Minoa Palace Resort

Highlights-
staff so helpful and friendly really an asset to the hotels.
Food- evening buffet excellent, lovely restaurant and service
Rooms - clean spacious excellent
Grounds beautiful
Cons- minor
Road between the 2 parts is a little noisy when sat by the main
Indoor pool cold - disappointing as too cold to swim outdoors
Not many activities each day and for kids tennis, ping pong and pool only.
But overall would highly recommend due the staff, the food and the beautiful grounds. Thank you for a wonderful stay.

We had a lovely time at this hotel in Crete, though I’d say it feels more like a solid 4-star rather than a true 5-star experience.

The good:
The hotel itself is very clean and well-kept, and the rooms are comfortable and nicely presented. The pool areas are lovely with plenty of sunbeds available (at least at this time of year), and there’s ample parking on-site. The buffet was very good for buffet dining, and we really enjoyed the live music on certain evenings – a nice touch that added to the atmosphere.

We also did the free bike trip, which was absolutely worth doing. The wine pairing night was excellent too – initially, reception told us they couldn’t accommodate vegetarians, but luckily we bumped into George at dinner who arranged it for us without any problem, and it turned out to be a highlight. The honeymoon touches in our room were also much appreciated, and the location is great for exploring the area.

The not-so-good:
There are a few things that took away from the overall experience. Having to pay extra for certain “premium” sunloungers doesn’t feel very five-star. The à la carte restaurants aren’t included in the half-board package, which wasn’t made entirely clear when we booked. The gym could also do with a refresh – it feels a bit tired compared to the rest of the facilities.

We did have an issue with a noisy neighbour and asked to move rooms. We were told we’d need to pay for an upgrade as no equivalent rooms were available until “the next day or maybe the day after” – which seemed odd since availability online showed otherwise. After we raised our concerns, a room suddenly became available and the issue was resolved, but it could have been handled much better from the start.

Overall:
A good stay and a nice hotel in a great location, but some inconsistencies in service and a few small policy quirks mean it feels more 4-star than 5.

We have just come back from a lovely stay at Minoa Palace. I have to agree initially that this isn’t a 5 star hotel in comparison to others I have stayed however we loved how helpful all the staff were and how immaculate the place is. We were lucky to be upgraded to the beach apartments and had a lovely pool view and were right near the beach. The breakfast room was always plentiful and offered a huge choice. Staff were always welcoming and polite. The rooms are clean and the bathroom was huge with a bath and walk in shower. The rooms are kept to a good standard and cleaned daily. The cleaning staff couldn’t have been nicer. Evening meals were held the other side of the hotel and had different cuisines on different days. The fish in particular was always good. The hotel is in a fantastic location right on the strip for bars and other restaurants. The reception staff were so nice when my sister fell over and looked after us with first aid as the local pharmacies were closed on the Sunday.

I would say unfortunately the split between the two hotels does make it a bit off and although the pool the reception side is nicer it is right by the road. The beach is lovely and there are plenty of sunbeds and parasol’s. We stayed beachside most days. I would definitely recommend it just somehow misses a 5 star but maybe we were spoilt from our stay in Rhodes at the Atlantica Imperial.

Would definitely come back to a platanias however! Thank you for a lovely holiday.

I will start by thanking everyone that work at Minoa Palace for an amazing vacation. This hotel is a premium hotel whith fantastic staff and customer service.
We started out vacations with delayed luggage, and of course the stroller for our 1,5 year old was missing. Because of this we were stuck at the airport for several hours, with two exhausted kids after the trip. As a parent you get worried for the vacation and how it will be without a stroller, but when we arrived to the hotel all our concerns left. The very nice lady that welcomed us, with some cold drinks and cloths, assured us that we could borrow a stroller from the hotel until ours arrived. Since we were there last year we got a free breakfast at the rooftop restaurant by the sea.
We had booked a room in the part of the hotel by the sea and we got a newly renovated room. The room was perfect for us with kids, and we soon settled in to vacation mood.
I want to express an extra thank you to the sommelier at the hotel, that gave us a lot of friendly attitude and good wine suggestions. We did just choose to have breakfast included, but we ate at the restaurant by the sea(a la carte) or at the Italian by the main pool for lunch every day. Such good Greek food, amazing wine and service. The breakfast by the sea is not missing anything, and especially the lady that served me my omelette every day is always a big smile.
As a parent of a 1,5 year old, you especially appreciate how clean it is all over the hotel. I will say it is exceptional and we have been impressed by the standard they keep all the time.
Thank you to the staff, management and everyone at Minoa Palace, we were so happy to visit you again, and because of two amazing vacations, we already are considering our third one next year. I hope to see you next September!

