Aquila Porto Rethymno

Staying all inclusive with family. Lovely hotel and our room is very nice with a balcony looking over the pool, with a view of the beach. Most staff have been very helpful and friendly, particularly in the restaurant, reception, around the pool and beach and the maids. Ernest was particularly pleasant and efficient around the pool. Unfortunately this is let down by the bar staff. Service is extremely slow, even when it’s quiet. We ordered drinks one evening and when they hadn’t arrived 45 minutes later I asked the female waitress if she could tell us where our drinks were (one with bleached hair pinned up and wears glasses). She briefly looked over her shoulder in the direction of the bar and abruptly told me there were many more tables before us. I said “but 45 minutes” and she walked away. So rude! Had she actually gone to investigate and come back to us to tell us how much longer they would be, I would have been much happier, but she was downright rude and dismissive. After an hour we saw another table get their drinks within 15 minutes. I asked the male waiter about our drinks and he went to the bar to investigate. He returned with our drinks and offered us drinks from the menu that weren’t in the all inclusive package. Presumably as an apology but no one actually apologised. The waitress’s manner was disgusting. We’ve given up on the bar for the rest of our holiday. We’ve eaten in the a la carte restaurant this evening. The food was average (much better in the main restaurant) and although the a la cart restaurant has air conditioning it wasn’t on and it made the whole experience very hot and uncomfortable. There’s the usual sprint for sunbeds at 8.30am every morning with people putting their towels out and then not lying on them for hours. But I guess you have selfish people all over the world these days. For the first 3 days of our holiday we were raving about this hotel and its facilities but the rudeness from the waitress and slow service in the bar has tarred that for me. If you avoid the bar and stay in an all inclusive deal it’s brilliant.

Beautiful hotel with lovely food (show cooking everyday with a variety of options like gyros, burgers, roasted lamb, pasta, sushi etc..) kind and helpful staff, very clean room and facilities, and fantastic evening entertainment. All the guests we spoke to in the hotel were also very lovely and we met some great people. Everyone was in high spirits and couldn’t praise the hotel and Crete enough. Great location to the old town with a long strip of trendy bars and restaurants which are lively in the evenings. The harbour is fantastic and I recommend ‘Seven Brothers est. 1969’ for dinner along there. The main pool is a lot warmer as it is exposed to the sun during the day, however the pool deck pool is more shaded and colder. Like most hotels, you do get a note if you leave your belongings on the sunbed and not around, however we noticed that a formal notice says that you have 1 hour to be away from them, whereas the staff said 20-30 minutes, which made us feel very rushed to get lunch and come back. The staff are incredibly attentive, but maybe too attentive as we was checked 1-3 times a day if we needed anything in our room which was great at first but become a little annoying near the end, as the timings were inconvenient.