Mitsis Rinela Beach Resort & Spa

Honey moon - when we arrived we thought the hotel grounds, the rooms and staff were amazing. In our first day we had a standard breakfast, gyros on the beach and were already looking to rebook for next year with our kids and the reason it’s not a 1 star review but then came the evening food. Every meal on the evening including the restaurants were poor but we continued to not let it put us off until one breakfast time. As you sit down you are served with fresh orange juice. On this occasion there was maggots swimming round in it. I didn’t make a fuss and I asked the waiter to change it to which she went to the side and pour the juice into a new glass and brought it back yet again with a maggot in. Again I asked her to get a complete new one which is when they came over and swapped for a new one. This then had two maggots in the top. The waitress finally realised what I had shown her and they then stop serving the orange but didn’t think to take any others away or check from other people. TOTALLY put off we didn’t eat a single bit of food here again for the last 3 days of our holiday which then brings in the location of the hotel. £60 for a return taxi to the next town with restaurants and shops. We found some really nice places to eat and had a lovely meal on the beach as-well as a boat trip which meant our honeymoon wasn’t a disaster but the quality of food at this place for a 5 star is shocking. When booking I asked the hotel to make it special and they did nothing to do that which with previous 5 star bookings even for birthday they have at-least made the room up nice. Really disappointed and maybe we should have took note of the reviews all of which are bad mention the food. Not a 5 star and not worth the price we paid

Amazing hotel! And what makes it so amazing is the people who work there. I travel a lot and a lot of hotels don’t have a heart but this one full filled with love to the guests. I have noticed that everybody tried so hard to do their job and they did it not because they must but because they love what they do. Reception guys everyone is great and helpful, i had to deal with different shifts. The Manager Olga will sort out all of your requests in seconds, helps to find the best solution even for not happy guests , oh i have seen them walking away happy).Concierge -Viola, Guest Relations -Zilia as well always there to help. Funny, professional, kind, polite, friendly people with big hearts. I cant remember all the names of the people whom i met or had to communicate with otherwise i would name absolutely everyone for an outstanding service. The workers of the bars, restaurants, beach club, housekeeping, luggage guys, gardener’s etc are all great!!!! Theres a very smiley bar attendant at the beach bar who was even icing my Proseco glasses ☝🏻😁 I have seen few reviews people complaining on the food or something else. But again the question is are you coming to enjoy yourself or to find whats wrong? They have always something for everyone there in the kitchen. The food is simple but tasty ! The main restaurant even opened till 4:00 in the morning which is amazing. They have good quality drinks and Italian Proseco which you wont get even at some other luxury resorts of Italy or Turkey. The rooms have that nice ambience and they are stylish. I would recommend rooms with the sea view and the pool. The territory is stylish as well and green with hard working gardeners every day. As i heard theres a huge renovation is on the way for the hall and other parts of the hotel as the owners want to make this hotel even better. The beach is sandy with clear water. There are enough sun beds for everyone and you don’t have to book them or fight for them like in another hotels because the beach is large. This is not an adult only hotel but all the kids are well behaved and polite. There is a silence on the beach as everybody chilling and reading the books. Perfect for relaxation which means that everyone respects each other. The hotel has car rental with good cars and good prices. Easy to book and it’s fully covered. And the personnel of the car rental company are fun and so so nice. Will recommend nice places to visit. Please tip the guys as they deserve being treated nice and they would give much more in return. I highly recommend this hotel and that would be my place to come over even for the weekends. You feel really treated and special.

The whole site is well maintained, beautiful flower gardens and well lit at night - a stunning view over the pool and sea and soft sandy beach. Concierge helpful both in advance and during the holiday for various questions to improve the experience. The food was varied and good quality, bars and day time food options also around the site - accessible by bus to Heraklion or a handful of tourist shops/pharmacy etc on the doorstep. Detailed review of key elements below ROOM: We spent one week in a superior family suite as a family of four (kids aged 9 and 7). The room was partitioned with a sliding door, kids in a single bed each by the bathroom and our ‘side’ was by a small enclosed balcony (meaning you can put kids to bed and not have to sit in the dark!). We had debated a family room with swim up shared pool or a two floor family room but on balance I don’t think we’d have got the value for money as we spent the majority of time out of the room. The room was on the smaller side overall but it was very modern and clean with excellent A/c (separate zones for the two sleeping areas). We were travelling with our in laws who had a superior double sea view - their room seemed very similar (and even had additional single beds made up), just no sliding compartment door, certainly possible to also fit a family of 4 for the week and save some money. POOL/BEACH: the pool is huge and exceptionally deep (3m at the deepest). Perfect for confident swimmers - only a relatively small section where it’s possible to stand up. The beach is sandy and easy access to the sea, the water warm and clear. Watersports (paddle board etc) aren’t included. Whilst there are many signs not to reserve the sun beds in both locations, people do and I didn’t see any reinforcement of the policy from the hotel, but there were many beds available when we went late August and we never had any issue to get space for the family. FOOD; the quality of the food was great - not only the buffet but the four a la carte restaurants, pizza and grill bars (and of course the fresh crepes!) Definitely suggest to book via the app or concierge before arrival though for the a la carte, there were people being turned away during the stay due to no availability. Yes certain times of day crepe and grill get busy and there can be a wait but look at the queue and decide what works for you, honestly not as much an issue as other reviewers mentioned. KIDS CLUB/EVENING ENTERTAINMENT : whilst the day time programme seemed varied on paper(and for this no need to book in advance, unlike other holidays we’ve been on), kids club wasnt so engaging. The ‘hut’ the site is on seemed quite old and less well looked after compared to other parts of the hotel, when we went it didn’t seem to have a/c running and overall it didn’t seem very well frequented. Each evening there were performances at 9.15 pm in the theatre or live music up by the main bar which everyone enjoyed post dinner. SPA/FITNESS: I had two lovely spa treatments during the week - the mother and daughter experience and the Zeen massage. The spa has an indoor pool and a relaxation area alongside the treatment rooms. My only minor complaint for the management to be aware of is the the wooden legged spa beds really creak when being massaged which was quite distracting. The fitness centre is outdoors in a covered space on one of the tennis courts at the front of the hotel, so not overlooking the beach as the online pictures may suggest. Whilst a shame not to have a view (meditation on the beach is one option), the programme was very varied and the instructors work hard to make the sessions run well - all classes were 30 minutes and you can do your own workout at any time with plenty of weights selection, TRX, skipping lots and other equipment available from the centre. LOCATION; true it’s not in the ‘centre’ but it’s not in the middle of nowhere either. Outside the hotel are some tourist souvenir shops, pharmacy, cafe, supermarkets within walking distance. The bus going to Heraklion stops outside and takes 25 minutes to get to the centre. It’s also 10 mins taxi to WaterCity (themed water park)which I definitely recommend for active kids! OTHER - yes there are planes and they are clearly audible as they land, however they are mostly early to mid morning and early evening, the rest of the time I personally could ignore them. All in all, genuinely a wonderful week, super all inclusive meaning snacks and drinks (inclusive of the room mini bar) were accessible - a great family get away.