Avra Imperial Hotel

Fabulous hotel, excellent food, helpful and friendly staff, great choice of specialty restaurants and beautiful and clean grounds. Spent a wonderful week at this hotel and would definitely go back. Room spacious, bed very comfortable and very clean.

Here is my unbiased review of a week long stay at Avra Imperial in Kolymbari. We arrived late at night due to a delayed flight. We had booked a suite with a private pool. When we got to reception, the late night receptionist welcomed us and asked for a debit card immediately (no explanation as to why. For people who do not travel often this might come out as a weird request). The receptionist later informed us that we had been upgraded in regard to our stay, our room. That energized us slightly after the long flight and bus trip. We were told to wait for a concierge to help us with our bags. The concierge arrived and collected our luggage and guided us to our room in one of those little golf carts. He was extremely careless with our (expensive) luggage when loading it onto the cart. We got to our room and it was completely dark at this point so we couldn’t get a complete view of the surroundings and where our room was located. It felt like in a movie where a salty landlord shows you the whereabouts of the room in 10 seconds. The concierge left quickly. The room itself was, unfortunately, not clean at all. There was dirt, grime and mold in the bathrooms, and a foul smell. Furthermore,we ended up finding one cockroach and five more, a total of six cockroaches wandering the room, and tons of other different bugs and spiderwebs. We started looking where the roaches came from and found a crevice from the wall facing the bathroom. We also moved one of the sofas since there was dirt and hair on one of the pillows. We found what looked like insect larvae, three of them. We ended up calling the travel agency immediately who then called reception. They would get back to us so we waited for a call from reception while killing some more cockroaches. Eventually they called back and advised us to wait for the receptionist’s colleague. A good 10 minutes later, the concierge knocked on our door.. The concierge had towelse came in and looked around. We tried to communicate with the concierge but he would speak nothing else but greek. He picked up the dead cockroach mound that we had already killed and gathered on top of a tissue. The concierge did not even bother to look at the other areas of the room. Since the mound of dead cockroaches was in the hall, that and the livingroom where we pointed out the webs and larvae was the only places he looked. He was visibly irritated and we barely had a chance to try talking to him, as he was horribly rude and unhelpful, almost aggressive. There was a language barrier but his behaviour was unacceptable regardless. We called reception again as well as our travel agency, and asked for a new room, there was no way we were going to sleep in that room. I should also mention that before the travel agent started taking us seriously , she recommended we should try and catch the cockroaches with a glass and let them out. Their tone changed when we mentioned there were more than one and the pace was visibly dirty. My husband call

Brilliant hotel. The whole place looked just like the photos used online/on the website. The staff were all great, really polite and helpful. Check in is easy and a golf buggy takes you and luggage to your room. The all inclusive plan really does include everything. You get to use all the Al a cartes for lunch and dinner, all cocktails are included, the extensive wine list is included and good quality and all premium spirits are used in drinks. We enjoyed al a carte lunch with the wood fired pizza oven and fish tacos at the beach. You can book Al a cartes via a QR code on check in. The beach is pebble, the sun loungers are free, the sea is beautifully clear and the Seaside bar at the beach provides drinks and snacks. Rooms are cleaned daily, and spacious. Fridge is only stocked with large water bottles on arrival. In the Residence Club you get a quiet private adults only pool, that always had loads of bed and access to the separate bar and Xanthi restaurant for meals. The Tuesday set menu lobster night is excellent. I would recommend the upgrade. Very nice hotel, would highly recommend. Not much evening entertainment which suited us fine, but if you like shows/kids discos etc you'll be disappointed.

