Aquila Porto Rethymno

Another fantastic holiday at the Porto Rethymno! We have visited many times and as always a warm welcome from all the staff. The hotel is very clean, and has had new lifts, a refurbished pool area and redecoration since we came last year. A particular mention for Grigoris and Nicoletta in the restaurant and also the Head Chef for making gluten free treats for my husband who is coeliac. My husband was very honoured to be chosen by the General Manager to take part in the Blue Flag raising ceremony on the beach! The hotel is a credit to the General Manager and all the staff who so clearly take pride in their hotel.

Popi was very nice and the general ambiance was very pleasant

We stayed at this hotel in June for 1 week. The location is perfect, and was a nice walk into the old town and harbour area. The beach opposite was really nice, clean and relaxed. There were plenty of beds available, and there was no rush to get them. There is a lovely bar/cafe on the front which overlooks the road and beach. The room was spacious and clean with a great beach view. The road is noisy but once your balcony doors are shut it is quiet. Most of the staff we came across were friendly and helpful. However, this is certainly not a 5* hotel in our opinion. As soon as we arrived we had to book a slot for dinner at the restaurant,  the link we were given didn't work, so we had to download an app to book a slot. This felt unnecessary as the dining room was never busy. We had a drink at the bar first, and took our drinks with us to the restaurant, only to be told we couldn't take our drinks in ! I was later told this was due to "tax" reasons. This was absurd, and I don't know of any other hotel that does this. There is no bar inside the hotel, so left little choice. The food choice was strange, there was a great choice of salads and deserts, but a poor choice of main meals. We ended up eating out half  the time. The first night, our table and drinks were cleared while we were getting deserts. The shower in our room had really poor pressure, barely usable, and the rainfall shower was just hanging in the ceiling. I spoke to George, he said the pressure was due to ecological reasons and said he would fix the rainfall head, which didn't happen. The worst problem we had was, after returning from the beach one day, we came back to discover the cleaners had left our balcony door wide open ! Leaving our room insecure for around 7 hours. We phone reception who's first response was "so?", then said it was probably to let the floor dry. This was not acceptable. The bar service could be very slow at times but staff were very friendly and although they delivered to the beach, you soon realise no one does this as the prices are very high for a small plastic cup. The beach beds had no padding, so were not that comfortable. It would be good to add the option of pads like the hotel next door.  The safe in the room was an old fashioned key safe, so you had to carry a big key with you everywhere. This hotel is fine, just not upto the 5* standards they claim. Looking at management responses, they are more interested in excuses than listening to customers.