The Royal Senses Resort & Spa Crete, Curio Collection by Hilton

We saw this hotel being built on previous trips to Crete so were keen to finally stay and explore the Royal Senses. We spent five night there and it was would be best described as a holiday of two halves. We booked a family king room with a sea view (I think every room has a sea view). When we checked in we were given an accessible room very close to reception. While the room itself was nicely furnished and spacious, it had a very small balcony and all four of us were very much in one room. This wasn’t quite what I’d envisaged on booking and we had hoped to spend time on our balcony with a drink watching beautiful sunsets and playing cards. Similarly while I’m happy to share with my children, the partition of the Family King room would have given us more space. I spoke to reception on day 1. They were helpful and responded relatively quickly, looking for alternative options. Although there wasn’t anything they could do immediately due to the hotel being very full, they offered to move us to an Elite Suite the following day. The Elite Suites are beautiful. The room had a gorgeous terrace with a private pool and the most beautiful views of the sea. They were spacious, private and luxurious. The room change allowed us to see the hotel from a very different perspective. Another huge positive was the food. Having eaten at lots of hotel buffet restaurants, and often found them repetitive and lacking in quality, and having lived in Dubai, famous for its extensive brunches, I’ve got high standards. Gea, the main hotel restaurant did not disappoint. Breakfast and dinner were varied with a huge array of options. There was something for everyone and a lot of the food was cooked in front of you - beef wellington, fresh fish, prawns, mussels, fresh cookies, cinnamon buns - the list goes on. I was very impressed! Well done to the catering team! We also took part in the Cretan night, which was an à la carte event and cost extra, however it was worth it.

We experienced an unfortunate sun-bed situation which was a shame. Having sunbathed, read and gone for a swim around 9:15, we went for breakfast leaving our things on our sun-beds. When we returned 30 minutes later all our stuff had been removed by the hotel pool staff and put to one side. They said it was their policy to move towels and belonging off beds if they’d been empty for more than half an hour. In principle I don’t have an issue with this type of policy as long as it is consistent. What frustrated us was that when we arrived at the pool there were loads of towels left on beds in order to save spots and these hadn’t been removed. The member of staff who removed our things also had no system - it was mainly on gut feeling. When we raised this with her, and pointed at towels that were clearly not being used and had been there for a while, she said fine and went and took their stuff off too. If you are going to operate a system, ensure it is fair and consistent. Another bit of feedback relates to the Cretan Night. We loved it as adults but I think they need to rethink their kids menu. I really object to paying 15 euro for spaghetti with butter! A kids menu never needs to be more than 10 euro including pudding. In hindsight I should have taken my daughters to the main restaurant and fed them there, included in our stay, beforehand.

Beautiful location, exceptional personnel.

The Best Hotel Stay! We had the most amazing stay at The Royal Senses Resort & Spa! The hotel is beautifully designed, and our private pool was an absolute pleasure. The aqua park was just what the kids needed, while the infinity pool was nothing short of amazing! The food was very good, but above all, the hotel staff were incredibly kind, welcoming, and helpful. A fantastic family experience and truly one of the best hotel stays we’ve ever had! ❤️

Design of the hotel is beautiful and its position gets the most amazing sunsets. Breakfast is great. (We didn’t eat dinner here so can’t comment) Gym is well equipped and great views. They also run yoga and fitness classes everyday which is hard to find. The spa is gorgeous and is a must treat when staying at this hotel. Our massages were amazing. All staff go above and beyond and create and genuinely welcoming atmosphere. Tasteful entertainment at night with nice areas to relax. A lot of people complain about the location but I actuallly really like the location as you can get to rethymno old town in 20mins and Panormos in 5mins which are both lovely evenings out with fantastic tavernas.

Beware this hotel is very family friendly and in my opinion not suitable for couples without some adjustments. We paid a significant amount for a room with shared pool which we couldn’t use as children staying in the other rooms were jumping into the small pool and being taught how to swim taking over the whole pool. This is not the purpose of a shared pool and the hotel shouldnt really let families with young children stay in these rooms. It is difficult to get a bed by the mai pool as families reserve beds before breakfast with towels they have saved from the day before. The staff make some effort to stop this but for £450 a night I expect to get a bed by the pool. They do have an adults only pool which is gorgeous however the beds there don’t have umbrellas which was tricky as we had a particularly hot week. The beach area is lovely however it is a 15 minute walk to get there along a road with no footpath making it very unsafe as part of the walk is along a slip road off the main highway. They do run a shuttle every 30 mins however from 3pm there forms a queue and only 8 people fit in the van at a time so you only need 2 families before you and you are waiting 1 hour in the blistering heat. Note the beach area did have a strong smell of the toilets - I assume they need to sort the drains.