Iberostar Selection Creta Marine

In June, my family and I vacationed at the hotel Creta Marine. The hotel is super, the green territory is huge, for evening walks! Gorgeous pools and two mini water parks. Everything is provided for people with disabilities and mothers with strollers! The rooms are super, clean, with a view of the sea! The service at the hotel is at a very high level, the food is super, very tasty and varied!!! The staff is the best and kindest! Special thanks for a very sweet, beautiful girl Guest Relations Ellie. Iberostar hotels and resorts . She always solved our problems with trips and excursions, although they flared up in different languages, but for her, it turned out, it was not a problem, she quickly found a way out and all the problems were solved!!! Thank you very much for a wonderful vacation and a wonderful attitude. You are the best!!!!!!

Extremely clean and that was my top priority! Staff are very friendly, helpful and ALWAYS with a smile on their face. Absolutely beautiful and peaceful! Amazing food and drinks. Couldn’t celebrate my 25th birthday any better than at Iberostar Selection Creta Marina!

A wonderful hotel. We received a very warm welcome when we arrived and asked on a few occasions how was our stay. Great array of cocktails available on the menu. Very clean and the staff were very friendly.

Fantastic hotel. We did the all inclusive package and the food and drink were great. Very friendly staff and comfortable rooms. Nice variation with the different pools. Would definitely come back and also recommend to friends and family.

We first stayed here two years ago when it was a 4-star property, and we enjoyed it so much that we decided to return. This time, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the hotel has undergone a significant refurbishment and is now officially a 5-star resort. The improvements are clear from the moment you arrive—from the stylish updated interiors to the upgraded dining and guest facilities. Our room (811) sea view bungalow with a balcony, which offered breathtaking morning views of the Aegean. The room was impeccably clean, comfortably furnished. What sets Iberostar apart, and especially this location, is the staff. Everyone from the concierge to the restaurant servers to the housekeeping team was genuinely friendly and attentive. Iberostar Selection Creta Marine truly embodies what it means to offer a five-star, all-inclusive experience with soul. As an Iberostar Club member, I felt recognized and valued throughout my stay. This resort is a perfect mix of relaxation, culture, and elevated service.

From day one we said we’d come back! All the staff were so friendly and accommodating, Shane was lovely to speak to, the food was amazing especially the buffet, rooms were spotless, I had a massage at the spa which was lovely and generally we had an amazing time. We can’t wait to come back!

Although the hotel was nice and clean and we enjoyed our stay I wouldn’t say it is the 5 star hotel it is marketed as. We found the food highly average and had issues getting staff to take our drinks orders in the main buffet or even acknowledging our presence. We ate out two nights of our 7 night stay. We also found the A la carte restaurants underwhelming, we paid a surcharge to have lobster with our meal and the portion size and flavour just didn’t warrant the price, there was also only two members of staff serving the whole restaurant with it being over 20 minutes before we even got asked for our drinks orders. Good selection of drinks and cocktails and the grounds are especially well kept. Overall we wouldn’t return to this hotel as given the price tag we expected more and left underwhelmed.

We had a fantastic two week holiday here during the October half term. Originally we were meant to stay in the sister hotel next door but upon arrival were informed we needed to move next door. That was slightly unsettling but we quickly realised Creta Marine was an upgrade to say the least! I read reviews about hygiene and food poisoning. All I can say from our experience was that it was overwhelmingly positive. Staff took all necessary care when it came to food safety, from what I could see. As for some guests, that’s another story - I saw one chap using the toilet and then entering the restaurant without washing his hands 🤦🏻‍♂️ not sure hotel staff can police that! One thing I would kindly suggest to the hotel is that they do away with the chocolate fountains. If there is one thing to spread food bugs it is that, as kids were mulling around that, and not taking much care. The service was spot on, especially Christos and Georgis in the pool bar. The all inclusive option here was amazing. Branded alcohols with “healthy” measures (😅). For our food options we found the Locanda restaurant great for late breakfast or lunch. However, we weren’t amazingly impressed with the Locanda in its evening service when you had to book on. Limited menu and quality surprisingly lower than the buffet it offered during the day. The main restaurant was good for evening meals although we were there in the last week when things were winding down for closure for the season so the selection started to get a little limited. Whilst I make some nitpicky comments on the food this doesn’t detract from a wonderful stay and it’s more constructive comments for the hotel to enhance things there further. Would certainly recommend for those simply eating a stay where you do absolutely nothing. Wouldn’t suggest those who like to explore to stay here as it is a little remote and not easy to get to places.

