Lyttos Beach Resort

The Lyttos Beach facilities are a real strength. It’s clean and spacious, clearly aimed at families, with a large animation and sports program, plenty of pools, restaurants for around 650 rooms, kids’ activities, and a decent-sized water park. The sports and animation options are the best and biggest we’ve seen at a resort. Check-in was quick, and the app has the key information if you have a code. Excursions are widely available, as they are around Crete, mostly €30-50 pP. Staff were generally friendly, though not especially proactive. A few things are worth knowing. The Lyttos grounds contain two hotels, Beach and Mare, and that isn’t always obvious. Mare is the slightly more upscale, adults-only option. We were rebooked to Lyttos Beach because our original choice was still being renovated, so this wasn’t our pick. We visited in late May, when it was very much a family hotel, with children seeming to outnumber adults. Its size makes it feel crowded around the main pool, bar, and entertainment area, and there isn’t really a quiet hideaway. There’s lots of food choice, but the quality fell short. Meat and fish were average at best, food was often lukewarm, and it was all buffet or self-serve, even in the themed restaurants. They keep cooking to replenish dishes and make omelettes to order in the morning. Thalassa is the best option for its limited menu and fresh wok cooking, otherwise Kalypso. For sustainability, there are lots of plastic bottles and cups, and not all are reusable, except in the main pool area. There’s no option to skip fresh room towels when they make up the room. There were also a lot of stray cats, more than we usually see in Greece. A family member was bitten by one while simply walking on the beach and had to get treatment for an infection at the medical center. WiFi was patchy, generally best around the main restaurant and bar. This is a solid general choice, especially for families with young kids, but it didn’t stand out as exceptional or outstanding among the Greek resorts we’ve visited over the years.

You can easily spend your whole stay inside the hotel and miss the relaxed, friendly atmosphere along the beach just outside. The Lyttos is huge, with so much to do that it takes some planning to make the most of it. It’s also a bit of a maze at first, even though the signs are good. Plan ahead and it can be an amazing experience.

The hotel’s location is quite isolated, with only small shops nearby, so you’ll need a public bus to reach the city. We also ran into rude staff at some bars two or three times, which isn’t pleasant when you’re on holiday and just asking for a drink. On bad-weather days the indoor pool fills up quickly. It’s an adequate size, but not for a hotel this large. There’s lots to do if you want to be active: tennis, padel, football, and a gym. They regularly host a professional tennis tournament, which gives you an idea of the size of the facilities. The outdoor playground is also big and nice. The family room was quite large and had five beds instead of the four we expected. We were lucky to be put in the Lyttos Mare section, rooms 40XX, which had been reallocated to Lyttos Beach. Those rooms are larger than the equivalent family rooms at Lyttos Beach and have a very large double bed. The beach has plenty of seating, and there are many pools and a big waterpark. Infrastructure was the main reason to choose this hotel. The food was quite good, above average for an all-inclusive hotel, although we’ve had better.

The kids loved the water park, especially the cool tubes and river pool, and the indoor pool was great on bad-weather days. But the chairs for parents were extremely uncomfortable. Children under 15 can’t use the gym even with an adult, and most outdoor pools aren’t heated. The athletes’ pool is the exception, though it’s mostly used for training. There are nice beach chairs, but watch for concrete slabs that were sometimes in the water. There was no lifeguard. A few shops sell souvenirs, clothes, snacks, and beach gear. The food was delicious and varied, though cats wandered around freely and the furry ones sometimes tried to grab food from plates. Mealtimes also felt like a sports camp, with athletes showing little basic courtesy. Dining room staff were impatient, asking every five minutes if we’d finished or trying to take plates and glasses while we were still using them. Our stay often felt more like a sports camp than a five-star hotel. We were assigned a room between young athletes’ rooms and put up with loud noise and bravado from the corridor, next door, and terrace. We stopped wanting to use the terrace. The family room was narrow and stuffy, with two beds in a windowless room. It had two bathrooms, but one was so small the door couldn’t open all the way. There were no slippers or shoehorn. The beds were comfortable, but the blanket covers were too small, leaving a quarter of each blanket uncovered. Both adjustable ventilation units were quite noisy. Staff were intrusive in other ways too. On arrival, our suitcases were taken without explanation, and we didn’t get the room for four hours. We had to find the bags and take them to the luggage room ourselves. Employees came into our room despite the “do not disturb” sign. In the evenings, young staff tried to entertain guests by chatting, but one was drunk and made us uncomfortable. There was only one beach towel station, and the employee accepted our towels but wouldn’t give us replacements because it wasn’t the right time.