At the start of the year when we were invited to Kiani Beach Resort in Crete, one of two Seacrete hotels, it was the thing we were looking forward to the most. So when the pandemic hit and our stay was cancelled, to say we were disappointed doesn’t come close! As things slowly started to open back up in Europe and we were given the opportunity to rearrange our stay, after careful consideration and researching the risks, we decided to seize the moment and jump on that plane….and what a great decision that turned out to be!

Situated in the picturesque area Kalyves, just a twenty five minute drive from Chania, Kiani Beach Resort is an all inclusive five star hotel that manages to completely encapsulate everything you could ever want from a family holiday. From the moment we walked into reception every single doubt I had about travelling during a pandemic just melted away and I think all six of us took our first proper breath in what felt like the longest time.

Inside, the hotel is beautifully stylish and spacious with floor to ceiling windows allowing the most incredible views out over the pool area as well as the award winning blue flag beach of Kiani Akti. As we waited to check-in it was reassuring to see that health and safety was of great importance with every member of staff wearing a mask or visor and social distancing followed in the queue by other guests.

On check-in we were given our bands which we would wear for the week – black for those on the all inclusive package and gold for those, like us, on the VIP all-inclusive package which I’ll share more about later.

The receptionist explained that the hotel, although one resort, was effectively split into two with the original part of the hotel at the sea front and then the expansion to the resort behind. Each has their own restaurant and pool complex, as well as their own bar, and of course you can enjoy all areas of the hotel during your stay, regardless of where your hotel room is situated. Our accommodation was in the original part of the hotel overlooking the pool below and the beach and the view was just incredible!

Accommodation

Kiani Beach Resort has 220 beautifully appointed standard rooms, maisonettes and Junior suites, all air-conditioned (a real must!) and feature a sitting area with. a sofa bed, a kitchenette and a balcony or terrace with views of the sea, the gardens or mountains. As a family of six we chose to have interconnecting rooms so that we had plenty of space to make ourselves at home and enjoy our stay.

Family rooms

Each family room accommodates up to four guests and, with an area of 31 square metres, have plenty of space for a family of four. Both of our family rooms were identical, connecting via an internal door, and as we entered I was instantly impressed by how light and airy each room was with crisp white bedding and a stylish neutral decor.

The main bedroom area has a large king sized bed with two single beds which could be separated via two sliding doors for privacy should you have older children like we do. Each bedroom area has its own television with full satellite television although in all honesty, we didn’t even use ours as we were far too busy enjoying the hotel facilities or crashing out after a busy day by the pool!

Each room also has a desk and chair, a large mirror, ample wardrobe space with hanging room and drawers, as well as a safe, television and access to wifi. I loved that each room had various lighting options so you could either have the large ceiling lights on, side lights, or small adjustable lights beside the bed.

Our room had large patio doors to the rear which opened up on to a large patio with a table and chairs and the most incredible view out to the sea. For me, the sea view was a real highlight of our accommodation and I would always choose a sea view should it be available.

I don’t think anything beats that feeling of waking up each morning on holiday, opening the curtains, seeing those beautiful blue skies and breathing in that fresh sea air. Every morning I would go out onto the balcony to bring in the beach towels from the night before and pinch myself that we were actually here after all of those months at home.

Each family room has a large bathroom with a  toilet, bath and shower, and a double sink unit. I always consider a bath a real bonus during our hotel stays, especially with having young children. Our children are still of an age where they much prefer a soak in the bath as opposed to a shower, and yet for myself, Gaz and Lewis, a shower is paramount. It’s always great to have the choice of both!

Each bathroom has ample bath and hand towels as well as beach towels which could be found in the top of each wardrobe for us to use at the pool. Our towels were changed every two day and should you need any more towels in the meantime you can ask at reception who are more than happy to accommodate any additional requests.

As an added bonus, tucked away at the entrance to each room was a small kitchenette with a fridge, a hob, a sink and a kettle. I’ll be honest, other than the fridge we didn’t use this during our stay as we were continuously full from the amazing food served at each meal time, but I thought it was a great addition to the room and the fridge especially was much appreciated during the warm weather!

The Maisonette

Although we chose stay in interconnecting family rooms we did get the opportunity to view one of the Maisonette rooms, consisting of a two-story loft covering an area of 43sqm and accommodating up to six people..

