Grecotel LUXME White — Hotel in Municipality of Rethymnon

We booked in Grecotel LuxeMe WhitePalace in Crete in early May. We were a group of seven (five adults, a child and an infant) and booked one Grand Family suite and a double room for six nights. ||We found out later that if a room is booked for seven nights, the transfer to and from the airport is free. We approached the hotel to see if they'd make us an offer as, although we had booked for six nights, we had booked two rooms and would travel together in one vehicle. But the hotel adamantly stuck to their rule. They wouldn't even offer a one-way free transfer or a discount. Their free transfer advert is misleading as it does not specify for 7-night bookings only. ||We arrived at about 8 pm. By the time we settled in our rooms, it was nearly 8.30. We were told that the buffet dinner would close at 9.30! So, we needed to rush. The self-service restaurant looked like a fish market! They knew what time we were arriving but had made no effort for us to have a relaxed meal. ||At first sight the resort looks luxurious, until you settle in. The rooms are pretty basic and tired looking. The shower was extremely small and uncomfortable. In the family suite, there was no walk-in shower in the main bathroom. Only over the bath shower which was extremely inconvenient due to very small and old-fashioned bath tub. There was virtually no where to put/hang things in the separate stand-alone shower and a separate toilet with hand basin.||At the buffet breakfast, the floor in the outdoor area was dirty and slippery. Even indoor floor was not safe. One of the guests did slip and hit her head. She needed to go to the hospital. ||The breakfast-tables were left uncleared for extended time, attracting flies and making the surroundings look unwelcoming. We, more than once, had to clear a table and set it up ourselves. ||Rather than being offered water, tea and coffee as part of standard service, we had to ask for it, often repeatedly. Clearly there was not enough staff to look after the turnover of guests for breakfast. Over all we did not feel a welcoming attitude from the staff. Dissatisfaction or lack of training?||We were often told a service restaurant was fully booked, when it clearly had empty tables! It was obvious that the management preferred people to use self-service which required less staff to serve. ||On our last evening there, we wanted to eat in the Italian restaurant which had table service, in order to have a relaxed end of our stay there. We were told that it was fully booked for the evening. However, we saw that the restaurant was almost empty but for a group of ten or twelve people at one table and one couple sitting at another. (see the photos). The restaurant manager said that the kitchen staff could not cope with more people!! A restaurant in a 5-star resort could not serve more than one party of 13 people!! The Guest Service Manager then tried to explain that the group of 13 was representing some agency and the management wanted to give full attention to entertaining them!! When we made our annoyance very clear, the general manager offered us a table but having sat there for 15 minutes or more, we were not offered a menu or even a bottle of water. So, we left in order to save our last evening from being ruined further. Obviously, the restaurant staff were peeved off that we were offered a table having been refused by them initially.||Our overall impression? The place is undeserving of a resort claiming 5-star status. It is not a guest centred resort. The living rooms are basic and old fashioned. The main swimming pool was cold. The service is poor and public areas, especially breakfast area, is unclean, slippery and dangerous. Apart from breakfast, choice for vegetarians is very limited. Moreover, they do not label vegetarian food clearly. A ‘traditional egg plant dish’ was filled with meat!||On our return, we got a message from the general manager asking for our feedback. I promptly gave him my response. His response was? A discount on our next visit!!! Hilarious of him to think that we were going back there again. It’s like when you buy a washing machine and find scratches on it, the dealer offers a discount on the next washing machine you buy from them! ||Needless to say, customer satisfaction is not a high priority for this establishment. Don’t book this place if you are looking for an enjoyable...

