Kiani Beach Resort Crete family all-inclusive 5* hotel REVIEW
We have found a gem of a hotel near Chania in Crete. The Kiani Beach Hotel has an excellent beachfront location and two pools, plus other family-friendly facilities. My husband even declared it his favourite hotel in Europe. I wouldn’t go quite that far, but we did have a lovely holiday. When it comes to booking a stay, you don’t have to book the hotel through a package, but we did as it worked out cheaper. We booked a package through TUI which included the flights, transfers to and from the hotel and of course the hotel stay.
What rating is the Kiani Beach Hotel Crete?
The hotel has been awarded five stars. This comes into the category of a family all-inclusive rather than a luxury hotel. It has enough facilities to warrant a five-star rating. There are, however, aspects that would make me give it a four-star rating.
Included in the package are local drinks, including soft drinks, some hot drinks and drinks containing alcohol. If you want premium drinks, such as a better class of cocktails, wine, spirits and even branded Coke, you have to pay extra. You can upgrade to all-inclusive plus, which then includes all the premium drinks. More about that is below.
Location of the hotel
The Kiani Beach Resort is located on the northern side of the Greek Island of Crete. It is around a 30-minute drive to Chania and just a little further to Chania International Airport. Heraklion and the Heraklion International Airport are almost 2 hours away.
It has a wonderful location right next to a sandy beach. As it is the Mediterranean Sea, there is never a tide, so the sea is in the same place every day, all day long. Due to it being the largest Greek island and the closest to northern Africa, the island has a strong military presence. The island has a long history, and it dates back to the Minoans, who were Europe’s first advanced civilisation from 2700 to 1420 BC. It has then been shaped by many other Empires and more. The island is abundant with stunning mountainous and hilly scenery, and there are some truly wonderful beaches. We found the people of Crete to be friendly and helpful. The only place we felt taken advantage of was at a cafe over the road from Knossos, a major tourist site.
Kiani Beach Resort all-inclusive package
We have stayed at a diverse range of all-inclusive hotels, and what they offer seems to vary greatly. The all-inclusive package at the Kiani Beach Hotel is adequate and great for varying reasons, but for a five-star hotel, it wasn’t the best package we’ve experienced.
The included drinks were ok. The Diet Coke was like Panda Cola, so I avoided that, but we liked the fizzy lemon and orange drinks, the beer and a few of the cocktails, which luckily didn’t come out of a pre-made box, so they were nice enough.
Food-wise, there were three buffet meals a day, and the choices for these were excellent. There was always plenty of choice, and the food was high quality. Sure, there were a few options that weren’t to our taste, but we ate well. The salads and the desserts were a particular highlight. There was only one cooking station, which is unusual for an all-inclusive, as there’s usually more. One particular bonus was that the food was a lot hotter than most hotels we’ve been to.
Outside of meal times, there were soft drinks and beer on tap, and you had to request alcoholic drinks from the bartender. We did find that one of the barmen wouldn’t allow anyone to have a drink until 11 am, which included soft drinks. But no other employee did the same. This was rather annoying as there were a lot of thirsty people.
We spent most of our days at the beach and pool. At the beach bar, you could get made-to-order pancakes from around 3 pm. There was also a fridge at each pool bar with a selection of fruit, sandwiches and cake. Plus a freezer of ice creams that you could help yourself to, if you could pick a flavour out of what all the kids had mixed together.
The superior family room with sliding doors
There are a great number of different room types at Kiani Beach. We paid more to upgrade to a sea view, which was also a superior family room with sliding doors. It was a nice room, but it could have been bigger and a bit more practical for what we paid.
The sliding doors actually had gaps at the top, so they weren’t soundproof. We discovered that this was so that the air conditioning could reach the kids’ area. The main area has a king-size bed, table, chair and wardrobe, and there’s even a mini kitchenette.
There are then the dividing sliding doors and two single beds on either side of the room. From there, we could access our balcony, which was small but adequate. We struggled a bit to get around each other. The dryer was appreciated, though!
