Mitsis Royal Mare

We have been coming to Mitsis Royal Mare with our family for 20 years. Every time, we return to this wonderful hotel because of its exceptional atmosphere of hospitality and comfort—it feels like coming back to family and close friends. The hotel is beautifully and thoughtfully designed, with areas perfectly suited both for entertainment and for relaxation and tranquility. The food is excellent, both in the à la carte restaurants and in the main buffet restaurant. The Executive Chef consistently maintains the highest standards. Our greatest gratitude goes to the entire Mitsis Royal Mare team, who make this unforgettable service and unique holiday experience possible. They do everything they can—and even more—to make every guest feel special and truly welcome. The service is warm, attentive, and exceptionally friendly. We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation for the outstanding professionalism that has remained consistently exceptional throughout all these years to: * Mr. Mandalakis Giorgos * Fadelu and Giorgos * Daniela from Reception * Anna from Guest Relations Thank you for your hospitality, care, and excellent service. Special thanks also to: * Katerina and Giorgos from Candia * Manolis, Afroditi, and Irini from Pacifico * Nektaria, Nikos, Rena, and Peli from the Main Restaurant For the consistently impeccable cleanliness of our room, we would like to thank Maria from Housekeeping. The true gem of the hotel is the unique Thalasso Center, offering seawater treatments and wellness therapies. I am extremely pleased with the results in terms of health improvement, weight loss, and rejuvenation. I highly recommend it! Our sincere thanks to the entire professional Thalasso team: * Roula * Maria * Marina * Eva * Despoina We truly love this place and highly recommend it to everyone! We hope to return again very soon. Thank you for another unforgettable holiday from Irena, Oleg and Maria❤️

We are just back from 10 nights at the Mitsis Royal Mare. This is an amazing hotel and probably one of the best that I have ever stayed in. We stayed at the Mitsis Faliraki a couple of years ago and had a great experience so I expected great things and the Royal Mare was even better. I’ll include the positives and a couple of negatives below. Positives: - Very friendly and helpful staff. The staff cannot do enough for you and are a credit to the hotel. - The hotel itself and the grounds are absolutely stunning. The hotel is huge and it is in a lovely, peaceful location. Every night we went a walk along the beach to watch the gorgeous sunset. - The drinks selection is fabulous, the staff will make practically any cocktail you like. I really love that the choices are not restricted in any way. - The food is truly amazing, I knew the à la carte restaurants would be great but I was taken aback by the buffet dinner. The Asian night at the buffet was delicious and it was probably the best food I’ve ever had from a buffet. Every night there were different options. You will never go hungry! - We don’t have any allergies but we were constantly asked if we have any allergies, it seems this hotel really look after guests with allergies and intolerances. - The à la carte restaurants are delicious and have a great selection of food. Often there was live music which was a nice touch. - The gym area is great with lots of machines and equipment to use. - Good variety of entertainment at night. - Check out was really quick and easy - we could use the facilities all day including the buffet for lunch and had a shower and got changed in the gym/spa area. - Substantial amount of sun loungers. We sat at the main pool most days and got our loungers at around 9-9:15am. Most loungers were taken by 9:30am but I think this is a reasonable time and there were plenty of loungers at the other pool and beach if the main pool was full. Negatives: - At the buffet restaurant we would often wait a while for our table to be set with cutlery and would wait for our drinks order to be taken. I would not mind if it was super busy and the staff were occupied by other guests but sometimes the staff would be doing tasks which seemed not very important when you have guests waiting and we felt ignored. Often we would have to go up and ask the staff for a drink or ask for cutlery which I don’t like doing but as we had waited so long we had already started eating. - The hotel does not provide an iron in the room, we phoned reception to ask for this as we usually do in every hotel we stay at and never had an issue but reception said they could not provide an iron for ‘safety reasons’ but offered a laundry service which was expensive. It seemed a bit silly. - Our bathroom was quite dated and old fashioned. It could have done with some modernising. Also the carpets in the corridors could be doing with a freshen up but all other areas of the hotel were beautiful. - There was a lack of plug sockets in the room. There was only 1 free plug socket, we managed to use 2 by unplugging the kettle but this was the only 2 in the whole room.

