⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Grand Hotel, Hersonissos – One of Our Favourite Family Holidays

We have just returned from what has genuinely been one of our favourite family holidays.

Before travelling, I spent hours reading TripAdvisor reviews to help decide whether this hotel was right for us. Hopefully, by sharing our experience and a few little tips we picked up along the way, this review helps someone else planning their holiday.

From the outstanding staff and fantastic food to the beautiful sea views and wonderful local businesses we discovered, this holiday gave us memories we'll be talking about for years to come.

📍 Location

The hotel is beautifully positioned on a hillside overlooking the Mediterranean, and the views are simply breathtaking. We were lucky enough to have a sea-view room, and waking up to that view every morning never got old.

Because the hotel is built into the hillside there are plenty of steps and some steep paths. We actually enjoyed this, but it's worth knowing if you have mobility issues. The scenery more than makes up for the extra exercise!

🛏️ Rooms

Our room was modern, spotless and very comfortable. Housekeeping did a fantastic job every day and everything was maintained to a very high standard.

The air conditioning deserves a special mention—it worked brilliantly. In fact, we actually had to turn it off one night because the room became so cool!

The hotel provides an iron if you need one, although there isn't an ironing board.

🍽️ Food & Dining

The food was one of the biggest surprises of our holiday—in the best possible way.

We've stayed at all-inclusive hotels before where the buffet can become repetitive or feel like mass-produced food, but that certainly wasn't the case here.

The variety throughout our stay was excellent, with plenty of choice at every meal. There was a great selection of freshly prepared dishes, local Greek specialities, grilled meats, pasta, salads and familiar favourites, meaning there was always something to enjoy.

What really impressed us was the quality. Everything was full of flavour, beautifully cooked and constantly being refreshed throughout service. Nothing ever looked as though it had been sitting around for hours, and the buffet remained well stocked right up until the end of each meal.

One meal we genuinely looked forward to was the traditional Sunday roast. The roast beef was absolutely excellent—perfectly cooked, tender and full of flavour. It's not something you'd necessarily expect to rave about on an all-inclusive holiday abroad, but it was honestly one of the best roast beef dinners we've enjoyed on holiday.

After ten nights we still weren't bored of the food, which says a lot. The chefs and restaurant team clearly take enormous pride in what they do, and for us the dining experience was one of the standout highlights of the holiday.

One thing that made every meal even more enjoyable was the restaurant staff. Every member of the buffet team was incredibly warm, friendly and welcoming. They didn't simply clear plates and serve food—they remembered us, took the time to chat and always made us feel welcome. Those little conversations each day made the whole experience feel personal and are something we'll remember fondly.

We also really appreciated that bottled water was available during both lunch and dinner. There were three of us, and the staff were always happy to bring us four bottles to take back to our room. If you're taking an insulated water bottle, ask for a cup of ice before you leave the restaurant—it kept our drinks cold for hours.

❤️ The Staff

The people are what make this hotel truly special.

Every member of staff we met was welcoming, professional and genuinely friendly. You never felt like just another room number.

A special mention has to go to the wonderful team in the spa. My daughter Bella and I booked massages with Eva and Georgia, and they were absolutely fantastic. The treatments were relaxing, professional and one of the highlights of our stay. If you're staying here, I would highly recommend booking a treatment.

An even bigger thank you goes to Jenny. She is one of those rare people who leaves a lasting impression. From the moment we met her, she made us feel completely at ease. She took a genuine interest in us, remembered us every time we visited and always had time for a chat. Her warmth and kindness are something we'll remember long after the holiday has finished.

We'd also like to thank Sielia, who we saw every day. She always stopped to say hello, asked how our day had been and made every interaction feel personal.

I also have to mention the reception team. During our stay I unfortunately had a fall on some steps within the hotel grounds, leaving me with a cut and a badly bruised arm. The ladies on reception couldn't have been more caring. They quickly cleaned and dressed my arm, made sure I was okay and checked on me afterwards. Their kindness perfectly reflects the level of care and hospitality we experienced throughout our stay.

To Jenny, Eva, Georgia, Sielia, the restaurant team, the reception staff and everyone else at the Grand Hotel—thank you for making our holiday so memorable.

🏊 Facilities

The hotel has everything you need for a relaxing holiday.

The pool areas were always clean and beautifully maintained. The only slight downside was that, despite signs asking guests not to reserve sunbeds, we regularly saw towels being placed on beds from around 8:00 am. It wasn't a major issue for us, but it's worth mentioning if you have a favourite spot in mind.

The spa is an absolute must. It's peaceful, beautifully presented and somewhere we'd highly recommend visiting. We particularly loved the cold plunge pool, which spa guests can also enjoy during the day. It was incredibly refreshing in the summer heat, and my daughter absolutely loved it.

I also made use of the gym. It's quite small and doesn't have free weights, so don't expect a commercial fitness centre. However, it does have resistance machines, cardio equipment and excellent air conditioning, making it more than adequate for keeping active while away.

The hotel itself is immaculately clean throughout. Everywhere—from reception to the restaurants, pools and walkways—is maintained to an exceptionally high standard.

We didn't attend the evening entertainment, so it wouldn't be fair for us to comment on that.

🚶 Exploring the Area

One of the things we loved most was getting out and exploring.

There are two towns within walking distance. Heading left takes you towards Hersonissos. We didn't visit as it looked much busier and more commercial than we were looking for. We preferred somewhere a little quieter.

Almost every day we walked into Stalida, which is around a one-mile walk from the hotel. It's a lovely stroll, mostly downhill on the way there, although remember it's uphill coming back!

We accidentally discovered a handy shortcut through the Horizon Hotel, which saved a little time.