If it weren’t an all-inclusive hotel, the kitchenette would be really useful. There was a sink, a coffee machine, a hob with two rings and a large fridge. What was frustrating was that the hotel was keen for you not to run your air conditioning while you were out of the room. At the time we were there, Crete was suffering from a heatwave and leaving the room without air conditioning meant it was boiling on our return.
We came up with an excuse and managed to beg a second card from them, which we left in the room, so we didn’t boil. I understand that they want to keep costs low and help the environment, but we couldn’t have slept in the room had it not been kept cool all day. The air conditioning just wasn’t up to the job otherwise.
The room was nice enough. I perhaps would not have bothered upgrading to the sliding doors. But I would definitely keep the sea view upgrade. It was lush listening to the sea from our balcony or bedroom. It was certainly the best view compared to other rooms.
What is the Kiani Beach Hotel near Kalyves, Crete, like?
The hotel is divided into two parts. We were in the bottom half by the sea, which is the northern end. This had the smaller of the two pools plus the beach. There were plenty of sun loungers, and there wasn’t too much of an issue with people reserving loungers early. Frontline beach loungers went quickly, but other than that, it was ok.
There is a narrow road which divides the two sides. This wasn’t busy, maybe a vehicle every couple of minutes. Maybe even less than that.
On the other side of the road is the southern end. This side felt a bit newer. The pool there is huge. It is Olympic-sized, and if you swim from one end to the other, it’s even longer than that. It is a lovely pool, and we enjoyed swimming and playing in it. My photos don’t do it justice!
Both sides of the road have a bar area by their pools. They also both have a restaurant. I would say the south side has better air conditioning in the restaurant. Both sides also have a shop. South Side’s shop sells sun tan lotion, inflatables, hats, drinks and a few other things. The north side is much bigger and has a wider selection of items, including souvenirs.
The entertainment at the hotel
In all honesty, the entertainment could have been better. We enjoyed some fabulous entertainment on our last all-inclusive holiday and couldn’t help but compare it to that. Some nights there was just a brief kids’ disco followed by bingo or a quiz. Another night, two ladies were singing Abba songs, another night, a local singer, plus a magician and a few other acts.
There was usually something at each half of the hotel, but most of the time, there wasn’t really much on. Which seemed a bit contrary to what they were advertising. This may well be perfect for some, especially if you don’t want your kids to go to sleep really late.
Other facilities
Next to the hotel’s reception, there is somewhere where you can book a variety of tours. There is also somewhere where you can book snorkelling and diving trips. As it was so hot, we were reluctant to explore Crete. However, by day 4, we felt like we were climbing the walls, and we needed to get out. We decided to hire a car via the hotel. More on that below.
Both sides have a games area. On the beach side, there was a small area with 3 electric ride-ons. Next to them, they have a children’s play area and a tennis court. There’s also a volleyball court and a small area for football. Plus an indoor room with open sides that had some arcade games, pool, air hockey and more. Throughout the day, members of staff would walk past us asking if we wanted to partake in a variety of sports.
Over on the south side, there are inflatables that are put up every now and then. Plus, an indoor swimming pool that is huge and says it’s heated, but it didn’t feel that way. There is also an à la carte Greek restaurant. You are permitted one visit per week with the standard all-include package.
There is also the Kiani Kids Club. This was run by an enthusiastic team of young ladies. It runs 6 days a week, and they feature a variety of sessions with a club for ages 0-4 and another for ages 4-12. There were no pedalos or canoes available to hire, although it does state this on the website. The hotel also has a spa.
All-inclusive plus package at Kiani Beach Crete
As mentioned above, you can upgrade your stay to all-inclusive plus. This comes with a lot of added bonuses. We weighed them all together and decided not to bother. We’d already bought some branded alcohol at the airport, and aside from branded soft drinks, we wouldn’t have got much out of it. Some of the more ‘worth it’ things in the upgrade are as follows:
- Double-speed Wi-Fi internet in all areas of the resort
- Free cake for special events
- Room upgrade (if available)
- Espresso Machine with 2 capsules a day
- Free premium branded alcoholic drinks
- Sparkling wine
- Free premium alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails
- Branded fizzy drinks
Car Hire
As mentioned above, we decided to hire a car for three days. This was so easy to do that I thought it was worthy of a mention. From wandering into the booking office to sitting in our hire car, it took just 30 minutes. Obviously, this level of service isn’t always guaranteed, but we were in luck as a small automatic was available for us to hire. Our car hire cost us 190 euros for 3 days, and this included fully comprehensive insurance. The hire of a manual car costs slightly less. It is cheaper per day the more days you hire the car for.
