Atlantica Kalliston Resort

Visited Chania area for first time with wife for 7 day break and chose Antlantica Kalliston Resort due to positive Tripadvisor reviews. Arrived on rainy night in September, and checkout process involved free drink and sit down talk from reception staff on hotel features before shown room. First issue occured when shown out of Hotel and handed umbrella to be shown room which was in a new small block about 100 metres down street. Room 809 was ground floor despite request for non-ground floor, and when we indicated wasn't ideal, our guide told us Hotel was full and nothing else available until later in week.

• Ground floor room very dimly lit,balcony looked out into Hotel car park and with open bathroom with see-through "saloon" type doors for both shower and toilet, which was quite weird and not all at all private. Whether due to ground floor or guide let room door open too long, noticed about a dozen small black moth-like flies on the walls and curtains over next few hours. We called maintenance about lack of lights and maintenance guy duly reconfigured lights to switch on a few more that had been disabled. Bed mattress completed lacked support and one of the worst ever encountered (and stayed in many hotels in many countries without issues) and my wife had zero sleep between the bed and awful traffic noise all night from adjacent busy main street - felt like we were sleeping in a tent rather than a solid walled room. Next morning went for breakfast -you do have to wait/queue until seated, but beautiful area and very extensive breakfast choices that were updated each day, although some food only lukewarm. Views over the resort to main pool and beach area are stunning from breakfast area.

• Before breakfast, we told reception that room unacceptable and they asked us to leave it with them and we visited Chania old town in meantime - easy bus ride away from a stop opposite Hotel. Old town area beautiful and an array of restaurants and small alley-filled shops, and around 11am, received call from the Hotel to return between 12.30-1pm to view alternate room which we did. New room (407) was in main block and 2nd floor (above street level), and immediately traffic noise was gone with well-sealed patio doors and balcony facing street, and bathroom area a more acceptable configuration with fully lockable and full height door - bathroom privacy had returned ! We asked about mattress and told all Hotel mattresses the same but maybe they could add a topper to improve it, so we accepted but told we couldn't move into new room until 3pm but had to vacate old room immediately, which meant hanging about Hotel for next 3 hours with beachwear stuck in suitcases in transit between rooms.

-Chose to hang at beach bar, which was quite nice, and could purchase food and drinks with cash or cards whilst new room card in limbo. Moved into new room at 3pm after good chunk of day wasted, and finally able to unpack, however air con stuck at 24C and mattress no better than first room, which combined with air con meant another sleepless night. Next day, bumped into a resort manager at reception who asked whether new room had fixed issues and fedback part-fixed but mattress and air con still an issue and had noticed in meantime that TV channels didn't load plus in-room coffee machine and kettle didn't power up. We chose to visit main pool area that day and had a nice time, and on returning to room noted that hotel had swapped out mattress for another one that was acceptable, fixed a trip switch for the kettle/coffee machine power, fixed TV and air con. Finally at night 3 we had an acceptable room.

-Beyond these issues, we found the resort stunning and very clean, including a really nice main pool lounge area (but guests are allowed to reserve sun loungers with towels despite hotel policy to the contrary) with great access to main pool (which is a bit cold) and hotel's private beach area with nice sandy beach and sea access (quite warm still at this time of year), great grab and go area with super coffee and cakes and very helpful staff.

• Outwith main breakfast which was always good quality, we tried the food and drinks at lunchtimes at the beach area a few times plus dined one night at the on-site Italian restaurant (but need to book all dining 24 hrs in advance) and whilst the service always good, found the cocktails and food on site to be lukewarm and pretty average at best, and nothing to rush back for. We also sampled late evening entertainment in main lobby a few times and enjoyed piano night and strings night. Given we found dining options on site a bit average, we ventured out most nights for dinner and although a bit hit and miss, found some good pizza and wine at nearby Oregano's (10-15 minute walk) and very nice pasta dishes at Osteria de Creta (Chania harbour area).

-In summary, a good first visit to Crete (Greece), a decent stay at Atlantica Kalliston which has some nice touches, but could have been so much better if provided a better room on 1st night, mattress issues are addressed, and food quality better. Staff were generally very helpful and eventually addressed all main issues, but more stressful than desired and consumed valuable holiday time. Also found hotel introduction chat inadequate and inconsistent, and depends who checks you in - we noted some guests received a much more extensive resort tour, but we didn't. There was also no Hotel map provided (we struggled to find our way to the Italian restaurant after dark) and we only came across key resort facilities quite by accident, including multiple pools, Spa area, other dining options, and pool towel "daily swap area" (buried in the Spa area and not accessible each day until 9 am).

We visited for a week at the end of July. It was my husband's 60th when we were there, and the hotel made it very special for him, by giving him not just one cake and a bottle of prosecco when we arrived, but also another one on his actual birthday! The staff were absolutely wonderful. They were so attentive, helpful and kind. Special thanks to Eleni & Natalia working on reception, the Guest Relations Team, the porter named August, the room cleaning staff Zoi who did a great job and even made wonderful creations with the towels on our bed...a swan, a heart etc. Maria was also lovely. It is such a stylish, clean and fabulous hotel! So chic! The pools are amazing! The breakfast buffet was incredibly extensive. Nikos and Robert were both really lovely. They did such a fantastic job and they were always so friendly and cheerful! Thank you to all staff for making it such a lovely holiday for us!

We really enjoyed our stay at Kalliston resort! We stayed a week ago, and it was lovely. We especially recommend the Asian restaurant, it was a highlight! The pools are nice, but we would like to have heated water during cooler weather. Still, I really enjoyed the aqua aerobics with Tania. All the staff were polite, with special shoutouts to Maria from the customer experience team and Eleni at reception. It’s the perfect place for a relaxing vacation, and we highly recommend visiting Chania as well, it’s absolutely beautiful!