Sensus Experience by Lavris

The grounds and general areas of the hotel are very nice, rooms are modern and many areas have been newly renovated. The Sensus "experience" is a gimmick unfortunately. Sensus rooms are nice albeit the swim up rooms are only really suitable for a couple (we had a baby with us and it was a squeeze with very little storage and hardly any room to unpack cases). Travel cot provided was nice though. The Sensus bar is my main grievance. The snacks on offer are shockingly bad for what is named to be an "experience", its worse than Premier Inn food that's been left out all day and that is genuinely true. The pool in the Sensus area is lovely although if you are short or even an average female you might struggle to stand as its 1.6m deep whereas the other pools are 1.4m deep.

Food generally is ok albeit repetitive but that's common for all inclusive holidays these days. Al a Carte restaurant is not too bad. Drinks wise, beer seemed watered down as every pint I had outside the hotel was a lot nicer. Only bottom shelf drinks available on all inclusive, with decent cocktails, spirits and beers being charged extra which annoys me a bit. We ended up having food out at lunch and dinner most days though as wasn't to our taste. Otherwise generally friendly and not a bad hotel for the price. One good thing about Sensus is you're guaranteed loungers as they're reserved for those staying in that area so doesn't get overcrowded.

Wow the staff are so friendly massages amazing had to have more than one food and accommodation amazing was sad to leave thank you to Alexsandra, Keseina, silvano. Hopefully will be able to come back one day. I really can't say anything negative

S

We stayed in the sensus experience by lavris for 11 nights at the end of September . I’d like to point out that my review is my personal opinion and they are observations rather than complaints , this is a clean hotel with great staff and fresh tasty food & drinks .We booked half board so we made it just in time for the dinner buffet after we were shown to our room . The staff were very friendly and tried their best on the most part , we did find occasionally being forgotten for a request of water or an espresso at Brekfast . The food was good and fresh but maybe a little of the same most nights (sorry I only eat Brussels sprouts on Christmas Day! ) , although both myself and my wife will always find something to eat as we are not fussy . No coffee in the restaurant after Brekfast service was another thing I couldn’t get my head around also . We had a swim up room 508 and used the bar there for drinks and the occasional snack by the pool and found the girls that ran the bar there amazing but I found it strange that they had to run to the other bar for certain drinks - as in cocktails which meant one of our group was only starting there drink when the others were just finished. The cleaning of the room was ok if little inconsistent , for example sometimes the toilet/ shower was cleaned sometimes it wasn’t ? We had to request some extra shampoo shower gel because it wasn’t replenished . The power was turned off intermittently in the room which I don’t understand , perhaps it was some end of season cost cutting exercise ? As I’ve said these are my observations , We enjoyed our time at the Sensus experience by lavris and wouldn’t discount for a return trip . This was our first trip to Crete and loved the layed back atmosphere , there’s plenty to do in Gouves with the coast 20 mins max walk away with plenty of shops , bars and restaurants on the walk there. My wife used the spa and she wishes to thank the very professional service she received, from the girls there, the girls Mikela and Silvana were excellent at there jobs and I don’t think I have ever been so relaxed after treatments before. The lovely Marina took my booking I found her to be attentive and listened to me when I explained about some issues I have with some treatments she was knowledgable and directed me in what suited me personally. Thank you Marina.

Wanted a break on my own and after reading nice reviews, it didn't disappoint. Everything is clean and tidy, food is different everyday. Staff are really friendly and helpful. As I was on my own I asked a lot of questions about recommendations about places to visit, as I hired a car. They were more than helpful. They were also very interested asking me how my day was each day, and asking what I got upto during the day. They just make you feel good and special. You can tell the staff are really a one big happy family, how they have that rapport with each other. So credit to the hotel for employing incredible staff. I came home fully recharged and refreshed.

had the most relaxing week stay at this hotel. we booked the suite with rooftop hottub and it was fantastic. great to have our own private space to relax and sunbathe. room cleaned everyday with treats left for us (oozo & baclava). Staff very friendly, food & drinks were great! alot of variety and all very tasty. had a massage at the spa by Irini and i wish we were staying longer so i could book another it was great! overall i would come back to this hotel in a heartbeat. it has been fantastic

Amazing Experience with even more Amazing Staff

This hotel is the peak example of the staff making the best part of a hotel/restaurant/experience.

