Grecotel LUX ME Dama Dama

The staff at the hotel are what made our stay amazing. They are attentive, caring and incredibly friendly. Edwina and Raf made us feel very welcome and looked after us through out our stay. Every meal we had was absolutely perfect.

We absolutely loved our stay here and would happily return. We’ve stayed at the LUXME White in Crete and at many Mitsis 5-star resorts, so we had fairly high expectations and honestly, you would struggle to tell the difference between this hotel and a 5-star. In some respects, I’d even say this hotel was better.

Arrival & Room

Our transfer from the airport was around 35 minutes, which was ideal.

We were lucky enough to be upgraded to a bungalow with a garden, and if you have the option to pay extra for this, I would definitely recommend it. The room was beautiful, the bed was extremely comfortable and everything we needed was provided.

Housekeeping was excellent, with towels delivered daily and the beds made every day. The minibar was restocked with Coke Zero, Fanta, Coke and three bottles of still water.

The bathroom products were also a lovely touch shampoo, conditioner, body wash, body lotion and hand wash were all provided and were genuinely good quality.

We did have a few ants in the room, but they really didn’t bother us and certainly didn’t detract from our stay.

Food

The food was fantastic and definitely one of the highlights of the hotel.

The buffet was of a really high standard, with plenty of variety and some excellent-quality dishes. At dinner, examples included beef tenderloin, salmon, stuffed chicken, gnocchi and pork, alongside the usual pizza and pasta options.

There are also quieter dining times available at breakfast and dinner, which was a really thoughtful option.

We ate at all of the à la carte restaurants and genuinely enjoyed having so much choice.

The Rose Restaurant was delicious, with a smaller fine-dining-style menu. A special mention to Sofia, who was a fantastic waitress and really added to the experience for my birthday.

The Italian was probably our favourite. The lava-rock main courses were excellent, and both the food and wine were fantastic.

The Asian restaurant had some lovely starters, although I personally found the main courses slightly less impressive.

The Greek restaurant was nice, but the food was very similar to what was available at lunchtime, so it didn’t quite have the same wow factor as the others. Plus whilst you are eating dinner, because the entertainment was on we found people sitting next to us enjoying the music whilst we ate our main courses. Rather strange for à la carte.

We also discovered that there is actually a fifth à la carte experience included with the all-inclusive package, which we hadn’t realised when we arrived.

The hotel arranged a booking for us at Karavelladika in Koskinou. A taxi takes around 15 minutes and drops you at the town square, from where you walk through some lovely little streets and past other tavernas to reach the restaurant.

We were given an absolute feast, including wine and water. This was completely included in our all-inclusive package, although we did have to pay for the taxis, which came to €44 in total. We would absolutely recommend doing this especially as it’s a lovely opportunity to get out and see a little of Koskinou as well.

Drinks

The drinks selection was incredible.

There were premium brands available throughout the resort, and pretty much anything you could want was available. The quality and choice were far beyond what we expected.

I also discovered grapefruit soda, which is now officially a firm favourite!

A special mention has to go to Monica in the lobby bar, who was absolutely outstanding. She was friendly, attentive and always had a smile.

Beach Bar

The beach bar was another highlight.

Lunches were fantastic and the whole area was beautifully presented. There was a great choice including gyros, burgers, pasta, pizza, salads, fresh fruit and grilled/rotisserie meats.

There was also an ice cream and crêpe bar, which could make milkshakes using the ice cream perfect for an afternoon treat.

There was plenty of entertainment here in the evenings too, so we ended up spending a lot of time around the beach bar.

Beach & Pool

The beach is very pebbly, but we managed to get in and out every day without water shoes.

We actually spent most of our time on the beach because the pool was far too busy for us. There were lots of inflatables and sunbeds were being reserved from around 7am.

The beach was much more relaxed. We could still find lovely sunbeds until around 10am, although the really nice loungers do go quickly.

There are additional beds available, but unfortunately these weren’t particularly comfortable.

If I could make one suggestion to the hotel, it would be to invest in more of the nicer sun loungers. The ones they have are absolutely stunning, but there simply aren’t enough of them.

Staff

With the exception of one woman on reception, every single member of staff we encountered was fantastic.

Everyone was incredibly friendly, always smiling, happy to have a conversation and genuinely seemed to want to help. The level of service really added to the overall experience.

Check-Out

Our late departure was handled brilliantly.

We were allowed to keep our room until 1pm, after which we could leave our luggage with the hotel and were given a 45-minute slot in a shower room. This was absolutely perfect for freshening up before our night flight.

Our transfer wasn’t until 9:30pm, and we were able to continue using the hotel facilities right up until then, which made such a difference.

Overall

We genuinely loved every minute of our stay.

Having stayed at the LUXME White in Crete and numerous Mitsis 5-star resorts, I would have no hesitation in comparing this hotel to them. For a 4-star resort, the quality of the food, drinks, rooms, facilities and service is exceptional.

If you’re considering booking, do it. And if you can stretch to a bungalow with a garden, I’d definitely recommend paying the extra.

We would absolutely return.