Aquila Rithymna Beach

“This hotel has the best supervisor of the Italian restaurant”

Everything was amazing, however there is some improvement in the cleanliness of rooms. The staff was friendly and helpfull, especially the supervisor of the Italian restaurant, I do not remember his name, but he was amazing, a real professional. He should be the supervisor of all the staff, his en… more

Everything was amazing, however there is some improvement in the cleanliness of rooms. The staff was friendly and helpfull, especially the supervisor of the Italian restaurant, I do not remember his name, but he was amazing, a real professional. He should be the supervisor of all the staff, his energy, charisma makes you want to come back to this hotel again.

less

“October is quiet!”

We booked for 7 nights at the hotel via Tui. Flights, transfers were all great. Upon arrival at the hotel on 24th October, we were welcomed by the friendly staff and were impressed with the cleanliness of the hotel. Once checked in, we went to our room and the suitcases arrived shortly after. W… more

We booked for 7 nights at the hotel via Tui. Flights, transfers were all great. Upon arrival at the hotel on 24th October, we were welcomed by the friendly staff and were impressed with the cleanliness of the hotel. Once checked in, we went to our room and the suitcases arrived shortly after. We had a room in the main building, floor 3, overlooking the beach, with 2 balconies. The room was bright, clean and tidy, albeit slightly dated, and a little small for a family of 3 sharing (2 adults, 1 child). The 3 beds were all pushed together with little floor space....but we were only there to sleep, so it was fine. Being late in the season, we loved the fact it wasn't busy, but disappointed that it felt they were literally closing down the hotel around us! We were excited to try the Italian restaurant, but it was only open 1 night, which we were able to book for before it closed. So for the remainder of our stay, we only had the main restaurant buffet (breakfast and dinner - we were half board) and then brasserie to choose from. Even the beach bar was closed after the first day we arrived. We cannot fault the food; it was delicious and a great variety provided for us adults. However, my 10 year old son, struggled with the evening food choices and spent the week eating mostly chips, plain pasta, rice, plain chicken nuggets, broccoli (when it was available) and his weight in feta cheese! One evening we were told a kids themed buffet would be available at 8:30pm. Which is too late for my son to eat, so we just had to make do (we went for dinner at 7pm each evening). We had very negative experience one evening at dinner. Myself, my husband, our son (10 year old boy, with ADHD), my sister and her husband were sat enjoying our meal when a German lady came over abruptly speaking to us in German (which we did not understand) and pointing her finger at my son. Thankfully, he had his earphones in so was completely unaware of what was happening. When we said we didn't understand, she resorted to English and told us that she didn't approve of my son using his earphones and watching his tablet whilst eating his dinner, and instead should be taking in his surroundings. We had to explain that he has a disability and actually he finds this surroundings overwhelming and in order to enjoy his dinner with us, he asked to use the headphones and tablet to allow him focus. Not that we should need to explain ourselves. She was incredibly rude and judged us without knowing the situation. She left the table and then swapped places with her husband so she could sit with her back to us. We were shocked! We observed her watching and rolling her eyes at all the other children in the restaurant who were either on their phone, using their parents phone to watch or play something, even those doing some colouring in. It made me so angry. This was obviously not the hotels problem, but just want people (who may also have people in their party with hidden disabilities ) to be aware that this happens. Anyway, the bar and restaurant staff were lovely and I wish i'd taken down some names to call a couple of specific people out who really were amazing. There was one guy who worked in the bar, who was so lovely and helpful, suggesting cocktails and being very attentive. The hotel grounds are lovely to walk around and there is a lovely selection of pools to choose from. The only thing for anyone considering going in October, be warned - the pools are freezing!! I mean they literally take your breath away if you're brave enough to get in. And the indoor pool isn't much warmer (20c). The best pool we found, was actually the smaller pool, round the back, away from the beach and the main areas. We often had this whole area to ourselves and it had quick access to the spa area, indoor pool and toilets. So always plenty of sunbeds available. The beach is beautiful but no good for swimming - far too rough and unsafe, so the red flags were out all the time and lifeguard on duty except for the last couple of days. If you want to swim in the sea and do some snorkeling, I recommend doing a trip to the south side of the Island and go to Preveli Beach. All in all, we had a lovely week away, and it was lovely to enjoy the place whilst it was quiet and not so busy, but it would have been a much nicer experience if the hotel wasn't being closed down around us. We paid for 5 stars and expected to have the various restaurants etc available to us, but they weren't.

less

“Lovely holiday but end of season meant alot was closed.”

