Solimar Aquamarine Resort

The location near Chania is great, and there’s a cute hotel dog called Aqua who’s a wonderful companion for the kids. My family and I had two incredible weeks here. The rooms were comfortable, the staff really nice, and the food delicious. An excellent place to stay!

The dining area had a dog. She was cute, called Aqua I think, very friendly and didn’t bark much. There’s a pool bar with drinks, and self-service up the stairs to the left of its main window. The main pool is only 1.45m deep, and the kids’ pool is 0.40m, or 40cm. There are no slides, just the pools. Food at breakfast, lunch and dinner was usually cold or had cooled down. I found a cockroach in the shower, an ant in my beans, and fried hairs in the gyros chicken. I’d give the place 2.5 stars overall. The hotel could improve, though there are good places to explore outside Chania. I strongly recommend Elafonisi’s Pink sand beach and lagoon.

This resort is desperately in need of maintenance. We had three rooms and came away with the scars of one visit too many. In the first room there was a fan-like or white-noise sound, even with the AC and other possible sources turned off. We were moved without any questions to an upgraded room with a pool, but that room had already been booked by incoming guests for the next day, so it wasn’t to be. Its towel handles, hangers and handrails were all broken anyway. The third and final room was another maintenance nightmare. The shower drain didn’t work, so the bathroom kept flooding. At least its towel rack was fixed to the wall. The room was next to the emergency water tank and diesel generator, and in the morning there were horrible stale-water smells. The pool was good, and so was the kids’ pool. They could use some heating for autumn visits, though I expect it isn’t needed in summer. The food was by far the best part. Staff tried their best, but can’t make up for greedy management and poor maintenance.

The pools were only okay, and the food was decent but got repetitive. Our family room, number 113, had mold and a horrible damp smell, which was shocking in a room intended for families with kids. During the stay our child became ill. On our last day we asked to stay four extra hours, but were quoted €50. We negotiated one free hour instead, then had to wait four hours for our airport transfer. The reception and dining areas were freezing from very strong air conditioning, so we tried the bar, but were told to leave because the hotel apparently didn't trust guests around the alcohol. This was one of the worst five-star hotels I've stayed in. I left deeply disappointed with the hotel, Greece, the hospitality, and the local attractions. I won't return.