Hotel Heronissos

Ok, so honest review. We read the mixed reviews on here and other forums, but we had the best time here. For the money we spent we all found it great value. What made it excellent was the staff. They were all amazing abd couldn't do enough for us. Special thanks to Giannis, Mike and George. They helped me learn Greek, as best as I could manage, and always had a smile and a kind word. We met some great people whilst there, in a safe and comfortable environment. The beach is literally round the corner, good amenities, and close enough to the strip for those that want nightlife, but just far enough to be able to not hear the noise lol. We would go back in a heartbeat. I appreciate everyone's experiences are different and personal, but for us it was a really special 10 days. So, thank you for Marie, Chris and the kids... efhalstor file mou! Room 212 😀

We paid for 2x 4* standard rooms in this hotel, only to be shipped out the back & across the street to a basic, unmanned separate 'hotel' (3* MAX). To actually stay in the hotel we originally booked and paid for, they wanted an extra €140 per room - talk about hoodwinked! On the positive side, the hotel was spotless, the air conditioning worked brilliantly and the staff really were lovely. However, the rest of the experience fell short. The food was low quality. Breakfast was underwhelming with no variety and hot lunch/dinner options were routinely cold & cheap tasting. The soups & salads were ok, that's about it. They had no chef's station either, which we found very disappointing for a 4* hotel. There's no snack bar but cakes are brought out to the bar around 4pm. The pool is lovely, but the sunbeds are painfully uncomfortable, the area around the pool is dangerously slippery, and there is no lifeguard on duty. Be prepared for high-volume dance music between 10am and 11pm. While partygoers will appreciate the atmosphere, the large groups of young lads staying here got quite boisterous at times. It might not be the ideal environment if you're travelling with young kids. Speaking of kids, there are zero activities for them aside from swimming (balls & lilos are however allowed in the pool). Overall, being advertised 4* and downgraded upon arrival is unacceptable & the food not to 4* standard. We definitely won't be back.

Overall a nice stay but so much room for improvement.

Arrival: arrived at 3am to a very nice looking hotel lobby, check in was fast and we were taken to our room by a member of staff who was friendly. We were told to pay taxes in cash, so be prepared and carry Euros with you.

Rooms: The room we were given was below standard. It was mouldy, outdated and had a broken shower, broken toilet seat and faulty electrical sockets. We mentioned this to the man at the check in desk who said that our issues would be resolved the next day. Not ideal as after a long journey we would have liked a shower, but understood as it was 3am. We went to sleep, but the bed (2 singles pushed together, even after emailing to request a double bed) was extremely hard and were only given 1 flat pillow each. After complaining to Love Holidays for two hours the next morning we were given a complimentary upgrade room to a superior suite. This room was better, had a walk in shower with no mould, a toilet seat that was not broken but sadly still two single beds pushed together. The bathroom door was a piece of frosted glass with hinges, so if you aren’t happy hearing your roommate doing their toileting avoid these rooms. We took the pillows from the previous room with us so that we had two pillows each. In the superior room we had slippers and robes, but we didn’t use these as the robes were very well worn and stained. The balcony view was of the building adjacent, the view in the standard room was better as it faced the sea, however we felt that as we had been given an upgrade to complain about the view would have been wrong, but if we had booked a superior room and received this view we would have been disappointed . The room was cleaned each day. The cleaning staff are 10/10.

Food: overall was good. Pretty much the same each day with slight variations as you would expect in an all inclusive resort. The staff in the restaurant were friendly and helpful, kept tables clean and directed guests to tables. There wasn’t a very long wait for a table if it were busy. Breakfast was by far the best, offering fresh fruits, Greek yogurt, cooked meats, pastries, beans, eggs, cheese, breads and jams as well as salad options. My only gripe would be that they offered no fresh fruit juices, the drinks were concentrated and from a machine. Lunch and dinner were similar, always salad options, breads, various hot meals, with a fair few options for vegetarians. I found that some meals were very salty and oily. We believe that one of the dishes - a creamy broccoli bake was the cause of us to have an upset stomach, it was a dish that we each had on separate days but the day after we each ate it we each became very unwell. The food is not labelled consistently. Sometimes there are labels and other times there is not. And the labels only say the food name, not what is in it, or if it has any allergens. However, the ice creams and desserts were delicious, especially the Greek walnut cake and pistachio ice cream.

The bar: really lovely bar staff, happy to talk about drinks on offer, and very generous with the alcohol. No long queues even at busier times.

Pool: the pool was lovely and warm, spacious and had many sun loungers and umbrellas for shade. You do need to get out before 10am to secure a bed as guests were reserving, even though signs said not to - staff do not monitor this. The pool opens at 10 and closes at 6. There is music playing near the bar which gives a party atmosphere. It didn’t bother us, but be aware of very loud tree crickets around the pool who made lots of noise.

Other: there are only two female toilets, and neither have locks, which means a quite uncomfortable situation as people can open the door whilst you’re on the toilet. The male toilets are the same.

Overall cleanliness of the hotel is good, however most mornings a strong smell of cigarettes greeted us when we left our room, which was very unpleasant.

There is a lovely veranda by the bar with plenty of seating. The sofa cushions could do with a clean, as guests were seen putting their feet and shoes on them which made them grubby.

Other guests: when we arrived it was full of young men who were very drunk and disruptive, however as the week progressed these guests became less frequent and there were more families with children. We didn’t take our child with us, and I’m glad I didn’t as with the young men, the smoking by the pool and the location, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable.

Entertainment: this is sadly lacking. They had a dj one night, but the music was so loud it could be heard miles away. No one was dancing and there was no atmosphere at all. Another night there were some dancers, but they weren’t very good (think GCSE dance). No activities in the day are offered. Compared to other resorts I have been to, where there are animation teams with activities like yoga, darts, archery, volleyball etc., this is where the hotel severely lacks as it has nothing.

Location: it’s very party central, the hotel is close to a strip of bars and clubs. There are many shops, but they mostly sell the same tourist souvenirs. The port is pretty and the mountains views are stunning. Lots of places to rent bikes and cars to explore more of Crete if wanted.

Check out: was quick, greeted by the manager. She informed us that we could leave our luggage in the luggage room, and stay to enjoy the facilities until our transfer collected us later that day.

Overall, we had a nice time, but I wouldn’t return. For the money you can definitely get better value elsewhere. I would say that this hotel would be ideal for young adults, who want a vibrant location to party. I have tried to give a fair and honest review of a couple in their 30’s experience.

Pros: excellent staff, clean hotel, large pool, delicious desserts.

Cons: outdated standard rooms (definitely not 4*), no daytime activities and poor evening entertainment twice a week.