Aquila Porto Rethymno

The location is perfect if you want to be within walking distance of town and to enjoy a nice beach. For those things this place deserves five stars. The hotel itself, left me swaying between 3-4 stars. We chose the location because previously we have stayed at Aquila Rithymna Beach and wanted to be walking distance of town for a change. The room was freshly decorated, clean and spacious, though ‘sea view’ is only from balcony and without a net curtain, impossible to feel privacy in room once curtains open, or see the sea. Bed was very comfortable. Shower was good. Great to have a nespresso machine but no pods supplied (tight 😂), they could have left just two to start you off 🥴 (you can buy for 2 euros per pod from reception - or get a box from the supermarket for about 4 euros) Sachets of coffee in room but with no kettle (seems silly). We asked for one! Our room was near the lifts, you would not want to be so close, if you like to sleep late. Guests are always waiting for a lift so you will be woken by their noise and lift noise. Useful to have clothes hanging and pegs on balcony. Adequate hanging space but not great for longer dresses. Every time we had a question for reception, they started their responses with a defensive/ negative tone, rather than helpful, It was off-putting. All in all, we did not really feel staff were as engaged/cheerful as other reviews have suggested ( this improved later in week), except for cleaning staff ( excellent) and a few dining staff, who work hard to create some order when at times they were obviously less than happy and stressed. The service is definitely not 5 star. We rarely felt welcomed as a guest, unlike at other hotels we have stayed in. Breakfast can be chaotic unless you go early; if it rains a long queue forms, as they have to shut the outside area. The manager was organising table finding as quickly as possible. Choices are good. Dinner was easier if you go by 7pm. The area is quite small and when busy, dishes are not always replaced quickly. Salads were very good and plentiful. Sometimes main courses were not extensive so we ate a lot of salad, cheese and fruit. Bread was not always fresh and Greek pastries at breakfast did not live up to usual Greek standard which was disappointing. I wondered if they were either not being stored correctly, or kept too long. Wine is always more expensive in a hotel but the prices were higher than we have experienced in other hotels and 5 euros for a plastic bottle of water, is an unnecessary mark up! We loved the ease of finding a sun-bed on the beach. We loved being able to lunch at some of the superb restaurants in town ( unfortunately the food we ate out, cast a shadow on the hotel food). We missed a bar area inside to get a drink and mingle. You wait a long time for service at the outside bar area. Would we stay again at this hotel, probably not! But your experience might be different if you are full-board, or have upgraded room further, to a deluxe, or suite. We were glad we were not AI ( lunches are just average but service better than in evening). We even contemplated skipping an evening meal to go out and enjoy excellent food. And yes, to confirm another review, the average age of guests is fairly old - but there are so many levels/steps and trip hazards, so if you have mobility issues, take care. We saw a couple of people slipping over while we were there. Evening entertainment was soulless.

We have just returned home after a great two weeks at the Aquila Porto. What a brilliant place to stay. Very close to many local amenities and the town. The staff were brilliant, reception and porter staff were very helpful, I couldn't say enough how good they were. The restaurant staff, again excellent and helpful, all hard working. Plenty of choice of different food, yum yum. The room and hotel was very clean. All in all a really good place to stay. The staff made the holiday a great holiday. Thank you

The hotel is in a fantastic location with its own beach across the road. The staff were all excellent, very friendly and helpful, a special mention to Waitress Gianna and also to the Executive Chef Stylainos who was excellent regarding my Gluten free diet, he brought me out a special pudding every night and Gluten free pancakes for breakfast, made me feel very special. We had booked a sea view room, the sea view isn't a big sea view which I was expecting from the photos of this room, as we were at the back of the horse shoe shape so looked through the sides onto other balconies then the sea. Our room was clean and spacious enough with a large balcony with a drier on the wall for towels and beach wear. Bed big and comfy. The bathroom consisted of two separate doors, shower and toilet with the sink just outside the doors. We did find there wasn't enough hanging and it wasn't long enough for dresses. We were half board and found the food excellent and varied with plenty of choice and all labelled with allergies, as mentioned above the Executive Chef was excellent, he made sure I knew what I could have. Others mentioned the drinks being expensive but they are no more expensive than any hotel. We enjoyed that we could walk along the esplanade into Rethymno with it's Venetian harbour, lovely little lanes full of small shops and taverns.

