Iberostar Waves Creta Panorama & Mare — Hotel in Municipality of Milopotamos

We traveled at the start of the six week summer holidays so end of July and wow what a fab time we had. We booked with on the beach and had no issues. Transfer was great. |When we arrived at the hotel very late at night we were very warmly greeted by Natasa with a drink, rose and chocolate. What a special touch. She was so lovely and helpful throughout our stay. Check in was super easy and smooth and we were very lucky to receive an upgrade to a swim up room. WOW it was amazing! The buffet was open for us and all of the kitchen and waiting staff were so lovely and friendly throughout our stay. A small buffet was perfect for us late at night as we were hungry! |There is always fruit/herb waters in reception and our kids loved trying them! ||We were then taken to our room by Galatios in a golf buggy and he made sure we knew how to operate the lights and air con ect which was fab. He was great with the kids! The room was newly refurbished (which we expected based on our booking pre the upgrade so was nice to still have a new room) and was very well laid out for us as a family of four. Fully stocked mini bar to use and a welcome treat. As it was dark when we arrived we had no idea if the view (again pre upgrade we had paid for a sea view) but wow in the morning it was amazing! ||There are so many places to get food ( the gyros at the splash park was a fab quick grab meal!) we booked all the a la carte and loved the Italian - wow great food and lovely staff and design. The BBQ was so special with the sunset to view and we enjoyed the Greek although it’s odd to have a get your own started when included chips which you then had on your order as well but still amazing quality of food all round. The main buffet again was great.|We loved sitting in the bar a few times with a drink when it was very warm playing cards with the kids. The snacks in the bar were yummy and cocktails so good. You have to try a slush - I dream about the melon slush they were so good! |The pool bar was hit and miss with being served but drinks were fine - cocktails not as good as main bar obviously but okay. ||The pools and splash area are all a fab - the salt water pool did change the colour of our swimwear and my daughters blonde hair had a slight green tinge. We did look it up and it said it can happen so made sure we rinsed it well after every time she was in - however we heard chatter from guests about their being too much salt in when we went so who knows. One thing I will say is that at the splash pool the lifeguards do a great job of managing the slides and are always on hand when needed. They were very quick to speak to children who were not following the rules ect which was good. As a teacher and mum I find it so hard when kids are putting themselves in danger and no one says, however here they did go after kids to explain how dangerous situations they had put themselves in were and not to do it again which was very good. Like going down the slide wrong ect or jumping in the ends of the slides as someone was coming down. ||The sunbed wars did happen and it was crazy trying to get a bed. However huge well done to the lifeguard on the main pool who was amazing and timed who had left what where and removed it when they didn’t return for hours and gave it to people who wanted one. I’m all for this! ||We found a morning by the pools and an afternoon in our swim up and then the splash park was the perfect combination for us. The small pool to the letting the complex was our favourite as it had crushed ice in the drinks and the staff made the best semi freddo there! Stavroula thank you for my coffee fix! ||There is a little shop which is really handy on site and well priced tbh yes it is a bit cheaper in local towns but really not by much. Go and get some gifts to take home from them!||The beach/sea was rocky so take beach shoes - our son brought a snorkel and goggles with nose piece from the shop and these were so fun in the sea! Also take some bread to feed the fish. A kind family and taken some and shared it with our children and they loved it. The one beach was mostly shell and small stones. But I enjoyed sunbathing on the concrete path area with view of the water. The other beach has more sand and the kids loved playing here with bucket and spade. But both beaches very small as in not much beach area. But wow great views. ||The evening entertainment was great - a huge well done to the entertainment team for thier hard work. It did not go unnoticed. We attended the mini disco and then show every night and Tony Macaroni is still spoken about by our kids 2 months on! Dimitra was lovely at several bars we went to during our stay. Her drinks are always served with a smile and fun.|We love an Iberostar hotel and our first visit to Crete this year will for sure not be our last. We fell in love with the country and it’s people. ||Get the litte train from outside reception into the local town. It’s cheap and a return. Lots of little gift shops which I love and also some great restaurants and bars - it was a shame we had just had lunch as we went to somewhere with a view of the sea, captain was in the name I need to look it up! But drinks were nice and food looked so good! ||Thank you all for an amazing holiday. So many wonderful staff mentioned and so many I never got the name of, so sorry but you were all amazing. |Great holiday had by all, especially with the upgrade - we now need a swim up on...