Firstly, this was mine and my partners first holiday in 4 years! So we had high hopes and they were blown away by something even better.

Suzanna from the Sensus bar was everything you could wish for in an exclusive bar staff member. She was incredibly friendly and chatty, and made me and my partner feel super comfortable. Her English was very good and she was more than happy to communicate in such with us, which as an anxious traveller due to language barriers, made the world to. She was so warm and welcoming, and I would have wanted to become friends with her had we stayed longer! Thank you Suzanna for being the cherry on top of our holiday.

The rest of the staff at the hotel were also amazing! With being more than happy to communicate in English, and providing brilliant customer service with a smile. We were never left without a drink or good food.

The cleaning staff were phenomenal and I always re-entered my room feeling like the queen with fresh towels and coffee, and a made bed.

The reception staff were incredibly helpful, more so because of our late arrival! We arrived just around midnight and they energetically showed us to our room, and let us know they had set aside some food for us due to the late arrive which was very considerate!

I loved the food! Eating good with Greek salads and specials. As a vegetarian, I would say they have a good range of options if you aren’t picky! You would also be able to eat here if you were a vegan as they had an excellent salad bar, French fries, and roasted vegetables.

Drink options were more than I could have hoped for, with wine, beer, soft drinks, and a decent selection of cocktails available to us as all inclusive guests.

The evening entertainment was always something to be enjoyed with a drink and I loved the displays of cretian and green culture that I got absorbed into.

Me and my partner booked massages at the spa and were very very very impressed. Not only did the manager communicate everything in perfect English, but the entire team made us feel more comfortable and relaxed than I have felt in years. I would highly reccomend the spa for a treat, with prices cheaper than the UK, and a better experience.

The beach being only a 10 minute walk away was definitely a plus for a day we wanted to get out. It’s a nice small beach with cafes and shops which you can visit. There were many excursions such as boat rides, train tours, and water sports that I would love to try on my next visit.

I would also recommend Sensus to LGBTQ couples as me and my girlfriend felt very safe and included here. More so than a lot of the places in the Uk!

I would love to come back to this hotel every year as the staff truly make it even more amazing than the facilities and amenities. I saw them treat everyone with such care and respect, and loved every moment of my holiday.

Efcharisto Savanna and the rest of the Sensus and Aelius team!

We took our 10 month old on his first holiday to Aelius hotel last week and it was absolutely wonderful. We were really impressed with the excellent level of service and hospitality they offered throughout our stay.

As soon as we arrived, we were welcomed with big smiles, bottle of cool water and lovely refreshing face towels. Our luggage was kindly taken to our room and collected the day of departure.

The staff were so friendly and always happy to help. At dinner we were offered child seat which made life so much easier. They also had a baby corner which included a steriliser.

Our package was all inclusive, the food was nice at the buffet restaurant but we much preferred the al a carte menu which we were booked in for on our final night. The food was absolutely delicious, we wished we booked more than once. They even accommodated for our son and prepared him some Cretan baby food which we thought was very kind and thoughtful.

While we were there, the hotel was never too busy. The whole place is so calm and tranquil, just what we needed. There was great entertainment in the evening and soft music playing throughout the day around the pool area. There were 2 main pools, an indoor spa pool (which is usually heated in the winter months) and 2 kids pools. During the day, we walked to the local village and beaches which were a 10-15 minute walk. The hotel also provided a free shuttle bus several times a day.

The hotel kindly arranged our transfer taxi from and to the airport, as we required a car seat for a baby. There was always 1-2 staff members at reception for anything we needed. Everyone was so welcoming and made us feel right at home. Reception was also a phone call away, and they answered our calls within seconds.

We were also upgraded from an already newly refurbished, beautiful deluxe double room to a junior suite suite swim up to the newest part of the hotel later on during the holiday. This was such a lovely surprise! It was such a kind gesture of the manager to do this. Both rooms we stayed in very were clean. The whole hotel is immaculate and well taken care with of. The staff really do go above and beyond. A hotel that love families and treat their guests like royalty. We wish we stayed longer!

We really enjoyed our first holiday as a family and look forward to returning. Thank you for making our stay so special and memorable. You really took care of us and we appreciate that so much. Thank you.

