Lastly, we opted to visit the Arkadi Monastery which is only 25 minutes drive away as a closer option to see some historical buildings (rather than the Knossos Palace trip) which other guests said was good

Trips: we had a rental car for four days and it was easy to get around: Réthimno (7 km, bus station in front of the hotel in case you do not have a car), Chania, Knossos (near Heraklion), Monastery Arkadi, Meldóni Cave, … just to name a few highlights – it is worthwhile to hire a car and get around this beautiful island.

We did Arkadi Monastery which was very good

A trip to Arkadi onastery on the Yellow train is a bargain at 15 euros.

As well as touring the town, the bus loops out into the countryside and hills and it is possible to get of to visit Myli gorge, a military museum and monastery.

Rethymno is another nice place to visit with its old port, the old town and the ails and nice house fronts, shops and places to have a drink – walking from the hotel to Rethymno takes around 1:15 h, the first half along the road and the second half (turn right towards the sea where there is the big monastery and school yard to your left ahead) along the Sea Promenade.

All inclusive food just fabulous lots of choice especially for vegetarians.

even though we always have an all-inclusive.

Upgrading to all inclusive was a good decision.

We went all inclusive and glad we did as the quality of the food and drinks is exceptional.

Definitely recommend the all inclusive option as the food and drinks are amazing.

We were on the premium all-inclusive plan which was great, the food was excellent with a great variety of food to suit all tastes.

We were all inclusive and the food was lovely.

Family of 4 stayed for 12 nights all inclusive.

We found that the All Inclusive deal worked well for us and would just stroll over to grab a drink when we wished at pool of beach and in the evening.

All inclusive food is best we’ve had yet, all staff super friendly and always there to help if needed!

The all inclusive opportunity gave us a luxury-feeling.

It is well worth paying for All Inclusive  unless you intend to be out  every day and not around the hotel.

There’s also an Italian restaurant which is free to all inclusive  guests. Excellent.

If you are to spend most of your time at hotel grounds, pay for the premium all inclusive.

but we understand from other guests that the “all inclusive” option is far from being that, with extra charges for a lot of drinks and meal options.

A special mention to Andrea and Camila in the entertainment team, both super friendly, organised and extremely attentive and made the activities so much fun and inclusive, these 2 are absolutely fantastic!

That’s never been an issue for me, and I’ve always been happy with the selection and the full cocktail menu is available on all inclusive too.

Just spent a week all inclusive with the family including a 2 year old.

Only local spirits, beers were included in all inclusive.

The food is excellent and tasty with plenty of choice at breakfast and evening meal.

In summary, the hotel provides a wonderful stay with delicious food, attentive staff, and great pool facilities.

All the stuff is extremely friendly and courteous, the hotel facility very green and perfectly maintained and the several restaurants serve delicious food every day.

* very enjoyable outdoor patios of the main restaurant where we had breakfast and dinner.

The whole attention to the food provided was so wonderful,  delicious and very tasty food at breakfast, lunch and evening dinner.

Thanks to the lovely Miss Marilena and Konstantinos and the rest of the kind staff for their attitude, attention, warmth, welcome and delicious treats.

A warm and friendly welcome by Marilena's team, thanks to all, Nikos, Konstantinos, Vasilis, Marios, and all the others (sorry to have  forgetten your names) 
The "à la carte" lunch menus and theme buffets (Cretan night was our favorite) are a must: 
chef Pergantis's cuisine is a delight.

Moreover,  I stayed here 7 days , every each day was a piece of heaven starting with breakfast where they have all the food you wished for, all types of eggs (poached , scrambled, fried, omelette, boiled , ) ham , cheese , salad , cereal, desert and so more .

The main buffet restaurant serves absolutely anything you can think of, from freshly baked crusty Greek bread to Greek salads.

option (great value), amazing food at the buffet and the different restaurants around on the resort.

There is a strict non-reservation of sunbeds rule in place and this was enforced while we were there, meaning that you could get up at a reasonable time, have a leisurely breakfast and still find available sun loungers around the pool areas.

Quality of food was excellent, we especially loved the themed Greek night in the Taverna and the Italian buffet.

The hotel is very comfortable with great restaurant choices with main restaurant buffet and the taverna and Italian restaurants (also buffet) included as options in the All Inclusive package.

The food in the main buffet restaurant was great.

It would have been nice to get a fresh poached egg at breakfast ( they are always overcooked) and hot bacon ( always less than warm)

Credit to the hotel brand

Room - again, nicely decked out with daily mini bar drinks refill, beds gave a good sleep

Restaurants  (only frequented the main one for breakfast, lunch and dinner) - your standard affair for breakfast (continental style) and also catered for western plates as well) Liked the variety of stuff avail be for both lunch and dinner with a meet carvery daily which was great.

