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

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 :(

Luigi

Honest Review: King room ( basic room) 3 night stay. We arrived late and they put some food in our room upon arrival which was a lovely touch free of charge. Food: Great quality and great price. Buffet selection was extensive and always changed every day. The service as well was top quality, staff friendly and efficient. Other restaurants are great and very reasonably price for a hotel. Room: Very nice design, great view from the room, everything worked as it should! high quality for sure. Air-condition does not blow in your face which is great. Pool: Great pool and very comfortable and high quality sun lounges. Service by the pool was great, at 4pm they come around with free refreshing cold Melon which was a lovely touch. Beach access: A small 5-10 minute walk downhill OR a very quick pick up and drop off service, beach itself is nothing special, could do with some improving but not horrible. Water is calm and relaxing in the private beach, beach bars and sunlounges provided. Service: 5 star service, anything we needed was attended to. Restaurant and poolside staff attentive and efficient. Had some nice chats with a few which is always lovely! It seems a lot of bad reviews around the room lifts. This really is a non issue, its quick and we never had any issues with it! Overall. Really enjoyed the 3 night stay. I Recommend and would definitely come back.

Steve Dennis

We had a pretty good time here overall, but for the price, it felt more like a 3.5-4 star resort cosplaying as a 5 star resort. It's really Instagrammable, with a great view of the sea, beautiful infinity pools everywhere, and things like the funicular make it a bit interesting. The pools generally were really good, the main pool is big, and heated slightly which made it really relaxing, even in October when the other pools were too cold to use for more than a few mins. The kids club and waterpark style pools were great for the kids, though be warned they are unheated, so better when it's really hot. Kids club hours were from 10 to 6, and you can drop off or pick up any time, so really generous and good for parents. Service was also consistently good. Everyone was very friendly and accommodating. The stars get lost for me in a few areas. Food The dinner included in the half board is buffet style. It has a good selection that changed quite a lot over the 4 nights we were there, however the general quality of the dinner food was passable at best. A lot of stuff just hadn't been kept warm enough, or felt like it had been sitting around too long, even when you arrive when the doors open. 4 dishes I had were just unbelievably salty, and I like salt a lot. The pastry/dessert section was consistently really good though. The lunch we got from the cafe on the far end was really nice though. Octopus and sausage were both highlights, though the hummus is a fairly large portion, with 1/4 of a pita, so order more bread. Room The room designs were baffling. We got upgraded to a Villa (nice), but it feels like no one who designed the rooms has ever had to stay in one. Across the two floors of the Vila, there was precisely one drawer. The fridge struggles to hold bottles of water. The bathroom sink downstairs was in the living area, which was largely empty, with a single couch bed and one seat. No desk for working, no shelves to put keys or hang coats on near the door. The way the shower and bathroom doors work make it impossible to have a bathmat outside the shower without it getting in the way of two different doors. Bits of shoddy plastering here and there, and the toilets smelled like there were mild sewage problems somewhere. Getting around The whole place is built around a funicular that takes you up and down the 4 levels. It runs down the centre of the complex. When it's working, it's fine. A bit slow, but you're on holiday, so that's not a problem. The problem is it broke twice in the 4 days we were there, and there's no consideration given to alternate walking paths at all. The stairwells are like an Escher painting, and aren't signposted well. There's only 1 footbridge that lets you cross from one side of the funicular to the other, which means if you do need to just go from left to right to get to say the kids club or water park, you need to call the funicular, just to walk through it to the other side as if it were a bridge. We had to walk down the driveway, in front of a bunch of other people's private balconies, and avoid the occasional golf cart. There was also just constant mess from room cleaning whenever you had to walk anywhere. Plates, bottles, bags of rubbish, just sitting in plain view very often. They didn't seem to build it with service closets or anything in mind perhaps. The beach It's fine I guess. Private, very small. The cafe was good. It'd be nice if the sunbeds had face shades, as the umbrellas always seemed to be shading the wrong parts, but not a big deal. The main problem is you can't really see the sea due to the wave break walls that encircle the entire beach. There are nicer public beaches, so don't come here for the beach.