Giannoulis - Grand Bay Beach Resort (Exclusive Adults Only)

Lovely compact hotel. Start of season so town isn't really open yet. You don't need to go anywhere else, as the hotel covers you for food and drink. Staff are really friendly and always have a smile, more so if you try and speak Greek. Nice for locals to hear the effort being made. They speak about 4 - 5 languages anyway. The room was bigger than we thought it would be, with a massive bed. Firm but comfortable. Plenty of wardrobe space. Small fridge. Kettle, as well as a coffee pod machine. TV, which we never bother with. Free WiFi. Bathroom is a nice size with shower over bath. Toiletries are local, Olive oil based and fantastic. May have brought some home..... Spotlessly clean, housekeeping are a credit. Nothing to complain about but there are a few finishing touches (bathroom joints) that aren't quite right. Not really an issue though. Not worth complaining about. We went for shared pool sea view room. Nice to use our own pool but you're pretty much on the beach. Say 10mtrs away from where our room was (209). Pool was cold (not heated) but it was early May. Sea was cold too but both manageable once you're in. Lovely bit of snorkeling if you go to the rocky wave breakers. Beach is pebble and shingle. Recommend water shoes. Parts are sandy but not much. Plenty of choice for food, amazing tastes. Should be something you can eat. Only one setting where I didn't fancy much on the menu, but I managed. Save room for dessert as they are also fantastic. I've gained a lot of weight this week. The a la carte restaurant is also very good, if you don't want to be bombarded with choice and wish to be served. Had a gorgeous bottle of wine from a monastery in the east of Crete. The drinks are very good, you know you've had a drink. Wine comes in a mid sized bottle (2 large glasses ish) and is local and very palateable, whether red, white or rosé. Local beer is about on par with Carling etc. You can upgrade to All Inc plus and get Mythos, Peroni equivalent. Cocktails are really nice, my wife loves the Pina Colada. They don't do Mojito on the all Inc. But you can pay extra for certain drinks. All the staff were amazing, I won't name them all. But reception, bar staff, waiting staff, chefs, cleaners and yes even management. Always had time to chat and joke and practice my Greek. Nothing on during the day, but its a chill out place, make your own entertainment. Start of season, maybe more to come? Evenings had various shows on. Violinist on Fridays, we were knackered, our first day, so didn't stay up too late but he was very good. Would've like him to play again in the week. The town is relatively flat so not much bother for the less able. Nice little harbour to look around. The Monastery is well worth a visit. €3 pp. Looks good and reveals its history once you look around. Don't forget, women have to cover their legs and shoulders. Be respectful. Just outside the monastery is Bambi zoo. Just a small fenced off area where deer are kept. Seem well looked afte

We just loved this hotel. We went as a family group of couples. From the outset the staff were just amazing. So friendly at reception, a real welcome. Our room was delightful. It was a sea view and was spacious and clean with all we needed.We loved the smaller intimate side to the hotel and the staff were always friendly and helpful. The food was super for an all-inclusive and we never felt let down. The pies are just amazing, the onion pie was knockout so much so I asked for the recipe which the chef kindly emailed to me. The waitressing and restaurant staff were just as attentive and we appreciated them all, Zoe was great fun and Svetlana a delight. The bar was admirably run by Costas with always a laugh and a joke with Mario and Marcos. Andreas is a font of knowledge and had the ladies in our group swooning. We had been worried the beach would not be sandy but it was with just some pebbles on the shore line and the sea even in October welcoming. We had wonderful weather for our ten day stay with just one rainy day. Chania is well worth a visit and the bus stop is right outside the hotel. Kolymvari is very quiet but that is why we chose it. This is a cracking hotel with conscientious staff that really do look after you. Well done to the whole team. We will be back

We had a wonderfully relaxing stay at Grand Bay Resort and cannot fault the generous hospitality and attentive service of all the staff. We stayed in a junior suite with private pool access and sea view which was a glorious site to wake up to after arriving at midnight! There was a great variety of locally sourced food at each meal, with higher quality than we'd previously experienced from an all-inclusive. Zoe was very attentive, checking in at each meal and letting us know of any events happening. Olive Oil night was a favourite - definitely worth the 20€ charge per person. It was also good to meet other guests over the cheese and wine evening and DJ night! My sister celebrated her 30th whilst we were there and the hotel went above and beyond to make it special, with champagne and strawberries secretly delivered to the room. We were thankful for beautiful weather for a mid-October break - we would love to return and explore more of beautiful Crete, but were also very happy to spend our days lying by the pool, swimming in the sea and drinking cocktails on our sun loungers! Thank you for a wonderful peaceful holiday.