The Italian buffet is often quieter than the main restaurant

All our meals, both buffets and ala-carts were just brilliant.

The food was always plentiful  and changed  often during a mealtime.

We booked this vacation last minute and it was our best decision ever,everything was just so perfect!Loved all the restaurants,animations,baby club,just everything.The Hotel is super clean,staff is very well prepared and super organized and friendly so this made us feel like home.Loved seeing all the managers involved with the staff helping.Keep it going that way,we will definitely see you another time!Our best wishes.

After 14 years in a row this was again a wonderful 10 day holiday at the start of September.

Overall, we had a great holiday and thank you for making it so special.

We spent our family vacation here for the sixth time and enjoyed it once again very much.

* In summary: our family was very happy that we have chosen this hotel for our short (6 days) vacation!

Tip,air con not working at this time of year 
Special mention to Nancy and Marie around the pool bar,such lovely kind ladies,Antonia in restaurant 
Definitely recommend and will return, thankyou for a lovely relaxing holiday

The beach at the entrance to the sea is a disaster - someone has cleverly poured concrete strips there, with a long zigzag gap of about 30 cm (this gap is repeated several times after about 1.5 meters), so you always rub your feet or even break as soon as you want to go to greater depths.

However, THANK YOU very much for the amazing holiday and I really want to do some special thanks to the staff who really made my week awesome: Efaristo to Syllas and Stelios from the A la Kart restaurant ,so friendly and professional service .

Thank you for helping make it a special holiday.

If you're looking for an unforgettable vacation, this is the place to go.

If you are looking for an easy, relaxing holiday with great sea views and food and drink then I can really recommend this hotel.

There are so many more, this team is amazing & really made our holiday so special, thank you all.

Highly recommend for a family holiday and will defo be visiting again .

Was the best holiday I’ve ever been on.

In particular Katrina and Agatha from the entertainment team made my step daughter Lexies holiday.

His dedication and professionalism truly enhanced our vacation, and we are grateful for his outstanding assistance.

They go the extra mile to make your holiday special.

but also concerned we want to enjoy the holiday and get to the pool.

Only one very slight fault and that is the local beer which is quite poor,  the quality of every other drink is excellent.

The entertainment was a bit of a let down for a 5* hotel of this size, the outdoor amphitheatre was poor, I was expecting a much larger more professional looking stage (not a concrete base with a wooden shed).

The ramp next to Reception is very steep with poor handles/support.

The room could do with some modernization; the décor was a bit drab, the bathroom needs refurbishing with a modern shower (currently off bath tap); shower curtain was almost hanging off, the room safe needs to be digital as carrying a key around all holiday was a bind and the tea and coffee facilities were poor.

Entertainment was very poor .Most nights we had nothing at all.

We did miss a choice of nuts at breakfast (just walnuts now) 

The lighting in the bathroom continues to be very poor

Whilst the bathroom was functional it is so dated and in very poor condition.

but still poor for a hotel in this price range.

Also, very limited and poor beverage is included in all inclusive.

but if you want to sit on beach after lunch you're too late
3 there is no bar next to main pool - have to walk to taverna to collect drinks - long waits again - there is 1 poor soul trying to do service around pool but he/she is fighting a losing battle.

but maybe a policy of no shorts for women should be applicable to as there were some very poor standards shown by some female guests here.The pools have a no towel policy on reserving sun beds & this worked well as you could get a sunbed at any point throughout the day.

but the rooms and especially the gym are in poor condition and in need of a cell revamp.

Food in the buffet was always cold, very poor selection and the same most nights.

Our first room (306) we had to move from as shower was poor, kettle didn’t work & safe handle missing.

6 years ago the prices of drinks were very expensive

but the drinks were the drinks were over priced.

Even a basic necessity like water was priced at 5 euros, which was quite surprising and disappointing.

To upgrade from half board to all inclusive now costs 50Eu (45Eu in 2019) so not a huge change.

Also, if travelling to this hotel think about upgrading to 'All Inclusive', the soft drinks (including bottled water) and alcoholic beverages are very expensive.

Expensive drinks, both sodas and alcohol if you only pay half board.

Would recommend going all inclusive as the drinks are expensive if not.

If you go Half board beware drinks in the hotel Very expensive,they charge 7-8 euro for a large bottle of water, 1 euro in the shop.

The only thing 5 star is the prices that are charged.

Travelling worldwide for45 plus years I have never experienced rip off prices like this before.

I would not have paid 12 Euros on top of what I had already paid though.

For such a small cute place I don't know where they store the amount of stuff they would need as everything is ice cold and delicious, and very very reasonable prices.

The drinks are expensive and really are not worth paying for, we bought a couple of bottles of spirit (non-alcoholic for me) to have during the day,

but some more expensive brands are not available on the all inclusive.

We chose to pay for all inclusive, which we don't recommend.