I stayed at Minoa Palace Resort for the second time, and once again it was absolutely fantastic! The staff are, as always, incredibly kind and helpful. A special mention to Sergio – what a great addition to the team! He was super polite, very attentive, and always with a friendly smile.

This time I stayed in the main building – a lovely, clean, and comfortable room with everything you need. The food was excellent as always – fresh, tasty, and with plenty of variety. As an Italian, I would love to see a bit of refreshment on the Ta Nissia restaurant menu next time, as it’s still the same as two years ago.

The beach was also wonderful – clean, well maintained, and with a very relaxing atmosphere.
All in all, another amazing stay in Crete – I’ll definitely be back again in 2026! 🇬🇷

Best regards,
Roberto

This is one of the best hotels I have stayed at. They have for sure the nicest staff ever. So accommodating.
Great food the breakfast buffet is so so good.
Definitely will come back and recommend highly.

Minoa Palace in Chania is one of the best resorts out there. All the staff are so kind and hospitable. A special thank you to Almera, who took care of our stay from day one until our departure; she is so kind and one of the best at what she does. Thank you also to Labrini (I hope I'm spelling their name correctly). The accommodation was beautiful, located right in front of the beach, and we had a private pool & private cabana by the beach that was exclusively for us during our stay. The food was excellent. The location is the best. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Elafonisi beach, arranged by the wonderful receptionist; our trip to the pink sand beach was a highlight. I would stay here again and highly recommend it. Thank you for your VIP treatment of us; I can’t thank you enough. Thank you, everyone!

Amazing hotel, but air conditioning is now turned off for the year!!
Lovely hotel, great service. Rooms are are great size, with a super comfy bed. All very modern finishes. We stayed at the beach side of the complex - which was great for breakfast overlooking the sea, and right on the beach. Breakfast was fabulous - everything you would expect from a five star resort. Pools were a great size and spotless, and you can get cocktails and snacks at the poolside.
One negative for the rooms is that we would not get screen sharing to work, so no English language tv if you wanted some downtime - bring an iPad.
The thing that really let this place down is that the air conditioning was today turned off for the rest of the year. It's 24 C today, falling to 20 C tonight. It's just far too hot in the rooms - even with the amazing patio doors wide open, there's just no air at all. Would avoid if you like a cool from for sleeping - it if you're coming in the summer the AC is lovely and cool - it's just a shame we came on switch off day - there are a lot of guests complaining an not what you'd expect of a five star resort.

We liked our stay at this hotel. As it was in autumn, it was not crowded and it was very relaxing. The staff is very friendly and very helpful. Breakfast offers many options. Our flight was early in the morning and the hotel prepared an early breakfast for us, which we highly appreciated. The other restaurants are also very good and food is tasty.
We highly appreciated the large rooms, comfortable bed and products offered.
Garden and pool area are beautiful, as well as the beach!

We always feel comfortable at the Minoa Palace. After many visits we are recognised by lots of staff and enjoy friendly chats throughout our stay. Consistently five star service in all aspects. The rooms are lovely and kept immaculately clean. Towel change offered every afteroon/ evening too which is a nice touch. All areas of the hotel are clean and tidy, and the gardens add to the ambience and are well tended too. Food is of the best quality in all areas and served by friendly and professional staff. We like the choice of pools as well as the lovely beach.
Once again, we enjoyed 11 fabulous nights here and hope to be back in the future!
We recommend this hotel, which is in a perfect location on the edge of town, and bus stops nearby for the regular service running from Chania through to Kolympari and Kissamos Thanks to all the team!

My husband and I have just returned from a two week stay here.

