Iberostar Creta Marine

Incredible massage. Thank you to Christos for this amazing moment

A good hotel overall and we had a lovely family holiday but small improvements needed for a 5 star experience. Having stayed in zafiro palace and Iberostar hotels in Majorca I like to think I have a good comparator.

A few examples - check in took 55 mins. Had to forward on our BA vouchers even though rooms are already allocated. Why??? and to be honest I was fed up by the time we finally got to our rooms having left home at 5am.

Reception staff polite and friendly but we felt like we were being a bit of a nuisance when we wanted to change our restaurant booking; not the way you should be made to feel.

The À la Carte restaurants (Thalassa) are serving the same amount of food for “mixed starters” for 2 people as they are for a family of 5 which felt tight and we had to ask for more food which in fairness was then readily supplied. You have to order pudding at the same time as mains; to make life easier for them but not how it should be. It’s the small details like this that matter. The food was however lovely; although the rib eye which we paid extra for was a bit chewy and fatty.

The buffet food was ok but quite samey each day, a bit different from Majorca iberostar - the fresh seafood was a bit limited here. Apparently there was a night of lobster tails and oysters - maybe all gone by the time we got there? The buffet generally felt chaotic but food was fresh and adequate. Just lacked that extra something.

A lifeguard, who while doing his job, maybe needs a bit of training on how to deliver safety messages without upsetting small children on their holiday.

Balconies on the double room vary in size. One room for our family group had a tiny balcony with no room to move; ours on the other hand was a decent size. Cleaning was very good in room with new towels and sheet change mid stay - which is as it should be. Mini bar always came early so we never got it topped up which was a shame.

Plenty of space for everyone even if loungers get taken for the day. You can find one somewhere, lots on the beach.

The food truck was great 👍 .

Lottie Watersports really did make a good addition to the holiday. The coves/beaches are lovely and the water is clear. Safety if key for them and this was really reassuring.

5 star animation team - really amazing brilliant effort from them. Absolutely relentless and always smiling. I hope they get a good bonus at the end of the season.

Service in the main bar is impressive - cocktails were nice but much nicer at thalassa.

Don’t miss the sushi restaurant and thalassa bar overlooking the coves. It feels like they keep this a bit of a secret and was under utilised; I had to ask about the sushi restaurant at check-in. This area really was a highlight for us and was the 5 star element.

Overall a pleasant holiday; would we return? Probably.

Holiday Review

We had the most amazing holiday, and we couldn’t have been happier with the hotel our travel agent booked for us. It was honestly one of the nicest hotels we’ve ever stayed in.

The location was perfect, right next to the beach where we could snorkel, with a beautiful small pool overlooking the sea, as well as a saltwater pool where activities took place. There were plenty of sunbeds, and the hotel really catered for all ages. Everything was exceptionally clean and well maintained.

As we arrived late, we were even greeted with sandwiches waiting for us in our room, which was such a thoughtful touch. The gym was also really well equipped for anyone wanting to keep active during their stay.

The food was absolutely delicious and of a really high quality. The Greek and Italian restaurants were beautiful, and the cocktail bar was superb. We also loved the train/bus service into the local town, which made exploring the area really easy and enjoyable.

Overall, it was such a quiet, relaxing holiday, exactly what we needed. We would definitely recommend this hotel and are so grateful to our travel agent for finding and booking such a fantastic holiday for us. We would happily return! A special thank you to Nicky at the Beach bar for keeping the whole family supplied with Sprite zeros and Pepsi during the day. Also Georgio in the cocktail bar for the Aperol Spritz’s in the cocktail bar . Only down side is Mario the life guard needs to chill out every now and again !