We were half board, this did make drinks at our evening meal very expensive

The food continues to be excellent , many choices and the evenings at the Taverna for themed nights are really great.

Price of drinks was extortionate €7.50 for a beer and one night got caught for a €52 bottle of very average wine!!!

Large beer 7 euros, Gin and tonic 12euros, cheapest bottle of wine 40  euros are some examples of the prices at the hotel.

A local beer costing 7 euros and the cheapest bottle of wine priced at 40 euros seemed unreasonable.

The food was top quality with a lot of choice and variations.

The stuff is lovely, always beeing very obliging, the food and drinks are amazing, and the facilities of the hotel and its location is beautiful.

Multiple gorgeous pools, amazing restaurants and food, amazing friendly staff, too many facilities to mention.

Get up early if you want a Sunbed at the large pool.😎😎  If you like a nice quiet evening meal go in later.

In the dining room and restaurants the variety of food is rich and varied.

Efaristo to Yanis from the main restaurant who gave us a special service and mood that we needed.

Food amazing and hotel staff so very friendly.

Beginning from the food in main restaurant ( everything I eat was so so so tasty), and especially the food in A LA CARTE !

but small, entertainment one night was great but for the last 3 nights nothing as the hotel was in close down mode.

Usually it was a singer or a small group of musicians just outside the hotel bar.

The Animation team were brilliant and I loved the beach volleyball each evening!

The special evenings were a delight and the musical entertainment fabulous.

Excellent food and also great entertainment nights in its own taverna.

They include speciality food and unique entertainment.

But the best part is the animation team they’re incredible.

Special thanks To entertainment team who work really hard  with there
Shows.

Many thanks to the entertainment team manager Fazio from Italy for the lovely performances.

Great entertainment staff Agatha and Katarina were fantastic with my daughter .The lifeguard also had his daily routine with keeping the pool area safe which always made us laugh .

But we would like to congratulate the pink wave animation team, and more particularly Agata who is the best of the team!

I had a lot of fun with the amazing animation team.

My children loved the mini disco each night!

Enjoyed seeing the animation staff in the Tribute night.

The rooms, food, entertainment, gym facilities and pools have been enjoyed by all the family.

Many staff have been at the hotel for many years and that is a god sign.

Thanks to Camelia and Alisandro for their friendly energy and enthusiasm!

but the staff were incredibly attentive and accommodating, making the experience more pleasant.

I have to say though that the staff that served on the balconies and around the fountain were outstanding and some of the reception staff were good,

* Every member of the staff that we encountered was extremely friendly, smiling, helpful, very nice to the kids, knowledgeable about the food - we enjoyed it very much.

The staff team are so wonderful, so friendly and helpful and everything they do is to please, customer service is just amazing and nothing is ever too much trouble, they recognise your needs without even asking.

Fabulous hotel complex and great staff ( most of them!).

From the housekeeper  to the General Manager, Mister Kostas, everyone here is so kind!

Staff very attentive and hospitable, always smiles on their faces.

Additional thanks for    a Manolis , very professional man , explained as how to eat lobster, suggest wine :)) Also the boy in A LA CARTE  named STELIOS ( I hope this is right name :) ) so polite, so helpful.

The staff were all welcoming and friendly, making it very special.

Aquila Rithymna Beach Hotel

price

poor

breakfast

Monastery

Arkadi

restaurant

staff

all-inclusive

holiday trip

show

We bought some very different souvenirs in one of the shops and on our return next year will definitely be looking for another excursion this time to either Mili Gorge or the Arkadi Monestry (or both!).

Also take the bus from the bus station to Chania, and perhaps, best of all, to the Monastery Arkadi in the hills - a beautiful, tranquil place. I hope to be back to this hotel next year- (if only Heraklion airport could get its act together!)

Went to Arkadi Monastery, 2EUR entry, well worth it.

We went on the train to Arkadi monastery and also went on a day trip to the South coast to see Preveli and Plakia.

Some of the restaurateurs were keen to relate the history of their buildings – we went inside a former Turkish bath, a monastery and a rich Venetian’s townhouse.

We hired a car with the help of Reception and enjoyed visiting Chania, Spinalonga and Arcadi Monastery and other places.

We spent a lovely 10 nights at The Porto Rethymno, and we had the Premium All Inclusive package.

Read the reviews prior to going and was a little worried.We stayed all inclusive.Beach is beautiful with free sunbeds.Pools are small at the hotel would say hotel more suited for couples not families.Food and drink was wonderful.A l a carte was fantastic again lovely food and drink.Service fantastic.Rooms were kept nice change towels and beds when you requst.In a great location.

This is by far the best all inclusive hotel we have stayed in.

We were upgraded to all inclusive for this  inconvenience.

but they upgraded us to all inclusive for the inconvenience.