Beautifully light and spacious, downstairs you will find the kitchenette, a king sized bed, a desk area and television, a great sized bathroom and then large patio doors out onto the balcony. Every maisonette provides satellite television, internet access, a telephone, safe and individually controlled air conditioning for each floor. There is also ample storage in the large sliding door wardrobes with hanging space and drawers so you can make yourself feel completely at home.

Upstairs via a wooden staircase is the second floor with two single beds, a second bathroom and plenty more storage. With the maisonettes having a sloping roof with tall ceilings, the light literally comes flooding in and they really do have to be seen to appreciate how beautiful they are.

The only negative for us as a family with young children is that neither of the two bathrooms had a bath with just two walk-in showers instead. Personally I would suggest that with the stairs and the two level storey, the maisonettes are more suited to those with slightly older children and particularly for those with tweens or teens who are looking for their own private space during a hotel stay.

The Restaurants

Kiani Beach Resort offers two restaurants on site: Symposium Restaurant and the Pool View Restaurant. Both restaurants have the same opening times for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the same systems in place for the all inclusive buffet. With both restaurants having similar ingredients for the meals but different chefs, it was interesting to see how the menus differed each day.

Symposium Restaurant

Symposium Restaurant overlooks the beach in the original part of the hotel and in terms of the view, I felt this restaurant was definitely the one we gravitated to more for breakfast and dinner each day. Dining at sunset was lovely and the sound of the waves crashing on the beach may well be the most therapeutic sound of all time.

We ate breakfast in Symposium Restaurant on all but one of our seven days and found that actually both of the restaurants were very similar during for the breakfast menu. With a choice of hot and cold food, fresh fruit, pastries, juice and hot drinks, we enjoyed tucking in each morning and even with the fussiest of children such as Harry, he ate at least one plateful of food per meal, if not two!

Ordinarily Kiani Beach operates on a self service buffet system and yet due to Covid-19 and the safety measures in place this has had to change in order to meet government guide lines. Although the buffet is still very much up and running, there is a socially distanced queuing system in each restaurant where you must wait for a server to lead you to the buffet and plate up your food as you would like.

I’ll be honest with you, the first meal felt a little awkward – I was worried we were taking too long to deliberate out choices, felt guilty about making the server go back and forth to the different stations, and a little self conscious at the amount I was asking to be put on my plate (well we were on holiday!) and yet the staff could not have been more helpful, patient, or non-judgemental and after that initial awkwardness it became very “normal” and worked really well as a system.

Although the children can eat whatever they like from each restaurant, we loved that there was a separate buffet station typically aimed at the children with chips, pizza, chicken nuggets and pasta and our children definitely gravitated to that each dinner time. It was great to see the children queuing and choosing their food independently and seeing how their confidence grew throughout the week.

For Lewis, Gaz and I, we sampled most dishes, most evenings! It was great to taste some dishes that we wouldn’t ordinarily have tried, or hadn’t come across before, and we especially love trying some traditional Cretan recipes each day to really add to our experience.

The Pool View Restaurant

As much as we loved the view from the Symposium Restaurant, our personal preference for lunch time was in the Pool View Restaurant. It has a much more modern and stylish feel and, should we time it right, was far quieter during lunch than the Symposium Restaurant.

Inside the Pool View Restaurant has the same buffet stations with lunch and dinner bringing row after row of fresh salads, cheeses and meats as well as the hot food, the grill, a soup station and the kids station too.

I’m not usually a fan of salads but each lunch time I was so impressed with the fresh salads and the feta cheese with the balsamic dressing was to die for. I was really impressed how every dish was fully replenished throughout meal times and there was never a point where we were unable to have the dish of our choice.

The food differed each day with choices such as moussaka, pasta dishes, lamb kebabs, chicken casseroles, fresh fish and a whole range of accompaniments. With being gluten free I had previously worried that I would struggle with the food and yet other than the pasta dishes, I was able to tuck into every single dish and really enjoyed the freedom to eat such a variety of foods.

For Eva, it was the desserts which were the real highlight and every day she amazed us all by eating at least three or four per meal! From lemon drizzle cake to Tiramisu, chocolate mousse to fresh watermelon, every single dessert was deliciously moreish and thoroughly enjoyed by all of us!

As well as the food stations both restaurants had a drinks station were a member of staff served drinks again due to safety measures. Both alcoholic and soft drinks were served during meal times and, for those on the VIP all-inclusive, two bottles of house wine could be taken each day to enjoy with your meal.