Absolutely beautiful resort! The welcome is warm, the choice of food incredible and the staff absolutely wonderful. There's choice between two main outdoor pools and a sizable, gorgeous beach with bar, all in a beautiful setting and within easy reach of lots of different activities and day trips. The on-resort shops are reasonably priced and have all the essentials, snacks and souvenirs you might need. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are spectacular in the main buffet restaurant, with a different theme each evening and lots and lots of choice. The bar at the top of the hotel is a particular high point, whether for a coffee and a read in the morning or a pre or post dinner drink. The specialist restaurants are also a big benefit - book before your trip to guarantee you can get a table at each during your stay as the food and service in all of them are fantastic. The resort itself is spotlessly clean and beautiful just to walk around - i recommend a sunset walk to the beach and taking the long way back to your room afterwards! There was one drawback - the noise during the evening entertainment hit our room hard. I don't know if it's the hotel layout and acoustics or just bad positioning but some nights it felt as if the music was directly outside, (it made the door to our room vibrate!) Considering this goes on from 9pm to 11pm it made getting an early night impossible, which is particularly frustrating as some of the day trips pick up at 530am. There's no real need for it to be this loud, as all of the entertainment is contained to a small area around the pool bar and the speakers are directed at the audience, facing away from the majority of the rooms. The quality of the entertainment was good when we went to watch it, but being able to hear it loudly in our room, every night, until 11pm did sour things a little bit. Other than that, I'd recommend the resort!

The reviews do not lie! I booked 8 nights here in June and had a fantastic time. Service = We had brilliant service from start to finish with nothing a problem for any member of staff, everyone so attentive so no need for individual names Food = Buffet is pretty much what you would expect, couple of nice surprises with sea bass/Salmon for the fish eaters. We missed breakfast most days but this was a standard American breakfast. Lunch varied a little more however we went to the beach snack bar most days as they made fresh Gyros, Burgers, Greek salads etc and I highly recommend going here! We visited all of the Al a carte restaurants on site and enjoyed every one of them, especially Italian and the Asian. Mediterranean and South American we pretty similar with the brunch being out least favourite but still enjoyed it (Pictures of these attached) Dinner at the buffet restaurants did have theme nights on most of the week Pool = It does state there are plenty of pools for use however it is actually only 2 main pools for you to use unless you have upgraded your rooms for the private pools (we didn't) but we did not struggle for a sunbed on any days and we didn't go to the pool until around 9.30am. Gym = Sizeable gym on site which we both enjoyed in the morning, the supply cold water and towels for you. 1 bench in there with plenty of machines and a Hyrox area which we utilised Rooms = We stayed in room 405 with a garden view- Little outdated but didn't bother us too much as we didn't spent too much time there anyway. Little table and chairs for you to sit out if you wanted a glass of wine before going out to dinner Entertainment = This was probably the lowest part of the Holiday as it is quite limited, evening acts were poor in my opinion, usually from around 9-11pm at the main bar. Nothing much going on around the pools in the day either (which we liked) but others may want more going on Location = Around 30mins from Heraklion airport making it very easy to get to. There is not much around nearby so will have to keep yourselves occupied on site unless you fancy a 3 mile walk. Few notes - Beach is very stoney but again we are pool people os no issues - Hotel does not supply Irons which caught us out but we managed to sort Our first stay at a Mitsis and will certainly be booking more in the future certainly give us value for money Overall 5 starts from us!

