Peninsula Resort & Spa

We booked this hotel through the flight centre for myself, husband, daughter & father in law. We chose the bungalow and had asked to have it arranged so my father in law was in one room to himself and my daughter in with me & my husband. The hotel confirmed that this was ok and could be arranged for our stay.

However on arrival this wasn't done and the staff member at reception was very passive aggressive saying what we had booked was a bungalow with 2 beds in each. After insisting that we had confirmation of our room set up she eventually phoned someone and said it could be arranged but we had to wait 2 hours.

We found the bungalow to be disappointing. The entrance door opens onto the first room with twin beds but there is no natural light at all. The bathroom is off this first room and there is just the door to the second bedroom separating them with a back door at the back of the 2nd room opening onto a patio. This was not ideal for us as it meant we had to keep our door closed so we had privacy but meant my father in law was without any light apart from the dingy ceiling light so he felt like he was in a prison.
I think these family rooms are really only suitable for children.
Several things were missing from one room and the telephone didn't work so we had to keep traipsing to reception to get things fixed, which they did promptly. But despite reporting the phone twice it was never resolved.

The food choice and quality at the all inclusive was excellent, the vegetarian choice was good but we found many foods not labelled (apart from allergens) so sometimes it was hard to determine if it contained meat or not. The all inclusive drinks were ok but alot of them tasted watered down.

The pool areas are small and there were not enough sunbeds and often 'reserved' by selfish people who think it's ok to do this and not turn up for hours despite a sign saying it was forbidden. The hotel were not interested in enforcing this and we witnessed several rows between guests over sunbeds. The salt water pool area was completely unstaffed, the bar was closed and there was only a self serve machine so it lacked atmosphere. So we ended up spendng most of our time at the nearby psaromoura beach which is very pebbly but not packed but had to pay 25 euros for a brolly and 2 sunbeds.
The kids pool is not in the main complex but up the road by the spa. It was small and out of the way, I think this hotel is really more for adults.
We also found the Tsimiento platform by the sea had to be closed for 5-6 days because it was windy and too dangerous to use so again limiting where you could go.

Neither A la Carte restaurant was open which surprised me being July & the entertainment was lacking or repetitive. The staff in the dining areas were efficient and some friendly but others not so. One member of the kitchen staff told my daughter off for only wearing a bikini top with her shorts. This really upset her and considering many other people were even less dressed and there was no dress policy, I think it was out of order.

So whilst things were done efficiently, the food was good and the views great, the hotel lacked warmth and atmosphere.

I recently stayed at Peninsula Resort in Crete and, unfortunately, it didn’t live up to the high ratings I had seen beforehand. The view was absolutely stunning — that’s definitely the highlight — and the reception area and exterior looked great at first glance.

However, once we entered the room, the experience went downhill. The towels were old, heavily worn, stained, and grey instead of white — a very unpleasant first impression. There were no mosquito nets, even though there were quite a lot of mosquitoes, so we had to buy our own repellents.

While the room was clean, the hotel itself is clearly old and in need of renovation. In the bathroom, the sink and tiles were chipped, and the door was damaged.

The biggest disappointment, though, was the food. We had the all-inclusive package, but the quality was very poor. Meals lacked variety, and even the fruits were often bruised or close to spoiled. The plates and glasses weren’t always properly cleaned — we found dried food on dishes and pulp from someone else's orange juice still stuck in some glasses. Although there were plenty of salads and vegetables, the main dishes were limited and repeated from one day to another. After two or three days, we gave up eating at the hotel altogether and chose to dine in local tavernas instead.

That being said, I have to mention some positives: housekeeping was done daily, the pools were very clean and well-maintained, and the staff was always friendly and helpful, which made a difference in the overall experience.

In the end, the location is beautiful and the views are truly impressive, but the hotel needs serious improvements in terms of maintenance and food quality to match the expectations set by its online ratings.