Nana Golden Beach

We enjoyed our holiday at the Nana Beach Hotel and loved some aspects of the hotel, but it caters mainly for families with children, and we travelled as a couple so it was not ideal for us. Room 374 was very quiet and we slept well on the comfortable bed. A few minor niggles o the room door and safe are opened with keys o there is a charge for the safe. I could understand a refundable deposit to cover the cost of replacing lost keys but resent having to pay to keep valuables safe in an "all-inclusive". o The TV only showed English language sports and news channels (and the news channels are American). There was a fridge for keeping water in, but it was not efficient and was not much cooler than room temperature. The aircon worked OK and it was necessary as the weather was very warm. Generally we thought that the food in the hotel was of good quality and offered a good choice, but the food on the buffet displays was never hot enough and usually not more than lukewarm, and there were also no hot plates for "hot" food. There are hand sanitisers at the entrances to both restaurants but although there are receptionists to control entry they do not stop people from entering if they have not sanitised their hands, and guests, and especially children, mostly just ignored the sanitisers. No matter where we sat in the Athina or Thalassa restaurants we found that the waiters would be setting up tables around us for the next meal and we were made to feel uncomfortable as though we were stopping them from getting on. It did not make for relaxed mealtimes. Also whilst they are occupied with laying tables for the next meal they are not attending to the present needs of guests, and this was a problem especially since we never had enough cutlery for all courses. Spoons for instance never seemed to be provided. Waiters shouting to each other from one end of the room to the other is very annoying and disturbing. If we did not arrive more than an hour before the Athina restaurant dinner service closing time we found the show cooking station could sometimes be closed, and felt it should be made clear in the Hotel Directory that although the closing time was 10.00pm guests should not expect the full service to be available up to this time. We ate at all the a la carte restaurants, and found the Poseidon fish restaurant best, although the menu choice in all of them is fairly limited. It is a nice change to be waited on, but the system for booking the a la carte restaurants could be made easier by making it possible to book by phone. The Nana Beach bans smoking inside, but the problem has simply been pushed outside and the best places for eating or drinking are now no-go areas for anyone who does not smoke. On the balcony of the Panorama Bar the vapour from hookah pipes combines with cigarette smoke to create a permanent fug which drives non-smokers inside. Hotels seem to be more worried about offending guests who smoke than safeguarding the health of those who don't. It should be possible in most places to segregate smokers and non-smokers without too much inconvenience to anyone. The only facility solely for adults is the "relaxation pool", which has no snacks/drinks bar. The pool itself is quite small and not big enough for swimming. There is no-one controlling entry and because the signage is open to misinterpretation, even this is used by parents with children. Other shared pools could have set times for swimming to cater for guests who want to swim for exercise, when ball games and lilos are excluded so that people who want to exercise can do so without risking being hit in the face by a ball or having to swim an obstacle course round lilos. We only went to three of the evening shows, but found the repetition of announcements in four or five languages irritating. The Greek night at the Dolphin pool was enjoyable. The cocktails were pleasant but not very strong and spoilt by poor quality mixers. They contained more ice than I like which dilutes them, presumably to ensure there are no problems with drunkenness. The bar staff work very hard and you never have to wait long for a drink, but better use could be made of the Dionysus bar, which is in the best location for a pleasant evening drink overlooking the sea. This would reduce the numbers in the Panorama bar, but the constant loud music and flashing lights in the Dionysus makes it impossible to hold a conversation inside, and the outside space is limited. There is a good and cheap bus service which stops right outside the hotel going to Heraklion in one direction and Agios Nilkolaos in the other and all stops in between. Both take 45 minutes to an hour and are worth a visit if you are a reasonably good walker (they have long hilly streets). Beware trying to go to Sissi though as it is a long walk from the bus stop. Hersonissos and Stalis are both easily walkable from Nana Beach. Crete is a beautiful island and it was nice see more of it than just the hotel without the need to hire a car, although the bus service is limited to the coastal strip and you would need a car to get inland. Finally - thanks to Rod and June for your convivial and entertaining company and hope you are able to reschedule your flights to Tenerife.

We stayed at the Nana Beach hotel for a 2 week stay. The hotel is an all inclusive 5 star resort and has a beautiful costal setting but is in easy reach of both Hersonissos and Stalis town centres. The room we had was modern, well furnished and clean however where we had a good housekeeping service up until day 11, the following two days saw glasses unwashed, bin liners not being placed in the bins and water in the fridges not refreshed. There is no tea or coffee making facilities in the room this is a minus for the hotel. There is plenty to do with we tried the archery with one of the animation team. There are tennis courts, shows and children’s entertainment with the animation team. For a 5 star resort the attention to customer service is not consistent, we ate most of our meals at the Thalassa restaurant which is outside, Ilias and his team were welcoming and interested that you were taken care of , however there were inconsistencies in reception and bar staff that you were the customer , it sometimes felt it was the process of suppling the holiday that was the hotels priority not the personal service for you as the customer. The Thalassa restaurant does not have enough seating for the demand we were there coming to the end of the season there were regular queues for tables to eat outside, I’m not sure how long the waits would be at the height of the season. The wi- fi is a major issue - it is not free as with most hotels - it is very expensive we paid 80 euros for the fortnight - not great in this day and age. Food choices were reasonable - extensive buffet breakfast with fried eggs, pancakes and omelettes cooked fresh lovely salad choices for lunch and dinner. Most drinks come from a dispenser including the orange juice at breakfast really not the best what is irritating you can have fresh orange juice for an extra cost of 2 euros a glasses. They do use branded alcohol but often the drinks are spoiled by poor quality mixers. There is an adults only pool which was great I do think it may benefit to the hotel to have an only adults drinking area also. We had the two weeks at a reasonable price was good for the money we paid but would struggle if we’d have paid more.

This was our 2nd visit to Nana beach we went in 2017 and we all loved it so much that we came back for our 20th Wedding Anniversary treat for our family this year, we were treated so well as repeater guests free access to the spa, fruit and wine on arrival a kettle with tea coffee and a special invite to a evening with the management team to have a lovely meal and drinks with entertainment. It was set up so beautifully like a wedding reception! Our favourite al a carte restaurant is definitely the Greek were we were treated with a cake and bottle of bubbly for our Anniversary and a shot of Raki with Demitri who does an amazing job even though he is so busy but always makes time for you and makes you feel so welcome. All of the staff do an amazing job bar staff and buffet restaurant staff were all lovely. We will definitely be going back again there very soon, Thankyou so much for yet another amazing holiday looking forward to seeing the new rooms on our next visit