The Pools

Kiani Beach Resort has two pool complexes, one by the beach and one behind in the new addition to the resort. We learned very fast that the beachside pool was the most popular and, therefore, the busiest. For us, with three young children who wanted to be in the pool all day long, we found a real preference for the new pool complex with a 50 metre swim lane and a large shallow end for the children.

I was massively impressed by the 50 metre swim lane, something I haven’t seen before in a resort of this size, and, with the pool complex so much quieter than the beach side pool, there were times when we had the entire pool almost to ourselves!

Next to the pool there is an enclosed children’s shallow pool with fun water slides for little ones which Eva, Megan and Harry really enjoyed. We did find that because of the constant stream of water from the jets above the slide, the water in this pool was a lot cooler than the main pool but it was a great way to cool down when the temperatures soared!

The beach side pool is the smaller of the two but has a shallow childrens pool which is lovely and warm and perfect for babies and toddlers. Obviously here you have the added bonus of the beach and the sea, particularly the sea breeze, and I can see why this is very popular with the guests.

With social distancing measures in place the sun beds have had to be spaced apart and in doing so there are less around the pool. That said, unlike other resorts we have stayed at, there was no issue with having to get up at the crack of dawn purely to get a sun bed and we were very grateful for that when we were enjoying a lie-in!

We loved that both pools allowed inflatables and ball games as well as organised water polo matches held throughout the week by the entertainment crew. Despite the safety measures in place and other guests adhering to local distancing rules, it was still easy to relax and enjoy the swimming pools, something I had worried about prior to our visit, and there was never an occasion when I felt we were putting ourselves at risk which is testament to the staff and their hard work at this time.

There wasn’t a single day during our stay when we didn’t use the swimming pools, sometimes leaving only to eat, and at 7.30pm the kids were still in there, enjoying a kids cocktail, playing together and genuinely having the time of their life.

Every evening we would watch the staff thoroughly clean the pool area and sun beds and make sure they were all at the safe distance again ready for the following day. With the pool all lit up every evening it made for such a beautiful backdrop and every night as we sat eating dinner looking out on that view, I knew that I would miss it so much when we were back home – and I do!

The Beach

The fact that Kiani Beach resort has its own private award winning blue flag beach, is such an amazing asset to the hotel.  For those who prefer the beach, or even those sunbathing around the pool, you can literally dip into the sea in just a few short steps to cool off.

The beach is very quiet and has amazing views out across the coast as well as incredible close up views of the liners patrolling the area from the nearby American Naval Base. The children absolutely loved seeing the boats passing by and particularly one evening when a submarine re-emerged!

In the evening we enjoyed spending time at the beach at sunset, the perfect opportunity for photographs, and although we didn’t manage it on this occasion, you can walk up the beach to the nearby town of Kalyves in around thirty minutes stopping at the local tavernas.

The Bars

Kiani Beach Resort has two bars with the largest being at the beach side. During the day you can get drinks, snacks, ice cream and freshly made pancakes here, all fully included within the all-inclusive package apart from branded ice creams should you wish.

The bars were fully stocked with just about every drink you could think of as well as a cocktail menu for an extra supplement or fully included on the VIP all inclusive package. The strawberry daiquiris were absolutely delicious!

During the day the kids club met in the bar for various activities and in the evening each bar had their own entertainment which was reversed the following evening. Having been to both bars we felt the beach bar was definitely the liveliest and the children’s favourite as it is situated beside the playground where they would have happily played until the early hours of the morning if we’d let them!

Entertainment

Kiani Beach has an amazing entertainment programme, all easily accessed via the Exclusivi app, with a day time entertainment programme as well as evening. With two outdoor arenas for shows, the children’s mini disco, aerobics and games, there is ample space for guests to enjoy the entertainment all whilst adhering to social distancing rules.

We enjoyed several of the planned activities during our stay but particularly in the evening when we could sit at the bar, either inside or outside, enjoy a cocktail or two, and watch some of the performances on offer.

During our stay we watched a magician who was great and when Harry was chosen to take part in the show I thought he might burst with excitement! We also enjoyed a pianist, a singer, the Sunday night beach cocktail party and Greek night, all of which were so much fun and really entertaining for all of us.

Relaxation Zones

The great thing about the resort is that as well as the beautiful rooms, the bars and the restaurants, there are various relaxation zones where you can take some time out, sit and enjoy a drink, and just take in the view.

