Enorme Santanna Island

We got back from our stay at Enorme Santanna Island a few days ago and we are just desperate to get back. Having read the reviews beforehand we were sceptical and worried about a few certain aspects of the hotel, but it’s clear to see that the hotel clearly takes feedback seriously and is working on improving continuously (based on the reviews that we have read vs our experience). Check-in - smooth experience checking in, all done via phone/online. However, we did need to wait for a member of staff to arrive to take us to our room on a golf buggy. We expected the trip to take longer than it did (it took less than a minute), and honestly would have been quicker for us to just walk. Saying this, it was a lovely touch, but didn’t necessarily feel like it was needed when we could’ve potentially walked to our room quicker and have had the opportunity to take in our surroundings a little more. Sunbeds - yes, most sunbeds were taken/reserved by pool opening of 9am, however we always managed to get a bed at one of the pools when we arrived at around 8.30am so we did not have an issue, and we also didn’t mind waking up early as we wanted to make the most of the experience. Yes, some guests did reserve sunbeds and not turn up until 10.30/11am which was frustrating, but also very hard for staff to police. A lot of people, including ourselves, would go for breakfast and lunch throughout the day and would be quite upset if we lost our sunbeds due to this, therefore, hard for staff to police. Food - incredible, faultless, tasty food well worth 5 stars. Great selection and we were able to eat at all 3 à la carte restaurants and the snack bar. However, the buffet was brilliant and meant we were able to try a lot of cretian cuisine. Drinks - a variety of different drinks available, including mocktails, cocktails, beers, wine, soft drinks etc. We especially loved being able to get an iced latte every morning, along with the fresh orange juice which tasted freshly squeezed every morning. The Apreol Spritz bar was incredible, and it was also a nice touch that you could order drinks to take away to your room. Only downside to this is that you are only allowed 1 drink per person at a time, so if you are planning on going back to your room for a quiet evening in, this can be slightly irritating. Entertainment - there was entertainment on almost every night of our 7 night stay. Including singers at the bar near the beach and at the buffet during dinner (where staff also handed out free shots!). There was also a violinist which we felt was a beautiful 5 star touch. A lot of couples would sit and play cards/Uno/Heads up in the evenings. Staff - nothing was ever too much. The staff were unbelievably friendly, with a massive shoutout to the staff taking drinks orders by the pool. They were extremely friendly and would regularly come and ask for our drinks order, especially those working at the Blue Pool, even though it was extremely busy and they were being pulled left right and centre! They always went the extra mile with smiles on their faces, even when there may have been difficult guests which we did notice on a couple of occasions. Pools - we split our time between 2 pools, the Blue Pool (near the snack bar) and the Island Pool (the main pool). Both were beautiful and offered different atmospheres. The Blue Pool was slightly more energetic with guests playing catch often, whereas the Island Pool offered a quieter, more relaxing atmosphere. There was also music playing at both pools everyday. Room - we had no issues with our room at all. It was cleaned every day, with the bed made, mopped and a fresh bottle of water left for us. We also had a bottle of champagne left in the fridge on our arrival which was a lovely touch. Toiletries provided were hand wash, shampoo, conditioner and body wash which were all high quality. Overall, we had an incredible stay at Enorme Santanna Island and the only downfall is that we wish we had booked longer!

