Candia Park Village

“Wonderful family holiday”

We spent so long trying to find somewhere in Crete and booked Candia Park based on the reviews, it felt like a gamble as anywhere does when you’ve never been there but we needn’t have worried. We stayed here from 4th-14th October 2024. We couldn’t have been happier with our experience. My husband h… more

We spent so long trying to find somewhere in Crete and booked Candia Park based on the reviews, it felt like a gamble as anywhere does when you’ve never been there but we needn’t have worried. We stayed here from 4th-14th October 2024. We couldn’t have been happier with our experience. My husband has run hotels, restaurants and bars for years in the UK and USA, this makes him a very fussy traveller and very critical, he is not easily pleased but we’ve been back a few days and he’s already booked us in for next year! The staff are everything here, they are SO friendly, welcoming and accommodating. From reception to the bar and restaurants to the cleaning staff who bring fresh towels and clean the room everyday, they also made cute bows out of the bed sheets and even made a little bed for my daughters toy that she absolutely loved. These little touches were so appreciated. They work so incredibly hard and still manage to make you feel comfortable and well looked after. We have allergies, mine is very severe/ anaphylactic which is new to me and very frightening. Wherever we ate, the buffet, a la carte or even when we arrived at 11.30pm (and the lovely Maria on reception made us pizza!) they were so reassuring, they checked everything meticulously. Whenever I went to the buffet the super friendly head chef would give me a tour of every single option and tell me what was in it and if it was safe for me to eat, honestly I wish I could have brought him home with me, I felt so bad for inconveniencing him so often but he never gave any inkling that he wasn’t happy to do it and made me feel so safe! It’s the perfect place if you don’t like big, all inclusive hotels, surrounded by other Brits. It feels authentic just like a village and is absolutely beautiful. It’s spread over quite a big area which makes it all the more special, there’s an ice cream parlour, gym, shop and spa, all lovely. There are stunning views from every angle, a private beach with excellent snorkelling and the pool is so relaxing, the kids can have fun playing but the lifeguard makes sure it’s within reason. It’s close to Agios Nikolaos town centre and Elounda which are both well worth a visit. I would recommend hiring a car, it was easy enough online and saved us travelling at least an extra hour on a coach transfer, the hotel was so easy to find from Heraklion airport and took just under an hour. One very small criticism is that our children are 11 and 13 and we were surrounded by babies in every other apartment, whose crying woke us up every morning. I’m sure it was just an unfortunate coincidence and if we had mentioned it, something could have been done but it would definitely be something to consider. Thank you to all the staff at Candia Village Park, we will look forward to seeing you next year and hope you enjoy a well deserved break!

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“Awesome resort for families”

Closed resort. Lots of families and activities for them. Things are clean. Two pools with guided water activities. Good food, minimarket and rentable cars and guided tours. Different performances and food varities each night. Very good experience.

“Relaxing family break. Serenity rooms are a must!”

We have just returned from a week’s stay between 18th-25th October. We are a family of 4 (children age 4 & 2). This was a fairly last minute booking direct with the hotel. The weather was amazing at 22/23 degrees daily and dropping to 18/19 in the evening. We were one of very few British families… more

We have just returned from a week’s stay between 18th-25th October. We are a family of 4 (children age 4 & 2). This was a fairly last minute booking direct with the hotel. The weather was amazing at 22/23 degrees daily and dropping to 18/19 in the evening. We were one of very few British families. I would say it was mainly German / Dutch families. The good: From the moment we booked the hotel was in touch with a confirmation email and to arrange transfers from the airport. Excellent communication. We arrived at midnight and they had packed us a small selection of sandwiches to take to our room. A fruit platter and bottled water was also in the fridge on arrival. We stayed in a Serenity Suite. Our room was 10/10. We had an amazing balcony which was very spacious with nice furniture and the view was wonderful. I couldn’t fault the room. Very modern, newly refurbished and a lovely location within the hotel. Private beach area with comfy sun loungers and plenty of places to sit. We spent the majority of our time at the beach area. Staff were very friendly and the reception were happy to help wherever needed. Late check out. Our return flight was at 11pm. We requested a late check out and fortunately our room was available. We paid £60euros extra and had the room until 5pm which was perfect for us. We felt it was worth the additional cost. Taverna Cafe by the reception area. We only visited on the last day and we wished we had visited earlier in the week as the food was lovely and the lady who ran the cafe / taverna was very friendly. Location: The hotel is fairly isolated so a taxi / car is needed if you wish to explore. Reception booked us taxis to the surrounding areas throughout our stay. Our favourite place was Plaka which was a 15minute drive. A small fishing village with excellent quality tavernas, pebbled beach and lovely shops (no tat!). We didn’t really rate the other local areas apart from Plaka however it was the end of the season. On site shops: There is a coffee / ice cream shop which was great and we visited daily. The supermarket was the most upmarket supermarket I’ve been to in a resort. We bought some cheese, tomatoes, bread, dips etc and made lunch in our room a couple of days. This part of the hotel seemed very new. Beach food / drink service: Excellent idea. Order on the app and it was delivered to your sunbeds. Good selection to choose from. Bubble Show: We didn’t use the kids club and we ventured out most evenings however we did see the bubble show which was good and our children really enjoyed. Room for improvement: Breakfast: The breakfast area was chaos. As there is only one breakfast restaurant the amount of people in one place was a bit much. The food was ok and the juices were very watered down. Lots of children playing football around the square area. It wasn’t the most relaxing start to the day. Pool area: The pool was also a very busy area. They have 3 pools but again in the same area. The sunbeds are metal and are in need of an upgrade. The pool water was cold. Buffett restaurant: We stayed on a B&B basis however we tried the buffet one evening. The kids enjoyed the buffet but again similar to breakfast. Too many people in one place. Food ok. After the children’s entertainment there was a lack of atmosphere after you had eaten. There wasn’t really a bar / evening area which would be nice to have 1 drink after dinner. Again it was the end of the season so this may be different in the height of summer. Overall we had a lovely and relaxing stay. There are so many positives to this hotel however it does lack in certain areas. If you are looking for an authentic Greek style hotel it’s a great option. Taxis can be expensive if using daily but it was nice to explore. Our room really did make our stay with the best view.

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