We stay at Sensus for 3 days,as we had returned from a very tiring 5 day roadtrip to Crete. It was really relaxing 'cause it is an 'isolated' area, room was clean and food extremely delicious.cretan cuisine is perfect.
Staff was kind and very helpful. We wish we could stay more!

Definitely a great relaxing hotel. We stayed here for over a week and it was amazing. Great location & pool service. A large variety of breakfast & great dinner opportunities. All the staff was really helpful & friendly and made sure to fulfill all your requests. Thank you for this lovely holiday, we will be back!

It was very nice experience.The room was very beautiful and clean ,also the buffet had a variety of foods which were delicious.The stuff was kind and helpful and the most important was with the smile on their faces.The only bad thing that we had to face up was the weather which was not so good some days .

Excellent stay with a wonderful customer service! Food amazing with variety for both hot and cold dishes even gor a vegetarian one! Minimalistic design in the room with really comfortable bed that we enjoyed! Definitely recommend for a couple holiday!

Absolutely love this place! Have just spent a week here with my boyfriend. We paid £780 each for a week all inclusive to stay in the sensus annex with a swim up room and in our opinion it was 10000% worth it. From the minute we arrived at 11pm on our first day we were guided to our room and given a tour of the hotel and then we even got kept aside some food for our arrival which was an amazing touch - especially after travelling all day and thinking we’d be too late for the all inclusive. We also got a free 15 min massage each to use on our first day which was so amazing.

We haven’t ever been all inclusive before but it was fantastic. I am very fussy and don’t really eat meat but found plenty of food to eat. The swimming pools all have snack bars where you can grab fruit, pizza, sandwiches, hot dogs etc all throughout the day. The main all inclusive restaurant serves waffles, pancakes, all ranges of meat like bacon, sausages etc for breakfast. For lunch and dinner you can have pasta, rice, chicken, pork, etc the list goes on there really is something for everyone and a wide variety to choose from. The staff in the restaurants and the bars are lovely, quick to serve with no queues and always come and get your your drinks at dinner, they also clear the tables very fast so there is always plenty space for everyone.

We had a swim up room in the sensus annex and i definitely recommend paying the extra for it. The pool is relatively quiet as only guests staying in this block can use it. The water is warm and there are plenty loungers that we never had to race to get one. But having the pool at your balcony was amazing!! It is also only a 10/15 minute walk to the beach which has plenty to do down there too.

There is entertainment at night we watched some traditional greek singing and dancing which was so fun. There is a snooker table and games like uno, connect 4, chess, aswell as books to keep you occupied if you fancy around the pool. Also there is a coffee shop and shop on site within a 30 second walk at the entrance of the hotel.

On our last day we were checking out at 11am but were allowed to use the hotel all day as our flight was at 23:00hrs that night - we were so pleased with this as usually a hotel would want you out at check out time however we were allowed to keep our all inclusive bands and use all the facilities whilst keeping our luggage in the luggage room.

Would 100% recommend this hotel if you are staying in Gouves the staff are absolutely fantastic and it is really great value for money.

Incompetent, arrogant, patronising, and unpleasant management staff. The check-in is very slow, since you get guests from the adjacent hotels of the same Lavris Group in the same reception area. Upon arriving we were given paperwork to fill in, had to wait for other guests to complete theirs and had to go through the same paperwork with front desk personnel while getting questioned on every detail – They could have easily used more of their personnel to have gather all the information.
Rooms - While the room is nicely designed and new – in fact, you can see plaster splotches, plaster stains and paint on the tiles, the bathroom is not practical if you have a third person staying in the room unless you don’t mind come out of the shower parading to all those in the room. If you want to take a Hot shower, ideally you shower before 5pm.
Beds – It is not a large double bed, but two single beds pushed together. Ended up with separate beds every night.
Whilst in the Jacuzzi up on the roof there is no privacy screening.
Closet space is too small for one person let alone two or three guests. You get a 60cms wardrobe that has the safe box. Ended up living out of suitcases which had to be placed on the floor especially in the room with three guests.
Soundproofing – Every day I woke up to people in the corridors and rattling of housekeeping stuff.
This “30 rooms hotel” is part of a complex of different hotels operated by the group Lavris – to my understanding two other hotels. You will have to join the rest of the other guests from the other hotels in a busy restaurant for breakfast and other meals. If you are after quality food stay away. If you are okay in experiencing hundreds of hungry guests busy trying to overload their plates with all that they could gobble, then this is your hotel to go for.
Pool – lovely, designed pool. But it is in the shaded from the sun by the hotel room after 3pm, so whoever designed the hotel took no notice of such orientation. The decking around the pool needs repair.
We had a few “misunderstandings” with the personnel. To mention one of many, we ordered drinks by the pool and since we had two rooms, we signed off bills to either room. The waiter came and accused us of giving a wrong room number we tried to explain that we had two rooms under the same booking, but he kept insisting that we were lying, and took our order away. After talking to the “manager” we were told that it was a misunderstanding and that the waiter had an issue understanding English, but the same waiter had fluent English whilst accusing of us of wrongdoing.
I could not locate the fitness centre, just small an open-air corner in the other hotel with a couple of machines and not in the best condition neither.

