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

Jonas Schrader

Fawlty Towers in real life — just without the laugh track. If you enjoy the thrill of unpredictability, a touch of chaos, and the charm of five-star looks with two-star execution, then this hotel might just be for you. If not—keep scrolling. We booked through the official Hilton site as Hilton Honors members, fully prepaid. So imagine the vibe check when we were told at check-in that we owed €300+ due to an “outstanding balance.” Plot twist: it was their system’s error. Took hours, not minutes, to fix—so instead of relaxing poolside, we kicked things off in billing limbo. Good times. And that was just the welcome. The AC in the room didn’t work properly, and the excuses ranged from “it’s winter” to “our system cools during the day and heats at night” to (my personal favorite) “it’s to save the environment.” At this point, I was half-expecting someone to suggest we meditate to regulate our temperature. A couple of staff were fantastic—shoutout to the lovely ladies at breakfast/dinner and Peter from maintenance (a legend). The rest? Mostly well-meaning, but clearly undertrained, overwhelmed, or just freestyling it. We were asked at dinner if we needed anything, and politely requested a bed guard for our daughter. Smile, nod, disappear. No follow-up, no “sorry we can’t,” just… nothing. Same with the ice bucket. Promised multiple times over 90 minutes. Never arrived. Coffee orders at breakfast? Sketchy at best. Housekeeping came around 5pm, and small change went missing from a tray with personal items. Maybe they thought it was a tip (and sure, enjoy it), but should we really be guessing if our stuff is fair game? The room looked decent at first glance—great view, spacious—but on closer inspection: dusty switches, broken fittings, wall scuffs, and a fridge that roars to life like it’s starting a small engine every so often. If you like ambient noise, you’re in luck. The pools are a highlight—clean, relaxing, Instagram-friendly. But service is patchy and chaotic, even with the hotel at low-season capacity. I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like in summer. Food? Lots of it, but mostly meh. My absolute favorite moment: a waiter approached our table, saw the leaning tower of used plates, asked “May I?” and—drumroll—topped up an already pretty full wine glass. Love a good upsell, but maybe start by clearing the plates first? In the end, this place has the shell of a Hilton, but once you scratch the surface, it’s a bit of a circus. A pretty one, but a circus nonetheless. I’m not even mad about the waste of money anymore—I just hope this saves someone else the surprise.

Ashley Duray

Very kind staff and overall beautiful location. However, I can’t say that this is a 5 star resort. Air conditioner isn’t turned on at night in April, so we were told to open our windows/door, except that we were attacked by mosquitoes. We have no control over the temperature in our room- during the day it auto changes to 22 c. I’ve literally been sweating at night despite notifying reception 5 times now. Room service is unusually slow-it took about an hour to get soup and a fruit plate. The app they make guests use for room service is also convoluted and unnecessary. One of the kid slides has been closed down the entire time. It took 45 min to get coffee at breakfast and breakfast items were not replenished in a timely fashion including the small container of water. For the price, I would not choose to stay here again.

Lauren H

I stayed here for a week for my honeymoon and our stay was very nice but we did experience some disappointments. I will start with the pros: Upon arrival we were greeted by friendly staff with a nice welcome drink + snack and they provided us lots of good information. They also gave us a complimentary upgrade from our shared pool room to a private pool suite for our honeymoon. When we entered our room there was a cake and bottle of champagne set up for us, we really appreciated this! The room itself was very nice and the view was great. The complementary breakfast buffet is also great with lots of good options. The spa was very nice and relaxing. There are two main pools that are available to everyone, one heated, one not that are also very nice. Overall, the property is very beautiful and a great place to relax. However, we did encounter a few cons which were a little surprising and disappointing to us for a 5 star Hilton resort. While the complimentary room upgrade was very nice, one very unfortunate thing is that the private pools are not heated and can only be heated for a daily fee of €150. Unless you pay this daily fee these pools are essentially unusable because they feel like ice water and I believe they are actually being cooled because even the ocean water was much warmer every place we went. Not something I would expect from Hilton, €150 to heat it for the entire stay would be much more justifiable. I did bring this up to the staff and they didn’t try to accommodate in any way for this inconvenience as we were unable to step in the private pool once. Additionally, we did find ants on our floor and they were crawling all over some of my clothes by the time we found them. This was due to a crack in the flooring by the sliding glass door. I did end up throwing these clothing articles away unfortunately as I was very disturbed by this. The hotel did switch our room for us which we appreciated and they gave us a bottle of wine and fruit plate in our new room as an apology for the inconvenience, still not something I would expect to experience at a 5 star hotel and very disturbing. Due to this I wouldn’t say the cleanliness in the rooms is up to par. Additionally, my birthday happened to be during our stay and a few weeks beforehand I had emailed with one of the staff who said I would receive a complimentary cake for our honeymoon and a cake in our room for my birthday. Well, the hotel completely missed my birthday and we did not receive any cake or any sort of acknowledgement at all from them for my birthday, even though this was discussed in writing in advance. This was disappointing to experience. One final con that I will mention is the tram that is the only way to get to and from your room is extremely slow. There is only one of them and you will be left waiting a very long time to just get to and from your room. I would like to add that I am a gold Hilton member and am very well traveled as I travel for my job. So these areas that were lacking are not what I am used to with Hilton and not what I would expect for a 5 star resort and the price you pay for these rooms. The property itself was beautiful, staff were friendly, but these inconveniences did take from our overall experience during this very special stay.

nicolas M.

Our recent (second) stay at The Royal Senses was truly unforgettable. From the moment we arrived, the exceptional staff made us feel welcome and valued. Every corner of the resort is immaculate, showing a commitment to cleanliness that is beyond compare. Dining at the hotel was a highlight of our stay, thanks in large part to Dimitrios, the restaurant manager. His leadership is inspiring; he orchestrates his team like a maestro, ensuring flawless service and a welcoming atmosphere. The culinary experience here, combined with breathtaking views from the rooms, made our stay truly luxurious. The heated pool was a wonderful touch, perfect for a relaxing swim with the most incredible views surrounding us. Even at the end of the season, the staff maintained the highest standards, welcoming us with warmth and professionalism. Thank you to the entire team at The Royal Senses for an exceptional experience – we look forward to returning for the third time.

Susan D

Our experience at the Royal Senses was nothing short of fabulous! We arrived not only to be greeted by cool towels, fresh local goodies and delicious juice but to an unexpected and beautiful upgrade, birthday cake and champagne (thank you Olga!). The suite with private pool was amazing, beds comfortable and room immaculate. The food although expensive was very good, breakfast buffet the best I have ever had and the service fantastic. Every morning and evening there was beautiful live music, a saxophonist at breakfast and the most talented Greek guitarist at night. We had spent 10 days exploring Greece/Turkey so the remoteness was perfect for us but perhaps not for everyone. Hate to be leaving :(