- Greece Holidays
- Gouves
- The Island Hotel
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The Island Hotel
Greece, Europe
Gouves
This luxurious hotel boasts a prime location right in front of the beach and in Goúves area in Crete island, where guests can enjoy a relaxing bath at the long sandy beaches and discover some interesting archeological sites and traditional villages if they want to learn more about the ancient Greek culture. This wonderful establishment is only located 19 kilometres from the capital city of Heraklion, very near Knossos' palace ruins, and 17 kilometres from Heraklion's international airport. Guests can very easily escape from their everyday troubles at the beautiful and airy guest rooms that await for them with plush features such as a terrace with fantastic sea views, a signature bed and silk and velvet textiles. Business travellers can make use of the well-appointed meeting facilities and everyone will enjoy the dining options available at the hotel and the gym and spectacular bathhouse.
Facilities
- Darts
- Tennis
- Billiards
- Volleyball
- Spa treatments*
- Massage*
- Steam bath*
- Sauna*
- TV lounge
- Entertainment programme for adults
- Please note some facilities may incur an additional fee
Due to the surrounding area and the number of steps around the hotel, it may not be suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
The Local Area
Tripadvisor Reviews
4.5 Excellent3,012 reviews
Excellent
62%
Very Good
26%
Average
9%
Poor
2%
Terrible
2%
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Enjoyable
Great location quick transfer from the airport.On first glance the hotel is lovely,but there are a few things here and there that could be improved on it is a little tired in places ( cracked tiles pool side and some the furniture in the communal area's need attention) however we did enjoy our stay and the staff and food were really nice,but it isn't a five star experience.
Very disappointing
Our experience was quite mixed, but mostly negative. We read similar reviews before going but we were hoping that maybe it’s not so bad? Well, it definitely feels like a 3 star hotel and not 5. We took breakfast only option with the intention to have a filling breakfast at the hotel, a light snack for lunch and dinner at one of the nearby restaurants (all very high rated).
Well, the hotel breakfast was a compete joke. This was the worst breakfast we’ve ever seen, and the hotel claims to be 5 stars! The selection was pretty basic and identical every morning, which could be expected. But the food was just bad: fried eggs consistently undercooked, stale omelette, stale cucumbers (perhaps leftover from dinner), fruits old and unappealing. For 11 days of our stay we dreaded going to breakfast and had to eat same 3 foods that tasted okay every single day just so that we wouldn’t go hungry.
The arrangement with waiters leading you to a free table was also ridiculous - there were always tons of free tables and there was absolutely no reason to waste our time waiting in a queue until a waiter would arrange all the guests. The room was clean, a bit dated. There was only ONE socket in the room, so we had to take turns charging our phones, and had to make tea on the bedside table. The TV was very old and did not offer any modern convenience options. We brought our own chrome cast, but were not able to use it because there was no socket to plug it into.
The territory was generally pleasant and clean. The only thing that made our experience somewhat positive were the pools. They were big, clean and very enjoyable. We spent most of our time there. People left their towels to book sun beds in the early morning which was really annoying and the staff did nothing about it. The game room was completely rundown with cigarette butts laying on a foosball table for days and ping pong table being broken in two.
We tried having lunch at the Stone restaurant on the hotel territory and were equally disappointed. The food took half an hour to cook, the staff were rude and unprofessional. Food was very basic and unappealing.
The beach is just across the road from the hotel and using sun beds was included for us. We were surprised to find children on a beach of the adults only hotel. We were explained on the reception that the beach does not belong to the hotel and they are just renting sun beds. The beach was so cramped all the time, that we only came to take a swim and headed back to our sun beds at the pool. Overall, we feel scammed and disappointed. Maybe the hotel was better some years ago, but now the experience is very far from 5 stars.
Review by Lita K Tallinn, Estonia
BAD customer service
Me and my parents arrived at 4am. The booking agent had booked the room the day before which meant we have to wait for 10 hours to check in. We weren’t aware of that upon arrival and requested early check in or some sort of priority for my sick parents both have disability and long term health condition, I explained this to the receptionist multiple times I informed them they were not feeling well and needed rest. At 7 am another receptionist informed us there’s some people checking out early so she’ll do her best to check us in early.
Upon double and triple checking with them at 10 and 11:30 am as my parents and myself are very unwell at this point, they informed us there’s nothing they can do and we have to wait until 2pm.
This is extremely poor customer service and as lovely as the hotel looks we are now too unwell to enjoy it because they weren’t able to accommodate us slightly earlier, even though multiple guests left very early in the morning and cleaning team arrived at 8am.
Take note of all the reviews! They are not far wrong, sadly 🥲
Having read previous reviews, we wanted to take our own view. This hotel COULD be amazing, however there are several things that need addressing. Absolutely not a 5 star .. 3.5 I’d say. The staff are fabulous, it’s kept immaculately clean and the location is great. However, it is VERY tired . The sunbeds are, basic, and cabanas horrible old yellow plastic cushions, there is only ONE buffet restaurant for dinner and you certainly do not need to dress up! It’s basic , 80% buffet dishes filled with mediocre food. The only other place to eat was The Taverna, which we were not told in check in, was only open Mondays and Fridays .This had to booked the day before, but on Saturday, they were already full for Monday! Therefore, If we’d have only been 7 days, and not 10 , we couldn’t have had that option. You also had to pre order from a very limited choice of 3 dishes! Another thing, there is no pool side service at any of the three pool areas. Shame. The gym looks well equipped but it is extremely old, and actually not maintained, so quite dangerous, alongside being very basic . We only went once in the end! Now the room, we had a garden room 921. It was sooooo dark, and actually quite depressing. Very minimial natural light due to the rainforest of trees outside, and also the corner of the building at the front. Tv waste of time - again out of date for 2026 and the Netflix era! Very small room but bed was very comfy at least. Lastly, around the area, there are other restaurants, some good - some not so. But it’s lackluster… no “pizzaz” anywhere! Great for totally relaxing , but nothing more. Shame , as there is so much potential to right everything .
Review by Patchthemaindog Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Wish I would have read the reviews before booking.
The room itself was a good size, but the balcony was very small, and the open-plan bathroom took away any sense of privacy. It made the stay feel a bit uncomfortable, even though we’ve been married a long time and can laugh about it. The hotel seems focused more on appearance than practicality, and with a few thoughtful changes it could be so much better. Breakfast didn’t vary much, which became noticeable after a few days. The best part of my stay was the massage, which was genuinely lovely. Less impressive was the fact that the sauna, jacuzzi, and indoor pool all required additional payment unless part of a treatment. Overall, it wasn’t the experience we hoped for, and we won’t be coming back.