A really useful tip: before crossing the busy road outside the hotel, turn left towards the supermarket. Just before you reach it there's an underpass that's easy to miss if cars are parked nearby. If you've reached the supermarket, you've gone slightly too far. It's by far the safest and easiest way to reach both Stalida and Hersonissos.

If you head left after coming through the underpass and continue past the beachfront hotels, you'll discover a small cove with no sunbeds. It's a peaceful little spot that's perfect for relaxing or taking some beautiful sunset photographs.

🏖️ Potamos Beach

One of the highlights of our holiday was Potamos Beach, and I'd highly recommend making time to visit.

Reception kindly organised a taxi for us, which cost €25. Alternatively, you can catch the local bus from Bus Stop 36.

The beach itself is absolutely stunning. Crystal-clear water, beautiful sand and a much more natural feel than some of the beaches closer to the hotel.

I'd recommend visiting during the week as weekends are much busier with locals.

There is a lovely little taverna and a food truck nearby, and we hired three sunbeds and one umbrella for €20, which we thought was excellent value.

We also discovered some fantastic restaurants, bars and local businesses during our stay, all of which played a part in making our holiday so memorable. Rather than trying to do them justice in this review, I've reviewed each one separately so other travellers can find them more easily.

If you're visiting the Grand Hotel, I'd definitely recommend reading those reviews too. They include Romantic Corner Restaurant, Cosmopolitan Bar, Edem Bar & Restaurant, the Grand Hotel Spa, Wizard Tattoo and Potamos Beach—all places that genuinely helped make our holiday so special and are well worth a visit.

✈️ Departure Day

Our return flight back to Stansted wasn't until midnight.

Unfortunately, because the hotel was fully booked, a late check-out wasn't available, so we checked out of our room at 12 noon. However, the hotel made the whole process incredibly easy.

There is a secure luggage room where you can leave your suitcases for the day, allowing you to continue enjoying the hotel without having to worry about your bags.

We also booked one of the hotel's shower rooms for 5:00 pm, which was perfect. It meant we could spend another afternoon by the pool before showering, getting changed and heading to the airport feeling refreshed.

If you have a late flight, I'd definitely recommend booking a shower room as early as possible.

💡 A Few Tips Before You Go

• Bring a reusable insulated water bottle.
• Ask the restaurant staff for a cup of ice—it keeps your drinks cold for hours.
• Bottled water is available at lunch and dinner, and the staff are happy to provide extra bottles for your room.
• If you're a tea lover, pack your favourite tea bags. The hotel serves Lipton tea.
• Drinks can't be taken back to your room in glassware, so the hotel provides plastic cups.
• Comfortable footwear is recommended because of the hills and steps.
• Make time to visit the spa.
• Walk into Stalida rather than staying in the hotel every evening.
• Visit Potamos Beach.
• If you have a late flight, book one of the shower rooms early in your holiday.

⭐ Overall

This holiday exceeded every expectation we had.

The outstanding food, breathtaking views, spotless hotel and excellent facilities made for an amazing holiday, but it was the genuine warmth of the people that made us fall in love with the place.

From the restaurant team remembering us every day, to Jenny, Eva, Georgia, Sielia and the wonderful ladies on reception who looked after me after my fall, every interaction felt genuine and heartfelt. It never felt like people were simply doing their jobs—they cared about making sure we had the best holiday possible.

Hotels are made up of buildings, pools and restaurants, but they're remembered because of the people. The team at the Grand Hotel should be incredibly proud of what they've created.

We also discovered some wonderful local businesses during our stay and have reviewed each of them separately because they deserve recognition in their own right.

Thank you to everyone at the Grand Hotel for giving our family one of our favourite holidays. We left with incredible memories, new favourite places, a beautiful new tattoo and a real appreciation for Cretan hospitality.

We wouldn't hesitate to return and will be recommending the Grand Hotel to our family and friends for many years to come.

If you're reading this because you're wondering whether to book the Grand Hotel... stop reading and book it. We certainly would again.

I think trip advisor really should split up the Spa reviews from the hotel reviews to ensure people looking to stay here can easily see the reviews for the hotel and get an accurate score. We booked a week at the Grand Hotel Holiday Resort through Jet2. There wasn't actually a lot of info available before we visited. Usually hotels have facebook pages etc but this holiday was still a bit of a mystery when we were travelling there. The hotel was impressive. Very nice looking buildings. The whole place was very clean, the pool had a remote cleaner running around the bottom every night. Fortunately our room was down near the bottom. It's very hard work walking up the hill to the snack bar, where there are also accommodation blocks. There is a vehicle that transfers you up and down but I'd imagine if we had to keep using this to get to our room it would have changed this review. The food was all really good quality but the choice was not huge. This forced us to try things we would not normally eat. One problem we did have was a lack of options for kids. This was basically spaghetti or pizza every night. The restaurant had lots of staff all smartly dressed who would tidy away your plates immediately keeping everything looking clean. There is a constant gentle breeze which keeps things cool but does give a false sense of security with regards to sunburn so make sure you keep getting creamed up. We were easily able to book into the 1 visit at the a la carte restaurant included in the stay - we chose the Italian which was very nice. The water slides are small but just enough for our 9 and 11 year old to have fun on. They weren't busy and it was easy to just walk over. One annoying thing is that the football pitch is locked when the slides are at around 6pm. This really should be open as it is too hot to play in the day, the evening is the best time for having a kick around. There were no life guards around the pool for the majority of our stay but on the last day there were two around the pool and they were stopping people jumping in and having fun, bit odd. There isn't much around the hotel but it is a short taxi ride to Hersonisos or Stalida. We walked to stalida but got a taxi back Malia is just beyond stalida. We would definitely return to this hotel

Received a facial from Georgia who was amazing! Really polite, calming the facial was beautiful I can not recommend enough.