Birais Beach Studios — Hotel in Municipality of Rethymnon

Title: Not a 3-Star – Misleading Listing & Ruined Holiday Experience

We booked this “Birais Studios” through Love Holidays, expecting a comfortable 3-star stay. Unfortunately, the reality was far from it, and it completely dampened our holiday. The worst issue was the lack of hot water. For most of our stay, there was either no hot water or no water at all, making basic hygiene impossible. We were forced to take cold or bucket showers, even late at night. After beach days, it was awful not being able to properly wash. We were told it was a “city-wide issue” – something that should have been clearly communicated before booking. The rooms were cramped and poorly maintained. One room had faulty electrics, a broken freezer, and a generator blowing hot air right outside the balcony, making it unbearable to sit outside. We had to unplug everything to cool the space down. The “sea view” we paid extra for was obstructed by pillars. The bathroom design was terrible – the door hit the sink, the toilet was awkwardly close to the wall or shower, and there was no space to hang towels or place toiletries. Sitting on the toilet meant hitting your head on the wall! The kitchen was under-equipped – we had to buy our own cups, plates, and cutlery. There was no can opener, no sharp knife, and minimal utensils. No proper wardrobe space either; we had to keep clothes in suitcases or remove shelves just to hang anything. We raised all of these issues multiple times, but were either ignored or given vague explanations. Some staff cared, but many didn’t seem interested in helping at all. The area also smelled of sewage, and without the ability to shower properly, we often stayed in rather than go out in the evenings. Breakfast was repetitive with the same oily items daily – although edible, it lacked variety. Only the omelettes were consistently decent. The fruit and juice were sometimes not fresh. The only positive was the daily cleaning service – the cleaners were polite and kept the rooms tidy.

On our last day, the service we received really was the cherry on top of the cake! When we ordered a Greek coffee – something we’d had every day of our stay – that particular staff member was abrupt and kept repeating, “What coffee you want?” as if they didn’t know what we were asking for or more than likely not listening (which was a running commentary in greece) The same person, along with another staff member, kept approaching us about paying the tourist tax, even though we explained several times we would settle it when collecting our luggage in the evening. We had a late departure and left our bags at the hotel after check-out, but felt harassed throughout the day with repeated reminders about the tax. We ended up paying early just to stop being asked. As for the luggage storage, we were told it was in a “secure” place out back, but it was actually by a stairwell and lift area accessible to anyone. There were no visible cameras, and no staff keeping watch, which left us uneasy for the rest of the day. Definitely not the level of service or care we expected.

Overall, this property is not 3-star standard and should be reassessed immediately. Needs a massive renovation.

Good locations, beachfront, a variety of restaurants although food not great and overpriced.

Variety of excursions and one company “makitis” was cheap for what you got and really good (also a review on that one , as one excursion on our penultimate day was a let down)

Old town not much there places close early. Pharmacy closes early.

If I’m honest it was like being back...

Location is great! Close to the old town with a wonderful beach! Staff was very nice and friendly. 5 stars for that. The room was very disappointing. Not at all the way it is pictured from the hotel. The pillows were awful, very thick and hard, you could hear everything happening during the night on the hallway or outside, the fridge was very loud and we could not turn it off, cause it was full of ice and that would have caused a flood. Also there were random loud cracking noises during the night for which we could not determine a source. The front door had also a non deterministic opening mechanism. The bathroom door could not be closed. The bathroom itself was extremely small and you had to stand in the shower to use the sink. The kitchen had exactly 2 of each utensil and a few pots. Nothing to wash them with. The faucet was leaking or required a lot of force to turn off. They might have renovated rooms and these are the ones you see in the pictures of the hotel. But they look different from what we got. Luckily we did not spend a lot of time in the room, and we managed to...

We stayed in this family runned beach hotel for the 4th time in a room at the 2nd floor with lovely sea view with 2 people. The room is very lovely. Very good bed and nice bathroom. At the balcony you have nice view over the beach, sea and the castle of Rethymno. The small refrigerator gives you plenty of space for some beers, wine or just water. The service is maximum. The very friendly cleaning lady comes along every day. A good Breakfast with all you wish for it is served at the restaurant Agrilia on the main floor and runned by the same family (also for a lovely lunch and diner a perfect spot). The beach hotel is near the beach which is owned by them as well and provided with nice sunbeds. It's also situated about 1km from the old town of Rethymno. From the airport of Heraklion it will take you about 1 hour and 10 mins drive and from the airport of Chania about 50 minutes to get here. You are in the middle of Crete, so plenty to see in the area. I definitely recommend this place for a...