Aquila Rithymna Beach

The children's play area was lovely, and the shows for them were very good. But we had to negotiate to move to an accessible room, since reaching ours meant climbing stairs with a stroller, which is unacceptable for a five-star hotel. The rooms are old and don't look like the pictures, especially the bathroom. Drinks aren't included with half board, and that wasn't stated anywhere.

I felt almost invisible at times, since the hotel is so focused on children. The beach, waterpark and kids' facilities might explain its five-star rating, and it seems ideal for families, but I wouldn't recommend it for couples or solo travelers. Some areas need renovation too. On floor 3, the carpet was torn and could trip someone. There were good choices in the main restaurant, but the a la carte places charged extra unless you upgraded, even though I booked All Inclusive Plus. In practice, that doesn't exist. I'd give the hotel three or four stars.

The rooms aren't huge, but they were big enough, and I really liked the balcony and bathroom. One nuisance was the shower: with no curtain or way to close it off, the bathroom floor got wet. We also found a lot of ants in the room. Still, we had an amazing seven days. Breakfast had a great choice, and the food at many of the included restaurants was amazing. I told the receptionist how kind and friendly the staff were. After a few days, they'd recognize you and greet you with so much enthusiasm. I loved the stay.

The best part for us was the beds, pools and waterpark. The beds were comfortable, the pools nice and the waterpark fun. Food was plentiful, but ranged from inedible to mediocre, with odd dishes like “chicken soup with pineapple” that sounded made up by a 12-year-old. The lobby looks good, but the old facilities, small rooms and weak A/C didn't feel like five-star quality. Showers swung from freezing to scalding, and the water pressure was painfully weak. Wi-Fi barely reached 10 Mbps. The lifts seemed like leftovers from the Ryugyong Hotel, although they worked and were OTIS, and you still had to climb a flight of stairs to get to them. One friend found stained towels, another had bugs in his bed, and two rooms had ants. Service was the biggest letdown. Staff were rude and unwelcoming, and quick to reprimand guests over trivial things. I didn't feel like a guest, more like a subject. When our party went to the front desk to complain about ants in the room, the manager wasn't helpful and said bad reviews on google were good for his business. I took him at his word, so here I am doing him a favour. The famous Greek hospitality was hard to find inside this hotel, but you can still find it all around it. Crete is definitely a great holiday destination. This felt like a three-star experience being sold as five.