Unfortunately, our stay at this hotel was very disappointing, especially considering we paid around £5,000 for our holiday. There were some lovely staff members and some positives, but overall, the hotel felt like it was cutting costs in several areas, and I would not return in its current state. Food 🍽️ The buffet was one of our biggest disappointments. The food was cold every day, quite limited and became very repetitive. The Asian restaurant honestly isn’t worth bothering with, while the Italian and Greek restaurants were okay, but nothing particularly special. The snack bar, known as the Italian, was incredibly slow. It takes a very long time to get served, but unfortunately it is really the only practical lunch option, so you end up having to put up with the wait. The crepe bar was another disappointment. I love crepes, but the chocolate sauces they use seemed very cheap and made the crepe extremely watery. Overall, it really gave us the impression that the hotel is cutting costs wherever it can. There is, however, a lovely family taverna nearby called Amelia’s, which I would definitely recommend. If you are staying here, I would suggest going there for some meals so you don’t feel like you are force-feeding yourself at the hotel every day. Breakfast was actually decent every morning, so that was one of the better parts of the food offering. Drinks 🍹 The drinks were another major let-down. There are no premium alcoholic drinks included, and even the soft drinks were made from water and syrup. There were no proper fizzy drinks and no fresh juices. For a hotel at this price point, we expected considerably better. There was also no ice cream, which we found very strange for an all-inclusive holiday. Showers 🚿 The water pressure was terrible and the water was only lukewarm every day. This was really frustrating, particularly when you are paying a premium price for the hotel. Sunbeds ☀️ If you want a sunbed around the main pool, you need to be up extremely early. The beds are essentially gone by around 7:30am. The TAN pool is by far the nicest pool, and it is also the only pool that doesn’t open until 9am. This means you can’t reserve a bed beforehand. You have to queue from around 8:15am to get a bed when the pool opens at 9am. While I understand the reasoning behind this, it still means you have to get up early and queue on holiday if you want to enjoy the best pool. Reception & customer service Unfortunately, our experience with reception on arrival was awful. You are essentially left to check yourself in without much help, which isn’t what we expected. In particular, Despina on reception was unbelievably rude to us on our first day. Her attitude was extremely unwelcoming and she showed very little understanding or people skills when we were already dealing with a stressful situation. In my opinion, this level of customer service is completely unacceptable for someone working on a hotel reception and should be addressed by management. The ants – our first day 🐜 This was probably the worst part of our stay. When we arrived, we had paid extra for a sea-view swim-up room, which we were really excited about. However, when we walked into the room, there was an ant infestation all over the floor. We immediately went to reception and were told that they would move us two rooms along. We moved all of our belongings into the new room, only to discover that there were ants in that room too. We then contacted reception again and were told that a cleaner would come and spray the room and deep clean it. We waited around two hours, repeatedly calling reception and walking back to reception ourselves to try and get someone to actually deal with it. Imagine arriving on your first day of a holiday, having paid around £5,000, and instead of settling into your room and enjoying your holiday, you’re having your room sprayed and deep-cleaned because of an ant infestation. The situation was made even worse by the way we were treated by reception, particularly Despina. It was an extremely poor first impression and something we shouldn’t have had to deal with at this price point. The hotel itself Considering the hotel only opened in 2024, we were surprised by how worn some areas already looked. It already feels like it needs a refurb in places. Hopefully, the hotel will use the winter closure to carry out some maintenance and refurbishment, because there is definitely potential here. The positives ❤️ It wasn’t all bad, and there were some genuinely lovely members of staff. Our cleaner was amazing and did a brilliant job throughout our stay. The barista was lovely and even got to know what coffee we liked and what we ordered each day, which was a really nice personal touch. The bartender at the TAN pool was also great and provided excellent service. Our sea-view swim-up room itself was definitely worth the money, once we got past the initial ant problem. The shared sea-view swim-up rooms are, in my opinion, by far the best rooms in the hotel. If you are booking, I would not recommend the private pools because the views are either of the road or towards reception. Also, be careful with the shared pool rooms without a sea view, as these are largely in the shade. The TAN pool was definitely the highlight of the hotel and, along with the breakfast and some of the lovely staff, was one of the few things that really stood out positively. Overall There is definitely potential for this hotel, but at the moment I don’t feel it delivers the standard or value you would expect for the price. Cold and limited food, poor drinks, no ice cream, weak showers, sunbed issues, slow service, and the experience we had with reception — combined with having an ant infestation in not one but two rooms on our first day — really affected our stay. For a hotel that opened in 2024 and is charging around £5,000 for a holiday, we expected far more. I really hope the hotel takes the winter period to address these issues because, with the right improvements, it could be a fantastic resort. But based on our experience, we wouldn’t return at the moment.

Me and my partner had a great holiday here at Enorme Santanna. However I would not rate it 5*. Positives The rooms were very spacious and clean and the bed was very comfortable. The grounds and pool areas were cleaned every day and were in great condition The food was delicious and it wasn’t the same every day We found the location great. Near Sisi harbour which is lovely to swim in and little shops and restaurants in the town of Sisi. Also just a 10 minute drive from Malia. There are nearby beaches. One stony more covey beach and one sandy beach (Kalimera beach) The staff were lovely and friendly and very helpful. There was lots of hanging space and storage in the rooms. The Al La Carte restaurants were lovely. There is a lovely calm atmosphere around the whole of the hotel which we found is perfect for a couples relaxing holiday. There was a few nights with entertainment down in the bar at night which was nice. There was a singer, violinist, and a little band. This made a lovely atmosphere while watching the sunset. Negatives There are not enough sunbeds for everyone. If you don’t get there before 8am you are going to struggle to get a bed. For a 5* resort we think there should be enough beds for all guests at the hotel. There was only one staff member going around the pool taking drink orders and they would take a while to arrive. So this means you have to go up to the bar yourself to get drinks. We never got told where to change our pool towels. We asked the cleaner and she said she would change them tomorrow which never happened. Another couple we got talking to told us you need to go down to the Spa to change your pool towels. Check out is at 11am, we didn’t get picked up until 9pm so we asked for a courtesy room. We was told they don’t give courtesy rooms and that it would be €90 to keep our room until 6pm which I thought was expensive. It turns out they couldn’t even accommodate us to keep our room due to availability. So this is definitely something to consider when booking. However, there are showers in the lobby/ reception you can use. Overall, we enjoyed our stay here at Santanna Island but we would not rate it a 5* hotel.

Mohammad (supervisor) and Eva and a few others I haven’t caught the name of yet, were very friendly and attentive… the whole hotel and atmosphere in general is a dream, very clean and kept on top of! Food is delicious with different options and themes each night plus stunning sea view if sat outside. So worth every penny will definitely return !

Julia is very professional and excellent. I really enjoyed having therapy with her.