Sitia Beach City Resort & Spa

We stayed here for 3 nights after serving as guides in other parts of Crete for 12 days. This was supposed to be our post work relaxation. The drive to Sitia from Heraklion is uneventful and not difficult albeit narrower and windier roads when nearer Sitia. It is a very nice small city. The hotel is at the far end of the beach area that is down from the town. It would be the southeastern edge of the town. There is ample parking which is a big plus as parking with many smaller hotels closer to the town is limited. The check-in process was easy and they had a room for us a bit earlier than the check-im time, which was very nice. The room is small but not less than typical Greek standard. We had a nice balcony overlooking the ocean to our left and the hotel structure to our right. The view isn’t bad at all. The balcony also has racks for hanging clothes to dry. The bed was comfortable but storage is quite limited due to the small size of the room. We made it work. The decor and furniture is on the old and outdated side. The bathroom is very small and a bit tight to get in and out of the shower. I would say the cleanliness if at the B level which means ok but not top notch. The hallway out of the room is semi outdoors. The lifts are good and the stairs are wide and well equipped with rails. The public areas and bar areas are good. I get the sense that many guests here are for the beach and don’t leave. They have an all-inclusive package with food and drinks. The breakfast area is huge and quite crowded even though we were there in October. The guests seem frantic and not always courteous. There is an unpleasant atmosphere of fighting to get everything. There is always a line to the espresso and cappuccino machine which do make passable coffees. I do dislike the crowdedness and the intense atmosphere for breakfast. There is nothing idyllic about it. The restaurant offered ala carte service but only with a three-day ahead reservation. It is in the same space as their nightly theme buffet (which I think will be dreadful). Strange that such a kitchen cannot offer nightly ala carte menu. Again, I think most of the guests just eat whatever is in the buffet. We didn’t try it as my buffet experience at resort hotels in Greece has not been good. This hotel is primarily occupied by German and French tourists. I saw not a single American. Perhaps Sitia is too far off the beaten track as we saw virtually no Americans elsewhere in the region of eastern Crete. The hotel is only 5-10 minted from the center of the city with many great dining options. I would certainly recommend that. If you have a car, I would recommend visiting Toplou Monastery, a couple of archeological sites and the Vai Palm Forest.

We had great 2 weeks holiday at this hotel. It was very clean and we had a quiet room overlooking the back, the tennis court. It was important for us to have a quiet room, coming from London where its always noisy, we wanted a room away from other people. We had to ask for a quiet room and we got it and it was just so peaceful, just what we needed.
The food was excellent. And I am celiac/gluten issues, so I have to be careful. But the Maitre'D Aggelika was so good and every day explained to me what I could eat. I really appreciated this attention to detail. Thank you to Aggelika!
The hotel is located close to the town, and so in the evening, after a large and delicious meal, we would stroll through the lit streets of the town. All in all, we had a great holiday and will come again.

The hotel provided an exceptional experience. Its prime location, with direct access to a private beach across a small street, coupled with spacious accommodations, contributed to a positive stay. Notably, the culinary offerings were outstanding, featuring themed dinners with diverse and flavorful options. Restaurant service was commendable. The only area for improvement would be the housekeeping's attention to glassware cleanliness. Overall, our experience was highly favorable, and we offer a strong recommendation. A short drive away, Vai beach offers a natural spectacle of palm trees and clear waters. Sitia village is also worth a visit.

Grand hôtel très propre, tous les équipements sont sur place. Chambre confortable et très propre. Petit déjeuner et repas sous forme de buffet varié et qualitatif
Plage et centre ville à proximité.

A lovely hotel, nice amenities and location. We went there in Oct 2024. The food had a nice variety and the hotel was clean and professional.

Would definitely recommend. Sitia is a very quiet place, and it is a long drive from Heraklion airport (we hired a car, we had quotes for €250 per way just to get to the hotel!)

