Aquila Porto Rethymno — Hotel in Municipality of Rethymnon

DEFINITELY NOT a 5 star hotel. Maybe a 3.5 star hotel. PLEASE compare the photos i've adeed to this review before reserving a room.

I went with my family & our friends and two small children ( 3 & 4 years old) for a 7 nights holliday at the end on July 2023. We had other expectations from a so called 5 star hotel and the amount we paid.

First of all, the bathroom is worse than a 3 star hotel. And the manager was surprised when I said that the bathroom was not suitable for a 5 star hotel. You can see in the pictures that it's very old. The ceilings are made of wood cardboard and painted in white. There are screws visible and a lot of gaps. When you took a shower the foam from the showegel exits through the drain forming a small mushroom foam shape. There is are a lot of space all aroud the door, wich is very old as you can see in the photos.

Secondly, the mechanism of the room doors is HORRIBLE. Everyone is banging the door to close it because you can't retract the doorknob even if you press the door handle. So there is a stong band noise at each closing. So when you neighbors close the door at 3 am you will wake up for sure. The hotel didn't hear about the soundproofing beacuse you can hear everything from the next room and the gab between the room door and and the floor is too big( approx.2 cm).

Thirdly, the personal at reception was terrible. MASSIVE LACK OF COMMUNICATION. When our friends ask to check if there is available a bigger room the same person at the reception tell them three day in a row that they don't have. But the manager said that she wasn't aware of the situations because the lady at the Hotel reception didn't pass to her. And she said: "why didn't you reach me? I could've done definitely something.

On our last day we ask about our departure information wich were provided tot front desk. The same "nice" front desk lady said the she doesn't have any information. She even open a register and she confirmed the hotel didn't receive any message regarding our departure. ONE MINUTE LATER, when we enetred the room under the door there was a piece of paper with the printed message:"PLEASE CONTACT THE RECEPTION FOR YOU DEPARTURE DEATILS". REALLY?? And when we confronted the lady she said, that the message was allready delivered so they've done their job. In the room of our friends there was a paper besides please contact the reception where it was written the schedule. But extremely Poor customer service, i would rate it with - 5. The cleaning ladies always spoke with each other by yelling because one was here ant the other was in another room at the end of the corridor. And the child was sleeping and they woke him up. If you work in the lobby and ask them can you please close the window because there are 43 degrees outside and i'm sweeting, they said it's not possible. Why it's not? Yesterday, it was closed and the Ac was working. The man at the receptionist, with thickness, just mind his business without giving a reason.

Fourthly, The assumed deception that the hotel practices. When you see the photos of the rooms and bathrooms online and then you see there is a huge difference to the reality. The photos from travel sites of the standard rooms are created on computer. The photos of the bathrooms are from their luxury apartments/rooms but we didn't have them in our room. And what for me was a cheating technique that I wasn't expected to be practiced from a 5 star hotel. When we arrived we had in each room on the table a bottle of welcoming wine (0.375 L) and a bottle of water ( 0.7 or 1 litre). I said: oh, how nice a welcoming package. But surprise when we pay the bill in the last night the water wasn't free was 4 €. Really, when you pay 2400 € for a breakfast & dinner 7days package, this trick is very demeaning for a 5 star hotel. Still the water was cheaper than at the dinner where they charge you 7 E for a sparkling water 0.7 ml...

