Imperial Palace Adults Only — Hotel in Municipality of Rethymnon

We stayed here for 5 nights. ||The first night we got here, there was about an hour left of dinner so went to have dinner as we had dinner & breakfast included. The staff took ages to come over to offer drinks, we had to go over to them but then they sent us back to advise its table service. The buffet was cold and food was not nice, we ended up having one plate of the same thing because there was nothing else edible. Then we got our drinks after our food. We’ve been to many all inclusive resorts so know what a atleast decent buffet / dinner service should be like. ||The next morning we thought we’d give breakfast a go as it’s maybe not towards the end of the service and a different meal, so we went about 8:30am and again it was not nice. Still cold and the pancakes, french toast just tasted hard and sour. ||Breakfast closes at 10:30, so if you miss breakfast there’s no other breakfast you can get. You can order from lunch menu but no breakfast you can order.||Also as the buffet was not nice, we tried to go to other places for breakfast so walked to two cafes that said they were open from 10am about 8 minute walk but they weren’t doing food till 12. So the town is the only place which does food that’s close really, and that’s a 15 minute taxi for €18 one way. So even though the food was included for us, we ended up paying taxis into town and eating out which was obviously a lot more expensive for us. ||We also paid to use the bus into town one day and waited 20 minutes and it never arrived, so went back to reception and had to book a taxi anyway so I wouldn’t rely on the bus timetable.||I had to pay an additional €40 upon arrival which we weren’t aware of, €10 per night apparently for environmental charges? ||When it came to sleeping, the bed was comfy but we had a thin sheet as our duvet. Normally when we go abroad they have a thin duvet kind of sheet as it’s hot, but this was literally the same sheet as the mattress protector we had on the bed which felt like we just had floppy paper over us. So we had to get up late and go to reception to ask for an actual duvet (no number in the room to call reception even though there’s a phone). We thought it was crazy to not even provide a duvet or throw. ||One reception staff member was super friendly and so lovely, she helped us check in and took us to our room. The others were not. Whilst we were waiting in the reception after we’d checked out waiting an hour for our cab to the airport, one lady come and asked me to take my feet off a footstool as people may want to sit there even though the whole reception area was empty with about 30 other seats and I’d seen people laying across the whole sofas the whole trip, bit petty and annoyed me even more considering how crappy our stay had been. She was the lady that checked us out and didn’t ask how our stay was or for any feedback ||View from balcony was just a muddy field so didn’t use that ||Sometimes they’d help us book cabs, and other times they’d say you have to find for yourself if it was coming back to the hotel which wasn’t very helpful. Believe you can rent a car from reception if you’d prefer that and are here longer ||Not sure if it’s positive or negative but the room is all open with a glass door to close the toilet & shower. Which is a bit odd, but the only place to relax would be on the bed and you’ve got the noise of the shower or you can hear and smell everything from the toilet. If you like your privacy with these kind of things or aren’t too comfortable around someone yet then this room is not for you haha!||The positives: |Wifi works and is free ||Pool area was smaller than the pictures make it look but still nice and you don’t have to rush to get a sunbed, lots of beds always available and seemed to be quiet until about 10am ||The food you can order at the bar and PAY for was fine, we had lunch one day and it was fine. ||There’s a little shop inside the hotel you can get snacks, suncream & medicine but hardly any variety of food but it’s there if you wanted something ||Room was always made up with fresh towels & clean by the time we came back in the evening||One night we came back after being out for dinner and there was a whole evening entertainment of Greek dancers, so that would have been nice to know to attend so maybe ask at reception which night that’s on so you know in advance as we weren’t told anything but looked like a good evening ||Overall, we’re not the type of people to moan but when there’s a lot of basic things that just aren’t good then it’s just not acceptable in our eyes. For a 4 star hotel I’d expect a lot of these basics to be ALOT better. Looking back at these reviews it seems there’s alot of the same feedback on food, staff & location. Aware the location can’t be changed but if the hotel was good enough then people wouldn’t be so bothered about potential eating out or venturing out. We were here for a wedding but if I was here for my summer holiday I’d be even more disappointed. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel and definitely won’t be back. Hope they can take the feedback on board and make improvements for...