Arrived very late, after a long journey, to a very warm welcome. A much needed and appreciated snack was awaiting us in our room. The staff were all excellent and so friendly and helpful. My husband has dietary restrictions and was handed a list before each meal sitting of the foods to avoid, making his choices less daunting. Special mention to Zoe, Spyros and Marco who made our holiday so special. The two nights we had some entertainment laid on was very good and could have done with a few more nights like that. Would very much love to return someday.

We visited Giannoulis Grand Bay Hotel at the end of September/beginning of October and enjoyed a very relaxing week in Kolymbari. This is not the location or hotel to go to if you are seeking a lively action-packed holiday, but if you are looking for an adults only all-inclusive hotel situated right on the beach with excellent food and drinks, friendly staff and comfortable accommodation then you will not be disappointed. We booked a sea front first floor junior suite (room 328) which gave us a very large room with comfortable bed, balcony and good-sized bathroom with lovely toiletries, and a powerful shower set over the bath with a Perspex screen. No awful shower curtain here. We did need to ask for a shower mat to go into the bath which was swiftly provided. The room was clean and bathroom towels and swim towels were changed daily, or even twice daily, if necessary. There are a variety of rooms on offer, several swim up rooms with private or shared pools, some with a sea view and others set behind the two sea front blocks. You just need to choose which room best suits your needs and budget. The main pool is on the sea front with sun loungers by the pool and plenty more on the beach. The main restaurant has indoor and beach front seating, the buffet offerings for breakfast, lunch and dinner were very varied, with a large salad bar, traditional Greek dishes as well as chips, pizza, etc. Desserts, cakes, ice cream and fresh fruit all available. We certainly did not get bored and although we had planned to eat out a few times at the nearby tavernas we did not as the buffet selection was excellent. The beach front location is delightful, the beach itself has small pebbles so take swim shoes if you plan to swim in the sea. The breakwaters in the bay meant the sea was calm most of the time, although we did have a couple of windy days when the sea was rough and several kite surfers arrived to entertain us. The village itself is rather run down, but has a lovely little harbour, plenty of traditional sea front tavernas and a few shops. We booked a half day boat trip from Kolymbari harbour which took us along the coast with two swim stops for snorkelling with all equipment provided. For a few Euros you can take the bus to Chania to see the beautiful Venetian harbour, the bus runs regularly and stops outside the hotel. We travelled with Tui who did not have a visiting rep, but the JET2 rep was very friendly and happily arranged a trip for us on one the road trains where we visited an orange plantation, nunnery and winery with wine tasting. If you book a Tui transfer you might find (as some in our party did) that the transfers to and from the airport took over an hour with numerous stops for other travellers. However, we arranged Easyjet flights (as the flight times suited us better) with our Tui booking and only had to share our transfer minibus with another couple of holiday makers. This is a small hotel with just under 80 rooms and only had entert

We stayed in room 328 a Junior suite with sea view which was directly facing the sea. The room was spacious and cleaned daily with fresh towels and beach towels being left each day. The bathroom was a little small and could do with a refurb but again it was very clean and had a lovely hot and powerful shower. My only downside with the room was the lighting in the room as it was very low lighting and no light above the mirror in the room but this is often the case I find in many holiday resorts. The staff at the hotel were amazing - Zoe always came and chatted to us at mealtimes and provided us with lots of information as well as checking on many occasions that we were happy. We were given plenty of opportunity to say if we had any issues but we really didn’t - everything was just perfect for a weeks relaxing holiday. The food was always plentiful and hot with a good choice at every mealtime. We used the a la Carte one evening and the food was cooked to perfection - the chef does a great job - sadly we were the only 2 people in the restaurant the evening we dined (Felt like VIP’s private dining 😂) but this was probably due to the fact we had visited very late in the season. We didn’t use the pool so unable to comment on that but we swam everyday in the sea which was beautifully calm and a lovely temperature once in - it is stoney getting in and out so would recommend water shoes. We got a taxi into Chania one afternoon and stayed into the evening - well worth a visit. Chania old town is beautiful with lovely little streets packed with a selection of shops and restaurants - the harbour had a really lively feel and a lovely atmosphere - we sat and had a meal at Aroma which was delicious and reasonably priced. We hope to return to Grand Bay again soon. If you are looking for peace and quiet and a chilled holiday in a friendly hotel I recommend it.

