Agapi Beach Resort

We came here for a weeks holiday at the beginning of October and it was fantastic. The hotel is not far (20mins) from Heraklion airport but is in an area that doesn’t feel too “touristy”, though there are a few shops and tavernas nearby. The hotel itself is modern for the most part, exceptionally clean and tidy with friendly staff constantly working away to keep the hotel looking amazing. We had a double room on the first floor which was always clean and tidy. The rooms are a little dated but completely functional, we don’t spend much time in the room so this isn’t an issue. We found the beds very comfortable! The balcony had a lovely view up over the hills. On our first evening there we found the air con was leaking, one trip to reception and this was fixed straight away. The pools here are lovely, very clean. We only went to the main pool as this one has a bar, it was lovely with plenty of sun loungers, some days were busier than others but we always managed to find a space. The beach was great too, more than enough sun loungers and the beach bar was brilliant. The sea was lovely, we would recommend getting a snorkel as there is so many fish to see! The food at the hotel was delicious, the themed nights were fantastic (Italian night was our favourite!) and we were never short of things to eat, ranging from things we liked to new foods to try and a great range of traditional Cretan dishes too. The service in the restaurant was exemplary, we often ended up sitting in the area of the restaurant looked after by Maria, who always had a smile on her face and made us feel so welcome. We didn’t have much to do with the animation team, though playing “Schulen” with Vally was a highlight! The aqua Zumba was also good fun. Evening entertainment was great and ranged from a violin player, traditional Greek singing/dancing, a pianist and a fab singer. We loved the lobby bar and spent most evenings sat outside there. Vassilis and Georgis kept us well stocked up with drinks, often bringing them to our table which was brilliant. We also loved the terrapins that live in the reception area of the hotel. The plants and flowers around the grounds of the hotel were also lovely and well maintained. We absolutely loved this hotel and would definitely return here if we visit Crete again. The hotel was fantastic and the staff were all lovely, often doing that but extra to make the holiday better. The UK TUI Rep Nathalie also deserves a special mention as she was so helpful, passionate about her job and knowledgable about things to see and do in the local area. 100% recommend this hotel and to anyone thinking of booking, do it!

A super resort with a section of private beach. We were two adults and two children aged 10 and 13. The perfect holiday if you just want to relax and enjoy the sun sea and sand. Best bits....the food was AMAZING. Really. Amazing quality - not cheap ingredients - meats/fish that are comparatively expensive at home. Amazing variety - if you can't find something to enjoy here then you really need to take a look at yourself! The room was spotless - the 'bungalows' provide spacious accomodation for a family of four. No need to pack toiletries - lovely ones provided (proper brand that you can buy in the stores - not generic unbranded ones with a hotel named sticker stuck on!) Three pools - one heated. Lots of places to relax - hammocks etc. Lots of different seating areas. The communal areas were stylish and clean at all times. Plenty of toilets are the bar/pool areas so you didn't need to go back to your room each time. The All Inclusive was a 'proper' All Inc - the cocktail were not generic white 'alcool' with some over sweet sugar syrup thrown in - they were proper cocktails. Some branded spirits included too. Prices reasonable for those not included. The wines were nice - they are often not at All Inc resorts! If you want to go into town, you can buy bus tickets in advance at the shop on site, or the newsagents kiosk across the road next to the bus stop. The bus was cheap, but if there are four of you, you may as well get a cab for 10 euros, as it is 6.80 for four tickets. There is a nice run of shops right along the road if you turn right. The best shop was about 800m down and marked the end of the main run really. It wasn't really worth going further down beyond it. It was brand new - only opened a month ago. Called Natura. Really lovely homeware goods at very reasonable prices. Very stylish shop - different to usual 'tourist' shops. Good range of homeware and gift items. There were a couple of things that could be improved but please understand that they fall into the super picky end of the scale - you couldn't really fault the place. We were there for the final week of the season it turned out - and initially it was a bit disappointing that some of the facilities/activities were no longer available. Water sports obviously requires the weather to be of a certain temperament - and the water sport season was over. Not a big deal for us - but it might be if you chose the resort for that. Similarly some of the other activities were unavailable. The resort was apparently closing on Sunday, but on Saturday none of the activities ran. The staff were amazing, so we didn't begrudge them their end of season day off at all...but I can appreciate that some people may feel they have paid for a one week holiday...not a five or six day holiday...and that the facilities should all remain open until the resort closes. The first four days our room was fine - but then we had two nights that were so hot we couldn't sleep. Turns out the air con had been turned off for the block according to the lady at reception. We weren't really sure why/what that meant, but concluded that it had been switched off as the season approached the end. They provided a fan instead, but that just pushed hot air around the room. We kinda felt they shouldn't really be shutting it off before the guests have left!.Two of the eateries were closed...which initially seemed disappointing, but the food in the other venues was so awesome you didn't really need extra places to eat. In general the staff were awesome - but the ladies on reception were a little variable. A couple of them were a bit dour/abrupt, I felt like I had done something 'wrong' by asking my queries. Others were super lovely though. To reiterate though - these are 'picky' comments - I still give it five stars. Overall this was an amazing hotel where you left really feeling like you had experienced a proper restful break. Would definitely recommend. Special mentions for Varly and Sergio, who spent endless hours playing sports with our boys to keep them entertained!