Review of Aquila Rithymna Beach 5*

This place has many nice features, but this is not a 5-star hotel. Too many things didn't go smoothly, and the service is good only when it's routine stuff — they have no flexibility when they actually need to help you solve problems. Here are some examples from my 6-night stay with extended family: 1. The water-pipes in the rooms are not well maintained, and both us and my sister's family had issues with sewage water rising into the bathroom floor. 2. Rooms are not clean: walk bare-foot in your room for 5 minutes and your feet become black from dirt. (Even right after the cleaning-lady's daily visit). 3. Dinner includes a big buffet, but with absolutely no drinks, not even tap water. And they charge crazy amounts for any drinks (€4.5 for a 1.5-litter bottle of water). 4. Water in pools was too cold to enjoy, even in the indoor pool (it was beginning of October). 5. We first arrived around 8 PM after a long day of traveling and delays. For some reason they did not have the rooms we ordered available, and they actually had the nerve to suggest to put my parents together with my newly-wed young sister and her husband in the same room. 6. Of course, we did not agree. We postponed the discussion for after dinner, and went to the dining hall. It turns out there's a dress-code, and they did not let us in even though it was already 9pm, we had 4 little kids with us, and still no rooms to change clothes in. 7. We ordered a room for a couple with a kid an a baby, and got a crib. But the room was in the second floor, with stairs only. Don't they know that having a baby usually means you also have a stroller?