What People are saying

Lovely Crete

Sue Won 26/08/2017 18:56

Stayed in August as a family group of 9. Friendly staff, very helpful. Food very good, especially breakfast. Lots of fresh fruit at every meal. Good variety of food. Lots of sunbeds and brollies, although some folk save sun beds all day without using. All areas of hotel very clean. Only downside - slippy tiled surfaces all over, including poolside. These are quite treacherous in the bathrooms so beware! Local buses very useful and fairly cheap, only 20 minutes into Chania. All in all a lovely holiday.

Decent hotel with a few issues

nathanynysdduon 17/08/2017 14:31

Stayed here in June for a week all inclusive with my partner. We arrived late evening after a day of travelling. Check in was a breeze and the staff were helpful and friendly. We stayed across the road on the third floor. Had to lug our suitcases up and down the bridge (not a massive issue just a bit of an inconvience).

Room:

Couldn't really fault it. We had a view over the sea and by night it was stunning. The room was spotless and the maids did a great job here. Bins emptied daily. Only real complaint was that the walk in shower door didn't fit and had to stick a towel down to stop the floor getting soaking. No major issue really.

Food:

Acceptable. Breakfast and Dinner is in the Bridge restaurant. Breakfast has a good choice of hot and cold food, and the fresh orange juice is spot on.
Lunch is limited, tended to be the same thing every day with just a different meat dish. Dinner was not bad, enough choice and some tasty dishes. Probably the best part of the food served through the day. There is an option to pay extra to have fresh pizza, reasonably priced but just to warn you that this is an outdoor clay oven, and there are cats around. One night after we had our pizzas we saw a cat taking a kip in the oven, and I'm assuming it's not deep cleaned regularly, whilst it's probably ok due to the high temperatures in the oven, it isn't exactly appealing.

Pool scene:

Two pools, one across the road where we stayed and another by the beach. We always used 'our' pool as it was a lot quieter and not many kids around. The other pool is the complete opposite. We had no issues getting sun loungers but the other pool was always busy. We are a young couple so we're hoping for a bit music and some daytime activities but neither were on offer sadly. Our pool was spotless though and the loungers not the cheap plastic ones. Little tip is they have hidden drinks trays on the side of the loungers, very handy!

Staff:

On the whole very good. Only one or two staff who seemed to have grumpy days. Tended to be the bar staff. Helpful, friendly and seemed genuinely nice people.

Bars/drinks:

Three bars, the swim up/restaurant bar, generally only manned by one person and she did tend to go for a walk sometimes so couldn't get served. Always friendly and chatty though, kept it very clean. Some branded shorts available and the local beer is fine. The other bars are by the lunch restaurant one is a small boat shaped one and the other is a standard bar. Tended to be one staff in the day and two in the nights, going between the two bars. Cocktails are premixed and not very strong, can be a bit tight with the measures on shorts, depends who serves you.

Beach:

Very small beach, hotel has a private section with approx 20 loungers, only went here once or twice but it's a narrow strip and tended to get busy. If you take a walk down towards the town it opens up and is very nice, and there's loads of bars with loungers although I think they have to be paid for.

Out and about:

The hotel was a little bit away from the main resort (10/15 min walk) There's a supermarket pretty much next door. Quite a few restaurants/shops on the main road. At night the beach bars turn into lovely little restaurants and bars by the sea, they all seem to be a little 1 minute stroll down an alley but don't be mistaken they are there. Generally seems reasonably priced for food and drink. We had 1 litre of wine for €18 in one of them!

All in all not a bad holiday. Wouldn't really say it's suitable for a young couple unless you want a more chilled holiday. I personally wouldn't go back but each to their own.

Superb location for families

kapanirison 16/08/2017 15:22

This hotel is a very good all inclusive option for families with great food options, many swimming pools and an amazing beach. Very good quality food, superb service and very well trained people around. Good value for money.

Good place for a family holiday

21LOon 08/08/2017 08:32

We stayed in the section of the hotel by the beach - not the section on the other side of the road. We thought it was very good. Good family friendly entertainment most evenings. Very friendly service. The beach is great for an early morning run and for swimming. The breakfast is good. The pool is good. Good bus service into the beautiful town of Chania. Lots of good fish serving restaurants along the beach. The hotel is quiet and most of the guests are Scandinavians with their families.
Negatives: the usual irritant of other guests reserving the sun beds with towels from 8 in the morning. The a/c is not great. The road outside the hotel can be difficult to cross.

3 star experience - fun not included!

flashcat61on 07/08/2017 12:56

We stayed for 14 nights in July 2017 on an All-Inclusive basis.

If you just want my overall view of the stay just skip straight to the summary at the end.

The first thing to mention, like many others, is the Iolida does not offer a 5 star holiday experience. Quite simply, this is an average 3 star hotel – anyone thinking they will be getting a 5 star experience for a 3 star price will be greatly disappointed. The 5 star rating has been obtained through quantity of facilities / services not through quality!

The hotel is split across a main road with a bridge crossing over the road for those wanting to avoid a mad dash between cars. The first thing to mention is the bridge is only accessible on both sides by stairs. There is little consideration given to the disabled, elderly or those with pushchairs. Each side has it’s own pool and eating area. We were on the more inland side of the hotel.

POOL AREA (INLAND) – this pool is by far the quietest and generally sunbeds were available. There is no music around the pool. The pool has a swim up pool bar but this is only open between the hours of 10am-4pm. Should you require a drink outside these times you will need to go into the main restaurant (potentially through the dinner sitting). This can become tiresome continually having to dry off and change clothing.
POOL AREA (BEACH SIDE) – always very busy and difficult to get a sun bed. There are around 20 available on the beach (only a thin strip of sand) but again these are very difficult to get hold of.
GYM – The gym area is a joke. 1 running machine, 1 running machine, a multi-gym and some free weights which can be found in what essentially is no more than a corridor (not air-conditioned).
FOOD – The food was okay but by the end of week one we were becoming tired of the same old bland taste. The second week we chose to eat out in order to experience more variety.
BAR SERVICE – The bar service was awful. The swim up pool bar was often unmanned and the beach service as the beach bar was often dismissive (drinks poured without any care meaning half was just froth). The plastic glasses didn’t bother us but after waiting to be served and then only to receive half a glass we got the impression that the barmen really don’t have time for all-inclusive guests.
MAID SERVICE – Finally something positive to say!! Our maid provided an exceptional service, not only cleaned to a high standard but also tidied and folded clothing!!
WI-FI – Excellent signal strength in the room, adequate around the pool and public areas.
DAILY ACTIVITIES – There is none!
EVENING ENTERTAINMENT – Apart from 1 night of Cretan dancing....THERE IS NO ENTERTAINMENT. How a hotel can offer an “All-Inclusive” holiday but provide no entertainment is beyond me. If you need some entertainment in the evening you have to leave the hotel and find it in the bars and restaurants – this kind of defeats the whole “All-Inclusive” experience??

SUMMARY – This is an average 3 star hotel. It offers no entertainment, no daytime activities, no kids club....in fact NO FUN! The food is okay but repetitive and at times bland and the restaurant staff are polite (mainly the waitresses). However, bar service to all-inclusive customers can be awful and the barmen can be rude and dismissive preferring to serve the paying guests (more likely to receive tips I guess)?
Apart from the room cleanliness and a good wi-fi signal there are very few positives (sunbeds are generally available at the inland pool). This is essentially a place to sleep, eat and lay by the pool and offers nothing to make your holiday fun by way of entertainment and activities (oh...it has 1 pool table).
A very disappointing stay and I would recommend to anyone to look elsewhere for a better holiday experience.