Phaea Cretan Malia (ex. Cretan Malia Park)

Having booked a junior suite we were led to believe that this would offer more amenities besides the larger room size, however not at this resort. The main pool area shared with a kids/baby friendly area is the only place you can get a seat around a pool . The river pool only has seating that is reserved for bungalows, which are much cheaper than the suites and a fraction of the young kids and baby’s. So if you book a more expensive suite you do not have any seating at the river pool. In addition we were told at the main pool we could not have our drinks in the pool in the plastic cups that they serve the beer or wine in due to hygienic concerns????? Now they serve bottles glass of sodas on the pool deck, which is obviously not a concern. The pool is filled with babies and kids, swimming diapers are good, but if hygiene is the reason plastic cups are of a concern then I am confused. Maybe the rule is, no alcohol in the pool, but allowed and sold at a good markup all around the pool. So the act of having a drink in a plastic cup in the main pool is prohibited!!! You can go to the beach shack and order whatever you want with no priority seating areas. Upon check in we were told that breakfast was at the buffet restaurant- but Maurice’s is the one designated if you rent a one bedroom suite. However, another asterisk you have to reserve this prior to breakfast. Only one night in and this is far from the resort they try to advertise.

We booked this hotel expecting a premium 5-star experience, but it turned out to be a total disappointment. The resort is overcrowded, packed with loud toddlers, and the main restaurant feels exactly like a cheap school cafeteria rather than a luxury buffet. The spa is a huge letdown—it is very small, basic, freezing cold due to the air conditioning, and completely lacks that warm, relaxing "spa feeling" or a welcoming smile from the staff.To make matters worse, the beach is full of sharp rocks, and the service is terrible. None of their restaurants have a designated smoking area. Last night at dinner, our waiter was incredibly rude and disrespectful just because we asked where we could smoke. Because of his unacceptable attitude, we felt so uncomfortable that we left and had to pay to eat at another restaurant, despite having already paid for Half Board.This hotel has 5-star prices but 2-star management and service. An absolute failure. Save your money and go elsewhere.

The hotel is pleasant enough, we had a room with a shared private pool area which gave us a little peace. If you had to share the main pool and don’t like screaming babies and children I would highly advise you to seek accommodation elsewhere. The hotels guest were predominantly young families with toddlers or babies, the pool area looked like a crèche! Constant screaming and crying and definitely not a peaceful experience. Into other areas of the hotel which I believe fell short. The hotels website sells itself on eco-friendly locally cooked food, but in reality you have to PAY to dine in these restaurants which they fail to mention, we felt very let down. The Mediterranean restaurant is about ok, the food is warm at best, kept alive on ‘hot plates’ or sometimes candles, piping hot food is not to be expected here. However I suspect dining in the restaurants that require payment would be a different matters We wanted to eat in one of the small snack bars, but €18 for one crepe put us off for the whole time we stayed there, outrageous price. Sadly the hotel is about a 30 minute walk from any supermarket and the town, the taxi is €10 each way (cash). We ended up ordering from a supermarket in town via an app called WOLT and avoid paying the hotels ramped up prices. Would I come here again, no. Recommend for young families with small children.

One of the best experiences , the place is very authentic and you feel that you belong to the place. Every details is very well thought off. The food was excellent and the team were amazing.

