Bars and pool bar staff were fantastic,very friendly service and joined in the experience of a fun time.

We tended to have a drink in the Veranda bar most evenings after dinner, and Christina was a joy.

but they are great quality and well worth the money (and less expensive than at a nearby bar and restaurant).

Very good location close to all the bars and restaurants on the strip.

Outside the hotel there are many bars and restaurants right on the doorstep.

The bar by the pool made a variety of amazing cocktails and we had lunch twice as well which was tasty.

A few nice restaurants locally, all within walking distance a couple of bars also, some with live music some that show sports.

Theres a few restaurants and bars just outside the hotel , no need for walking far or if you want to go to Gouves main town its €7 in a taxi or if you want more action Hersonnisis is a busy spot and €17 in a taxi.

The pools, bar and grounds were pretty, and with the beach 20m away over the road, it was a really nice setting.

Oh yeah and the entertainment in the hotel is boring best just going out to one of the cocktail bars the atmosphere is so much better.

Rooms are immaculately cleaned every day, Veranda and Stone Bar staff are very friendly and attentive and the food here is great.

Thankyou to all the staff who made our stay one to remember we loved it here the only disappointment for me was the Monday night rnb night being cancelled due to the dj being a no show and not being able to pay for drinks at the bar there and then

Numerous excellent bars and restaurants nearby many overlooking the beach. Lunches by the pool were very nice (one between two was more than enough!)

but would recommend going out of the hotel a few nights for a change of scene, and there are some very nice bars and restaurants within a short walk.

The men and women at the restaurant, at the bar and the great staff at the Spa Bathhouse: your smiles and genuine kindness brightened up our days.

The The Island Hotel is near these landmarks: Aquaworld Aquarium & Reptile Rescue Centre, Stalis Beach, Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Milatos Cave, Poseidon Diving Club, Ligaria Beach, Star Beach, Zervas Beach, Castello del Molo (Koules), Archaeological Museum of Archanes, Minoan Peak Sanctuary, Kretasurf - Water Sports Crete, Cave Of Zeus, Milatos Beach, Agia Pelagia Beach, Althaea, The Whisky Bar, Acqua Plus Water Park, Crete Safari, Winery Stilianou, The Natural History Museum of Crete, Panagia Beach, Psaromoura Beach, Petra Beach, Surf in Crete, Lychnostatis Open Air Museum, Amarillis Stable, Lyrarakis Winery, Mononaftis Beach, Gournes Beach, Labyrinth Theme Park, Slainte Irish Bar, Cathedral of St. Minas, Happy Train Sissi, Winery Sinadinakis, Ancient Apollonia, Panagias Keras Church, Rebekka store, Starbeach Bungy Jump, Themis Beach Bar, Cretan Thematic Park, Historical Museum of Crete, Sissi Mini Golf, ELA Quad Safari, Roman Archaeological Remains, Supermarket Dictamos, Koronekes, Sailingtrips Zuiderzee, Agios Titos Church, Peggy Gordon's Irish Bar, Quad Safari Peninsula, Irish House, Morosini Fountain (Lion's Fountain), Josef, Stay Wet Diving Center, Cycling Creta, Cretan Tennis Academy, Old Venetian Harbor of Heraklion, Idols Art, Blue Water Club RENT A BOAT, Fantasia Yachting, Evexia Spa, I Archana, Douloufakis Winery, Luxurious Furs, Horse Riding, Stefanos Bar, Domaine Paterianakis, Excursion Expert Agia Pelagia, Buggy Safari Motoxperience, Diver's Club Crete, HayTours, Loggia, Kera Bar, Seahorse Rent a Boat, Maria Sanoudaki Ceramic - Art Studio, Cretan Flavor, Kera Kardiotissa Monastery, Jewel Art, Katharo Plataeu, Whisper Music Cocktail Bar, Sunset Bar, Arion Stables, Passion, MYSTIC CRETAN ROAD TRIP, Crete Boats, Scalarea Estate (Boutari Winery Crete), Cretan Family, Hersonissos Cruises, Church and the Museum of St. Aikaterini, Ekklisia Analipsi, Heraklion Diving Center, Nemo Cafe Bar, Argo Rent Boats Yachts & Watersports, Solo  Brewery, Nail me up, The Crete Golf Club, Discovery Dive Centre, Vasiliki Agios Markos Municipal Art Gallery, HOTEL KASTRO, Aura Fashion Shop, Church of Agios Mathaios Sinaites, Paliokastro, Mystic Cretan Road Trip, Hatzis Leather, Palm Beach Club Restaurant, Vassiliki's Votanopoleio (Botanical Store), Scubakreta, AQUADIVE unique scuba experience, New York Beach Club Hersonissos, Star Beach, Diamantakis Winery, Y.O.L.O.