The location of the hotel is faultless, however, it is far from a 5 star resort.

Although we have had a lovely holiday, there have been some annoying incidents which have marred an otherwise beautiful hotel.

- Depending on where you stay in the hotel, you will get different facilities. This is particularly clear during breakfast.
The beachside residents have a much nicer breakfast by the beach with more breakfast foods and better service. You are not allowed to eat there unless you are staying on the beachside of the hotel...feels like two separate hotels.

- Beware of conferences happening at the same time as your stay. The hotel prioritises these events, closing facilities like the beach bar and beach restaurant early to ensure the conference is properly accommodated.

This was incredibly disappointing as the beach bar in particular is a great spot to enjoy an evening drink and it felt unfair that a facility which we had paid to enjoy was closed for us for a few days of our holiday.

The staff also gave conflicting information about its closure and seemed to have no clue about it being closed until we were quickly ushered away from the bar to make way for conference delegates.

- The beach is red flagged most of the time, even when the sea is still...very frustrating.

- Service is incredibly inconsistent. We had some fantastic service only twice out of the 28 times we were at breakfast or dinner. Most of the staff did not seem to care and could be a little rude.

I think the hotel has the potential to be 5 star but is certainly not there yet.

Tucked away to the west of Chania, Minoa Palace Resort is a splendid resort of the highest quality with superb facilities, breakfasts, bars, beach, pools, spa, shop and restaurants.

But what makes it truly amazing is the people.

From our first arrival when our bags were taken care of, and we were greeted by Labrini from customer relations - who was so lovely - to everyone at every level, it was always smiles, a warm hello (or kalimera!), and such friendliness from top to bottom.

Another star of the week (from the many we could choose from) were George the resort sommelier - who I spent a most enjoyable couple of hours with one afternoon being educated in Greek wine - some of the finest in world - I can fully recommend booking a session with George in the excellently appointed and perfectly temperature-controlled wine cellar.

Finally, Sergio, a genuinely wonderful young gentleman, not only the perfect host, but also a superb guide on food and wine in Galazio restaurant - another recommend. He is surely a future expert sommelier in the making, his knowledge and skill already is terrific.

The whole week also turned into quite a gastronomic experience, apart from the joy of so much cheese selection for breakfast, the Sunday evening five-course dinner with paired wines was tremendous, so much so that we booked at Galazio for another two nights. With the team of George and Sergio looking after you, you really can't go wrong!

We also made use of the spa, a beautiful and tranquil place, with a great selection of treatments at very reasonable prices. Our final treat was an a la carte breakfast on our penultimate day, an early morning looking out over the sea being looked after by the ever-attentive staff, wonderful.

A total recommend, I could write so much more, we will definitely be going back.

Thank you to everyone at Minoa Palace!

I had the chance to do a private wine tasting with George, and it was an exceptional experience. What impressed me most was not only the quality of the wines but the way he guided me through them: clear, knowledgeable, and never pretentious. Each wine was paired with food in a way that showed just how much thought had gone into it, and it was a revelation to see how flavours can elevate each other. The focus throughout was on Greek wines, and he demonstrated why they deserve to be considered on a par with, or in some cases even surpassing, more well known regions. I left not only having enjoyed some excellent bottles but also having learned a great deal. Professional, personal, good-humoured, and worth every penny. Highly recommended!

We had the most relaxing 10-night honeymoon at the Minoa Palace Hotel, and we couldn’t be happier with our choice. The hotel is perfectly situated right on the beach and also right in the heart of Platanias, and just about a 15-minute car ride to Chania. The combination of beachfront tranquility and easy access to town made the location ideal.

The grounds of the hotel are beautiful, with two different types of buildings—one older and one newer—we stayed in both and each had its own charm. The older building has x2 larger pools but the imperial pool looks right onto the beach so nice to mix up the days, with more than enough space, and we never had trouble finding sunbeds. Towels were always plentiful, and service for drinks and room service was impressively quick.

We also made use of the gym on several days, which was always quiet with plenty of space. The hotel actually has two small separate gyms—one weight-based and one cardio—as well as a calming spa area. There’s even a separate indoor pool for rainy days (though thankfully the weather was perfect for us!).

