For our family holiday to Crete during May half term, I was looking for a hotel which had a bit of luxury and good facilities for both adults and children. With my husband continuing to recover from the stroke he had last year, we all needed a break and have a relaxing, fun time. We were visiting Crete with our two daughters aged three and six. We chose Crete for a number reasons. Firstly, it was accessible from the island of Folegandros where we’d been staying for a friend’s wedding. Secondly, it was a new Greek island for us having previously visited Mykonos with a baby and Santorini with kids. Crete also seemed to have a bigger selection of luxury hotels. Anemos Luxury Grand Hotel seemed to fit our brief. If you are looking for a family-friendly hotel in Crete, read on to see whether it is a fit for you in my Anemos hotel review.
Location
Anemos Luxury Grand resort is a five-star hotel in Georgioupolis, a small beach town on the western side of Crete close to the city of Chania. The town is a five minute drive from the hotel or a picturesque walk along the beach. From the hotel you can see Crete’s snow-tipped mountains. The nearest airport is a 45 minute drive away on the outskirts of Chania. Plenty of airlines fly from the UK and elsewhere in Europe including British Airways, Norwegian (who we flew home with), EasyJet, Ryan Air and Jet2.
As we were island hopping, we arrived in Crete via ferry which docked at Heraklion port on the east coast. There is a direct ferry from Santorini and we’d got an earlier one from Folegandros to Santorini. We booked them in advance via Direct ferries. We then hired a car to drive over to hotel. It was around an hour and a half drive. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to this leg of the journey but once we were on the main road it was very straight forward.
Arrival
We arrived late at night and were greeted upon arrival and helped with our bags into the sumptuous entrance hall complete with a wooden horse (very Greek) which the girls loved. 
The staff helped with our luggage and parked the car. It was just what we needed after a long journey. After a welcome drink (non-alcoholic), we were shown to the restaurant as we hadn’t eaten a proper dinner. It was past 10pm and restaurant was shutting but we were given a limited menu and soon had a glass of bubbly in our hand and some much-needed food in our bellies.
Hotel Facilities
Anemos Luxury Grand Hotel is a fairly new hotel, opening its doors in 2016. It has a modern set up and design and the hotel is great for families. It has a large swimming pool area with plenty of sunbeds and two pools. One of which was 1m deep so perfect for younger children. The other was 1.20m. The pool area has plenty of water features and palm trees in a very structured layout which was rather pleasing to look at from our sunbeds.
Close to the pool, there’s an on-site shop where you can buy inflatables, snacks, souvenirs and drinks including alcohol – all at reasonable prices. The kids club is a short walk away.
The hotel has five different restaurants (see below for more detail) as well as a pool bar and a champagne roof top bar. We were staying there on a half-board rate and there was plenty of variety. We ate in a different restaurant for the five nights we were there.
There are babysitting options upon request but it was a little pricey as they charged per hour per child. The hotel also has evening entertainment on most nights.
It is a large hotel so there are plenty of rooms and breakfast time can get busy. We don’t normally stay in big hotels so this was a bit different for us. However, there were always enough sun loungers by the pool and on the beach and it didn’t feel too crowded in these areas.
Kids Club
The hotel kids club is complimentary for guests to use. With a small waterpark, climbing frame, slides and plenty of toys – my girls loved it. There is a daily timetable of themed activities and some movie time scheduled in the afternoons when the sun is at its hottest. My eldest daughter discovered the delights of the card game UNO and loved the waterpark. In the evenings, there is a mini disco for kids. We were eating dinner when it was on so didn’t take part.
The kids club at Anemos Grand Luxury Resort is for children aged 4+ so I wasn’t able to leave my youngest there on her own – I had to stay with her. This was the only downside of the kids club – and meant we didn’t use it as much as we would have liked.
Room
One of the stand-out features of Anemos hotel is the size of the rooms. It was something we were looking for when booking. We stayed in a two-room suite with a garden view. It was HUGE. The large main bedroom had a very comfy king-sized bed and a small patio with garden furniture.
The main bedroom had a bathroom with a separate shower and bath. The second bedroom had twin beds for the girls. They loved sleeping next to each other. Both rooms had large TVs. Not that we needed them – we managed to avoid watching any programmes throughout our stay. Take a peek at our accommodation in my room tour in the video below.
The room also had a Nespresso machine, mini bar and spacious wardrobe with plenty of coat hangers to fit our clothes.
The slight downsize was the location of the room which was one of the furthest away from the main hotel and swimming pools. It was a little inconvenient but we could take advantage of the golf buggies to ferry us around. I used it as a good chance to get my step count up – especially with all the food we were eating!