Just returned from 11 nights stay all inclusive.

We choose to do HB (half board) rather than AI (all inclusive) so glad we did otherwise we wouldn't have found some amazing places.

We have travelled to many Greek islands and this hotel is up there with the best fabulous location for exploring Crete fantastic food in the restaurant always varied and plenty to eat nice rooms with super comfy beds and a choice of pillow types A kettle in the room with tea coffee and milk and a mini fridge which if you are all inclusive all the soft drinks and water are  free

The food and drinks (all inclusive) was very good and diverse.

As per many thousands TUI cancelled our Friday flight so we moved to the Sunday and got the 20% incentive meaning we could upgrade from HB to AI for just £5:18.

The all inclusive food and drinks package is excellent with varied courses and choices and attentive staff who ensure you have a lovely experience.

Restaurants:  we booked on an all-inclusive basis and consider this very good value for money.

I just returned home from an 11-night stay at the Aquila Porto Rethymno on an all-inclusive basis.

Very good alround hotel from reception to rooms to restaurant .across the road a wonderful beach ⛱ with ample sunbeds and umbrellas; staff continually taking orders for drinks etc The hotel caters for all inclusive if so desired.

There was a BBQ one night and we had a lovely Gala Dinner as part of our all inclusive.

but the standard of food was better than many all inclusive hotels.

The breakfast was lovely with a good selection of food and was constantly being replenished.

The food in the buffet restaurant is excellent, with plenty of choice, and there is always a staff member around to help if needed.

Stella in the buffet restaurant always made you feel special and her wonderful smile was infectious.

The manager and his staff were always on hand to make sure all was running smoothly be it at breakfast, lunch, dinner and the special moonlight cocktail party which was absolutely amazing.

We had breakfast and dinner included , breakfast was good

The desserts were delicious - baklava being our fave.

The food was delicious with plenty of choice with a decent branded alcohol menu.

Little touches like a whole honeycomb each morning at breakfast made a difference. 3.

Breakfast and lunch were buffet style you can sit outside and tables go around the other pool.

We had breakfast and lunch here most days.

Always something ‘special’ cooked to order, be it omelette, waffles & pancakes for breakfast 
A local delicacy for dinner, I like my food, absolutely no complains re the catering 👍
The old town & harbour a short walk away.

Breakfast has a lot of choice, most likely stay here again when we back to Crete.

On my birthday a lovely birthday cake was brought to the room and it was mothers day whilst we were there  so for breakfast we all got prosecco and a red rose which was lovely.

Restaurant(s): The main restaurant is used for breakfast and dinner, both being buffets.

Breakfast and evening meals are a buffet style included in the price of your stay or you can pay for Al a carte.

We had half board and there was plenty of choice loved the dried fruit and fruit for breakfast.

Hosts are very friendly and food was delicious.

We did try to go to the buffet once as we wanted a quicker meal

The food was always delicious and so much choice both at breakfast and dinner.

The staff were all great, so friendly and professional.

But best of all , the staff were all amazing, always smiling, always friendly.

The staff were extremely friendly and attentive and made you feel welcome.

The staff in the restaurant were excellent and were very friendly and efficient.

They are always very friendly with a ready smile, and are always willing to go the extra mile to ensure everyone has a good holiday.

Lovely room, the cleaner did an excellent job and was very friendly, we had various bits of towel art which are great to come back to.

Add to this his charming and friendly nature make him a superb host.

Pool area small with very few beds luckily the beach is good .Restaurant and reception staff all helpful and friendly.

All the staff were friendly,  courteous and helpful.

All staff were friendly and professional, the hotel was ideally located for both beach and a short walk to Rethymnon Centre which has plenty of bars and restaurants and the food was excellent.

Main Positives:
1. great staff - work ethic and friendly attitude eg two devoted waiters for the beach who worked all day without a break and were always efficient and friendly.

+Restaurant food and service is excellent great choice and friendly team 
+Reception Griggoris and Maria in guest services a credit to hotel 👍

Sadly would NOT return to hotel BUT would return to Rehymnon it is a stunning coastal town with great restaurants and bars my advice would be spend money in a 4 star boutique hotel not this one 👍

The staff at the hotel cannot do enough for you and are very friendly.

Very clean
Very welcoming
The staff all seemed to enjoy working there, everyone was very friendly.

The staff from the ones that do the cleaning to the receptionists waiters etc are very friendly and attentive.

Amazing food, very friendly staff and rooms spotless.

Massively overpriced here though- mini bar 😨, drinks !

Unfortunately as I was given a room at the back of the hotel (as I didn't want to pay the high price for a side or full sea view) I had to have a bath instead of a shower.

For a hotel that classed itself as a 5* we would have expected a choice of a glass of fizz or orange juice on arrival not just a cheap orange juice.

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