Returned again to a hotel where there has been major upgrading over half of the site plus the addition of new facilities - but where the high quality of the staff team remains as the major selling point as they are just terrific across the board.|There is now a water park that was completed in May/June 2025 and it is a great facility for anyone and particularly those with children. It has a good pool, shallow splash area, various slides and plenty of deck chair style sunbeds with shades and small lockers attached that also form table tops. Food wagons provide snack food such as real chicken nuggets, gyros, burgers, fries, beverages, wine and beer, cold snacks, ice cream and so on and an eating area with shade. A great facility and moving up the same road is the theatre with improved seating, then areas for boules, archery, table tennis, paddle tennis, mi i- golf and the old conference centre which is used for special events as well as housing Lavris barbecue restaurant, which has free booking on a one per week basis.|A new cafe/bar and dining g area has been created from the old Creta Mare reception and open courtyard next to the Polo Pool, which has also been refurbished with better sunbeds, non slip tiling around it and better steps into ghe pool. The new cafe/bar is called Lolivetos and is Italian themed and lunch can be booked daily with evening meals on a once per week basis if all inclusive. Have a good appetite as the food is substantial and filling as well as tasty and suggest you consider sharing some courses or lunch meals. Lovely building now that can be used for drinks and beverages in the day like any cafe on site.|The 'infinity pool' at the top of the site has been refurbished with better sunbeds and family areas. It is fresh water and has a cafe and fantastic views and is great for families with small children although there is still the kiddies area near ghe theatre with upgraded paddling pool, better shading and better sunbeds.|The main pool and other pool and associated cafes are largely unchanged but do have better sunbeds and shades and are due for further upgrade and refurbishment by May 2026.|The ungalows on the main pool side of the hotel have all been brilliantly refurbished and rebuilt inside with seperate wc, washbasin and walk in shower. Wardrobes and cupboards, including g safe and other useful items lining the wall opposite these facilities. Door entrance in ours was now at ghe rear and led into a room with bed settee, cupboard and air conditioning plus light switch system that did away with the slot card system of old and even lighted display by ghe door to indicate room OK for cleaner or do not disturb. Walking through past wardrobe and ablution area there is a sleeping area with very large and comfy bed plus a dressing table, TV and tea/coffee making facilities. Inthecupboard under ghe safe is a fridge with initial supply of soft drinks and a couple of beers. Sliding doors from the bed area lead to a nice terrace with a table, 2 chairs and a drying rail plus lovely view. At the very front, the first two seafront and Seaview bungalows have private pools with ghe next 7 having a shared pool area but these can only be booked, currently, via Iberostar website - come at a premium but look great. It is anticipated ghat bungalows on the other side of the hotel will be updated and refurbished by May 2026 as will many hotel rooms with some exclusivity in the top floor rooms.|As before and despite changes,ghd Anjmation Team continue to work incredibly hard and with massive energy providing daily activities and evening entertainment. The bar staff are just so good and he,Paul as well as informative and are aided in ghs Lob y Bar by a hard working waiting team who maintain ghe cheerful attitude found across ghe hotel. The food in the main restaurant is of very high standard at all meals but they ask to book evening slots on the hotel app to Co trol customer flow. As one with a disability I have nothing g but praise for ghd work of the di ING Hall waiting staff who were all so friendly and so helpful.|Having talked up ghe staffteam I must praise the housekeeping staff who were friendly yet also quiet and discreet carrying out their tasks. Si ilarly, the reception team are so efficient yet provide a really welcoming ING first point of contact. If you need help or have questions then they are your first point of contact - and they are good. Of course such a team is no accident and ghe whole management team Foster high standards, approachability, friendlinesd and being g so helpful through a do-as-I-do approach.|September 2025 was brilliant....

Overall the hotel is alright. Not amazing by any standards. I’ll break it down.

Food Buffet was good nothing amazing but you wouldn’t expect it. Food is varied and a large selection of everything. Food is hot and for the most part very nice. Breakfast will vary from continental, fried breakfasts, pancakes, pastries. Dinner will vary a lot depending on what the specials are. But fish, meats, pastas, all sorts of desserts are available. Now if you are all inclusive you are fine if half board beware. A very well placed sign next to the beer taps says all inclusive only. For breakfast you get juice free for everyone. Dinner you get no drinks of any kind. They should be clearer the sign is next to beer but not the soft drinks which are not part of dinner. Depending on the staff will depend if they are watching. We had a rude encounter where the waiter questioned us and we apologized as it wasn’t clearly marked and the waiter had to ask his manager as even he didn’t know, which makes me think how should we have known. We saw others bring outside drinks in so we did the same on the next night but of course we were told off again for that. It’s like a secret rule book but the only way to find out is to have staff make you look rather stupid in front of everyone at dinner.

Service Service was great sometimes and other times terrible just really depended on who you got. Overall varied at best. Cleaning was a bit rubbish. They would come make the bed put fresh towels in and that was about it. Having beaches and pools and trekking sand and dirt in meant the floors got dirty quick. Even if I had a brush so I could do it would have bean better than nothing.

Room The room was a let down. Compared to photos on the website and description I’d say we were mis-sold by easyJet as the room we booked with them was between two on the official website and we got the worse version of the two. Sea view was untrue ours looked at a bit of grass and a path. I wouldn’t recommend the extra for the bungalow. Dated design and only one source of natural light and that’s the door. No windows not one. The lighting was sub par as well so always felt dark. Bathroom was okay nice shower although not always a constant temperature in the shower. Toilet was a bit of a pain. Flush was very loud but took 2 attempts just for a wee. Not to mention the one connected to you in the other room you could hear all night.

Facilities Again mis-sold by easyJet listed as having gym and loads of pools and bars other services. This hotel is split into two and it’s not a very obvious split until you try to do anything that involves the other side. The other side has the nice gym. Food trucks and beach coves. They won’t accept card or room charge so cash or nothing. It ruined the experience when you wanted a little lunch snack and couldn’t pay with anything except cash. Also it’s impossible to tell where one begins and another stops. Wasn’t allowed in most of their facilities.

Hotel problems rented out to a massive private event. They took loads of the dinning room away. Had a massive festival that started fireworks at 11-12 in the evening, no warning nothing said just massive explosions outside the room. Scared the living daylights out of us. Might have been okay if told or if you could go but no it was a private event with no set end time. Asked reception when the end time was and they didn’t care or know. We had an early event the next day so this was annoying.

experience and ease of flow is what ruined the hotel. From staff constantly being on you but never clearly telling us any of the information needed or not knowing was always very irritating. Changes to rules everyday became impossible to follow.

the one time we got a drink at dinner and paid it was the longest time ever for a drink. Put the order in, get drink, confirm name, sign receipt all took 30 mins and it wasn’t even busy.

Would I go again,

Crete definitely. Iberostar any of their hotels not a chance. Start of the holiday it was alright but then got worse. Not...