The pool bar is a good spot for lunch and after dinner drinks,

The bar men do an amazing job bringing you your drinks/food to you on your sunbed.

Yes the pools are nice and the beach and views over the sea were good. Downside is:
1.)

The hotel is unusual composition of scattered small buildings grouped around a pool, right in the beach, simplistic naturalistic design and incredibly comfortable and clean.

The beach is sandy (not pebbles) and is probably one of the best I've been to.

The breakfast was just right, enough selection of food and the view was stunning every morning looking out onto the beach.

Good access to the beach directly over the road with free loungers for hotel guests.

Lovely beach across the road with free sun beds .. on site shop good value for money .

The 3 large pools serving different needs are surrounded by Bali beds and umbrellas a plenty and with the beach as a back drop you can’t ask for anything more.

Wouldn’t recommend going to The Island Restaurant up the road on the beach front either staff was disgusting in there and the food was gross.

The dining area is right beside the beach, eating dinner while the sun sets was gorgeous.

The convenient door to the beach meant you could be on the beach in minutes

The views from the hotel restaurant to the beach are breathtaking!

Beautiful hotel, excellent beachfront location with free sun beds on own beach.

Hotel is very clean, 3 lovely pools, nice size gym and fantastic location right opposite a pleasant sandy beach.

The private beach just across the road from the hotel is a lovely bonus.

The hotel and rooms are spotlessly clean, the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful, and best of all it’s a few steps across a quiet road to a gorgeous beach.

Pros / +: Lots of food choice at the hotel, staff are excellent (especially Eni at the main pool), love the DJ beets around the pool on some days, great small private beach, great location €30 taxi to airport.

It’s been so relaxing, we loved the day beds, chilling by the pool and heading to the beach in 1 min to have a dip.

Swimming pools had enough sun beds and bali beds for everyone, and very clean.

Very clean, two showers meant we could both sort ourselves out quickly.

The hotel is spotlessly clean in all areas.

It was immaculately clean and well maintained throughout the large area.

The rooms were very clean and the cleaners exchanged towels and did a very good job of cleaning everyday.

but it had everything you needed and was clean.

but clean and of a good standard for Greece, although tv’s done really work, not that you go away to watch tv but we had some storms in august.

Great hotel for relaxing ,close to airport .Hotel & grounds are kept immaculate .. 
food was of a good standard with good service .

Hotel is immaculate with beds changed everyday, rooms cleaned and all the hotel grounds being cleaned on a daily basis.

Our room is large, clean and airy even with the third bed in use.

but perfectly fine and clean 
- No alternative milk at breakfast, I cannot drink dairy so missed my morning coffee and I think all hotels these days should have at least 1 milk alternative on offer as it’s very easy to solve
- Only 2 plugs in the room and one wasn’t working, so maybe worth bringing an extension lead 
- The area is quite quiet around the hotel, not much to do.

3 clean pools with plenty of sunbeds, we loved the Bali beds at the main pool.

Absolutely beautiful place, and absolutely spotless!!

Staff were very friendly and our room was cleaned to a high standard as were all areas of the hotel.

The site is large with beautiful gardens and always so clean.

Pool areas were great - very clean, well maintained.

The sunbeds around the main pool, in ankle deep water, are just luxury.

The staff are just as helpful as they can possibly be; from the Reception staff to the pool cleaner and every other member of waiting and domestic staff, they all do whatever they can to make your holiday as good as can be.

..lots of sun loungers both on the beach and by the pool.