This is our second stay at Aquila and this time we have bought the children's grandparents with us. Unfortunately TUI messed up our booking as they split us into two rooms of 3; the poor grandparents had to have one of our children for the week! We were not prepared to pay for a room "upgrade" as w… more

This is our second stay at Aquila and this time we have bought the children's grandparents with us. Unfortunately TUI messed up our booking as they split us into two rooms of 3; the poor grandparents had to have one of our children for the week! We were not prepared to pay for a room "upgrade" as we felt this was not our fault. We felt we should have had a room for 4 and a room for 2. Last time we came was May 2023, so the beginning of the season, I would recommend this over the end of the season. We paid alot of money for the holiday; the air conditioning had been turned off centrally meaning that after a day of 25° heat our rooms were very stuffy overnight so we had to have the balcony doors open (the mosquitoes ate us alive!). There are 4 restaurants on site (2 available to half board guests, and 2 which half board had to pay a premium). The Greek restaurant was closed for the season from Saturday 26th, we managed to book into the Italian but this was closed from Sunday 27th. We never saw the Mediterranean restaurant open. So we were restricted to the main restaurant; whilst the staff here are fantastic, more and more sections were closed off each night and also for breakfast. Today, we have spent the day by the main pool and had a great day, the aqua gym was brilliant (as was Zumba on Friday). We were disappointed to find the boutique closed for the season, and when we went to the small shop for ice-cream, we were surprised to find them closing down for the season. We have 2 more days left and there is no communication to say if they will be open. We also visited the indoor pool, jacuzzi and spa as this was advertised as heated, it was not, the jacuzzi was colder than the main pool! If we had come on our holiday two days later it would have cost an extra £1500, and I don't think anything would have been open at the hotel. Whilst I understand that the town is slowing down for the season, I feel that if the hotel is still taking bookings for a 5* service then this service should be available right up until the last guest leaves, not winding it down while they are here. However, all of the above decisions would have come from 'higher management', the staff onsite at Aquila are fantastic. I would like to particularly mention the restaurant staff, always smiling and helpful and working extremely hard. We hired a car from Traffic who are based within the hotel, this was also really easy to organise. The reception staff organise taxis on request, it cost €13 to get into Old Town (for 6 of us). I did mention our niggles to the Front of House staff, who were very apologetic, both rooms were supplied with wine, traditional Greek Cake and Raiki as an apology. We had a fantastic holiday, the weather was better than we expected and we didn't let the niggles ruin our holiday. I would just be reluctant to visit hotels in Crete at the end of the season again.

less

“Nice hotel but room too small for 3 adults”

Stayed here for a week with my mother and a friend, originally there was four of us booked into 2 rooms but unfortunately 1 of the group had to cancel and we were put in one room. The transfer to the hotel is quite long but can't be helped but upon arrival you are given a courtesy drink and a compu… more

Stayed here for a week with my mother and a friend, originally there was four of us booked into 2 rooms but unfortunately 1 of the group had to cancel and we were put in one room. The transfer to the hotel is quite long but can't be helped but upon arrival you are given a courtesy drink and a computer tablet to provide check in details, your cases are left for the porter to take them to your room. After checking in, we went to find our room, which nice and a good size for 2 adults but not for 3, to accommodate us all we had to move some furniture around and put a chair on the balcony, I did mention to reception staff that the room was small but nothing was changed. The other issue was that every time something was provided for the room we only ever got 2 of them, to the point were we raided the cleaners cart for extra towels and we never got the third dressing gown. We had paid for a garden view, thankfully the front drive and entrance had grass and flowers to qualify as a garden. There are a few pools dotted around of which some have spare sunbeds and some don't and some of them are surrounded by grass not tiled/concrete floor, it all depends on your choice of quiet, activity and preference of pool size. We did do an hour on the beach but to be honest I found the sun-loungers too short, (I'm 5' 3"), and uncomfortable but everyone else seemed fine. My place of preference was the big pool but you have to get there early to get a sun-lounger in the sun, and to find enough to allow all your party to be together but there are extra loungers on the grass area that you can use and they are quite comfy. I can't comment on the entertainment as we didn't go to any shows. We were half board, which allowed you to swap dinner for lunch which I quite liked. Food was plentiful, tasty and good quality, the hotel also tries to reduce wastage and ask that you don't over fill your plate as you can always go back for more. The area around the hotel is quite commercial with plenty of shopping, also the buses are quite easy to navigate if you want to go the city centre. As a trio, we paid for our alcohol and any extras as we got them except for the night we did the Italian restaurant and we had the meal charged to our room, we tipped staff as we went along. On the day I went to settle the bill, the receptionist asked me to if I wanted to pay a gratuity but I declined explaining that I tipped as I went along during my stay, he replied that he was reception staff and deserved a tip, I didn't reply, at this he then spoke to his colleague in Greek and I got the distinct impression that he was talking about me and I felt uncomfortable. I liked the hotel and it had a lot to offer but if you were to ask me if I would go back, I would probably say no, as would the others that I travelled with. I wouldn't go back not just because of the receptionist, or the size of the room but mainly due to the area and that I didn't find it quintessential Greek.

less