King Minos Retreat Resort and Spa

The staff are absolutely amazing and friendly. I felt at home and comfortable. Would highly recommend. An additional special thank you to the late bar staff, kitchen staff and Dian my masseuse for making me feel incredibly and renewed.

We have just returned from 7 fantastic days with a 10 yr old at King Minos and we would absolutely book again. Please do ignore the negative reviews posted here. I am a very fussy traveller and insist on high standards of cleanliness - this hotel adheres to that. I am quite surprised by what some people have criticised the hotel for. All communal areas are spotless, and the diffusers they use to add that little extra something in the areas make the hotel smell like a spa. Our room was cleaned well everyday and they use a light system to indicate if you would like it cleaned or left. Our room was a sea view, with private pool and it is absolutely worth the extra money. I do think we got lucky - as a few were in higher footfall areas, so we were delighted with our location.

We stayed half board and as someone who does not”do buffets” or HB/AI and often opts to eat out when we have booked this - the food was that good, we ate in 5 nights. The nights we didn’t, we were able to swap to lunch (which was also fantastic) and the hotel also provided us with a sandwich/salad on our late checkin arrival night. I noticed how fresh food was constantly being put out and changed if it had been out too long. As someone who has to be very careful with food and hygiene, this was important to me. I read comments about the food being very similar, which seems unfair. Yes the hotel puts out the usual pizza/salad/chips. But the variety each night was impressive - whole sea bass, king prawns, various vegetable sides. You could easily have a different meal each night. Breakfast is the same. The choice is fantastic and the staff are happy to make any type of coffee you request.

The hotel is a short walk down to the front which has many shops, bars and restaurants. But if you want to avoid that “busy” scene - take the 1km walk or very short taxi ride (€10) to Koutouloufari. This is “pretty Greece” with many restaurants, narrow streets and quaint little shops to browse in. Well worth the visit. This is where we choose to eat out and you won’t be disappointed.

We also booked to take our son to “Watercity” for a day trip. We did the arranged coach tour and regretted not just getting a taxi, as the coach did take 90 minutes even though it is only 25 minutes away.

The hotel is not marketed as a family hotel. But we were pleasantly surprised by how many families were there and it did not seem mad and chaotic at all. We spent a couple of hours at the pool each day before using our own. We never had a problem getting a sunbed/cabana and we didn’t go down until after breakfast, one morning it was after 11. So reviews stating issues with sunbed hogging are false - this nearly put me off. We were there at the height of August when the hotel was fully booked and sunbeds were always available. Yes the beds directly round the pool were taken, but these didn’t have parasols anyway. I also saw the hotel staff removing belongings on ones that had been left a while. So I welcome the hotel continuing to do that. I refuse to book a hotel where this is a problem so for me quests stating this as an issue is very unhelpful to others looking for honest reviews.

Finally our last day we had to check out for 11 and we had a very Late flight home - I always feel anxious about not having a room for the day. Some hotels we have stayed in do have midday checkouts, which I would encourage the King Minos to consider. But they have a system where you can book a shower room for 30 minute slots and get changed/cleaned up. I noticed how 15 minutes were left between slots to allow for cleaning - which I loved.

Overall - a fantastically modern, clean hotel, where the staff are incredibly professional and hardworking. The only thing stopping me returning is the state of Crete airport! But hopefully after the new one is built.