrooms, my wife had Milanese chicken and in Vegghera I had Tzigariasto lamb, the lamb was so tender, I had already had this dish on two occasions in the buffet, whilst my wife had sauteed chicken with mushrooms. wed did give dessert a miss on one occasion. This year they have also added a Sushi wine bar on the terrace at the Thalassa restaurant. As my wife does not like shellfish, we went there after visiting the buffet, I only had a light meal to save space for the sushi. On our first visit the General Manager arrived at the wine bar just after us and on learning my wife didn't like shellfish, she asked the chef to prepare some vegetarian sushi for her. The sushi was very good, so much so we went again two days later, it's a pity we didn't go to the restaurant earlier in our holiday as I would have made more visits there. |It was my wife’s birthday whilst we were there and I had requested a table at the front of the Thalassa restaurant overlooking the sea, which we were given. My wife didn't want any fuss but at the end of the meal she was presented with a birthday cake from the hotel, which was a nice gesture.|The animation team were really enthusiastic, although we only went to a couple of in the outdoor theatre which is shared with the adjacent hotel, Iberostar Waves Panorama & Mare. There was live music on in the lobby bar on some evenings but we spent most of our evening sat the Thalassa cocktail bar looking over the harbour, the barman and waitress there, Apostolis and Maria were both very good.|On the Monday evening, we were invited to a "Sunset Ritual" on the clifftop to watch the sun setting whist enjoying cocktails, it was also a chance to meet some of the staff. |On the Wednesday evening, we were invited to cocktails and canapes on the terrace of the lobby bar, after which we the management of the hotel were introduced to us. We thought this was very good as you rarely know who is in charge in a hotel and it was pleasing to see the various managers during the day going round checking that everything was OK in the hotel. |This year they have also opened a brand new water park, situated between Creta Marine and Creta Panorama & Mare|The whole hotel and grounds are spotless and it is a credit to the staff who work there, all the staff were so friendly and helpful. Whilst it is not possible to name everyone, some notable staff were: Rafa and Guille - animation team; Victoria - La Locanda; Popi - La Locanda & Vegghera; Maria & Marina - La Locanda lunchtimes; Dimitra & Michael - reception; Miglo - Dias buffet; Sofia & Anna - Thalassa; Giorgios - sushi wine bar and Rula - SPA.|I cannot forget the General Manager, Julia Stefanakis, and the Room Division Manager, Eleni Apostolakis, who were both so kind...

We booked a 7 night all inclusive stay via Tui. Arrived at the hotel, a very lengthy check in process after a long drive from the airport. Upon arrival, your suitcases are taken to one side and you're taken to seats in the lobby, greeted with a fresh hand/face towel and complimentary drink with a rose for the ladies. A bit of an odd check in, you have to complete a paper form with your contact details & address. Isn't this stuff with them once you book? And be prepared, they need your holiday voucher / email, so they know which room you booked and what board you are. I had the email ready, but just seemed like a long unnecessary check in process. ||We then waited for a caddy to take us and our bags to the room. We booked a bungalow with a sea view. There was little sea view through a tree line and we were ultimately facing the back of the bungalows in front. Pics online show a clear sea view, so that wasn't what we were expecting. The next morning, we spoke with Elena at reception, she was very helpful and called us back at 12pm to offer two other rooms. One of which had a swim up room with a sea view. We benefited from an upgraded room, which was a totally unexpected surprise. Elena was very accommodating, helpful and gave us that friendly five star feeling. Only downside on the rooms is that they are two single beds pushed together, not a true double bed.||After the room change, it sort of went a bit downhill from there from a staff point of view. The animation team were superb throughout the day & night, but the rest of the staff just seemed to be in a foul mood and unwilling to help (especially a couple of older guys a reception)! That put a bit of a dampener on our moods and holiday. For a "Five Star" resort, they don't want to treat you like five star customers, which is extremely disappointing considering the costs to stay at this place. We tend to usually book five star all inclusive holidays.... this is more like a 4 star in terms of the hotel and amenities, with a 3 star level of staff in my opinion. ||With the all inclusive stay, we were able to book two dinners at the A la carte restaurants, which were both lovely, with a nice warm atmosphere. Staff at the a la carte were helpful. Although, we were a bit surprised when we were also told to book a time slot for the remaining dinners at the buffet. Doesn't this defeat the object of a buffet? The food at the buffet is a bit same old. Wasn't that impressed. If you have allergies, they have cards on the foods which state what it contains, but this were ridiculously inaccurate and in some cases, no cards next to some of the food. For example, dry pasta contains nuts? ||The pool areas have plenty of sunbeds and you cannot reserve before 10am, which is good. The staff will remove any items left before 10am. Nice pools and depth throughout. Our favourite was the Ouzo pool, great views of the sea, quiet pool and a bar downstairs on the cliff face. ||The beaches are not sandy, which is unfortunate. It's more like a rocky man made cove. The cove does stop big waves from crashing in, so it's nice to walk into the sea and quite calm. I would probably suggest bringing some rock/pool shoes with you. The beach on the left side has a food truck which was nice. ||The entertainment at the hotel were really good. Lots going on each day/night and the animation team are actively giving updates on what the theme of the night is. They put on some good shows. ||The spa & gym area looked nice, although we didn't use it. ||One thing to note is the towel situation. At check in, it's information overload and I wouldn't say it's explained the best. It's ran through so quickly with lots of pointing at maps. We were given two towel cards, which we exchanged for towels at the hut. Each day you can exchange for new ones. On one particular evening, the hut was closed and there were three sacks of used towels outside. We decided to put our towels here (we should have taken them to the spa really). The next day, we asked for new towels and were told we couldn't have any. We explained we left them in the sacks but the staff were having none of it. We were told to go to reception where they wanted €36 each for new towels! Quite comical really, who the hell wants to take an Iberostar towel as a souvenir.... anyway, when the towel hut was closed that evening, I took two used towels and exchanged them in the spa for new ones. I refuse to pay €72 for something which we handed back. Just seems like a sneaky way to rip customers off. Again, unfriendly staff here and kept referring to "the rules". They don't want to reason with you or understand. ||And for check out, key cards handed over and that was it. Michalis didn't even say "thanks for staying with us". Nice hotel, nice grounds around it and pools, food was alright, but staff were extremely disappointing to be honest. Wouldn't...

