Arminda Hotel and Spa

We had a thoroughly enjoyable family holiday at the Arminda Hotel & Spa and there is a lot to love about this hotel.

The biggest positive is undoubtedly the staff. They were fantastic throughout our stay – genuinely friendly, welcoming and helpful. Reception were also brilliant when we asked for recommendations for towns and beaches to visit, giving us some superb suggestions that we thoroughly enjoyed. I would definitely recommend hiring a car, though, as the location makes having one extremely useful if you want to explore.

The hotel has fantastic views and is close to a lovely beach in a very pleasant bay. The food (often cool) was okay for a budget all-inclusive, although more vegetarian options are necessary. The main bar is nice, although we did find that many of the cocktails tasted remarkably similar!

One of the real hidden gems is the wine bar. It is massively underrated, is a quiet space for adults and deserves to be advertised much more. The barman was awesome, the wine was excellent and the accompanying snacks were absolutely delicious. Definitely one of our favourite parts of the hotel.

The pool table and card tables in the lobby are also a great touch, and we spent several evenings there. Why the pool table has to close at 10pm, though, I’m not quite sure. If it’s about keeping the area quiet, perhaps the same consideration could be given to young children running around from 6am!

And that really leads to our main criticism. We completely understand this is a family hotel - we had no idea it was so highly geared towards young families. The balance feels too heavily weighted towards families with very young children. Even activities such as yoga included children, which rather defeats the purpose of a relaxing yoga session for adults. Some designated adult-only activities or times would make a huge difference and provide a much better balance for everyone.

The spa also deserves a special mention. The spa team work incredibly hard and were friendly and professional throughout. We all enjoyed treatments during our stay, which were excellent and delivered to a very high standard in a fantastic, relaxing setting. It was another real highlight of the holiday.

The padel courts are excellent and another big positive.

We were also very surprised that there was zero evening entertainment throughout our stay – not even occasional live music. For a hotel of this type, that felt unusual. Even a singer, acoustic musician or some relaxed entertainment a few evenings a week would add enormously to the atmosphere.

Overall, we had a great holiday. The staff are superb, the views beautiful, the food okay and there are some excellent facilities. With a little more thought given to balancing the needs of younger children, older families and adults – plus some evening entertainment – this could be an outstanding experience for everyone.

We had an incredible stay in Arminda Hotel, from the warm welcome of the receptionists, to the endless care of the restaurant staff, who were always hyper friendly with our kids. We enjoyed sun lounging, and the pool facilities. A notable plus goes to the entertainment team, who engaged our kids with the minidisco, even in the rainy days we encountered. Big praise for including all the family for the activities and the evening entertainment. Cant wait to rebook for next year. Thank you Arminda for this beautiful week.

We had a wonderful stay at this lovely hotel in Crete. We traveled as a whole family, with two adults and two young adults aged 21 and 22. The food was very good, lovely breakfast, lovely lunch, lovely dinner. And there were facilities like different pools that we really enjoyed. What we especially appreciated was how the entertainers, the activity staff, welcomed the guests. And we would especially like to mention Lenny, who did an outstanding job.