- Greece Holidays
- Panormos
- The Royal Senses Resort and Spa

Family-friendly resort on the coast of Crete. Overlooking the Sea of Crete, our resort sits along the north coast just 15 minutes from Rethymno City. Stroll through preserved medieval streets or visit nearby Melidoni Cave for incredible sights. Enjoy the sparkling private beach just across the road, revive your senses at our spa, and enjoy unique culinary workshops and pop-up dinners. Our seven restaurants and bars highlight the flavors of Crete, from grandmother’s recipes to pop-up concepts from local makers. Choose a wine from our expansive cellar, and enjoy a meal with a view at CRETAMOS.
Due to the surrounding area and the number of steps around the hotel, it may not be suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
Very impressed with this beautiful hotel. Exceptionally clean and comfortable. The highlight of our stay was the delicious food, varied and very well presented. Shout out to Smaragda in the main restaurant, who was a font of all knowledge when recommending the perfect wine. Also Sofia in Platia, who welcomed us for lunch every day with her smile and friendliness. The pool areas were well-kept with very comfortable loungers. We had no problems obtaining loungers, but we are early birds. We did see that some people had trouble finding a spot if they came down late. The food and drink was quite expensive, but we had been prepared for this, as the hotel is pretty much isolated, Pamoros being the nearest village, about 6/7 minute taxi ride away. If we had a niggle at all, it was that there were lots and lots of children (it was school holidays), in itself not a big problem, but many were toddlers or pre-school and not all were supervised in the restaurant by their parents. I was so worried about tripping over them, or spilling hot food on them etc, and it was certainly difficult for the staff, an accident waiting to happen, I felt. Overall though, a lovely holiday, fabulous location and great staff. Would recommend.
This hotel has to be a 10/10 for us and easily makes it into my all-time top three hotels, alongside Sugar Beach in Mauritius and NG Phaselis Bay in Turkey.
From the moment we arrived, the experience was fantastic. We received the warmest of welcomes with a cold flannel and refreshing drink, followed by a really friendly member of staff who took the time to explain how everything at the resort worked. We were then whisked off to our room in one of the hotel’s gold buggies, which was a lovely way to start the holiday.
We stayed in room 1311, a Deluxe Room with Private Pool, and honestly, when we opened the door for the first time, the view took our breath away. It was utterly stunning. The room and private pool were beautiful, and everywhere throughout the entire resort was absolutely spotless.
What really stood out, though, were the staff. Everyone we encountered was incredibly friendly and genuinely couldn’t do enough for us. Our daughter accidentally bumped her head on the waterslide one day, nothing serious, but the lifeguard was immediately over with ice, and shortly afterwards a member of the reception team came up to check that she was okay and ask whether we needed anything. It was handled incredibly professionally and showed the level of care you receive here.
The pools are beautiful and, despite visiting at the end of August during the school summer holidays, the resort never felt overly busy or crowded. It somehow manages to retain that peaceful, luxurious feel even at one of the busiest times of year.
There is also a beach shared with the sister hotel. Getting there couldn’t be easier, as the hotel provides a complimentary air-conditioned Mercedes shuttle which takes you down and picks you up again.
We stayed half board, although we chose to eat out most evenings as we think exploring the local area is part of the holiday experience. There is a small village nearby with some fantastic traditional tavernas which are well worth visiting.
Overall, The Royal Senses is simply a stunning hotel. Beautiful surroundings, incredible views, immaculate facilities and genuinely excellent staff. We had a fantastic stay and wouldn’t hesitate to return.
10/10.
We had a lovely stay at this beautiful luxury hotel.The design and layout are superb, very aesthetically pleasing with stunning sea views, two beautiful pools and an excellent children’s water park. There is also an adults-only area and a spa, although we didn’t use either during our stay. Sunbeds were comfy although all taken by 11am.
Our private pool room (1404) was peaceful and quiet, with sunshine on the terrace from around 11am. The sunsets were beautiful The buffet was diverse and plentiful, although it could be extremely busy and noisy. Unfortunately, the hot food was often only lukewarm, which was disappointing for a 5-star hotel. We also felt that better supervision of children around the buffet area particularly around hygiene eg children picking food up and putting it back again and safety eg children running around would improve the overall experience. A special mention must go to Alexandria in the buffet restaurant, who looked after us exceptionally well. She made a real effort with our son when he found the busy and noisy environment overwhelming, and her kindness and understanding were greatly appreciated.
The hotel is in a quiet location, which is perfect if you’re looking to relax, although there isn’t a great deal to do in the immediate area.
Panormos is a beautiful nearby village with some lovely restaurants, cocktails and a good supermarket all much cheaper than the hotel. Taxis cost around €8 each way and take approximately five minutes. The sister hotel’s beach is also less than a 10-minute walk away and is lovely.
The transfer from Chania Airport takes around 75 minutes. We were also very impressed that we were able to keep our room free of charge until 1pm on departure day. The changing facilities provided afterwards were excellent and made the final few hours of our holiday much more comfortable.
Overall, a stunning hotel in a fantastic setting with excellent facilities. There are a few areas that could be improved to truly meet 5-star standards, particularly the buffet experience and the lack of sunbeds but we would definitely return — just on a B&B basis next time.
the food was delicious, the staff was really nice and we received excellent wine recommendations from elina
Excellent hotel !!! been there for three times and look forward to going there again. high level of service, food, facilities and everything. Highly recommended.