We have just returned from a six night stay at the Grecotel and I wanted to write a review quickly whilst I can still remember as much detail as possible to help! Firstly, the hotel is absolutely beautiful - I would highly recommend it and would give it 5 stars straight away!!|Arrival at the hotel is stunning, we arrived just as the sun was setting and it’s a view you will look forward to every evening. |We were traveling as a family of three and stayed in the White family sea view room. The room was perfect, our daughter (23 yrs) had her own bed in the living area which she said was very comfy and then we had a large king size bed in the main bedroom with its own double shower which was great for privacy ( and speed! to get ready in the mornings) The main bathroom was good and the room has all the essentials ( fridge, coffee machine etc) The room had two separate balconies and a lovely see view. It was perfect and would have been big enough for 4 adults. ||The breakfast is amazing with everything you could possibly want and I felt it catered for many nationalities and their preferences. The staff are so lovely, welcoming and will help you choose which area you prefer to sit in and deliver that first important cup of coffee!||The main pool area is lovely, so clean and the beds are huge & comfy. The hotel does not allow beds to be reserved before 1030 and the pool attendant does an amazing job at removing towels etc if it is obvious that someone has tried to reserve a bed before breakfast. He is also great at trying to find you a bed when needed, helping with the umbrellas etc. We were always able to find beds after breakfast ( but it was during term time so high season may be much busier) At around 4 pm there were lots of free areas as families left to get ready for the evening. ||The all inclusive food service was just fabulous. Everything from drinks and snacks by the pool all day to any of the a la carts restaurants as well as the buffet were excellent. The drinks were all included as well and were so good. Cocktails, spirits and of course the wine library in the buffet restaurant. It really was excellent in every aspect. My daughter used the app to pre book our dinner reservations and I would say this is vital as we weren’t able to do ‘walk ins’ on the two evenings we didn’t have reservations ( we ate at the buffet those nights and it was still 5 star service and a good selection of food) but to get the full experience I highly recommend booking all of the a la carte restaurants before arrival. The concierge service was great at adding an extra booking on when we weren’t able to on the app so try that if you experience problems. ||The hotel has a little shop downstairs which stocks everything you might need ( sun cream, gifts, pool inflatables, toiletries etc etc) and there is a fab ice cream kiosk which does the most amazing crepes and has a vast selection of ice creams to indulge in!||My daughter used both the outdoor and indoor gym every day and really enjoyed taking part in a Pilates class as well. ||Evenings were just great. Watching the sunset with a glass of Prosecco at 2030 then onto dinner was lovely. There is a really great atmosphere in the main bar area with lots of families there to enjoy the sunset, service and entertainment. ||We booked this trip very last minute and like many people I think was comparing hotels in Greece which offer the all inclusive package ( at different price points). I honestly feel like this is a hidden gem, I will definitely be booking again for September or June again. ||Just a point to bear in mind regards travel. We arrived at Chania and had to wait for 2 hours there to clear passport and collect our bags ( could have just been a busy day) Some people had pre booked taxis to their destination and were having trouble asking their drivers to wait for them. We got an airport taxi which cost €120 ( cash only) and on the way back we asked the hotel to arrange a taxi €130 - this was in a lovely air conditioned Mercedes 8 seater and much more comfortable so I would recommend doing that. It’s a one hour fifteen transfer time. ||I hope that helps if you are deciding to book this hotel! Thank you to ALL the staff, from the ladies who cleaned our room to the restaurant managers and everyone else…you offered us the best service and we are very...

This is a half-renovated hotel being marketed as luxury. In fact, it’s previous name is still visible throughout the premises, and in some cases hastily plastered over with a sticker.

We booked one of the cheaper rooms, but were surprised by how poor the quality was. The mattress was terrible — we could feel every spring despite both of us weighing 80 and 50kg. The pillows were extremely lumpy and felt like they were filled with cotton balls.

The air-conditioning in the room was useless as you are unable to control the temperature, only the fan speed. The room was always warm. After I asked them to look into it, they promised that they had already sent someone who had “fixed it”. But it felt exactly the same after which left me feeling like I had been lied to.

The shower temperature was so cold that we weren’t able to shower comfortably in the mornings despite how warm the room was. Just ducking in and out of the water despite the temperature being set to the warmest. I appreciate the cold water in the afternoons but being able to summon at least room temperature water would have been appreciated.

The giant lamps on the two bed side tables took up 99% of the room of the side table thus defeating the entire purpose of a table. They also used the only electricity plug leaving us with either nowhere to charge our phones or no light. Because of course besides the side lamps there was no ceiling light, just a terribly wobbly floor lamp incapable of lighting the room properly by itself.

The furniture in the room was from the 70s or 80s and betrayed the slick marketing of the hotel. The latest coat of white wall paint was so hastily applied that they didn’t both to finish between the bathroom door and the wall. This same door of course that would only close with a forceful push, the resulting slam waking up anyone sleeping in the room with you.

We were asked upon being shown our room if we wanted slippers and robes. When we said yes they of course never arrived.

Absolutely nothing about this room said “lux”. This room should be closed to guests immediately until it can be brought up to the very minimum of standards.

In general the staff are friendly and helpful, though it seems like their hard work is betrayed by poor organisation and management. The check-in experience was great, probably the highlight of the stay unfortunately. The service at the sunset bar and the themed restaurants was by far the best.

Service around the main pool was confused. At many points there were 3x more people picking up empty glasses than taking orders which led to a comical scene where someone would order with a non-server who would then run over and tell a server someone’s order often leading to broken-telephone-caused incorrect drink orders.

We experienced this ourselves at the main pool when we asked for water and were delivered 1L bottles without glasses. I had to ask for a glass three times over the course of an hour before it arrived.

The two pools are great, though the main pool does not have anywhere near enough lounge chairs, we didn’t manage to get one on our first two days and had to wake up at 8am every subsequent morning to get a pair. Nothing is more relaxing like waking up at 8am on your vacation to battle hordes of lounge chair seekers.

The beach area(s) are fine but don’t expect an amazing beach, it’s relatively narrow and pebbly but still enjoyable as long as you’re aware going into it as we were. The one time we stayed on the beach for 4+ hours we never had a drink order taken despite the menu being on table, I’m not sure if there really isn’t any service there or something went wrong.

The “bonus” amenities like the chocolate bar was nice as was the wine library in the buffet area. But less nice in context of the rest. This seems like a hotel completely forgetting the fundamentals and focussing on flashy marketable features. I don’t care about your chocolate if I...