Aquila Rithymna Beach

Overall it was a lovely holiday. The hotel is clean and the location is brilliant - on the beach and only 10 minutes from the old town. The sea view room was clean but basic - maybe a little dated. The bath wasn’t big enough to shower in comfortably. The food was outstanding, by far the best I have had at a European all inclusive. 3 restaurants to choose from too with lots of variety daily. The one real negative I have from this hotel is the constant hounding from the photography man. He would be outside the breakfast hall daily trying to sign us up, and would even wake us up when sunbathing to try and sell it - he really didn’t take no for an answer the entire holiday. Eventually we said we would have a photo at sunset on the beach - he said a photo would be 13€. He then paraded us around the hotel taking photos we clearly weren’t interested in. He then tried to say package deals for all photos of €649! With the lowest package being €249. He put a real dampener on our last night and I would not come back purely because of him. A shame really as all the other staff were fantastic and couldn’t have done any more for us.

Let’s start with the good stuff: The resort is big and spacious — get ready for a lot of walking from one side to the other. The water park is cute and easy to get to, barely any lines, and even if there is one, it moves quickly. Some areas are shaded, which is great. Food is good at breakfast and dinner. The Italian restaurant is included (no extra charge), and it’s a fun experience for the kids. The hotel’s supermarket has fair prices — nothing crazy, totally affordable. Now for the not-so-great parts: There were ants in the room. The rooms aren’t high standard, and the AC is hit or miss — sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. No air conditioning in the dining room at dinner — it feels stuffy and hot. There are no water fountains around, so if you want cold water, you have to buy it. No drinks are included at dinner, not even water — you're required to pay. A one-liter bottle of water costs 5 euros (!), which is super expensive. At the pool, if you’re not there by 8 AM, forget about finding a spot — seriously, not even a place for a toothpick. And if you do find one, you’ll end up holding onto it all day. There’s no shade at the pool. The umbrellas are useless — barely any real cover. The hotel beach isn’t a flat sandy beach — it’s on the northern side, so it’s windier and the sea can get pretty wavy.

The hotel is very large, beautiful, and clean. There are many pools and a beautiful water park, which are great for families. However, there are several downsides. The family rooms are very old and located far away from everything, which made it quite inconvenient. Another major issue is the “all-inclusive” concept – it’s not truly all-inclusive. There are always extra charges for things that should be included. For example, a small bottle of water costs €3, which is unreasonable. It felt like the hotel was constantly looking for ways to make you pay more. The food in the main dining room was repetitive – it didn’t change throughout the week and was not tasty. For a 5-star hotel, this was a disappointing experience. It really felt like they were more focused on charging guests than providing a good experience.