Cooks Club Hersonissos Crete

My sister and I have stayed at Cooks Club twice, and we absolutely loved every single moment. From the moment we arrived, we felt so welcome and comfortable—it truly feels like a home away from home.

The hotel is always spotless, the food is absolutely delicious, and the entire team is incredibly friendly, kind, and helpful. They go above and beyond to make every guest feel special, and their warm hospitality is one of the main reasons we keep coming back.

The atmosphere is amazing, especially thanks to the talented DJs who play great music every day and create the perfect holiday vibe.

Our expectations were exceeded on both visits, and that’s why we’ll definitely be back again. Thank you to the whole team for making every stay so memorable. We can’t recommend Cooks Club highly enough!

We had a fantastic stay at Cooks Club Crete! The hotel is beautiful, modern, and exceptionally clean. The staff were incredibly friendly and always made us feel welcome. The pool, food, and drinks were all excellent, and the atmosphere was perfect for a relaxing holiday. We would highly recommend this hotel and can’t wait to come back!

We booked this hotel because it was adults-only, looked stunning in the website photos, and was described as an ideal choice for a relaxing holiday. Its location is excellent, with restaurants, bars and the beach all within easy reach, and previous reviews made the half-board option sound particularly appealing.

Unfortunately, the reality fell well short of our expectations. While the hotel advertises itself as a 4-star property, we would rate it closer to 2 or 3 stars. We booked Junior Suites, which felt tired, basic and in need of refurbishment. Our room overlooked a semi-derelict building, which was hardly an appealing view. The bedroom itself was extremely poorly lit, yet keeping the curtains open wasn't really an option as neighbouring balconies and the building opposite had a direct view into the room. There was certainly nothing luxurious or 4-star about the accommodation.

Having read positive reviews, we opted for half board and paid extra for the €22 daily allowance. In hindsight, this was a waste of money. While the food quality was generally good, the menu was very limited, offering only around five or six main dishes alongside burgers and pizzas. As this was an all-day menu, the options felt more like snack food than dishes you would expect from an evening restaurant. We assumed the menu would change throughout our 10-night stay, but it remained the same every day. As a result, we only ate at the hotel on four evenings.

The dining experience was also disappointing. Rather than a restaurant, it felt more like a cafeteria: guests had to order at a counter, wait for a buzzer, and then collect their own food. This meant people dining together often received their meals at completely different times. Again, this felt far removed from the standards expected of a 4-star hotel.

The allowance system was equally frustrating. Drinks ordered in the restaurant counted towards the allowance, but drinks from the bar did not, which made little sense. Previous reviews mentioned a mobile app that tracked your remaining balance, but this is apparently no longer available, leaving guests with no way of knowing how much of their daily allowance remains.

Although some reviews suggested the biggest issue was guests taking endless Instagram photos, we found the atmosphere challenging for a different reason. Many guests were significantly younger than we expected and often showed little consideration for others. The stay was anything but relaxing, with frequent shouting, screaming, singing, banging doors and other disturbances coming from neighbouring rooms and corridors.

On one morning we were woken early by someone repeatedly hammering and kicking their room door. On our penultimate night, a party in the room above us continued until around 1am, making it impossible to sleep. In response to another review, the hotel stated that incidents had been reported and dealt with, but when we attempted to contact reception that night, the telephone in our room didn't work. The hotel also claimed security would have intervened had the disturbance been reported; however, throughout our entire stay we never saw any security personnel, so it was unclear what security presence, if any, was available.

The reception staff were consistently friendly, welcoming and helpful, and they deserve credit for their professionalism. However, service in the bar area was less impressive. Staff were present and serving tables but rarely approached us, seeming to focus their attention on younger groups of guests.

The music around the pool was also extremely loud throughout the day, although this wasn't a major issue for us as we preferred spending our time at the beach. We mostly visited the beach in Hersonissos opposite Cozy Beach Bar, where sunbeds cost €10 each. This beach was nice, but the pebbles and slippery rocks made access to the sea difficult. For our final two days, we took the bus to Stalis Beach (Bus Stop 28), which we found far superior, with soft sand, easier swimming access and sunbeds costing €8 each.

Overall, we enjoyed our time in Crete, but the hotel was the biggest disappointment of the trip. It did not live up to its marketing, was far from the relaxing adults-only retreat we had expected and certainly did not provide the standard associated with a 4-star hotel. Given the price we paid, we would not return and would struggle to recommend it to anyone seeking a peaceful, high-quality holiday experience.