Pools
A Great choice of pools and plenty of sunbeds

The other pool as I stated was the relaxing pool, you could hear a pin drop, it was beautiful.

Plenty of pool areas to pick from, no problem getting a lounger or a bed as there are plenty dotted about.

We had a swim up room next to the relaxing pool which was perfect.

The hotel looks nice, has a few pools, and the overall experience in it was OK. 

That said, in the classic/standard rooms there is NO AIR CONDITIONING.

Hotel is fabulous with 3 pools with different themes depending on how you felt.

Lunch served at the restaurant by the pool was also really delicious and good value.

Just a lot of twist and turns to get to the main pool.

but it’s of an okay standard, 

Activities - very very poor, most of the classes etc get cancelled or no instructor turns up, charge to use the sauna (that’s if you can get in, needs pre booking months in advance, ha ha)

Pool area - good, no concerns around this.

Little things maybe to improve was poor wi-fi throughout hotel .. 
And water not always hot in an evening ..

- Peaceful hotel without children 
- Good selection of English TV channels 

Con’s
- poor WiFi signal
- Don’t expect to get a sunbed by the pool unless you leave your towel on the bed before 8am.

We researched the reviews before we booked and didn't expect such a poor service.

She then continued to PHYSICALLY kick the poor animal out the restaurant.

One poor chap who had had recent knee surgery got into the pool

The air conditioning was pretty poor - we had to leave it on at all times so that when we returned in the evening the room was cool.

The dinner itself was poor, not a lot of choice with some food dripping in oil and others undercooked.

We also thought the entertainment was generally poor and there was no atmosphere in the evenings.

Finally the evening entertainment (in October ) was poor.

The waiter service around the pool during the entertainment is slow, and the guy mixing the cocktails does a poor job - a bit amateurish, especially when served in a plastic cup!

some negatives the room had poor air con we did report it and it did improve slightly.

Another poor thing was, that the hotel is located in the entry lane of the airport, so we experienced that there are many planes which fly to kreta.

but some of these failed to meet expectations as well, for example, Yorkshire Pudding was served with poor quality roast pork as a substitute for beef.

Sometimes the entertainment was outside and other times in the bar due to the poor weather when we were there (but it was almost at the end of their season).

but avoided the largest pool because the resident DJ selection of music was poor.

The surrounding area was very poor with little to offer, so very disappointed and a good reason why I would not return to this lovely hotel.

The hotel chefs and their team were very efficient in keeping the food replenished and hot.

The food was delicious, the staff were super friendly, and I loved every minute of our time there.

apart from that side of it the hotel Is fab and the food  was excellent every day .

but the breakfasts and the lunches we had were a delight.

Stone Restaurant - 
Great for drinks and snacks during the day.

however, after the Island Hotel's buffet I am completely converted - the food was amazing and different every day; the breakfasts were rich and with a wide variety of choice.

The staff, the services and the food - superlative.

Gouves itself is nice, lots of little restaurants along the front.

Other than that, the buffet food was nice (not more than that) and the Wi-Fi was no good, disconnecting half of the time.

We ventured outside every evening to try all the different restaurants.

The location was pretty good - lots of small bars and restaurants from 1 to 20 mins walk away.

we payed the hotel extra to move up to half board and the food was beautiful with many options every evening.

There is a beautiful Greek Orthodox chapel,  a range of places to eat and relax and a mini market with prices comparable to the those on the adjoining strip.

We had asked about a voucher for the restaurant

We had a sea-view room, which did have a good view,

We had a room with the infinity pool, and while nice, I would pick a different room next time.

The room was tastefully decorated and well appointed.

We had amazing surprise when we arrived: I mentioned in an email that we recently got engaged and when we arrived, there were presents in our room and we had amazing surprise waiting for us.

Would maybe upgrade if was to stay again for a bigger room with a view,

but would definitely upgrade to a better room, but feel with a bit more searching I would find a better hotel

but it is a "central AC" that has absolutely NO IMPACT on the room temperature.

Our room was cleaned every day and sweet treats placed on our pillows at night.

Rooms were nice - we had a balcony overlooking the pool with the sea to the left - beautiful view.

We were happy with our room and the hotel facilities generally.