With fully air conditioned indoor spaces and plush couches to sit back and relax, I felt these areas really extend your living space and rather than sit in our hotel room we enjoyed using these spaces to enjoy a quiet moment after our meals and chat about our day.

On the upper levels there are some beautiful spots to really enjoy the scenery and take in the views of the mountains that this area has to offer. Prior to our visit I had no idea that Crete had such a dramatic landscape and the combination of the beach and the mountains was just breathtaking at times.

Hotel Facilities

Excursions

We loved that the resort really does try to cover every single aspect of your holiday, providing not only entertainment on site but car hire, excursions and diving tours. With so much to see and do in Crete it was great to have these options and we thoroughly enjoyed all of our excursions during our stay, all of which I will be sharing in more detail in my next post.

Sports Facilities

The resort offers a variety of sports facilities including tennis, volleyball, football, pétanque, table tennis and darts. At various points in the day organised games are arranged which anyone can take part in and at others the children could play alone or with a group of friends which was really lovely to watch. Having stayed at home just the six of us for all of those months it was great to see them socialising with other children and really enjoying their freedom.

Yoga classes are ran throughout the week for those wanting to relax, keep active or simply try something new and, having tried this one day, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think I could get on board with any kind of exercise if I had that view to enjoy each day!

Children’s Playground

The children absolutely adored the playground, perfectly situated within direct view of the bar so that we could sit and enjoy our evening whilst still having the children in sight at all times.

Fully enclosed at all sides, the playground felt incredibly safe, even for younger children, and given the fact we had to physically drag the children away from it each night, it’s safe to assume it was a whole lot of fun too!

Spa

Kiani Beach Resort has a beautiful spa where you can enjoy a true Cretan experience using pure natural local ingredients such as olive oil, honey and grape extracts. They offer a range of treatments from body massages and facials as well as a sauna and hot tub within the spa itself. I love that the spa offers such a luxury and should we have had more time I would definitely have tried out a Cretan massage and some treatments!

Mini-market

The resort also has quite a large, fully stocked mini-market which sells just about everything you could need during your stay at very reasonable prices.  From snacks to inflatables, clothing to souvenirs, I loved this addition to the hotel and found it so helpful for items we had forgotten to pack!

Kids Club

If you were to ask the kids what their favourite part of the stay was, swimming pools aside, they would most definitely tell you it was the kids club! Running twice a day during the morning and late afternoon (all times and locations are specified on the Exclusivi app), the children enjoyed a whole range of activities including fishing, pebble painting, t-shirt design, donkey rides and playing in the playground.

In the evening there is a daily mini disco (with one day off each week for all entertainment programmes) which again was carefully socially distanced with squares on the floor for the children to stand in either alone or with their family members. At every stage of our stay I felt hugely reassured by the measures in place but never more so than when it came my children and the efforts made to keep them safe.

VIP All inclusive

As I mentioned earlier Kiani Beach Resort is an all-inclusive hotel but you have the option to upgrade to VIP all-inclusive. This means that as well as the regular all-inclusive plan you get a range of benefits such as a 30% discount on treatments in the spa, 10% discount on excursions, car rental and in the mini market, double speed wi-fi, welcome basket and children’s, gift bags, free late check out, one bottle of water replenished daily and cakes for special occasions! On top of that you can also enjoy branded alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and two bottles of house wine per day. You can check out all of the special offers here.

I think it goes without saying that we absolutely loved our stay at Kiani Beach Resort, from six to sixteen, the kids really did have the time of their lives and after a particularly rough year it felt like the most perfect way to escape, spend some quality time together, and remember a time when life was very different to the one we left behind at home.

I would have no qualms about recommending the resort and have nothing but admiration for their resilience and determination to continue to provide a five star service during this difficult time. Every single member of staff was polite, courteous and genuinely couldn’t do enough to help us and we are so grateful to each of them for making our stay so special.

I know when we look back on 2020 in years to come, we won’t remember the months we spent at home, the stress of home schooling or the fear of Covid, but instead we will remember our week at Kiani Beach Resort playing games in the pool, eating chocolate pancakes, drinking strawberry daiquiris, the sound of the children’s laughter, the feel of the sun on our skin and snuggling up to watch the sunset together at night. We will remember a time when it was just the six of us, completely relaxed, reconnected, recharged, and most of all blissfully happy. And those are the moments I will carry with me for always, no doubt about it.

** We were invited to Kiani Beach resort for a complimentary 7 night stay in exchange for an honest review. All words and opinions are my own. **