Amira Luxury Resort & Spa - Adults Only

Tout simplement parfait de l’établissement au personnel en passant par le service, c’était un sans faute ! Je recommande vivement !

Note to self: Never stay at a hotel that has the the word"Luxury" in the name of the hotel. Luxury should be selfevident and implicit. A hotel experience is a myriad of a thousand details - this place falls woefully short in all crucial aspects, and for the experienced traveller, accustomed to the organisation LHW, and chains such as Mandarin Oriental or Four Seasons - this hotel is worlds apart. To mention but a little bit: - The staff, and it is all about the people, are but for a few, far too few, shining exceptions, uninterested in the guests, and much happier chatting with each other, standing around, doing nothing, while ignoring the guests. Interactions are rude, brash, dismissive and lacking in intuition, smiles and warmth - I saw this also in the staffs interaction with most other guests. Some staff seem apprehensive, fearful and intimidated, "you are not allowed to take the plate with you, you will get me in trouble" - this has to be because of management ? - All things practical/technical/functional are well below par. - The food is uninspired and bland, not even mediocre. - The location is awful. The sun rises in the east, behind the hotel, it sets in the west, again behind the hotel, leaving 95 % of room balconies sun-deprived throughout the day. - The beach is not very inviting. - I see in previous reviews that it is considered, by some, too upscale, when it comes to the dress code, this is not true at all. Trashy clothing, for many other guests, is the right designation. This is a standard run of the mill 5 star hotel - they have checked of all the boxes, what needs to be there, to formally achieve the 5 stars - but the content is not there.

Location is good , there’s a small village a ten minute walk away and there’s a bus to the town which takes about 20 minutes. Worth the visit but the return can be chaotic as there’s one bus stop for all bus routes so be prepared for a jumble of people all queuing for multiple buses. Point to note this is where there is the only public toilet in town. Hotel and rooms. - immaculately clean throughout Swimming pools - again immaculately clean but freezing cold, lots of sun beds. Restaurants- Buffet main restaurant for Breakfast and dinner Buffet breakfast - good selection of hot and cold but query why there is not fresh pineapple. Only serves tinned ( is that 5 star?) Buffet lunch - not open Buffet evening - seems like they cook all the food for when the restaurant opens and then leave it warming in/on hot plates for the remainder of the service which means after 8.15 there’s a lot of mushy overcooked food which gets worse as the evening goes on. Also although the restaurant says it stays open til 9.30 that’s the time it closes for food so don’t expect to arrive at 9.15 and enjoy a relaxing meal as everything is hurriedly packed away at 9.30. Credit though to the cold starters and deserts both were totally edible and enjoyable. A la carte restaurant - evening meal - you have to pay more for but well worth the expense. Good food that’s cooked fresh when you order it (as it should be) And, it’s open till 11 pm . Poolside eatery - good quality food freshly cooked. Wines are of good quality and reasonably priced. Water expensive in the buffet restaurant and even more so for branded Italian water in the a la carte. Entertainment - non existent, the hotel do have guest musicians attend a few nights a week but there’s no atmosphere so nobody stays to listen to them. SO WHY ONLY 4 STARS ? The buffet evening restaurant is a massive let down this is a best 3 star food, by 9 pm it could drop a further star some nights. Serving overcooked either dried out or mushy food is unacceptable. I would recommend budgeting for paying the extra cost of eating in the a la Carte every night if you want a quality experience . Overall a peaceful and relaxing experience pity about the food.

Booked Amira with my partner, and we are still here, check out this Friday. Upon arrival at 1am, we were told that we are probably hungry, everywhere is closed, so 2 freshly made and plated chicken wraps have been put in our fridge, that was the friendliest welcome we have had. All the staff here are of very high standard and very friendly, they come across very genuine and friendly. The resort does an excellent job at putting different cuisines on every night, and I would recommend booking half board. I honestly can't say enough good stuff about Amira and would come here again and would recommend to all. I was very proud after visiting rethymno and chania to come back to this hotel, very proud to walk through the doors everyday and say I am staying here. So thanks again to all Amira staff, an excellent memorable experience.

As soon as we arrived to the moment we left it felt like a true 5* hotel. We arrived at midnight but the welcome was truly wonderful and taken to our room. The rooms were of very high quality, kept in pristine condition and extremely clean with a fantastic outlook over the sea. The same could be said for the entire hotel, absolutely spotless and kept in new condition everywhere you go. The attention to detail was amazing. It was also refreshing to visit a hotel where the staff were all genuinely so happy and genuinely wanted to provide a great experience. Hospitality was 10/10. The food for breakfast and dinner was also very good quality with a good selection / variety each day. There is secure parking for the hotel across the road as well if you decide to rent a car like we did, which allows you to explore lots on the island. Overall the hotel exceeded expectations (which were already high based on the reviews) and would highly recommend!

We have just returned from a girls family holiday at this fantastic hotel. We were thrilled to get an upgrade and have sea front rooms which were stunning. We had an incredible week and I can honestly say the staff, without exception, were the best I have ever come across. Every staff member went the extra mile to ensure the guests are given the best experience. The food offer was fantastic - both the breakfast and dinner buffet were excellent and the A La Carte restaurants were extremely good. The Italian Pasta evening food at Kritamo was exceptional. Eleni, our housekeeper, was really kind and did a great job. The resort was spotless. We loved the beach and spent most days there apart from a couple of visits to Rethymno which is a lovely town. All in all we had a wonderful week and will definitely return. Thank you.

The hotel is very new and appropriately equipped and furnished. The cleanliness and service around the pool area, beach area and the rooms are very good and to full satisfaction. Excellent direct access to the beach with the provision of loungers. Towels for the loungers are available on the beach. Excellent the tiled floor around the pool area, even when wet, they are not slippery. The pool itself is very clean and well maintained. The breakfast was rich, perhaps a bit excessive. The guest service for breakfast ist very good! <Labrini> was an excellent host for the breakfast recommendations, she should receive a bonus for 2024. Food at the beach bistro is very good and differentiated for every taste.

We observed a number of opportunities for improvement to make things better for future guests: - it would be great, if pool, restaurant, bistro hours could be addressed via signs (they are online, but who carries the mobile all the time) - there is the recommendation to take a shower for entering the pool. However, the nearest shower is near the beach or you must enter the building with a sloped path for taking a shower. It would be great if there is a shower near the pool entrance. - Smoking - is permitted everywhere, every lounger has an ash tray, people not in favor of smoking feel extremely uncomfortable. Actually under the present situation it is a - no go - for our return visit. Amira is an 5 star adult beach resort, where the health and relaxation of the customer should have priority. I would expect at least a separation of no-smoking and smoking areas at the pool and bar bistro area. Booking a non-smoking room does not prevent of smoke entering the room from partnering rooms or balconies. It appears somewhat a chimney effect. If you leave your balcony door open, you receiving a smoke flush during night and day. Proposal: Declare the resort as an adult smoking only resort. - Pool water depth - the pool is nice for some refreshing, but if your desire is in a little more sport style swimming you end up in a depth range from 140-68cm deep water. I don't know the intention of the pool architecture, but it is definitely not for basic sport enthusiasts. Im sure the hotel performs high maintenance effort for pool. The lower rating of the resort is mainly due to the last two chapters.