The Royal Senses Resort and Spa

We have just returned from a weeks stay at the Royal senses and what a beautiful hotel it was. As soon as you step out the car the hotel and its grounds are stunning, inside and out, very clean and aesthetically pleasing! Not just the hotel itself but its staff were all brilliant, i couldn't fault them! Very friendly, helpful and great with the kids. We had some things we needed assistance with and they were very accommodating and helpful.

The food was great, both breakfast and dinner at the buffet was fab, good choice of things to choose from and different things throughout the week. We booked into the Cretan night on the Thursday which was brilliant (a must do if you dont mind paying the extra €65 pp - kids can eat from the kids menu) The best food we had at the hotel, which consisted of a 7 course menu, with wine tasting before you sit down for the meal (make sure you get there for 7pm so you don't miss this part as it was such a nice touch) they have cretian singers and dancers and everyone gets involved in the traditional dancing too (if they want too) it was a really nice experience and great way to end our holiday.

The pools were great, 2 big ones and a smaller splash one next to them for little ones. They are all nice and warm - i hate a cold pool so this was lovely having such nicely heated pools. There could have been more sun beds potentially, there are quite a lot already but we did experience and so did others having our/their stuff removed (and kept safe at the towel station) by the pool staff if you left your beds for longer than 30-60 minutes. I guess it’s always going to be busy in Aug though with it being peak season. But generally there wasn't too many issues bed wise.

There is a mini mart on site, and a boutique. The mini mart is handy for buying pretty much most things you may need to stock up on and has lots of pool/beach stuff too for the kids as well as lots of toys.

I would also recommend the spa, which is beautiful. I had a mummy and daughter treatment with my daughter which we both really enjoyed. We got to use the spa pool afterwards which we had to ourselves for nearly 2 hours. My daughter who is 6 absolutely loved the experience.

One of the cons i would say was we had booked a family suite (2 adults and 2 kids ages 3 and 6) it said the room was divided off by a sliding door, however there is large gap at the top of it which doesn't give any noise barrier what so ever. Something to think about if you want/need 2 proper separated rooms. The room itself was lovely but maybe a little snug for a family of 4, especially id your there for more than a week. Another thing we were a little disappointed with was the kids club, although they had different activities planned every day, it didn't seem very “buzzy” in there. Our 6 yr old who normally loves a kids club got quite bored and only really wanted to go if she had one of her holiday friends with her. The free lunch was good though which we did use a few times although not every day.

The hotel is quite hilly, so if you have trouble getting around its something to think about. There is the funicular that runs up the middle of the resort but this is the only way to easily get up and down. The walk upto the kids club and the water park in particular is very steep and they are not located right next to the pool. Only a few mins away but when your dragging yourself (and kids) up a steep hill in the heat you dont want to do it too often. Water park was good fun though for the slides, we went 2/3 times in the week we were there.

All in all it’s a lovely hotel that i would happily return too :-)

Dangerous for Children, Shocking Management – We Left Early We booked this Hilton property expecting the high standard of service and safety associated with the brand for our family vacation. Unfortunately, our experience was so distressing and unsafe for our three young children that we actually booked early flights to leave the property. Severe Safety Hazards at the Pool The most alarming issue is the hotel's complete disregard for child safety. The water slides were entirely unmonitored. Without staff regulating the flow, a much older child slid down immediately after my daughter, violently colliding with her. She suffered back pain from the impact, and I had to personally jump into the water to pull her to safety while the on-duty lifeguard was stationed far away near the bar. To prove this wasn't an isolated incident, we went back to the slide area the next day and found it completely unattended by lifeguards for 2.5 hours (which I captured on video). Hostile Staff Behavior After the first slide incident, we moved to the main pool to avoid further danger. My 4-year-old daughter ran a very short distance (barely a meter) to hug me, and a female lifeguard aggressively screamed at her. My daughter was left crying uncontrollably and was terrified to use any of the pools or facilities for the remainder of our time there. Poor Cleanliness & Ignored Service Upon check-in, the outdoor furniture on our balcony was unacceptably dirty and covered in food crumbs. Furthermore, a simple telephone request for an extra towel and pillow to the room was completely ignored and never delivered. An Insulting Management Response When I tried to escalate these serious liability issues, the overnight Duty Manager was unavailable. I was promised a call at 9:30 AM, which never happened. When I went to the front desk at 11:35 AM, they initially refused any refund for our early departure, but promised to get back to me with something to "make up for all these issues." Hours later, their grand solution to my daughter being injured and screamed at was to offer us a voucher for one free ice cream per child. This is a total joke and highly insulting. If this were just about a dirty room or bad room service, it would just be a poorly managed hotel. But the severe negligence regarding child safety makes this property a massive liability. Parents, avoid this hotel at all costs.