GOOD POINTS. Central location, great for accessing bars and restaurants, and the old town. Beautiful ground floor. Cafe and bar staff very pleasant. Porters very helpful. Fantastic ala carte restaurant, most dishes free to Mythica guests, this was included as part of our superior room booking. Activities lady, Elena, is a fantastic personality and I enjoyed her exercises classes. She is a real asset to the hotel. BAD POINTS. I paid for a superior room to guarantee a full sea view. The view was good once you stood on the balcony, the sea was not visible from inside the room. Due to the horse shoe shape arrangement of the hotel building our balcony was directly opposite other balconies. Our room was nice but the carpet in the corridor outside was in very poor condition. There was also a strange smell in the room at times, I was pretty sure this was a damp smell. We left our bathroom door open most of the time and that alleviated the issue. The breakfast room was a bit chaotic. The food generally was average, apart from the ala carte, as previously stated. I developed a sickness bug on our second day, this didn't last long, we discovered that a lot of other guests were also affected. I don't blame this on the hotel as one sick person can infect many others in a large hotel. On our last day I realised neither the bedroom telephone or emergency cord in the bathroom were working. If I had been more seriously ill or by myself this would have been very frightening. I reported this to reception on checking out but the receptionist didn't seem very concerned.

I had a very nice experience. The hotel is very ideally located near the sea as well as the markets. Still it is very peaceful. We stayed in a superior sea view room (mythica), on the 6th floor. Very nice view of the sea, that I enjoyed most of the time of the day till late night. We had all inclusive, with plenty and varieties of food with tasty deserts. Baklava, fruits and good wines were waiting when we first entered the room. The staff were very kind and generous. Whatever we wanted, we got immediately. The reception staff were also very kind , helpful and generous. We are very much impressed and want to stay there as early as possible, in near future. I appreciate greek hospitality with their always smiling faces.

Fint hotel med nem adgang til stranden

Dear Ladies & Gentlemen, It was our, me and my wife, second stay at Aquila Porto Rethymno and we only can repeat ourselves. Excellent, brilliant etc. All the staff is highly skilled, friendly, helpful and with good sense of humour. And spa - a lovely young lady Efi - thank you for such a good massage! A feeling after 85 min Cretan Massage was just heavenly! May all your days begin with a smile on your faces, a song in your hearts and joy in your soul. Thank you for making our vacation absolutely perfect! With best regards Gunnar&Aita Lõhmuste (30.08.-13.09.2025, room no 226)

This is our second visit to this hotel and unfortunately had a few problems. The air conditioning was our first issue as the controller is overridden by reception !! apart from increasing the temperature in the room, we had an additional problem with not being able to go down to 16 degrees and a slow fan, a week later maintenance managed resolve the problem. Our room selection was a bath with a shower but unfortunately it’s an old curved bath so no flat area where the shower is ! So I would suggest to others just go for a shower only room. The location is excellent and the food good and the staff nice, My partner unfortunately went down with a serious virus 🦠 luckily it was near the end of our holiday, I should have realised something was up when sanitiser machines appeared on every floor. I have contacted TUI a few days ago but no response. Phil&Sandx

Breakfast was great, beach access excellent

Our second time at the Aquilo Porto. Great location and excellent private beach. Although the food is good, it can be a bit repetative. Not sure this is a 5 star hotel as its design means many balconies are in the shade or have limited sea views even though they charge extra for this. I have marked the hotel down as they failed to notify guests of a serious bug doing the rounds (one waiter told us over 70 rooms were affected. My wife and I caught it and over a week later I am still ill.