We stayed on a bed and breakfast basis, and the breakfast was simply fantastic—tons of variety (hot, cold, omelettes to order) and we were gifted a special waterfront à la carte breakfast on one morning that was a real treat. The staff really paid attention to the little details. Since it was our honeymoon, they also upgraded our room not once, but twice! For the last three nights, we had a gorgeous waterfront room that would normally cost significantly more, which made our stay feel extra special.

On arrival, we were greeted with a wonderful surprise of a bottle of red wine followed by a bottle of prosecco, honeyed walnuts, and chocolate-coated strawberries, which was such a thoughtful touch. Then, on our way home, the night before we left, they gifted us some Cretan tea to take home with us—a lovely way to end our stay.

Housekeeping was impeccable—the room was always spotless, towels changed twice daily, and we had separate towels for the pool. Room has shower robes, nespresso maker, fridge, glasses, mugs, toiletries (including tooth brushes/paste, razor, moisturiser, needle and threads) and hairdressor. They really think of everything to make your stay comfortable!

A very special thank you to the receptionist, Elfonsi (we think!) who went above and beyond to make our stay effortless. She kindly handled all our outside dinner reservations, organized taxis for different evenings, and ensured everything ran smoothly for us.

This hotel truly deserves its TripAdvisor rating and lives up to its 5-star reputation. In short, it was a peaceful, wonderful stay filled with thoughtful touches, beautiful surroundings, and outstanding service. We’re already looking forward to returning in the future!

Fantastic!

When you go to a place like this its quite often the staff that make it better and this is the case with Minoa Palace. We have just come back from staying a week and we got nothing but great service right from our initial booking and enquiries to leaving. We stayed in one of the imperial rooms bed and breakfast. They even noticed that my birthday was during my stay and brought a cake to our room - nice touch. The fitness manager and tennis coach, Areste, is areally good coach as well. Thanks to all the staff.

Myself and my wife stayed for 10 days from the 1st of September, firstly the hotel is in a prime location and just a minute walk to the strip, on arrival, the staff were so polite, kind and attentive, and very kindly gave us an upgrade to the most beautiful suite for one night as it was our wedding anniversary, and complementary vouchers for our car breakfast, the grounds are kept in pristine condition with beautiful flowers everywhere is simply kept spotless, the rooms are really lovely and are cleaned every day by very lovely cleaning staff, we stayed bed and breakfast and the breakfast options are exceptional and the food is piping hot and very tasty , the only little blip that we had was for a couple of days there was a very funny smell in our room. We called reception and within minutes we were told that we could change rooms. The staff came to our room almost instantly to help us take our bags across and we were shortly after called to make sure that we were happy. I couldn’t recommend this hotel more highly.

Wonderful 5 star resort. We are currently staying here on our honeymoon/babymoon and the hotel and grounds are fabulous. Upon arrival we had wine, processco and chocolate strawberries in the room. We were also provided extra pillows to make the stay more comfortable for myself. We decided to stay in the imperial side of the hotel and are so pleased we did, the room is beautiful.
The pool and beach are just a few minutes from the room with incredible views and breakfast can be taken overlooking the beach. Breakfast is lovely with lots of selection, we also were given a voucher for the Al a carte breakfast on the balcony, this was wonderful and a lovely treat. Hotel is extremely clean and well maintained. There are many wonderful restaurants just a few minutes walk from the hotel in the evening. Wouldn’t hesitate to return to this beautiful hotel.

Beautiful hotel, 5 star quality. Spotless facilities and food is excellent. Stayed in both sides of the resort, recommend both. Breakfast options are brilliant. Swimming pools excellent. Rooms cleaned everyday, towels changed everyday.
Only issue i had was waiting staff look for a tip on every transaction. Simple order of to soft drinks and they are asking for a percentage tip on card machine. I stopped asking them for drinks and went to bar myself.

A fabulous resort. On our 7 day stay we maximised the pools, gym and pool bar. It was so tranquil. All staff were delightful especially the reception staff. Only one day we ventured to Chania old town. Platanias has everything you want. Would visit again. Special shout out to the gardeners, the landscaping is spectacular!