Another fantastic holiday, paid for a sea view room and we werent disappointed.

We had breakfast and dinner included with our room.

Our only criticism would be that its more of a resort than a hotel and our room was number 973 .

The room was lovely and modern with a large comfy double bed,

Waiters and waitress's very efficient throughout our stay.

Especially if Manos was serving, with his cheeky smile!

.please as a tourist who pays a lot of money to get there sort out the reception staff

The reservation staff are very helpful and will accommodate where they can.

The staff are amazing, super professional, smiley and attentive.They will always take the extra step to make your stay exceptional.

but this seems to have been addressed quite quickly by the hotel staff.

The staff were friendly every morning walking to breakfast and arriving.

The staff LIED TO US saying that this is how the AC works in the entire hotel (=not actually cooling).

Every single member of staff so friendly and polite and cant do enough for you.

All the staff were very friendly and couldn't have been more helpful during the whole stay.

There is a gym on the complex which has everything you need to do a workout and also there is a lovely fitness instructor who comes several days a week to do yoga, pilates and full body work outs etc, she is great and very knowledgeable.

Every member of staff is courteous and professional.

Good:
Friendly front of house staff
Good amenities

Bad:
Management
Dealing with issues

We had an okay stay.

Stayed here with my boyfriend last week, the staff was awful, the cleaners and one member of staff from the kitchen was the nicest staff members there.

On arrival there was a nice welcome gift waiting for us which highlights the way guests are treated by the lovely staff.

(we paid £1200 for 6 nights including dinner and breakfast)

The staff were charming and welcoming throughout.

The Island Hotel

poor

staff

restaurant

room

pool

cleanliness

beach

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 beach is spotless and main pool is good.

The hotel beach is very clean and we had no problem getting sun beds ( which are free).

They loved the kids club, pools and beach!

We were ignored when wanting to be served at the beach bar and the bar in reception often waiting upwards of 20 minutes.

* High quality beach chairs and umbrellas - much appreciated.

On a beautiful beach with local shops and bus stop to Rethymno outside.

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.

Efaristo to Orlanto , Georgia , Alexandros and Eneo from the beach bar for the best Cosmopolitan and good vibe , friendly and so more :) and ofcourse the best server Kaliopya…… And Last

The hotel is beautifully placed right on the beach.

The beach lifeguards are very strict when the sea and waves are strong.

You can do all sorts of activities like playing tennis, boule and darts by the beach bar.

beach very stony and very rocky going into the sea..

Ideal location as well next to beach and within accessible reach of Rethymno town and beachfront.

Situated on a lovely part of the beach with its own beach bar.

Beach towels were provided and you can change them any time.

Thanks to them and see you soon for i hope, a fourth visit to Aquila Rethymna Beach.

The beachfront location is incredible, we never tired of watching the sunset every evening.

Just returned from an amazing stay in a beach front villa at this top quality hotel with our family of 5.

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.

Everywhere is really clean, the gardens etc are well tended.

Room overlooking the beach and beautiful sea and really spacious and spotlessly clean and comfortable with all facilities, drinks in fridge stocked up daily, coffee and tea and milk and good size fridge.

Thought the hotel was one of the best we've ever stayed in, spacious bedroom with quality furnishings, bedding and towels, extremely clean as was the rest of the hotel.Small queues at mealtimes

but not least to my dear room cleaner Evagelia who was making sure that I have the room everyday tidy and the best comfort !

Food was amazing, grounds of the hotel are beautiful and exceptionally clean.

A great hotel to stay at, Very clean & helpful staff.

Huge, beautiful and clean hotel, great pools with a charming entertainment team.

The rooms are of a good standard, clean and beds are very comfortable.

The accommodation was second to none, clean and well equipped with complimentary wine and coffee/tea making facilities.

Hotel was very clean and the staff were very accommodating at sll times.

The outside facilities were also amazing, swimming pools are clean and our kids loved it.

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

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.

The pool waiters are all so really great – they must walk miles every day and always with a smile.

The hotel's pool facilities were fantastic, offering a great way to relax and unwind.

* Excellent indoor pool, nicely renovated.

Lovely comfortable sunbeds around the pool

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

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