We upgraded to swim up room, please don’t do this as it’s a bit of a con, the “ pool “ was not even close never mind swim up. Room stunk the bath drain was blocked so emptied into the bedroom. Fridge never worked.. those were the bad bits .. we actually got another room given On the whole we enjoyed ourselves just like the other guests, very relaxing Hotel employees were mostly ok Definitely not 4 Star hotel 3 at most

On arrival to the hotel first impressions were not great- the outside was not much to look at and walking up towards reception and inside the reception area there was a very strong smell of cigarette smoke. This was present most days. Check in process was easy and we were provided with a sparkling wine and pineapple juice on arrival which was nice. We stayed in room 226 and had paid extra for a sea view room. On arrival to our room was not impressed at all. Was a strong smell of sewage/damp? Wouldn’t really classify the room as a sea view room, the room is also right next to the a la carte restaurant so little privacy whilst on the balcony. The mirror in the bathroom was not clean either. However we left the balcony door open whilst we went to explore and this helped to clear the smell. Although our first impression of the hotel was not great it did improve following this. The food is lovely - lots of variety each day. Although depended on what time you attend the meals not always the hottest but if you raise this with the staff they are happy to help. I am a fussy eater and I managed to find something to eat each meal time. The all inclusive includes bottled water which was really nice too! Most staff are very friendly, polite and helpful however there are a couple that come across as a little moody. The hotel provides beach towels, the room is serviced daily with someone coming round in the evening to see if there is anything extra needed. Whilst away it was my husbands birthday - on the day the hotel left a tray with chocolate covered strawberries, a bottle of sparkling wine and a card in our room which was lovely and unexpected! The views are lovely and we always managed to find a sun bed every day. The beach is lovely but very stony … recommend bringing some beach shoes for this. Not a great deal around the area where the hotel is, a couple of shops, you can walk up the the monastery - this suited us as we were happy to stay around the hotel most of the time anyway. We did do a day trip into Chania - very pretty in some areas but also very busy and approx 45min bus ride away. A nice thing to do on a day where the weather isn’t too great but if you don’t go you aren’t really missing out. Bus costs €3,30 per person one way. To sum up we had a lovely holiday, in future wouldn’t bother paying the extra for the sea view room. Otherwise lovely hotel and views, mostly friendly staff, good level of cleanliness and decent food; definitely recommend booking.

First time at this hotel in fact first time in Crete. So let’s start with I would thoroughly recommend this hotel lovey layout great facilities superb location but I’m my opinion that’s not all that makes this hotel a must ….. it’s the staff I thought they were just delightful I’m going to mention a few names forgive me for not mentioning them all but Zoe and Anna were great and the lovely Xenia & Spyros in the restaurants were just amazing but as I said all you guys & girls made us so welcome and made everything just perfect. The resort itself is very quiet so if you’re after more you need to go elsewhere and thats not difficult as the bus runs right in front of the hotel to get you all along the coast road…. a trip into Chania will cost you just over 3 euro and well worth the visit plus there are endless trips you can do to discover this quite delightful island. The food and drink at the hotel is of a very good quality and always with quite an extensive choice served in the usual buffet/help yourself style. Rooms are spacious and well presented & housekeeping is of a good standard too. Give this place a whirl if you’re interested in a chilled laid back holiday in a hotel tat feels like home…. Thank you every one at Grand Bay from room 305 & Rupert the Bear of course x