The location is perfect if you want to be within walking distance of town and to enjoy a nice beach. For those things this place deserves five stars. The hotel itself, left me swaying between 3-4 stars. |We chose the location because previously we have stayed at Aquila Rithymna Beach and wanted to be walking distance of town for a change.|The room was freshly decorated, clean and spacious, though ‘sea view’ is only from balcony and without a net curtain, impossible to feel privacy in room once curtains open, or see the sea. Bed was very comfortable. Shower was good. Great to have a nespresso machine but no pods supplied (tight 😂), they could have left just two to start you off 🥴 (you can buy for 2 euros per pod from reception - or get a box from the supermarket for about 4 euros) Sachets of coffee in room but with no kettle (seems silly). We asked for one! Our room was near the lifts, you would not want to be so close, if you like to sleep late. Guests are always waiting for a lift so you will be woken by their noise and lift noise. Useful to have clothes hanging and pegs on balcony. Adequate hanging space but not great for longer dresses.|Every time we had a question for reception, they started their responses with a defensive/ negative tone, rather than helpful, It was off-putting. |All in all, we did not really feel staff were as engaged/cheerful as other reviews have suggested ( this improved later in week), except for cleaning staff ( excellent) and a few dining staff, who work hard to create some order when at times they were obviously less than happy and stressed. The service is definitely not 5 star.|We rarely felt welcomed as a guest, unlike at other hotels we have stayed in.|Breakfast can be chaotic unless you go early; if it rains a long queue forms, as they have to shut the outside area. The manager was organising table finding as quickly as possible. Choices are good. Dinner was easier if you go by 7pm. The area is quite small and when busy, dishes are not always replaced quickly. Salads were very good and plentiful. Sometimes main courses were not extensive so we ate a lot of salad, cheese and fruit. Bread was not always fresh and Greek pastries at breakfast did not live up to usual Greek standard which was disappointing. I wondered if they were either not being stored correctly, or kept too long. Wine is always more expensive in a hotel but the prices were higher than we have experienced in other hotels and 5 euros for a plastic bottle of water, is an unnecessary mark up! |We loved the ease of finding a sun-bed on the beach. We loved being able to lunch at some of the superb restaurants in town ( unfortunately the food we ate out, cast a shadow on the hotel food). We missed a bar area inside to get a drink and mingle. You wait a long time for service at the outside bar area. |Would we stay again at this hotel, probably not! But your experience might be different if you are full-board, or have upgraded room further, to a deluxe, or suite. We were glad we were not AI ( lunches are just average but service better than in evening). We even contemplated skipping an evening meal to go out and enjoy excellent food.|And yes, to confirm another review, the average age of guests is fairly old - but there are so many levels/steps and trip hazards, so if you have mobility issues, take care. We saw a couple of people slipping over while we were there.|Evening entertainment...

We arrived to the hotel and with minimum fuss given keys to our superior room. ROOM 509. As we arrived too late for evening meal we were given a voucher for lunch on day of departure. The room was immaculately clean and spacious. We had booked for a seaview and were very happy with this. We received complimentary wine, prosecco, water and fruit (greatly appreciated). The room had a small dining table and a second sofa/bed. Fruit and water were replaced every couple of days. (as required) Balcony had 2 chairs. (suggest bringing these in as too hot to sit on if left out) |Bathroom of a good size. Complimentary robes provided. (Never got the slippers!!)|Open wardrobe hanging space, but no chest of drawers so limited storage.|Plenty indoor seating areas although sadly underutilised. A small book library for visitors to exchange books would I'm sure be appreciated by many.||Our booking was for breakfast and evening meal.|Options for breakfast were plentiful. Evening meal a few choices of main. Varied salad selection and choice of deserts. Overall adequate.|Every evening the hotel provided entertainment which was very good. Uusally 8-10pm so not disturbing for early sleepers. |Location of hotel was for us perfect. Plenty of places to have a lovely lunch nearby. Short 10-15 min walk into the beautiful streets of Rethymno.|The separate bar/resturant is lovely to sit in the evening while enjoying the entertainment. Staff attention here was excellent especially the female manager.||Speciality coffee in room not regularly replaced which was part of our superior room deal. This proved difficult to obtain when requested.|Confused as to why every night there was pasta with napolean/bolognese sauce. We were afterall in Crete. Sometimes service was slow to replace dishes that were low so it was luck if you got the nice hot chips or ones out for a while. The food was adequate but it is not top dining. It did feel a little repetitive for choices. On our first week at the hotel we had no problem for the 6.45/7 pm sitting to allocate a table, however we did notice tendency to gueues on the second week for those who arrived later. |The hotel states that reserving of loungers was not permitted yet every morning from our balcony we noted regulars putting towels, books etc on beds then heading off for breakfast. This was pool front of hotel.|There is another small pool with loungers which are easier to obtain but this does not open until 10.30 am after breakfast has finished.|We booked and paid for late check out but for this we had to move to room 130. This room is small and situated at the side of the hotel, so only street view. Adequate to enable us to shower etc. prior to our departure. Staff kindly helped with the move.|Towards the end of our stay we were offered what was said to be a superior room to the one given but this had significantly less space than 509 so we declined this offer. ||Note: Don't forget to book if you wish to use suana + steam room.|||Overall I would still recommend this hotel it has a lot of positive points. With a few tweaks this could and would be an...