We stayed in sea view family bungalow with breaktaking views. Bungalow adequate for four. Maid service excellent. Peaceful location, stunning grounds. Matea from the entertainment team was amazing. All hotel staff friendly. Food good

As a package holiday first timer, our experience at Creta Marine was just brilliant. We were welcomed into a fantastic resort and location by friendly and helpful staff. We stayed in a family waterfront bungalow and it absoluely blew me away. Gorgeous views from the balcony and right above the best swimming cove. The apartment was comfortable and spacious for 2 adults and 2 teenage boys. The rooms were kept beautifully clean and housekeeping was very flexible in their visit times, allowing us to relax in the room when we wanted. I really appreciated the fresh towels and linen each day. The beds were comfortable and there were thoughtful touches all around the accomodation. The balcony was my favourite place, day and evening. The village style layout of the bungalow complex was absolutely charming. The landscaping and planting add extra enjoyment and the opportunity to enjoy native plants. We enjoyed snorkelling in each of the coves, lots of fish to see! Comfortable loungers at every location and refreshment options too. The resort is so large and has so many facilities, even as it filled up, it never felt crowded. Lots of space around the main pool (which is gorgeous) and around the many smaller pools and areas. We visited in October so it was still comfortably warm. The water was cool, but we're Cornish and a bit hardy so that didn't faze us. The land train to nearby Panormo was charming, lots of options for eating and shopping in that little village. Rethymnon is an easy bus ride away, stopping right outside the resort. Beautiful town with the most amazing shops and places to eat. Utterly charming. Reception staff very helpful in helping us navigate and get to where we wanted. The whole atmosphere was so hospitable, we had a 5 hour wait between checkout and airport transfer on the way home. We were welcomed to use all the communal facilities with thoughtfully provisioned showers etc so we could still swim and enjoy. There's a very handy little resort shop with some basics, snacks, drinks, souveniers, books, bus tickets etc. A short walk away is a local shop which is definitely worth a visit, so many local snacks and foods, as well as gorgeous gifts, souveniers, clothes and interesting things. I cannot think of a single negative about our stay. Thank you to the brilliant staff, we were fortunate to stay for 11 nights and got to know our favourites. The smell sometimes alluded to is the bore water used to irrigate the plants at night, which has a sulphurous smell. This is due to rock composition of Crete imparting sulphide gas into the water table. Using untreated bore water to irrigate is much more sustainable than using drinking quality water, especially where water supply is under severe pressure. We drank the tap water for the whole stay, using the mini fridge to chill. The mineral content is beneficial I believe but if you can't get along with the difference in taste, bottles of spring water are readily and cheaply available from the hotel shop. Any buffet selection which sees a lot of people cross paths and contact runs the risk of providing opportunity for 'bugs' to be passed about, especially when young children are in wide circulation. Careful thought and choice when accessing food provision, combined with the hand sanitiser on EVERY table meant that we all enjoyed the holiday very happy, healthy and extremely well fed. We chose half-board which was perfect for us. The food selection was amazing, a great mix of international favourites and local cuisune. It was all tasty, plentiful and fresh. We were sad to leave and encourage anyone to come to Creta Marine, our memories will last a lifetime of a very special holiday. Thank you. Until next time!