This was our second time at an Iberostar and this experience at a 5 star was very different to the 4 star we experienced in Mexico. ||||Food: ||||Our group had varied degrees of food intolerances and each of us took turns getting sick from the poor labeling of the items or poor knowledge of the staff. An example: One chef would tell us that the feta cheese had cow milk in it, the next person would say there’s no cow milk, then when I mentioned what the first person said, they agreed and said we can’t eat it, then a different chef told me we can eat it. Confusion. ||||The labels are not made on sight so you can’t trust what they say. It will say Gluten free on top but in the ingredients it will say that it contains gluten. Or it will say vegan but it will say it contains milk. Contradictions. ||||I was in pain and sick twice even after confirming the food was gluten free. ||||For people with no special dietary needs, the buffet is beautiful and there are many choices. ||||Front desk: ||||When we checked in the lady gave us a rundown of the resort and the facilities. When we tried to ask further questions because we were checking in for a group, she kept trying to walk away instead of helping us with the information we needed. Thankfully the next day we talked to a very helpful man that was able to get us all the information we needed and he was very kind and professional. ||||Rooms:||||The scenery is magnificent and they do a fantastic job with their landscaping. ||||They did an amazing job with the renovations. The materials used in the design of the rooms was very well done. ||||However this is the first time that I’ve stayed in a hotel that the surfaces in the room did not get wiped. Any glasses in the room also didn’t get cleaned. I had to clean all surfaces, small stains, and dust after the cleaning lady came. In a five star resort I found this unacceptable.||||The beds were incredibly hard and uncomfortable. Most of us had back pain and requested mattress toppers. ||||Spa:||||There is an amazing Hammam with a cold pool inside. This was a great experience. ||||For our treatments each of us was disappointed. We were told our service would be done with a lavender oil but none of us smelled lavender during the treatment, or afterward when smelling the oil on our skin. The mud masks we had done were done incorrectly the first time (they applied the mud and immediately had us rinse it off). Thankfully they offered a second mud mask where it was massaged on, wrapped in foil, and then we waited a few minutes before washing it off. It was relaxing the second time. ||||Entertainment:||||The animation team did a great job with their fitness classes and the evening theater shows. There was one disappointing show that I recommend they remove and that’s the “Fire”show. It was more of an over sexualized dance show that felt more like a seduction show with a few flames. Half of the crowd had left halfway through when they realized there was not much fire and it was not appropriate for children. ||||The hotel recommends two train tours, one for ceramics and one for olive oil. We highly recommend doing both because it was a great experience. Bring a scarf or jacket because it can be very windy and cold on the train. Also come with extra space in your luggage because you will want to buy all the handmade Crete souvenirs. 😊||||Something unique about our experience was that we got to see all of the staff get recognized for their hard work during the season. It was very moving and pleasant to witness how close they had become. ||||There were many staff members that made a sweet impression on our hearts by their genuineness and positivity. Certain waitresses, bar staff, the Christos in the Thalassa restaurant and at the pool bar, the lady at the reception of the spa, the man at the front desk, and all of the animation team. Thank you for making moments of this experience very unforgettable. 🤗|| ||My whole time there I contemplated my rating for this resort. It went between 1 star to 4 stars, but ultimately with the food pains and spa services, I can’t rate this resort as anything more than 3 stars. ||||I hope you become more sensitive to the seriousness of food intolerances because it’s unfortunate to spend time resting and medicating in a room due to incorrect labeling or staffs lack of knowledge on...