The arrival experience set a promising tone: warm, welcoming staff, a smooth check-in, and the kind of hospitality you'd expect from a five-star resort. Unfortunately, that was the high point of the stay. The room itself was attractive and well-appointed, but it was marketed as beachfront, which is generous at best. While it technically overlooked the beach, the view was largely obscured by trees, and there was no direct beach access from the room. Being on the first floor meant that getting anywhere near the sand required exiting through the back and walking around the building—a far cry from the effortless beachfront experience advertised. The bathroom was perhaps the biggest surprise, and not in a good way. I've stayed in many three-star hotels with larger, better-designed bathrooms. It felt cramped, poorly ventilated, and noticeably below the standard one would expect at this price point. The pool situation perfectly illustrates the gap between marketing and reality. The resort advertises three pools, but during our stay only one was truly usable. Unsurprisingly, it was packed from morning until evening with screaming toddlers and families. If you weren't out reserving a sun lounger before 8 a.m., you had virtually no chance of finding one later. The lazy river was actually lovely—peaceful, relaxing, and noticeably less crowded—but all of the loungers surrounding it were reserved for guests staying in adjacent rooms, making it effectively inaccessible for everyone else. As for the restaurants, expectations should be adjusted accordingly. Mediterraneo breakfast offers a decent buffet, but after the second day you realise you've seen everything there is to see. There was virtually no variation throughout our stay. The restaurant itself was chronically overcrowded, with service that struggled under the pressure. Empty plates piled up on tables, and ordering a coffee often felt like a negotiation exercise. On several occasions we had to ask multiple times, only to be forgotten altogether. The problem wasn't the staff, who were generally pleasant, but rather a management decision to cram far too many tables into the space while providing far too few servers. The dinner buffet was a step up. Food quality was generally good, and service was noticeably better. However, the same issue remained: very limited variation from day to day, which quickly becomes repetitive at a resort where guests are staying for a week or more. Mouries was where things went from disappointing to absurd. The service was perfectly acceptable, but the food was a genuine disaster given the prices being charged. The low point was a tiny, overgrilled octopus arm served on cold mashed potato—a dish that somehow managed to be both underwhelming and overpriced at the same time. If a restaurant wants to charge five-star prices, it needs to deliver five-star food and five-star execution. Mouries delivers neither. Almyra was the standout restaurant in terms of food quality. The setting is beautiful, the dishes were genuinely enjoyable, and it was easily our best dining experience on the property. That said, the pricing still felt ambitious for what was delivered. What made that experience particularly disappointing was that we were celebrating my husband's 50th birthday. This was hardly a secret—we were travelling with giant balloons displaying a large "50," and the hotel had been informed in advance that this was the purpose of our trip. Yet not a single member of staff acknowledged the occasion. No congratulations, no small gesture, not even a candle on the dessert we ordered. Luxury hospitality is often defined by attention to detail, and this felt like a remarkably easy opportunity to create a memorable moment that was simply ignored. The Beach Shak deserves a special mention, albeit for all the wrong reasons. Charging €26 for a burger and chips that appeared to have come entirely from the freezer aisle takes a certain level of confidence. Equally memorable were three breaded, deep-fried shrimp served in miniature tacos for €20. I genuinely struggle to remember another meal where I paid so much and enjoyed it so little. To add insult to injury, the venue closed at 6 p.m. every day despite being advertised as operating until 1 a.m., making it impossible to enjoy the sunset drinks that were prominently featured in the resort's marketing materials. The one consistently excellent venue throughout our stay was the pool bar. Service was friendly and efficient, cocktails were genuinely good, and it was one of the few places that actually felt aligned with the standards the resort claims to offer. Another area where the resort deserves some credit is The Place, the teen hangout space. It was thoughtfully designed and gave older children and teenagers somewhere to spend time away from the crowded main areas. The table tennis was popular, and the movie evenings were a nice touch that created a relaxed atmosphere without feeling overly organised. Overall, this resort suffers from a severe identity crisis. It charges five-star-plus prices while delivering, in many areas, a two-star service experience. Between the overcrowding, misleading marketing, mediocre food, lack of attention to detail, and constant struggle for basic amenities such as sun loungers, the reality falls far short of the luxury experience being sold. What makes this even more disappointing is that we had informed the hotel in advance that we were visiting to celebrate my husband's 50th birthday. Yet this special occasion appeared to be completely ignored throughout our stay—not just by the restaurant, but by the hotel as a whole. We weren't expecting champagne and fireworks; simply a small gesture, a note in the room, or even a "happy birthday" would have demonstrated the level of attentiveness one expects from a luxury property. Instead, the occasion passed entirely unnoticed. A beautiful location and some genuinely friendly staff cannot compensate for a resort that consistently overpromises and underdelivers. In the end, this felt like a resort charging five-star prices for an experience that, too often, wasn't even close.