Loutra Resort

Incredible hidden gem on the hillside of Rethymno. Wonderfully quiet and peaceful, will definitely return when the chance comes!

After having a horrible start of our vacation at Mira Living Concept, we found Loutra Resort online. It was a very good experience. The owner or property manager was verg nice, the pool is great and the apartments have (almost) everything one needs. Even though the apartments look a bit dated (I think they are working on this because in the other building they were renovating all units) it was very good. There is a large fridge and freezer, a dishwasher, washing machine, Nespresso machine, oven and microwave. The shower was. Very comfortable with high water pressure and there is a lot of closet space in the bedroom, in the living and kitchen and not to mention you get your own rooftop terrace and terrace in front of the apartment. For this money (I think it’s usually around €125-€140 for per night in high season) that’s really good. The location was quite and located in a small village. For a nearby small supermarket you walk 5 minutes down the hill, and for a more international supermarket (Lidl) it’s about a 10 minute drive to Rethymno. Ordering food is also really affordable, they will give you some flyers on arrival. Definitely try the pizza-place (black flyer, it was so so good and only €9 for a pizza!!). You will need cash to pay with delivery. For this location, you definitely need a car. But in general I would suggest to rent a car if you are planning to go to Greece islands as public transport isn’t really good and taxis definitely aren’t common. Otherwise you might want to book a beach side resort if you only come here for the beach. We spend a morning in Chania, quickly explored Rethymno and other time we spend at the poolside. The pool is really big (35 meters long) and this made me realize how amazing this is. There is also a separate kids pool. The water is perfect and even on an air mattress you can relax without bothering other people. There are more than enough sun beds around the pool and beach umbrellas so if you visit with a little one there is always a good spot to relax. The only thing that would make our stay a little bit better would have been a more regular cleaning schedule. The place is called “resort” which would indicate it’s a hotel service but actually you are renting an apartment with a shared pool. That was my only feedback for the owners, make sure it is clear that toilet paper will not be replaced, nor will washing powder or dishwasher tablets. I would prefer to pay a little extra for this service to have my place cleaned every two days or so and stuff replaced because one doesn’t want to buy a box of dishwasher tablets because you might not want to bring it home. If it was clear, I could have bought this but luckily they were so nice to give some extra. If you rent like a Center Parks vacation house in the Netherlands, you usually pay a small fee for a cleaning kit and you know you will have the buy this stuff. If I knew this upfront, I would have brought some from home (in our case not possible because we were planning to stay somewhere else). There is cleaning service, every 4 days or so they will replace your towels and make the bed. Not more than that. But you will get a broom and some cleaning supplies. Other suggestions would be to provide some small bowls for breakfast (there were only soup plates) and some more sharper knifes (but not one airbnb usually has those) but also not a major thing. And again, no real negative feedback. It could have make our stay even better but this was already really good. The pool was perfect, and just the fact that one could hang around the pool all day without burning alive in the sun so to say, that was perfect. The location itself isn’t fancy so you don’t go there for sightseeing (then you have to drive somewhere) but most good spots are within an hour drive. The host was really friendly and thank you for that!!

Fit for purpose compound in a little village up the hills and away from the Rethymnon crowds. The great pool is a plus and a good stop for a short stay between the West and Heraklion. Flats are modern and clean but if you are looking for a Cretan experience this is not the right place. We only stayed one night but things did not go smoothly and despite a genuine willingness to help from our kind host, our arrival under the heat with a long wait and no signs for reception was not ideal. The 3 kids said it was good for 1 night or 2 but not a week and I agree.