We actually travelled in August 2023 but I felt it imporant to leave my review. This is NOT a 5* star hotel. I will list the issues we had: - First room we were given was one of the noisiest I have ever stayed in. We had arrived late from our flight so had no choice but to sleep that first night, but having a 4 year old the noise was awful. It was close to the courtyard and people were screaming shouting and banging doors gone midnight. They eventually moved our room which took some reminding constantly and had to be put in a completely separate complex to our family which we had not choice but to accept. - the new room albeit, quieter, kept having flooding issues in the bathroom which was smelly and rank. People kept coming to fix it but it kept happening. - If you don't call and book the kids club in advance (like, really in advance) it won't happen. My 4 year old also did not enjoy it - found it quite boring so we only did 2 half day sessions. - they say you can use your vouchers for the a la carte restaurants but again, don't leave this until you arrive otherwise you will not have a chance. - the breakfast is MAD - expect to queue for ages. - sunbeds. Like most other all inclusives this is standard. however we followed the rules (at the start) and did not get up early to reserve beds. But it CONSTANTLY happened. We then worked out if we went when some of us were eating breakfast it was fine, but the staff removed our items and dumped them - yet there were hundreds of other people who had done it and nothing was moved?! - housekeeping. if you have children, DO NOT leave sentimental soft toys/items, even in an obvious safe place in your room. Our daughter's toy she had had since birth and could not sleep without got taken by housekeeping. The hotel reassured us it would be recovered but nothing. We had literally left it out (not wrapped up in sheets) and it was likely binned. It was such an awful end of the stay. The staff really did not do anything to attempt to sort this for us. We were even happy to go to the external laundry people to look ourselves. It never was retrieved. I found there was inconsistency with service, the food (apart from the Asian restaurant) was really basic. For the price, we were really disappointed.

We have just returned for a weeks stay, and I honestly was so pleased with our choice of hotel. We travelled with our 2 small children age 3 and 1. On arrival the front desk were so polite and we also had welcome drinks which are in the lobby area, a really nice lemon drink or refreshing water. We were taken to our rooms by concierge again great service. We had a deluxe twin pool view room and stayed on the second floor, the hotel room was spacious and bathroom was great with large walk in shower aswell as a bath. We were only half board but they replenished our room with complimentary water bottles each day which was a nice touch. Pool areas are nice, so much choice with the massive main pool then another pool on the side and then also a separate kids pool that’s covered, also both main pools are great for young kids as they have a shallow area for them to splash around etc. there are plenty of sun beds and you can get one, however if you want a good spot you would have to reserve them early. The food was good and I loved the fresh orange juice machine for breakfast, we actually didn’t get a chance to go to the ala carte restaurants, everyone says there’s not that much entertainment but to be honest that didn’t really bother us especially with young kids however, we did find there was always something going on, there is a piano player in the bar area, and the hotel was streaming the euros matches while we were there in the evening at the amphitheater, they also seemed to be advertising various shows they had coming up. Location wise it was really nice, you had a few shops across the road and it was about a 5 minute walk to the beach area with quite a few nice restaurants. The town is quiet and peaceful. Just outside the hotel is a bus stop going directly to Chania, the bus service was pleasant and because you get on close to the start of the route we got a seat, it’s also very reasonable €3.50 per adult from the hotel to Chania, and kids under 6 are free. We got the bus there and taxi back, taxis cost €40 each way. We liked that it was a short walk to the beach area and the hotel had a beach bar down there and seating area over looking the sea which was very peaceful! They also even have a pool area by the sea, they seem to have thought of everything, The facilities at this hotel were great, and it was spotless! we would definitely return!

This hotel is great if you want to relax and eat amazing food. We had a great time and the weather was fantastic. The all inclusive package is amazing! Well worth the money. It was also very easy to get Sunbeds even if you went down to the pool at 10. However, I do have a few negatives. The buffet restaurant doesn’t offer a wide range on food so if you’re a picky eater like me you might find yourself over at the kids section. There is NO entertainment and I mean none. There’s no music around the pool during the day which you do notice. At night time we would often find ourselves just going to bed as we were quite bored in the evenings. The location isn’t bad. You can stroll down to a local harbour however besides a few restaurants there isn’t a great deal to do there. You’re best off catching the local bus to Chania for something to do. All that aside, we had a fantastic time all the staff are so friendly and are willing to do anything to ensure you have a great time! Ps visit Elafonisi Beach- you will not be disappointed!