Having just returned from this hotel today, I feel I have to leave an honest review as I genuinely do not believe this property currently meets the standards expected of a five-star hotel, not even a 4 at a push. Upon arrival in the early hours of Saturday morning, we were informed that reservations would be required for the à la carte restaurants and that these could be made the following day. After downloading the hotel’s app, which unfortunately would not work, we visited reception as instructed only to be told that all restaurants were fully booked. We were placed on a waiting list with no guarantee of when, or if, we would be able to dine at any of the available restaurants. We got 2 meals booked in for past 9;00pm because others had cancelled last minute. Both meals in these restaurants only had 1 desert option because they’d run out of food/ other options and we were basically given the last food of the night. We were given no opportunity to pre-book before arrival, leaving the buffet restaurant as our only dining option.Sadly, the buffet was extremely disappointing. Food was often cold, there appeared to be little concern for cross contamination, and the overall quality and variety were far below what we expected from a five-star resort. Many staff members seemed unhappy and disengaged, and simple drink orders were frequently incorrect. At times, it felt as though serving guests was an inconvenience rather than a priority. Our sea-front balcony suite itself was lovely, with beautiful views and a comfortable room. However, there were several practical issues. There were no convenient plug sockets on either side of the bed for charging phones or laptops, just across the side of the room. A bath tub with a rusty shower head attachment for a shower, a damaged bath tub which sliced my partners toe when stepping out of the tub, and little to no cleaning within the bathroom was done on our week stay. despite booking what was advertised as a premium room, we later discovered that many of the pools shown in promotional materials were actually private pools inaccessible to us. In reality, there were only two main pools available for guests. The lack of sunbeds was another major issue. Guests were reserving loungers with towels from as early as 5am at the main pool, clearly they had the same issue, making it almost impossible to find a place by the pool later in the day. There were also very limited shaded areas or umbrellas available. As a result, we were unable to spend two days by the pool and instead had to use the beach simply because there was nowhere else to go. I raised these concerns with multiple members of staff and requested to speak with the Guest Relations Manager, only to be told there wasn’t one. After being promised that a sunbed and umbrella would be arranged near our accommodation, I waited in our room for approximately five hours. Eventually, I received a call informing me that this would not be possible and, in fact, had never been a realistic option. This was despite my partner having spoken to Guest Relations on two separate occasions ( a 10 min walk to reception , there and back each time ) The recurring theme throughout our stay was poor communication, lack of organisation, and staffing issues that were clearly visible throughout the resort. While the location and sea views are beautiful, the overall guest experience falls significantly short of what should be expected from a five star hotel. There is potential here, but substantial improvements are needed in staffing, customer service, restaurant booking management, food quality, and pool facilities before this hotel can genuinely justify its five-star rating. Came home exhausted, not relaxed in the slightest.

Excellent, especially waiter Herson!

We had an absolutely brilliant stay at Mitsis Royal Mare and couldn't fault the experience. From the moment we arrived, the staff were incredibly helpful and welcoming. We decided to upgrade our room, and the team went above and beyond by showing us a couple of different room options before we made our decision, which we really appreciated. We chose a room with access to the shared pool, and it was absolutely beautiful – the perfect place to relax and enjoy our holiday. The cleanliness throughout the hotel was exceptional. The housekeeping team did an amazing job every day and kept everything spotless. The food was outstanding throughout our stay. There was a huge variety of options available at every meal, with something to suit everyone. Everything was fresh, delicious, and of a very high standard. We usually like to go out and eat at local restaurants when we're on holiday, but there was honestly no need during this trip as the food at the hotel was so good. A special mention must go to the restaurant staff, especially Hazel, who made our stay even more memorable. It was my birthday during our holiday, and they surprised me with a birthday cake and a bottle of bubbly, which was such a thoughtful gesture and made the day feel really special. The service, facilities, food, and attention to detail were outstanding throughout our stay. We would highly recommend Mitsis Royal Mare and would love to return in the future. Thank you to everyone for making our holiday so memorable!

Had a fabulous week celebrating our wedding anniversary for the second year running, relaxed and chilled from start to finish in a beautiful shared pool. Hotel Service and people friendly and outstanding . Food very good but cocktails and bar exceptional! Had a problem with our room initially but staff couldn’t do enough to sort it out (thank you Ana). Already looking forward to coming back next year

We have just returned from a 10 night stay at the Mitsis Royal Mare and would definitely recommend this hotel. When we arrived we were upgraded to a sea view room which had access to a shared private pool which was a very nice touch. The hotel is very well kept and all the staff are very helpful and lovely people, special mention to a few of the staff that always greeted us very warmly and made us feel very welcome and looked after whilst we were there, Katerina in the Candia restaurant, Natasa in Minos Bar, Afrodite, Irini and Manolis in the Pacifico brunch restaurant. The food in the à la carte restaurants was amazing, and the buffet food was also good quality. We also ate out a couple of times in Hersonissos Old Town at a lovely little restaurant called Zachos which had really good traditional food and was reasonably priced, the taxi into the old town was €17 each way. We did go into Hersonissos new town but found that it wasn’t very traditional so didn’t stay for long before getting a taxi to the old town.