Grecotel Lux Me White Palace

We loved the Grecotel LUXME White, the main pool was lovely and you could get drink and snacks from the waiters around the pool. Antonis was very helpful and Daniella always had a smile and could suggest local cocktails for us to choose from. The other pool had more children in it, but it was also beautiful with beds in the pool and a bar. There are 5 restaurants as well as the main buffet. We ate at the 'The white' adults only, the Italian, the authentic greek (Costas is brilliant), the pop up asian inspired. (booking advised when you arrive before they fill up). We also went to the Agreco Farm, which is outside the hotel and is a must. There's a quick look around the farm for olive making and cheese and wine and then a lovely meal. Maria and Maria (yes both Marias) in the rooftop evening bar are great and remember your order, but also happy to suggest nice alternatives. The beach is lovely and wasn't busy in July. The only complaint we have is the corridors are really dark and boring, they feel like a hospital coridors, which I know seems picky and mad to say, but a few pots and plants would l bring them up to the standard of the rest of the hotel. It's a 10 mins bus to Rethymno, and the harbour there has lots of restaurants and also lots of lovely cobbled streets full of shops, restaurants and bars, we ate out once in the evening and once at lunchtime, both recommended by the staff in the hotel. If you want to hire a car, (near hotel reception) was £45 for the day and we went to (40 mins ish away) a newly discovered waterfall (they only discovered it about 7 years ago), Kourtaliotiko Gorge. There is a 20-30 mins walk to it and the water is freeeeezing. But it's so worth a swim into it. Make sure you're there 9am-10am ish as any later and there are loads of people. We also signed up for scuba experience at the beach watersports centre, which we also loved. Would recommend for a chill holiday.

The hotel is absolutely stunning! Everything is white, spotless, beautifully maintained, and surrounded by greenery — it’s genuinely a pleasure to look around every single time. I simply couldn’t get enough of it, because almost every corner offers a panoramic view of the sea. The layout is also very convenient: no long walks or huge distances, as the entire property stretches along the coastline. The pools deserve a special mention — warm seawater, beautiful modern design, and incredibly aesthetic. I absolutely loved them. The beach is very long and divided into around seven different areas. Some parts have rocks or stone slabs, but at least three beach areas are sandy. The sunbeds are comfortable, and there is even occasional beach service. The sea was quite rough during our stay, with strong waves, so we could only really swim in it for two out of five days. That made the seawater pools an absolute lifesaver. I could honestly write a separate review just about the design. The hotel feels very modern and stylish, the terraces are incredible, and watching the sunset there while listening to DJ sets, relaxing on the large white daybeds and having cocktails was one of my favourite parts of the holiday. Hotel design & grounds: 5+ out of 5. We booked a swim-up room with an additional bed, and honestly, it exceeded my expectations. It was extremely comfortable, clean and well designed. But stepping directly from your room into a seawater pool, with the sound of the sea just below you… there are simply no words. It was amazing. Housekeeping was excellent — our room was always cleaned by around 11:45 a.m. The air conditioning is centrally controlled, and there is no iron in the room, but otherwise everything we needed was there. The toiletries were also quite good. Room: 5 out of 5. The reception team deserves a special mention. There are plenty of staff around, and whenever we needed something, the response was very quick. For example, when I mentioned that the Wi-Fi signal in our room was poor, within half an hour they brought a personal router to our room, which completely solved the problem.

But what impressed me most happened on our departure day. Our transfer was at 9 p.m., while check-out was at 11 a.m. The day before, I asked whether it might be possible to extend our room. They couldn’t confirm it at that point, but later they actually called me themselves and explained that we couldn’t keep our particular room — but they would give us another room until our departure, free of charge! Honestly, this really impressed me. I have travelled quite a lot, and I have never been offered a swim-up room for another sihours completely free of charge. It was the perfect final touch to an already wonderful stay, and I am incredibly grateful to the team for it. Reception team: 5 out of 5. As for the restaurants, we booked four à la carte restaurants in advance. The Italian restaurant was okay in terms of food, but the service was slow. We actually ended up going to the main restaurant afterwards because, honestly, the food there was consistently better. We really enjoyed the Greek restaurant — both the food and the service were excellent. The Asian restaurant didn’t impress us as much food-wise, but we really enjoyed the atmosphere and the service. We also visited the olive farm experience, which is another à la carte option, but it wasn’t really for us, and it was also very hot that day. Interestingly, we kept coming back to the main restaurant because it simply had the best combination of variety, interesting and tasty dishes, panoramic sea views and fast, attentive service. Breakfast could be better, but lunch and dinner were excellent. The coffee, unfortunately, was not good. Restaurants & food: 4 out of 5. And finally, the atmosphere. This is probably the best way I can describe the hotel: for the first time, I never got tired of simply staying at the resort. I actually felt like I hadn’t had enough of it by the time we left. For me, this hotel is all about a peaceful, stylish and sophisticated European holiday. Another very important point for me personally: there were no Russian tourists during our stay, which made the atmosphere even more comfortable for us. This was genuinely my best holiday in the last few years. I would absolutely come back and would confidently recommend Grecotel LUXME White Palace to others. I left feeling that five days simply weren’t enough — and that probably says more about the hotel than anything else.