Arina Beach Resort

It was really nice. I have to thank the bartender Dimitre who looked after us at the adult pool. She was great, always helped, gave us advice and even explained more about Crete. We always looked forward to talking to her. She does her job honestly and with her heart, you can see that she cares about every customer. Thank you

This was our second stay at Arina Beach. We first visited two years ago and kept very warm memories of that holiday. When we started thinking about where to go this summer, we noticed in recent reviews that Michelle was back at Arina Beach again this season. That was actually one of the main reasons we chose to return to this hotel. We remembered her so well from our first stay, and knowing that she was here again made the decision very easy for us. We came back, and we did not regret it.

It was also genuinely lovely to see familiar faces again after two years. There is something very special about returning to a hotel and recognising people who were already part of your previous holiday. It makes the place feel familiar in a way that is difficult to create with facilities alone.

A lot has changed in two years, and in a good way. You can see how much work has been done, not just to keep the hotel at the same level, but to make the whole experience more comfortable and fun for the guests. The new kids' room and playground were a particularly nice surprise for our daughter and she really enjoyed them.

For us, one of the best things about Arina Beach is still the staff. So many people here genuinely try their best to make you feel welcome and comfortable. After a few days you start recognising familiar faces, people remember you, smile, joke with you, and this makes a big difference.

And Michelle is still an absolute star. She has so much positive energy and somehow manages to make people want to join in without being pushy. We remembered her after our holiday two years ago for a reason, and the fact that we chose to come back partly because we knew she was here again probably says more than any compliment could.

A big thank you also to Mona and Kieren for entertaining our daughter and making her holiday more fun. When your child is happy on holiday, the parents are happy too :)

And of course we have to mention the bars. Dimitri was definitely our favourite bartender. If you like iced coffee, go to him – his was the best we had in the hotel. His Piña Colada was also our favourite. Irini makes great cocktails too and always serves them with a friendly smile.

The food in general was very good. There is a huge choice and enough variety for different tastes, which is especially important when you stay for two weeks. We never had a problem finding something we liked.

Our only disappointing restaurant experience was Meat & Fish. It was probably the only place in the whole hotel where we didn't really feel welcome. This stood out because our experience with the staff everywhere else was so different. Luckily there are other places in the resort where you can have a very good dinner and spend a much more pleasant evening.

I also want to mention the rooms because I think this can be useful for other guests.

If you are offered room 1220 in the main building, I would honestly ask for another room. In our opinion, this room simply does not correspond to what you would expect from a five-star hotel. We didn't feel comfortable there and its condition was disappointing.

We had a few room-related problems at the beginning of our stay and for a while it was quite frustrating. Eventually, though, the hotel took our concerns seriously and found a good solution for us. We were moved to an upgraded room and after that we could finally relax and enjoy our holiday properly. We really appreciated that they found a solution, and this is also why I don't think it would be fair to judge our whole stay by the problems we had at the beginning.

No hotel is perfect, and there are definitely a few things Arina Beach could still improve. But after visiting twice, what stays with us most is how hard the people working here try to make their guests happy.

We came back after two years, and Michelle was a big part of the reason why. We’re very glad we did. And yes, we would come back again.

We’ve just returned from another fantastic stay at Arina Beach and had an absolutely brilliant family holiday.

The resort itself is excellent. Everything was spotlessly clean, the pools and water slides were a huge hit with the kids, and having the beach right on the doorstep was perfect. Our room was lovely and all of the staff we met were friendly, welcoming and incredibly hard-working. The food also deserves a mention. It was varied, fresh and dangerously tasty. I went away with every intention of showing at least a little restraint, but the buffet had other ideas. By about day three I’d accepted that breakfast, lunch, dinner and the occasional “I’ll just have a look” snack were all going to be full meals, and probably with dessert. Absolutely worth it.

The biggest highlight for us, though, was the entertainment team...particularly Michelle and Kieran. They were absolutely fantastic and our girls, Ayla and Mali, loved them. They seemed to have a completely unreasonable amount of energy from morning until night. As a rapidly ageing dad of two who still likes to believe he’s much younger than he actually is, watching them bouncing around all day and then somehow still having energy for the evening entertainment was both impressive and slightly depressing.

More importantly, they were just brilliant with the children. They remembered them, chatted to them, involved them in everything and made them feel genuinely special. It never felt forced or over the top – they just seemed to really enjoy what they were doing. Michelle and Kieran added a huge amount to our holiday and are a real credit to the hotel. A special mention too for Sugar, who did a henna tattoo for Ayla. She was lovely with her and incredibly talented. Ayla absolutely loved it and was very proud of it for the rest of the holiday.

Overall, Arina Beach is a superb family resort. Great facilities, great food, a brilliant location and, most importantly, some genuinely lovely people working there. We had a fantastic week and would happily come back – although next time I may need to train for both the buffet and the entertainment schedule in advance.