My wife and I spent 10 nights at this hotel. From the very start, right through to the last moment we couldn't have asked for a better experience. |Because of late flights, we were due to arrive at around 1 am and really weren't expecting anything on arrival except a swift booking in procedure, so when we were told we'd been upgraded from a double room to a suite we were very pleasantly surprised. We were also offered a lovely pasta salad in case we were hungry after the journey which we both gratefully accepted and devoured having not realised just how hungry we were.|We had hired a car from just outside the airport and I would advise anyone else to think about hiring a car if you want the convenience of independent travel while staying here. You can park out the back of the hotel on a very quiet little road with access to the hotel grounds from the rear.|The suite was modern, clean, spacious, quiet and very comfortable with all the amenities one would expect. There just wasn't any traffic noise at night, there's nothing else I can say about that.|One evening, a couple of days into our stay we noticed a mysterious water leak coming down the wall, I informed reception, not to complain, but just to let them know about it and it was immediately addressed by the front desk and we were offered a different room, which we didn't take up as we really didn't feel it was needed and we were happy with the room. The next morning the hotel technician came, assessed the problem and fixed it completely with no further leaks for the rest of our stay. Things happen, all you can ask is that they're dealt with efficiently, and I couldn't possibly have asked for a better response from all concerned.|The restaurant is buffet style both for breakfast and dinner with a good selection to choose from at breakfast including having one of the chefs cook any type of omelette requested if you wish. Dinner has even more choice and I availed myself of several starter dishes and deserts every night as well as a great choice in both international and Greek cuisine for main dishes. No complaints at all.|A very reasonably priced lunch option is available from the pool bar and it really was a very good price for food compared to when we ate out for lunch in Rethymno, Heraklion or Chania.|This is a very clean hotel, you will constantly see staff washing and cleaning around the pool in the morning, mopping the floors throughout the day as well as keeping all the rooms clean and well serviced.|What makes a great hotel standout from a very good one? In my opinion it's the staff that make the difference. The staff at CHC Imperial Palace, and I mean every single one of them from the cleaners, restaurant staff, front of house and pool bar staff are only too happy to be as helpful and friendly as you could possibly ask for. Their welcoming nature and helpful friendliness seems effortless and never forced. I can't emphasise enough how much of an asset they all are to the successful running of this hotel.|If I come back to Crete, this will be my first choice of hotel to book.|I'd like to extend our thanks to Elena and all the staff at CHC Imperial Palace for making our stay just about as good as it could have been from the moment we arrived until we sadly...

Just back from a weeks stay at the Imperial Palace Hotel and overall I would give the hotel a four star rating. We were booked half board and we hired a car at the airport in Chania. We arrived just as the restaurant was closing and the receptionist quickly arranged to allow us full access to the buffet style evening menu and we thought that was a great touch by her and the kitchen staff. We parked on the front of the hotel to off load our bags and then moved the car to the street behind the hotel. I suggest using Google Maps to get directions to the hotel as tis got us to the door without issue. There were so many positives about the accommodation and the staff in general. The reception ladies were excellent as was the bar lady, who makes a fantastic Mojito, and these are 8 euros and a large beer is still 5euro which for a hotel is good value. That would sum up the Imperial Palace, good value all round. The room we had was 209 and this is a suite and it was very comfortable and spotlessly clean. There were twin beds which was a surprise, but the beds were superb in terms of comfort and the pillows were bang on as well. The food served was not as good as everything else, and the toaster / panini maker needs sorting out. We only attended breakfast on one morning, and one proper evening meal. Instead we ate out, using the two local restaurants, which were both excellent. The nearest one was our favourite, and his across the road and down the track / road. It is beach side as is the other, about 50m down the main road, and again down the beach track. I would highly recommend these two places and because the hotel was such good value in terms of room rates, the fact we paid out for food was not an issue at all. We feel we had a great room for what we spent and treated it as a room only deal. The hotel is approximately 1.5 to 2hrs drive from the airport, but it is a simple drive. I strongly suggest hiring a car whilst staying here, and this gives you easy access to so many good beaches and a 2 to 3 hr drive is Elafonisi beach. This has to be one of the very best beaches in Europe. It is simply stunning and being early in the season we easily managed to get parking 5euro a day, easily. We are informed that changes in high season when you can expect to find the car parks full by 9 to 9.30am. Just ask the hotel receptionists which beaches they recommend and get up and out early. You can stop half way and get some breakfast from a local bakery on route. The question we always ask ourselves is, Would we stay here again and we would defiantly be happy to return here. There are far more positives than negatives. Our choice of eating was universal and most guests seemed to be happy with the buffet. If you use any restaurants in Crete, try the local semi sweet house white wine, they really...