- Greece Holidays
- Kokkini Hani
- Mitsis Rinela
This charming resort hotel is set right next to a gorgeous sandy beach in the tiny resort town of Kokkini Hani, halfway between Heraklion and the larger resort town of Chersonissos. The hotel features 441 air-conditioned guest rooms, family rooms and bungalows with warm, cheerful décor, en suite marble bathrooms, mini bar, and satellite television. Guests can wake up to a satisfying breakfast buffet in the main restaurant and dine in the Chinese restaurant, and can find tasty treats and refreshing drinks throughout the day at the café, traditional tavern, and five hotel bars. The hotel also offers an extensive range of facilities and services to meet the needs of even the most discerning guests, including six swimming pools with two waterslides, a kid's club and playground, sports facilities and wellness centre, a wholly luxurious spa centre, and bilingual staff providing 24-hour reception, babysitting services, and an on-call doctor, among other services.
Pamper yourself with a visit to the spa, which offers massages, body treatments and facials. After dipping into one of the 2 outdoor swimming pools, you can spend some time at the private beach. Additional features at this hotel include complimentary wireless Internet access, concierge services and babysitting (surcharge).
Due to the surrounding area and the number of steps around the hotel, it may not be suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
We had an amazing stay at Mitsis. Our room was beautiful and the swim up was amazing. We found the main pool far too deep - and could only use around 4 meters of the pool, so having the swim up was a great option, we spent a lot of time in our pool. Main buffet wasn’t the best; very poor - but all restaurants were fantastic. We would’ve been very upset if these weren’t included. Staff were very friendly. And the local area is lovely, we walked to the aquarium which was around 25 minutes, and also hired a car at the hotel. ** Private breakfast area for swim up suites was fab.
I very rarely leave reviews but felt compelled to for our stay at Mitsis Rinela given the existing reviews did not align to our experience.
The positives: the room was very pleasant - recently renovated and a good selection of products (but a knock for having a free mini bar and coffee station but not supplying any form of biscuits/snacks). The Wine, Champagne and Sushi Bar is also a nice venue (albeit only offering Prosecco is misleading in the name!)
The negatives:
Our second Home and 10 years together. Great Food, Location, room and best smiles ever
We had an amazing stay at Mitsis Rinela in September. Unfortunately, we arrived late at night and did not receive any welcome drinks or luggage service, but we understand that. We did receive an upgrade to an Ocean View room, and loved the location of our room. There were never any sunbed wars. When we decided to spend a day at the pool, we got ready after breakfast and had plenty of beds to choose from. We also spent an afternoon at the Beach and had no issues there either. Wait staff ask plenty of times if you need another drink, and the minibar is refilled daily. As for the food: we never had any bad food at the Buffet, but the à la carte restaurants were truly amazing. I will keep dreaming about the Tiramisu at the Italian restaurant! We also loved the fresh Pizza slices (which you could see being made!) and the beach side barbecue. The concierge was very helpful in booking us a taxi and giving information on Knossos. The cats roaming the grounds were a great plus too, of course.
We stayed at Mitsis Rinela in a Family Pool Suite and overall had a lovely holiday. The hotel itself is beautiful, in a fantastic setting, and our room was excellent. The pool suite was a real highlight and the hotel has a very attractive, luxurious feel, particularly in the evenings.
There were also some excellent members of staff who deserve a special mention. Christina and Irene in the Italian restaurant were fantastic, as was Michaelis in the main bar. They were friendly, welcoming and really added to our experience.
Food-wise, the Italian, Steakhouse and Asian restaurants were all lovely places to have dinner, with a great atmosphere and setting. Unfortunately, the food elsewhere was probably the biggest disappointment of the holiday. We found several of the menus quite limited, and the Mexican lunch in particular was very poor. The main buffet was also well below what we would expect from a five-star Mitsis Selection hotel — both the quality and variety of food were disappointing.
Service was also quite inconsistent. Some staff were excellent, but others could be surprisingly rude and visibly frustrated when the hotel was busy. I speak and understand Greek, and on several occasions could understand staff complaining about how busy things were and swearing repeatedly amongst themselves in front of guests. It didn’t create the professional atmosphere you would expect from a hotel at this level.
There are also simply not enough sunbeds or seating for the number of guests. Getting a bed during the day could be difficult, and finding somewhere to sit for the evening entertainment was similarly challenging. Bar service was often very slow, particularly when busy.
I want to stress that we did not have a bad holiday — quite the opposite. We loved our time here, the hotel is beautiful, and there is a lot to recommend about Rinela. However, having stayed at Mitsis Alila twice previously, we came with fairly high expectations of the Mitsis Selection brand. For us, Alila considerably outshines Rinela, particularly when it comes to food, service and the overall five-star experience.
With improvements to the buffet and wider food offering, staffing/service at busy periods, and availability of sunbeds and evening seating, Rinela could be exceptional. As it stands, it was a lovely holiday in a beautiful hotel, but it didn’t consistently feel like the five-star Mitsis Selection experience we’ve had elsewhere.
