Thalassi

A true 10/10 family holiday experience. We couldn't recommend the Thalassi Hotel highly enough. A wonderful family team run this hotel and restaurant who made us feel ever so welcome. Highlights include (1) the size and layout of the superior family room (which is more like an apartment) - modern and ultra clean with a pool facing balcony, (2) a good range of traditional buffet food with stunning sunset seaside views in the taverna, (3) the recently rennovated swimming pool area, (4) deck chairs always being available on account of there only being ~30 guests at a time, (5) location - a 5min walk to a nice sandy beach with lunchtime snacks, (6) close to bus stops - we highly recommend a trip to nearby Panormos (10min bus ride), and (7) nearby lunchtime options at the bakery and gyros cafe, (8) ability to unwind here - away from the crowds of Rethymnon, (9) a nice cooked breakfast buffet - with their baked items (rotating daily) the pick, (10) the poolside bar - never a queue, Mythos pints always cold! We will definitely be returning.

This was our first time to Crete and wow what a time …the hotel was beautiful….Eva looked after us and pointed us in all the right directions if we had any queries. The breakfast was full and varied each day. Our room was spotless and the housekeeping team were great. The atmosphere was quiet and family friendly. Brilliant value for money and the location was great , places were accessible by bus (very cheap) and taxis but the best way to take it all in we found was on foot. The restaurant with Demetrius and his team were attentive , food was outstanding (al-a-carte) and full and varied on the buffet inclusive. Amazing value for money and we would recommend highly,

This is such a lovely hotel. We were welcomed at 2am with a smile by Antony who said there was water and sandwiches in the fridge which was an excellent start. The next day after breakfast we checked in. Eva on reception is like a oracle full of all the information for the area eg bus times and information we needed, which was excellent. The pool is never to busy and the sunloungers are comfy. Having a pool bar where they serve the beers in a glass that keeps your beer cool. The food is tasty and fresh at breakfast and in the evening a short walk or ride to dinner. The experience in the restaurant is amazing the sunsets and the food and cocktails. Demetri the owner of the restaurant treats you like family. The food is fresh and delicious. It's a great base for seeing the island too. I would come back here as I love the feel of the hotel and the sunsets in the evening with dinner.

We stayed for 11 nights with TUI, the hotel has a very warm and welcoming atmosphere , the family run hotel is excellent, Dimitris , Michael and Maria run the restaurant which is located at the beach, the hotel provides a shuttle bus service if you don’t want to walk. Eva, Anthony and Steffi run the hotel. All the staff are warm and friendly. The food is excellent. Plenty of choice, salad bar, soups, fish, meat and veggie options, all fresh, the restaurant has a veg plot at the side they use, super tasty and very fresh. The sunsets at the restaurant during evening meals are beautiful. We hope to stay again for our next visit to Crete, such a beautiful Island with lots of interesting places to explore. Highly recommend staying here.

Spent 7 nights at Thalassi. We did enjoy staying here and it was a clean and tidy hotel. Most of the staff did make you feel welcome and were very friendly. We did make some friends here which was lovely. The owners Dimitri and Eva were not the most friendly and they can be quite rude and arrogant towards their guests. The food was a buffet style which wasn't stated when booking. Very small selection. It was generally ok. Some buffet choices never changed and was served all the time. You couldn't sit by the sea unless you paid for a separate A LA carte menu, so the two rows next to the sea was extra, even though we had paid for our evening meal as we stayed half board. Dimitri didn't like people paying by card as they only had one person who was able to operate the card machine and you had to wait. I didn't mind waiting but wanted to show me how busy the resturaunt was and I should be using cash as his head bartender has better things to do than using the card machine for one person. He shouted many times saying his food was the best Greece has ever seen, his food was poor at times. He ignored generally people who did not choose the A LA carte menu and only focused on people who chose to pay extra. The owners did choose their favourite guests and some did get lifts and day trips out with them and others were not welcomed or asked. We only visited the restaurant for the evening meal three times and went elsewhere for the other 5 nights. The tavern down the road from the hotel , there food is delicious and good value for money. You had to pay extra for air con and pay in cash. You have to pay in cash for tourist tax at the end of your stay €35 based on seven nights. Eva stated that she told us this when we checked in but in fact sh didn't until we were checking out and I had to go the cash machine up the road before our coach arrived. Unfortunately we would not stay at Thalassi hotel again. Crete is an amazing place and would love to come back, some of the places we visited were amazing.