MINOA PALACE RESORT & SPA

Our family had booked three rooms at Minoa Palace Resort for a vacation in Crete, with a total cost of over $5,000. Unfortunately, several days before the day we were scheduled to fly, my mother—who was one of the travelers—was seriously injured in a car accident. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and was hospitalized, making it impossible for her to travel. I contacted the resort immediately to explain the situation and request that our reservation be canceled. I understood that our booking was non-refundable, but I hoped that, given the extraordinary circumstances, the resort would consider making an exception. Even a partial refund, a future credit, or another goodwill gesture would have demonstrated compassion during an incredibly difficult time for our family. The resort declined to offer any accommodation and enforced the cancellation policy without exception. While I respect that businesses have policies, I also believe there should be room for discretion in cases involving serious medical emergencies. Because we never had the opportunity to stay at the resort, I cannot comment on the accommodations, staff, or facilities. My review is based solely on my experience with the resort's customer service. I hope the management will consider handling similar situations with more empathy in the future.

My partner & I chose to stay at the Minoa Palace hotel to celebrate our anniversary, & we are so glad we chose this hotel, as it perfectly suited our needs ! From the moment we arrived (at around midnight, after a delayed flight) we were greeted with really welcoming staff (firstly the super friendly chap on reception made me feel most welcome & chatted with me whilst I was waiting for my partner to park our hire car, then the young man who had only just started working as a Porter at the hotel, who took our luggage to our room & explained various things in the room for us when we got there). We were made to feel so welcome ! There was a treat waiting for us in our room on arrival for our anniversary (chocolate covered strawberries, honey-coated nuts and a bottle of fizz, along with a little card & an explanation about the local tradition of the honeyed nuts, which was a really lovely touch, so thoughtful, & very much appreciated - thank you so much Minoa Palace !). Our room. Our room was large & spacious, with a huge bed, & sofa with coffee table; it was located on the beach side of the resort, with a side sea view from the balcony. It was quite stormy when we arrived, & we could hear the waves quite loudly in our room (with all doors / windows closed !). The air con wasn’t working during our stay as it was early in the season (only blew heat), but it would have been nice to have the option to cool the room down. There was a mini fridge in the room which was very handy to have, plus coffee machine & kettle along with cups, tea/coffee, creamer, sugar sachets, glasses, water, a bottle of wine etc. In the bathroom there was a bath with shower attachment plus a separate shower, & the hotel provided shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand wash & lotion which smelled absolutely devine !! The room was serviced every day & the cleaning staff were lovely ! Breakfast. Such a huge selection of items for breakfast ! The Greek yoghurt, nuts, fruits, seeds & honey were delicious, as were the omelettes which were made fresh to order. Unable to eat breads & cereals myself, I didn’t try any of these but there was a good selection available. You certainly won’t go hungry ! The staff were very friendly & efficient at seating people, serving hot drinks, & clearing tables. We did not eat in the restaurant at any other meal times so unable to comment on this. Hotel & Location. The hotel is located on the edge of Platanias, but all the restaurants, bars, shops are within walking distance (on the flat). The hotel is split into two parts by the main road through Platanias (with a bridge over the road connecting the two parts), so you can hear some traffic noise around the 'top' pool area / gardens etc, but it is still pleasant. The hotel & grounds are spotlessly clean & well maintained, & there is a little shop, bars, restaurants etc, so you could easily get what you need in resort. They have notice boards near the shop which advise the music shows etc they have on each night, but we did not experience any of these ourselves. There’s a little book swap stand opposite reception (near the piano bar) where you can leave your holiday reads for other guests or help yourself to a new book, which I thought was a great idea. The hotel very kindly left us a gift bag containing Cretan teas on our last day, which again was a very thoughtful touch ! All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay here & would happily return !

EDIT (original post below - I was contacted by the hotel after the post so I have added this to my review). Upon reading my review, the hotel called me and offered to move us to a room a few doors down but, understandably, they did not know if that would resolve the situation. We didn’t move as this wasn’t a solution and we accepted that smoking is something tolerated and allowed in Crete. Important Note: This review is just to let people who might be sensitive to cigarette smoke know that it’s an issue here. —— Original review: We are here now and wanted to give an honest review. We are in the beach side of the hotel having paid to upgrade to a side sea view. The rooms are ok, a little tired but comfortable beds. The biggest issue is the smoking. Smoking is allowed on the balconies and guests on both sides of us are regularly smoking. This means our balcony is almost unusable and we must keep our balcony door shut. It’s a real shame. The food is good (we are B&B) - fairly basic breakfast but excellent service. In fact every member of staff has been first class. I’m sorry to say that the smoking issue would put me off returning. Hopefully in the future, they might follow the no smoking rules that some of their European neighbours have implemented!