Do not make a reservation at his hotel unless you enjoy bad customer service and stress!!! I reserved 3 rooms in December, 2024 for our stay in September 2025. All 3 rooms were confirmed and guaranteed by my credit card. Today, 10 days before check-in, the hotel e-mailed that they had canceled our rooms. I called the hotel only to be told that I had to e-mail reservations. Reservations explained that this was a tech problem and that their monthly system check had revealed that the rooms had been sold to us in December when they truly were not available. I questioned "monthly system check" since the January, February, March, April, May, June, July and August checks did not reveal an issue. It's interesting, however, that their system lists one of our rooms at a price over double what we were paying. The hotel has been no help in finding an alternate comparable booking. I'm left to clean up their mistake while preparing for my son's wedding in 4 days. Do not stay here unless you enjoy gambling with your family's vacation. Is the reservation going to be canceled last minute? Who know?

Great place to stay!

Very welcoming Son and Mother host, amazing view , fantastic facility and extremely clean, all round great place to stay. I would strongly recommend staying here if you come to Sitia

Very unfriendly for non France people, although everyone speaks good English, everything is France orientated

hotel
+ great location
+ staff seems nice
+ they do have a gym BUT coz its so small u need to make a reservation first and the gym equipment is only for very beginner, no heavy weights
- too small for that many ppl
we had a trouble finding just 2 sunbeds for our self, the main pool and beach was all full
- only one bar open at the time by the pool area
If you r at the beach u will either have to cross the bussy road or walk thru the beach so you are most likely to spill something on yourself
- they say that if you leave your stuff on sunbeds for more than 30 mins without you being around, everything will be removed and the towels will be taken so they can charge you 30€
- the crew was always announcing thing in a french and then in english, when does it says that this is french favour hotel?

room
+ air conditioner
+ 2 free bottles of water
+ u can open the door just with your hotel bracelet so u don't have to carry any card or key around
- have to pay 15€ for safe to work
- stains on bedsheets
- so small than u will have a hard time to open bigger luggage on the floor
- they change towels only once after 4 days

beach
+ sea is great for swimming
+ mostly clean
- on the pictures they are selling you wide beach with sand but in reality it's very small beach with many many rocks

food
+ plenty of frensh fruit
- variety of meat and desserts is lacking
- plant taste so u get bored very easily
We skipped 3 dinners coz there was just nothing appealing and went to restaurants close by

drinks
+ the cocktails you pay for are great
But there is much better place close by that charges 8-9€, in the hotel they change you from 8-12€
- juice is disgusting and too sweet
- if I want water for free u either have to take their 0,3 cup with you or u need to have your own bottle they can fill up

Unfortunately, this hotel fell well short of our expectations. While it claims to be a 5-star property, the experience we had was closer to a lower-end 3-star hotel – and even that may be generous.

Our room looked decent at first glance, but it didn’t take long to notice the worn-out bathroom, chipped tiles, and dirty walls. Basic toiletries were missing – only one generic all-purpose product was provided, which felt more appropriate for school dorms. After raising our concerns, the hotel eventually supplied alternatives, but items like cotton pads, swabs, and sanitary bags were not replenished during our stay.

Borrowing a towel requires filling out a form, and if it’s lost, you’re charged €30 – an amount not justified by the towel quality.

The restaurant promotes fresh buffet dining, but in reality, most meals were reheated or oven-warmed processed foods. Coffee was only available from a machine – with powdered milk for cappuccino – it tasted very poor, especially for a hotel of this category. The nearby bus station had better coffee, which says a lot.

Food in general was disappointing: eggs with a strange texture, canned beans, overly sweet pastries, dried-out cheese, unappealing cold cuts, hard rice, dry fish, and chicken with unexpected bones. The only consistent highlight was the fresh fruit and vegetables – particularly the kiwi.

Drinking water is available at the bar, which often meant long waits. We recommend bringing your own.

The massage experience was equally disappointing. Staff were reluctant to accommodate a cancellation due to illness and seemed more focused on making the sale than customer care. Only after firm insistence was a refund granted. The wellness staff also walked the beach daily, actively trying to sell treatments while guests were relaxing – which felt intrusive.

Other issues: noisy surroundings (from the street, hallways, and neighboring rooms), outdated furnishings, stained cups and glasses, and towels full of lint. I even had the unfortunate experience of getting stuck in the elevator. One morning, there was no running water (thankfully resolved quickly). The elevator doors squeaked loudly throughout the night – despite maintenance staff being present, no repairs were made. The beach is also more rocky than sandy, unlike what the hotel advertises.

