Aquila Rithymna Beach

Decent holiday. The drinks are amazing but the food was no better than any 4* hotel I’ve been to. If I went back again I would go all inclusive as we only went half board. However, I wouldn’t book this hotel again only because the transfer back to the airport was over 2 hours, had to keep going round massive bends and roundabouts to pick other people up from their hotels this made me feel extremely travel sick. The staff are always very welcoming and friendly. The lady in the restaurant who was seating people at the buffet was amazing she remembered us each time and knew we wanted to sit outside in non smoking area. Service for drinks can be a bit slow if you go at peak times. We always went in quite early so got served very quickly. But can imagine it being very hectic in peak times as we went early May. There’s signs saying no reserving sun beds but people still did we only managed to get sun beds by the pools because we went to breakfast early and then straight to the pool otherwise by 10:00 they were all reserved. One day we went on the beach sun beds because we couldnt get beds by the pool but they hadn’t purl any of the cushions out so was very uncomfortable on our backs. A few days later we saw they had now put the cushions out and tables. Make sure you bring sea shoes or crocs for the beach as had loads of little stones which hurt your feet to walk on. There’s loads of cheap restaurants and bars outside the hotel. Bus stop right outside hotel which we got one day to old town but the buses were so full on the way back we had to wait over two hours to get a bus back to the hotel so we didn’t go back again but it was lovely there.

We travelled as a family with two children, 9 months and 3 year old and our niece aged 24. We all had an amazing time, all the staff were fantastic, especially George in the restaurant and Honey, so friendly and welcoming. The kids club was a highlight to the holiday, my baby loved the shallow pool there and my 3 year old had a fantastic time joining in on crafts, games and the mini disco. She also absolutely loved the Popcorn and candy floss treats in the club, the kids club buffet was fantastic, a great selection very suitable for children, a big thank you to Regina and Julia in the kids club for making Maddie so welcome, they work so hard and provide lots of fun activities for the kids, the other ladies in the creche and the kitchen were also so friendly and kind. The hotel grounds are stunning with so many beautiful flowers and palm trees, very clean and well maintained. The cleaners do a great job too. The spa is beautiful, very relaxing and lovely massages here. The hotel is right on the beach, its quite pebbly but beautiful and especially in the evening with the sun setting. The quality of food was excellent and we enjoyed our night in the Greek restaurant and the a la carte restaurant too. There's something for everyone here, families, couples, young or old. Thank you for a wonderful holiday

What a beautiful hotel! We stayed here in June and from the moment we arrived to the moment we left we were made to feel very welcome. The staff work so hard to make you stay special. The food was fantastic with something for everyone and different every day. We will definitely be booking again.

We spend 7 relaxing days enjoying the views, beach and warm weather. The buffet was amazing, the room was comfortable, although the bathroom was a bit dated and the hair dryer was not working, also the WiFi connection was very slow to allow streaming. All the staff was very friendly, they work hard to make sure you have a perfect stay. The only place were we wait long was at the main bar during the night. My kids loved the mini club, it has a restaurant there open all day long just for the kids, the staff is very professional and they organize fun activities for the kids. The buffet was excellent, all the resort was very clean and they have beautiful gardens with lovely cats ready to be cuddled. Thanks for the great experience!

A wonderful resort ! Very good food, clean ,facilities, quite, nice beach, pools, shows, activities. Good for couples, families and kids!! AI VERY RECOMMENDED Beach bar open all day, lobby with music with good ambience , Entertainment at the swimming pool .

Lovely place very pleased with everything other than the service all round… extremely slow and lack of staff. 1hr turn around for a drink in the evening. Food is lovely, entertainment is ok, very clean hotel with plenty if space and loungers.

We had an amazing stay at the Aquila Rithymna hotel. The food was very good, many options for both breakfast and dinner, all very fresh and stayed warm. Bottle of water cost €6 which was a bit steep, but you can get bottles in the shop over the road for less than €1. Similar for cocktails, about €13+ or you can head down the road and find them for less than €5! We would recommend Sweet Memories, very welcoming. The hotel staff were incredible and found that they were always on the ball, we had two very minor issues with our room and they were sorted within minutes! Always a friendly welcome at the restaurant and they treat you so well, we had good relationships with most from the restaurant and very grateful for their efforts every morning and night. We had a seaview room in the main building and loved it, what a view to wake up to every night. Found the hotel entertainment to be pretty good, we saw 3 shows and enjoyed them all down at the sea front Amphitheatre. One major issue we had here was the amount of mosquitos, we were bitten so much during the first show we attended. Definitely make sure you go to the shop or pharmacy to grab some repellent. Spa facilities were excellent and we used these most days. You could jump on a bus to the nearest Old Town of Rethymno for €2 each way and takes about 15 mins or so. I would recommend avoiding this on a Thursday morning as that's when the market is on and the buses are uncomfortable and rammed. Or grab a taxi for about €15-20. We went on the Cretan Safari tour for our excursion and absolutely loved it. If you're looking to book something like this, book through your rep, we did through our TUI rep. This was our first time here and are already looking to book for next June.

Lovely hotel and staff. Very clean with beautiful gardens. The only criticism we had was that despite the staff at the evening bar working extremely hard they do not have enough staff looking after this bar. You can expect to wait 25 minutes to order your drink most evenings and another 20 minutes to get it. Not impressed when you are on all inclusive. My partner did raise this with the hotel manager early on in the holiday but this didn’t improve. I can only guess this is done to keep costs low as you end up giving up on waiting for the drink and going to bed!

What a fabulous holiday! The grounds of the hotel are stunning and the staff are amazing! We booked a standard room but were kindly given a family room that was right by the baby pool and also really close to the big pool. We told the receptionist that we were celebrating our daughters 1st birthday whilst on holiday and she arranged for a chocolate cake to be delivered to our room on the day, we really appreciated that! The room was dated, it could do with a refresh and redecorate. The cleaners were great. The food was ok, breakfast was fantastic but I struggled for vegetarian protein options at lunch and dinner. There is a 'vegan corner' but more chickpeas, lentils, beans, tofu would be great for vegetarian guests. Gluten free bread was available and gluten free pasta & dessert was made on request and was very tasty. The staff in the main restaurant were very hard working. We'd particularly like to thank GEORGIOS T and ANTONIA F for being so lovely to us and our baby daughter. They really made a fuss of her, and she loved chatting with them! AGGELIKI K was also fabulous. We'd also like to thank NEKTARIA (lobby bar) who was also so lovely and friendly with our baby girl. These staff really made a difference to our holiday. If travelling with a baby or young children with a buggy beware that the buses into the old town get so busy we sometimes couldn't fit on and had to travel in quieter periods (2.15pm bus was ok travelling in and 9pm was ok travelling back). We did walk once but wouldn't do it again as you end up on a busy dual carriageway. We would definitely recommend the hotel!