Had the most amazing experience when staying here from the 13th of July to the 20th. We were greeted by Marina who was really helpful and explained everything to us in great detail. On arrival we received a cold bottle of water and a wet flannel and then were given a tour of the hotel and our luggage carried to our room by the concierge whose name I cannot remember but he was so friendly and denied all offers of help.

Our area had its own pool which meant we didn’t need to wake up early to claim a sun bed and were thoroughly relaxed with our own bar. The girls in the bar were amazing with one even coming up to our rooftop garden to offer us drinks and to make sure we were okay. We did have one slight issue which was corrected immediately by the staff and wasn’t a fault of their own at all.

We also experience the spa which was relaxing and professional. Everything was explained in detail to us of what was going to happen and they made sure we were okay as the massage went on. My massage was done by a girl name Georgia and she was incredible, having never had a massage before she made me feel completely at ease and I’d recommend the whole spa process as they were completely accommodating to different needs.

One thing I would give as constructive criticism is the variety of the food. They did have a lot of food and different themed nights but it did get repetitive sometimes. As well as this some things weren’t labelled so it was difficult to tell if you would like something or not.

There is also plenty to do in the surrounding areas. The beach really isn’t far at all with a shop being directly outside the hotel. There is a juice bar right next to that with loads of restaurants, bars and shops about 5-10 minute walk away and the majority of the walk is flat. The hotel entertainment when there was good but I would definitely add more nighttime entertainment to engage customers more.

Overall, the stay was amazing and I would definitely come back again. Feedback is something that they really pride themselves in and you can tell by talking to Marina that she really values customer feedback and does the best to ensure that everything is looked at and acted on.

Well done guys

We spent 12 nights in the Sensus and cannot fault it! The room was lovely and very modern, always kept lovely and tidy and a good sized balcony! The pool was perfect and so peaceful and with the Sensus bar being right next to the pool it was brilliant. We stayed all inclusive and cannot fault the food one bit, my partner is fussy and he never struggled for something to eat and it was always hot and fresh! Also the drinks on all inclusive where amazing especially the cocktails.
I really appreciate that they keep the hotels separate in that if you’re not staying at the Sensus hotel you can’t use the pool, as the other 2 pools on the resort did seem more busy and rowdy!
We did see inside one of the Aelius rooms on our last day as they kindly let us use a room to get showered etc as we had a late flight and had already checked out of our room, I absolutely would not stay in one of those rooms they’re something out of the 80s so definitely book Sensus if you’re going! We also had the rooftop garden and hot tub which was great for a chill.
The hotel is a 10 min walk from the beach and a range of shops and restaurants. It’s also only 20 mins from Heraklion airport which was great!

This hotel was absolutely stunning, rooms were cleaned daily. We had all inclusive and the food was beautiful. I didn’t know some food but gave it a try and was beautiful. The alcohol was so strong also and unlimited snacks drinks and food through out the day. Marious was a diamond.

This was me and my boyfriends first holiday. We did this as our one year anniversary, when arriving to the hotel we were surprised with a bottle of wine and desserts, as it was our one year. The staff were so amazing and so helpful with everything, the hotel was always spotless and kept on point always, the location of the hotel is on point, only 10 mins on bus to Heraklion and Malia, also the bus stop is outside the hotel. The beach is also only a 5 minute walk from the hotel

A variety of food, always good food, with your stay you can book into la carte restaurant which was perfect for us as we don’t always want to leave the hotel.

On the day of our anniversary we were surprised with more wine and a cake! This truly made our stay so special and honestly could not fault the place. 10/10 and will definitely be back in the future.