Giannoulis – Cavo Spada Luxury Sports & Leisure Resort & Spa

In June 2024, we visited this hotel and had a wonderful holiday at later posted a full review giving the hotel five stars. In June 2025, we returned to the hotel for ten nights, slightly apprehensive that it would not live up to the same expectations as last year, well it did, after ten nights we did not want to go home it was such a wonderful and relaxing holiday, many thanks to the hard work which went into making this such a wonderful holiday. We have decided not to write a lengthy review as we did this on out previous review, but these are the main points of this holiday :- The front desk staff are so helpful with advice, booking trips, bus timetables and local information. The rooms are clean and comfortable, we requested a mattress topper for the bed, which was fitted and very comfortable. The local buses are excellent for travelling to Chania which is a beautiful City. We also used the bus to travel to Kolumbari and then walked back along the beach, this took no more that 35 minutes and we are in our mid sixties. There was a good mix of both nationalities and ages, the pool is excellent and not too deep. We love Greek food and there was always a Greek dish to try and always wonderful salads. I noted a previous review mentioned it was always Pasta and Chips, that is true this was always available, but there was so much more on offer. The Baklava was to die for. Thanks for the person making this desert, I totally loved it. It was great to see the hotel manager almost daily walking around and being approachable, you are doing a brilliant job. We only visited the buffet restaurant. I have to give special mention to the restaurant manager who was ever present on every day we visited, breakfast, lunch and evening meal, he ensures that everything runs smoothly and is a credit to the hotel, he has such a tremendous work ethic. We again used the Little Fun Train, which is advertised on the electronic information board, to travel to the Gorges to see the goats and stop for food. Again this was amazing and stopped on the main road near the hotel to pick us up and drop us off.(Separate review). The experience at the pool bar was not as fun as last year and personal have changed, but they work tirelessly and rarely have people waiting for very long, I would comment it is disappointing when premium drinks are shown as being available but we only received non premium brands at the pool bar. The main evening bar is a totally different experience the staff were welcoming, again worked so hard but always keen to engage and provided the drinks that were requested. To summarise - we loved the holiday, we did not want to go home and had a 10/10 holiday. As I mentioned in my review of 2024, I would have liked a more premium lager, whilst the local Cretan beer is fine for the daytime, as you would not want people becoming intoxicated, I would have liked to have had a premium brand such as Xappu Charma or Mythos in the lounge bar. Persons of not

We stayed at Giannoulis Cavo Spada for a week - the hotel has a big pool, SPA, direct access to the beach, possibility to attend different sport activities during your stay. Very good breakfast with many choices, a main buffet restaurant with possibility to switch to other two internal restaurants if you want. Hotel personnel is absolutely kind and available to help for special requests and questions. The hotel is 15 mins drive to Platania in case you want to have an evening around and very convenient for visiting Balos, Falassarna, Elafonissi. We have been upgraded to a family room with a shared pool, and this was great for our son and for us adults too. Our esperience at the hotel was absolutely great and to reccomend, this is definitively a place where we can come back.

Surely one of the best vacations. The service from all the employees was outstanding. The manager was actively engaged with the guests and even participated in the social activities. Overall, it felt like all the staff genuinely cared about the guests and were committed to giving them a great experience. I especially have to mention three of the employees: Natalia and Katerina at the bar, who made the evenings truly enjoyable, and Katerina from the spa, who gave the best massages. In addition to the amazing staff, the food deserves to be highlighted. There is something for every taste, so everyone can find something they like. The hotel is located in peaceful surroundings, right by the sea, with a beautiful view of the mountains in the background. The cleanliness of the hotel is top-notch. Definitely the best travel experience I’ve had. I highly recommend this hotel to anyone considering a vacation in Crete

The hotel is older, where maybe there was a poor renovation somewhere, but more like 3+, or 4-/not 5!. The food was okay, but after 3 days you don't know what you would have, everything is repeated and has the same bad taste - in the main restaurant, there is a Mr. de Funeees, who conducts there, like in a movie - he really entertained us, how he was able to quickly turn from a nice intrusion on strangers' "mainly new guests from the West" into a grin at an employee, or at someone who sat down in a different place than he wanted :-). In the room on the right, there is a cobweb from a week ago - it may still be there. The pool is only about 1.1. not much - the paint is peeling off somewhere, behind us there was also a broken light that was floating in the water - an unpleasant feeling when you see that it is hanging on an electric cable 1m in the water! The beach is foamy - we were unlucky, the red flag about 3-4 days, they didn't send us to swim - after it got wet, sometimes sewage on the surface - the hotel is between 2 sewers, we found out after renting a scooter. Beach service - sun loungers by the pool, every other problem, they didn't go to secure the umbrellas, where did anyone fight with it. The area around the pool where the sun loungers are is steppe, not lawn, so every now and then you step on little scoundrels - great. I could just list, but it's really broken - vacation for 65 thousand + 105 euro tax! 7 nights / I would have expected a little more! Praise Smartwings - for transporting us properly - without falling :-). if you've read my review up to this point - better take a hotel next to Europia - a completely different level - this is really miserable! / you have to pay for wifi, safe deposit box.

Had an amazing two week stay with my boyfriend here at Cavo Spada. The hotel room was clean, the food was good and the memories we have made was great. I would like to shine some extra credit to the service of the people at this hotel. I’ve had great experiences with the bartenders, that were very polite and easy going. They did small extra efforts like taking our photos, and making some drinks based on desired taste. Most of them were very «real» and gave us a lot of fun interactions, not only professional conversations where they tried to run to the next order. At the end of our trip, day before departure I got unexpectedly sick and was having a difficult time. At a point my boyfriend went to reception for advice and they were really helpful. While they did not have the advised medication available, the hotel manager offered and drove my boyfriend to the pharmacy so that he could buy them. In addition to this, we got our checkout time extended to the latest possible time at no additional cost, they made me a meal that was delivered to my room a long with drinks and checked up on me when possible. This, a long with many many other things show how Cavo Spada cares for their guests and it was highly appreciated 😊

DO NOT BOOK From the moment we arrived the area is poor, nothing to see or do for miles and all run down. When checking in we paid maximum price for a room ‘swim up’ however we was not given the room we bought and when asked the staff refused to change it and said the room was fine. There is not much food options just the basic chips, pasta and lots of fish. The other restaurant you can go once a week but have to pay for your own drinks even as all inclusive with a minimum spend. There are some activities you can do inside the hotel which all have to be paid for also. When we went to get our own drink from the all inclusive buffet we was shouted at and told to sit down the waitress will bring us a drink even though they were busy clearing tables and doing everything else they needed to. This place is just not what it seems on the website for so much money spent as well.