Day trips from the Kiani Beach Resort
When we visited Crete, the weather was incredibly hot for the end of July. The evenings didn’t offer any respite from the heat, and when we got up in the morning around 8 am, it was already incredibly hot. Despite the heat, we decided we’d make an attempt at sightseeing. Although we had started our gap year of travel, this holiday was a treat for our son, so we were planning on spending most of our time at the pool.
On our first day of having the hire car, we headed into nearby Kalyves. Parts of this nearby town can be walked to along the beachfront from our hotel. With a car, we could easily access the harbour where you can hire boats, and there is a company running boat trips.
After exploring, we drove on further down the coast and found a section of beach with restaurants, bars and sunloungers for hire. We stopped here for a drink before heading for a drive through Rethimno and then onto the pretty harbour village of Panormos in Rethymno. Here we stopped for a wander around the shops, a wonderful lunch, and enjoyed the wonderful view pictured below.
Just a short drive from here is the Melidoni Cave. The entrance was cheap, around 4 euros per adult, and children were just slightly cheaper. You have to descend down around 100 steps into the most wonderful cavern. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Even the roof of the cave was amazing to look at.
The cave, also called “Gerondospilios”, was once used during the Minoan Civilisation as a place of worship. It is mostly known for its gruesome historical event. Back in October 1823, 370 women and children, plus 30 warriors, hid in the cave from the Ottomans. When they found out the cave was surrounded by the army of Hussein Bey, they attacked them. After three months, the Ottomans dropped combustible materials into the opening of the cave and set it on fire. Sadly, everyone lost their lives, and the centre of the cave has an ossuary containing the victims’ bones.
The next day, I had booked an early entrance to the Palace of Knossos. You can book a 9 am entry, but there seemed to be people already there. We stopped for breakfast over the road as we’d left early in the hope of exploring before it got overwhelmingly hot. Once at the Palace, we managed about an hour before we were really struggling.
As an Englishwoman, I’m a little bit embarrassed about Knossos. It has a wonderful history, including the possibility that it was the home of King Minos and the legendary Minotaur. It is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world and was built around 1700 BC.
My problem with it is that in 1900, an Englishman, Arthur Evans, discovered and began excavating the site. Instead of working with what he had, he painted over a lot of the historical remains in his own interpretation. Plus, a lot of the repairs were done using concrete and fake wood. Visiting the site made us question what was real and what was created by Evans.
On the third day of our car hire, it was our son’s birthday. He’d wanted to visit Chania and explore some shops and possibly go on a boat. I had found a car park near the harbour, which has a great selection of restaurants. We found a boat to hire with a skipper, which wasn’t cheap! We paid 350 euros for 2.5 hours. It was great fun, though, but we’d never have paid that had it not been our son’s birthday.
We loved seeing Chania from the boat; it’s incredibly Venetian in style. It was just too hot when we returned to walk to the shops, so we are planning to return one day out of season and enjoy a long weekend there.
My final thoughts
Traditionally, we will pretty much find faults in the hotels that we stay in. The faults of this hotel were minor. It’s a lovely hotel with friendly staff. The food was very good for an all-inclusive resort, and the facilities are great for families. It is well located with just a short transfer time to the airport and close to a major road for visiting and exploring more of the island.
The larger Olympic-sized pool is excellent, and by far the cleaner of the two, as the beach pool suffered a lot from sand in it. We loved swimming in the sea and spotting all the little fish swimming around.
If you are interested in booking or if you want to check out the prices, here is a link to the hotel on the TUI website, which is where we booked our package through.
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