Capsis Astoria Hotel

The Capsis Astoria in Heraklion is a gem! What a great location, easy to get to from the bus station and to other parts of the city. The hotel is beautiful, the room was super clean and quite spacious, the breakfast buffet was incredible and the rooftop pool and bar is awesome. What a view from up there! The staff was warm and helpful. Definitely a safe area to stay if you are a female and there is lots of shopping and restaurants just a short walk away.

Stayed here for a week in September/October. My views are: Location - nicely situated for easy access for drop offs without heading through the towns narrow streets. Being on the site of the old wall everything in the old town is so close with many fine bars and restaurants close by along with the sights/museums. Access to the port for trips is also very easy from here with a 10 min walk Staff - definitely the best aspect and all very polite and attentive. I’m a coeliac and for breakfast the head chef showed me personally around the excellent buffet on our first day for what I could have and then made sure I had biscuits and cake available for the following days. Shout out to Natalia who, without prompting, delivered these to me every day. Thanks so much for this:-) Room - we were in an economy room (234) which was fine except, being smaller, the bathroom was a little of a shuffle to get in and out of between the door and shower screen. The bathroom was a wet room and water seems to go everywhere but manageable if you’re careful. The beds are comfortable with foam mattresses although not the higher spec ones which take heat away so can make you sweat a little I found, which I wouldn’t normally do. Food - only ate breakfast here but this was outstanding for a Greek hotel I would say Communal areas - the roof top bar and pool area (whilst we were only able to use it on one day because of the poor weather at the time) was excellent with plenty of space. With the rooftop shut that just leaves reception and the bistro type area behind reception. The bistro is a bit soulless and can be quite noisy due to it being a bit boxlike and spartan but they serve a good coffee there. Reception is quite quiet and there are a couple of sofas there. The sofas are the type that need cushions on them due to the depth but for some reason they are not there so do not make for comfort unless that’s the idea to discourage customers from sitting there too long? One night there was a guy playing the piano there and it would have been lovely to have been able to sit more comfortably whilst he played. Noise - finally, noise which I note others pick up on. This is the sole reason I only give three stars for this hotel. I don’t regard myself as a light sleeper however the doors in the hotel are probably the worst I’ve ever experienced as they neither insulate you from external noise when shut or do they shut quietly themselves. With a hotel construction that has no noise attenuation, like carpets and just hard stones walls, floors and stairs, noise echoes up and down the corridors - it wouldn’t have helped moving rooms. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was just in the evenings or mornings but this hotel is frequented by airline crew who come in late and leave early for the most part. I did not sleep well for one of our seven nights there with doors banging shut waking me every time. Lots of pros and only one con - sadly if there’s one thing you want a hotel to do well it’s provide you with a restful sleep.