Spa
All guests are given a voucher for a complimentary 15 minute massage at the hotel spa, AURA. We both used ours. The staff encourage you to upgrade but on this occasion we declined. The shoulder massage I got was excellent and I enjoyed a some time on my own sitting on a lounger by the indoor pool. Bliss! The spa has an small indoor and outdoor pool, sauna and there is also a small gym.
Hotel Beach
As the hotel is fronted by a main road, I wasn’t sure at first how accessible the beach would be. I need not have worried, it’s very close! A subway has been build underneath the road so it is very safe to access and if you don’t fancy the walk, golf buggies can drop you off.
I love beaches and this was a delight: soaring sand dunes, fine golden sand and beautiful views out to sea. The hotel has plenty of sunbeds with umbrellas to use and boardwalks to access which helped us walk there with the buggy. You can walk (or jog as I did) along the beach to Georgioupolis town and take in the scenery.
My youngest loved playing in the sand (that was fun getting it all washed off) while my eldest enjoyed paddling in the sea, even braving the water for a swim with her daddy.
There is a beach bar/restaurant open during the day with toilet facilities. In the evening it becomes a seafood restaurant open for dinner. We saw the sunset as we were eating there which was very special indeed.
Food
There are five restaurants at the hotel: Greek, Asian, seafood, Italian and a buffet restaurant. As we were on half-board we could chose a selection of dishes from the menus. You certainly won’t go hungry at Anemos hotel! The amount of courses you can choose is vast. I don’t think the average person would get through all that they offer (We couldn’t). There are some premium dishes (such as lobster) which are extra. There’s a children’s menu which is the same for all the restaurants. On a couple of nights, our children ordered from the main menu – in the Italian (pizza) and Asian restaurants (sushi and noodles).
Drinks aren’t included in the half-board. Surprisingly they don’t do wine by the glass other than prosecco (which was fine for me). They have a selection of beers and soft drinks too. One night I ordered a cocktail which they brought from the neighbouring champagne bar.
The food was of a good standard but not gourmet. Most of the staff in the restaurants were professional and friendly although there were a couple who seemed a little inexperienced. There was some miscommunication when we wanted to order something slightly different (we got a pizza with ham on when we’d asked to have it taken off).
Breakfast consisted of a large buffet with every breakfast option you desire. I liked the selection of local Crete dishes to sample. There’s also fizz available at breakfast. I wish I’d taken advantage of this perk!
Our favourite restaurant for dinner was Sirocco, on the beach (the sunset definitely contributed) and the Asian restaurant, Kaze, was also good. If you are looking for a romantic meal, the hotel provides a private dining option. I came across the staff setting up a beautiful space on the beach which would have unobscured views of the sunset.
Departure
We had an early flight on our day of departure. It was made much smoother with a wake up call from the hotel reception. Then, as requested, a staff member come in a golf buggy to help us with our luggage at 5am. There was also the option to have an early breakfast – which the hotel opens especially at 4am!
Exploring Chania with kids
There is plenty to do and see in the area of Chania which surrounds the Anemos Grand Luxury Hotel. Lake Kournas (Crete’s only lake) is close by for boating and water activities. We visited the city of Chania which has a beautiful Venetian harbour and old cobbled streets and restaurants to enjoy. We also took a trip to ancient Aptera. It has an impressive Roman amphitheatre as well as a Greek temple, Roman cistern and baths. There’s plenty of culture and history on this ancient island if you can tear yourself away from the swimming pool and beach.
Verdict
If you’re after a relaxing holiday in Crete with lots of amenities on site then Anemos Hotel could be the hotel for you. The beach is beautiful and close to the hotel while the pools are large with plenty of sunbeds. The hotel is very family-friendly with its kids club, entertainment and food options. I wish I’d got my head around the vast menu and ordered less courses each evening but at least there’s a gym to use if you so desire to try and work it off.
Our room had lots of space to relax and house our belongings for five nights. We wouldn’t normally have picked such a large hotel which is available with package holidays as our preference is usually boutique-style hotels but having everything on site was really convenient for us and our situation. Hiring a car meant we could explore the local area and it was in a good location to do so.
We booked our holiday through Anne-Marie at Travel Counsellors who gave us a great personalised service and a competitive price. We travelled as a family of four during May half-term. It was a good time to travel to Crete as the temperatures were hot but not too hot (between 21 and 26 degrees Celsius) and there were periods during some of the days when it was a little overcast. In my opinion good weather good for kids – and husbands – mine had managed to get burnt on the second day! Interested in staying at Anemos Luxury Grand Hotel? Find hotel deals and offers on booking.com for Anemos Grand Luxury Hotel and other hotels in Crete.
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