Amirandes Grecotel Boutique Resort - Palea EO Irakliou Agiou Nikolaou 12

The service was impeccable from all the departments. Starting from the reception - Katarina and her team were wonderful throughout. The housekeeping and the beach staff could not do enough for us and the breakfast staff were most attentive! All the staff in this hotel were so happy and made sure that we were enjoying. Of course the hotel itself is stunning- the villas, the very clean and tidy beach, the pool, the well kept gardens, the outdoor massages, but it was actually the wonderful staff that made it awesome! This hotel is not far from Heraklion and we had a car but very easy access to town. Once again bravo to the staff and management. Will be looking for Grecotel everywhere I go now. Great 5* standard at this hotel!

This is a lovely hotel with very attentive staff. Not sure it fully qualifies as 5 star having visited a few before but a strong 4 star. Drinks at the bar if you are not on all inclusive are very expensive and small measures by other bar and restaurant standards. Overall, I'm happy to give this hotel a good rating.

Very nice hotel, excellent staff but definitely not eco friendly. No effort at all about that

We had a very pleasant, relaxing stay in May 2022. The standard and variety of food was very good and the serving staff were particularly attentive and friendly - Eleni Mavromati & Fanis in particular. I would also add a quick note of thanks to Kostos and Stanislav the sports supervisors for their patience, kindness and good humour.

Incredible hotel, food and staff but the area is very quiet. You need a 20 min taxi ride to get to the busier areas such as Heraklion. I wish there was a little bit more when it comes to entertainment in the evenings.

My family and I stayed here in August 2021 and overall it was disappointing. I’ll start with the main negatives… Firstly, when we arrived, there was no friendly or cheerful staff welcoming us in, no champagne or drinks (only a bottle of water) so not a good start tbh. The rooms are so dated and in desperate need of refurbishing. The shower leaked so the floor was drenched after every shower. It took the maintenance guys four visits over four days to finally sort the issue. Now I found this really bizarre, if you relax by the pool and you want lunch or a snack, you have to walk to the beach bar to order and you have to carry it all the way back. No waiter service and its not exactly close neither. I’ve never known this level of service at a supposedly 5 star hotel. Now, there is a pool bar but they only serve drinks. Considering how big the pool area is and it must attract 70% of the guests, I’m amazed there was no food service. Mind blowing… Plus the snack/lunch take away menu was poor. The evening entertainment… Well, there wasn’t really any apart from a DJ that played music till about 10:30pm. After that, there was nothing…. No piano bar, no entertainment, no music, nothing… The children’s evening entertainment wasn’t great neither. Our son went once but any child over 8 years old will probably find it boring as ours did. Gym was poor… Dated equipment and small. The positives: Unlike the ‘no frills’ bedrooms, the reception, walkways, bars, restaurants etc were stunning. It’s a beautiful looking hotel with gorgeous architecture. That’s what got us on the hook when looking online before booking. I think that’s why we were so upset about the rooms. Seeing all this beauty and then going into your small and terribly dated room, it was such a let down. The daytime activities were good. The pool is huge and the beach was lovely. The daytime staff were so friendly. The tennis and football facilities were great. Our son had the best time during the day, so no complaints at all. The food in all the restaurants were great… Spoilt for choice. Having an 8 year old, it’s always a concern but the hotel didn’t disappoint. This is a very honest review and I’m not a negative guy at all. I’ve been to many 5 star resorts/hotels including the Sani resort in Greece & Ikos resorts and the Amirandes falls way behind. I’d say it was a 4 star at best… Major refurbishments and changes are needed to get the kudos of a 5 star rating. Such a shame because it looks like a 5 star hotel…

What an amazing hotel! I went there for a weekend for my friend’s birthday and the staff made sure we felt *Special*. I can’t emphasize enough on how much effort they put to ensure we had a unique experience . Thank you so much ❤️. Lovely Staff in the reception. Very welcoming and helpful. Katerina and Eleni (if i remember correctly ?) were super cheerful and and nice. We arrived there before the checkin time and they let us go to the room few moments after as we patient sipped our welcome juices. The architecture of the hotel is incredibly beautiful, I was in awe half the time. It had several amenities from spa to tennis court, pool etc. Although we didn’t get to use all them, It was good to know we had several options. The breakfast buffet had variety of delicious options and this was probably my favourite restaurant area of the hotel as it looked impeccable ??. Again the staff here were cheerful and patient (thanks Pavlos and Nikitas). The room was perfectly clean, large and super comfortable bed. We even got special birthday Greek treats like baklava and a bottle of Raki to kick start the birthday mood. The views from the room was fantastic . Very nice pool and beach front. Definitely on the list to revisit Lastly, we needed a taxi to take us to Rethymno and the driver was so professional and friendly. Manolis made sure we safely got to our destination and back. Honestly had a perfect weekend and I just want to say special thanks to all the staff for being so nice and efficient.. Thank you❤️

I loved every second staying here! My partner and I stayed here for a few days in May 2022. After exploring Athens we wanted somewhere to relax and stay before we headed back to reality - somewhere we could just lay back and not leave the hotel. We felt very looked after the moment we stepped out the taxi. Luggage was taken care of by the porter and staff will make sure you know where everything is and how everything works, as well as offering complimentary food and drinks. We even had the hotel manager personally greet us and wish us a pleasant stay. The resort is really pleasant to stay in. I loved the architecture, water features and the layout is easy to navigate. We enjoyed playing tennis, archery, a couple's massage and watching the sunset every evening. There is plenty to do here if you are a bit restless but ultimately it is a place designed to chill. I think we got lucky with our luxury sea view room, as it was at the end of the row and was much bigger and better than the pictures. There are several restaurants onsite, we only tried the buffet (Amirandes) and an Asian place (Blue Monkey). The buffet is very varied, high quality and welcomes you throughout the day. The other restaurants require booking in advance, so we didn't get to try everywhere. We needed gluten free food and the staff were excellent in providing information on what could be eaten. We were offered gluten free pancakes in the morning, and even the Asian restaurant was able to make a couple of dishes gluten free which is rare. The food across the resort is expensive. The menus are all priced similarly seemingly by design. We saw other reviews mention this so were expecting London prices, but it was more like US major city +tip prices. This definitely influenced our eating decisions - from the buffet we had late big breakfasts and plenty at dinner so we didn't even bother with lunch. I guess it actually worked out fairly priced for what we ate. There's an on-site convenience store, however prices are heavily marked up. I thought it was bad they were selling sun cream for 25 euros a bottle when the same one I brought from home was £5. There's a shop up towards the main road outside the resort that's cheaper. One of the positive highlights was that it was my partner's birthday during the stay. Without hinting or prompting the staff at all, they brought us a surprise gluten free birthday cake at the end of our meal (they must have recognized the birthday from the "Date of Birth" info during check in) which I thought was exceptional service. I wish I could have taken credit for organizing it but the staff really outdid themselves! Overall we really enjoyed the stay, were well fed, cared for by the staff and went home relaxed and refreshed. Not only have I already recommended this resort to my friends and family but I am sure I will return again.