Iberostar Waves Creta Panorama and Mare

Fantastic week spent here, it really was higher than our expectations. We stayed in a modernised bungalow with sea view, really nice room, large king size bed, separate room for the kids. Aircon was great. And the cleaners did a great job of maintaining rooms and surrounding areas.

Location was geat being meters from the sea, and a nice little train bus to visit the neighbouring village of Panormos.

We weren’t expecting top notch food at the buffet being all inclusive, but have to say the food was always great, and so much variety! Lovely selection of Cretan dishes too.

I would say this is not over priced and you get everything you need here, so definitely value for money.

First time in Greece, the locals are amazingly friendly and polite, the scenery was beautiful, and the sea was gorgeous!

All of the staff were super friendly and polite. A big shout out to Despina working in Food truck 1 & 2 at the Aqua Park, service always with a smile, very friendly!

I would 100% recommend this resort, and I hope we return again.

Firstly, we would definitely recommend Creta Panorama and would stay again.

We first visited in 2005 and have visited numerous times since. In 2012, we got engaged here, and this year we returned to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, so the hotel holds a very special place in our hearts.

We didn't arrive until the early hours (around 3am) due to delays on the way out. Unfortunately, this meant we had missed the late-night buffet and had to wait until breakfast, even though we hadn't been able to eat much on the plane as we had been sat on the runway, and the journey time by coach was so long. I did email beforehand to ask if it might be possible to have some snacks left in the room (which we were happy to pay for), but I don't think the email was picked up. The hotel had been very good at responding to emails before our arrival, however.

I believe it was Vasilis who welcomed us on arrival. He was very friendly and welcoming, and we were kindly taken to our room and helped by security with our luggage.

Our room was a sea-view bungalow (upper floor), room 3110, above the L'Oliveto restaurant. The room was clean, had a lovely view and was very well located. It was also surprisingly quiet. The single bed was a sofa-style bed, suitable for small children, but probably not particularly comfortable or suitable for anyone bigger.

During our stay, we tried two à la carte restaurants, Lavris and Zorbas. We didn't try L'Oliveto. Lavris was amazing and, if we could have eaten there more often, we definitely would have. It felt authentic, relaxing and like a real treat.

Zorbas was okay, but the choice was quite limited, with only three main-course options. There was also a small buffet for starters and dessert. The main buffet/restaurant was much better, with a fantastic choice every day for both breakfast and dinner. We also had a couple of lunches there, which were lovely too.

We tried a few of the bars around the hotel and all served wonderful cocktails, especially L'Oliveto and the Lobby Bar.

The entertainment was good overall, with lots of activities during the day with the super animation team. The evening entertainment was pretty good too, with some fantastic shows such as the African Acrobats, as well as a fire show. The entertainment team also worked very hard and put on some funny comedy shows. There was also some lovely music, with bands and dancers performing in the Lobby Bar.

We mainly used the pool by the water/aqua park as this was spacious, and you could always get a sunbed or chair. The water was also freshwater. You could get food and drinks from the food trucks and enjoy the splash and aqua park too.

We also tried the Kalithea pool one day, as this was freshwater too. Unfortunately, the Poseidon (main pool) and some of the other pools, such as Faethon/Phaethon, are saltwater, and we struggle with sensitive skin/eyes, so we avoided these pools. To be honest, we probably wouldn't have got a bed anyway, as people were leaving towels out very early, and we didn't want to be up that early on holiday! I believe Creta Marine manages this better, by all accounts.

The staff were overall very lovely and very good at their jobs. A special shout-out to Aziz (so sorry if we haven't spelt this correctly). He was a very dedicated lifeguard at the aqua park, worked extremely hard and was very personable.

There were also some lovely staff working at the bars, restaurants and in the animation teams. There were a couple who were clearly unhappy, but it appeared that they may have been spoken to during our stay, as their attitude towards guests definitely changed for the better over the course of a few days.

We also went down to the cove area one day and had a lovely time swimming and snorkelling in the clear water, seeing some lovely sea life.

We were not early risers, but the maid was very accommodating. If they were there as we were heading out for the day, they still kindly made up the room. There was only one occasion when we ran out of supplies, but this was promptly sorted for us.

We took the land train to Panormo and enjoyed a milkshake in a taverna, as well as visiting the shops along the quaint streets and enjoying the lovely sea views. We also took the bus to Rethymno and enjoyed seeing the harbour and Fortezza, as well as exploring the old town.

The hotel has expanded since we first visited, and we feel this has been done tastefully and has really added to the hotel. The only thing that does seem to have changed a little is the "personal" touch, which can perhaps be expected with expansion.

Previously, there were little things that made things feel very special, such as little notes for special occasions, and at checkout you felt valued. This time, checkout was fine, but we were asked to settle our bill and told "have a nice day". There wasn't really a thank you for staying or any of the little niceties we had experienced on previous visits. I will say, however, that the gentleman who helped us with the luggage scales/storage was very friendly and gave us a lovely send-off.

One other thing we noticed, as non-smokers, was that the smoking rules seemed a little inconsistent across the resort. In some instances, this made it a little unpleasant. Perhaps having clearly designated smoking areas would improve this, especially for families and non-smokers.

Overall, however, we really enjoyed our stay. Thank you to everyone at Creta Panorama for another lovely holiday, and hopefully we'll see you again soon!

Lefteris is the best barmen in the whole hotel! I tasted the best cocktails during my stay! Thanks for the premium experience! 😎