While we could have overlooked one or two of these things, the combination of all these issues made the stay quite frustrating – and certainly not worthy of a 5-star label.

I would only recommend this hotel to travelers who aren’t concerned with food or service quality and who are satisfied with the bare minimum. We were expecting peace and comfort in line with a true 5-star, or at least a solid 4-star experience, especially since this was our honeymoon. Sadly, we left disappointed.

The one saving grace was the hospitality we encountered in the local restaurants – the Cretan people were incredibly warm and welcoming. It’s worth venturing beyond the resort to experience the real spirit of the area.

We have just come back from a 10 night stay here with 4 adults. The hotel is very nice right on the beach and next to the lovely town which has many restaurants to try. If you are English do not go to this hotel as you will be the only English there!

This is definitely not a 5 star hotel. The hotel staff are all friendly but the accommodation is quite basic and the food quite monotonous and not a huge choice. The four pools are a plus though and the beach is just in front of the hotel which is beautiful but very stony.

The hotel does not cater for English at all so would definitely not recommend going here if you are English. We were the only English in the hotel and the animation team could not be bothered with us at all and catered only for the French with all the activities being in French only. They take over the hotel and you cannot get away from it!! This is very poor as we had paid for our holiday too but were excluded from all the activities as they were all given in French.

Sitia town is very nice, but a 2-3 hour transfer from Heraklion airport.

Would recommend Sitia as a resort but not the hotel for English guests.

I'd give it a 4/5 rating if they didn't make themselves out to be something they're not. Definitely the quality of service and especially the food is not up to a 5* hotel. Most of the meals are cheap semi-finished products with no idea and with the average taste of a factory canteen that you buy in Lidl. They don't even offer coffee for breakfast and you can only have the one from the vending machine, which makes worse coffee than the average coffee machine you have at home. Most of the drinks, especially the all inclusive ones are post mixes and taste like chemicals. Drinks are amateurishly prepared and taste like sugar with alcohol. Expect to be sick to your stomach the next day. Accommodation overlooking the garden includes a daily wake-up call in the form of a garbage truck at 7am. Don't expect any trust or decency. You will have to fill out paperwork even to get towels, like some kind of thieves. You have to wear an annoying bracelet on your arm like some sort of collared dog for the duration of your stay. You won't feel any more comfortable than you do at home. It's an average 3* at most.

À perfect massage of the back ,the arms and the neck . It is the best spa in sitia ! I am very relaxed and Good now !Thank you popi !

Everything was perfect. I really enjoyed it. Eleni is 100%professional. Everyone is so nice. Thank you for your kindness.

Very nice hotel. Small but in the city so you can awans go for a walk.

There is not bigos variety of the food but it is tasty.

They have nice SPA. I can especially recomend terapist Popi.

The only disadventage is lack of water in the room. You have to buy it yorself.

Great location near the city. 3-4 minutes walking distance to the center. Next to the beach. Very peacefull and relaxing. Nice and clean rooms. Great food and friendly staff

Amazing all inclusive hotel with lots of facilities good food and very friendly staff. The best part though was the spa! Stefan and Popi gave as an amazing relaxing experience!! We will definitely come back and visit the spa as soon as possible!

A wonderful hotel. Great staff. The location and grounds are lovely. Pools are so perfectly maintained with plenty of sun chairs. We used the fitness center, which you can reserve. It has everything you need for a good workout. Seafront restaurants are a short walk away. The Cretan House was our favorite. Right on the harbor with impressive food. Also liked the easy parking. If you drive in Crete you know what that means. Our 4 night stay was a highlight of our 6 week trip around Crete. Highly recommend.

A stylish French-owned resort just across the road from the beach, and only a ten-minute stroll into Sitia's foreshore with its many restaurants. Accommodation and facilities were top notch, with the bar near the pool being a great place for relaxation. The only let-down was the buffet-style evening meal. A five-star resort should have a restaurant with an a la carte menu (this may be provided in high season?).