Giannoulis – Cavo Spada Luxury Sports & Leisure Resort & Spa

Valerie Shiels

We have just spent a week at Cavo Spada and we absolutely loved it! We arrived very late at night and were given bottles of water and there were fresh snacks in our room. The room was fantastic. Spacious, clean, big balcony overlooking the sea and the mountains and the bathroom is enormous with a bath and shower cubicle. We were All Inclusive and the food was delicious. I am a vegetarian and the choice was excellent. So many options plus the deserts were amazing. I have to mention the Banana Bread available at breakfast. The best I’ve ever eaten. I’m missing it already! The beach is stones/pebbles as pointed out in the hotel’s description but we didn’t care. The views are stunning. Mountains and clear sea. So many sunbeds around the pool and on the beach. Plenty for everyone. Every staff member we interacted with were friendly and helpful. Reception, housekeeping, restaurant, bars. Honestly, an amazing team. In the evenings there was live music, Greek dancers, a saxophonist, a violinist. Otherwise just a lovely chilled vibe in the main bar. We took the bus into Chania twice and once into Kolymvari. The buses are frequent, cheap and the bus stop is less than five minutes from the hotel. We wanted to stay longer at Cavo Spada and we recommend it highly if you want to relax and receive excellent customer service. Thank you everyone at the hotel for a wonderful holiday.

Mia Sund

Fantastic training center and luxury hotel. Rooms are spacious and nicely furnished. You either have a huge balcony or a terrace. The restaurant has a buffet style breakfast/lunch/dinner with excellent dishes. There are also an a la carte restaurants and a pool bar. Service is friendly and quick. Downstairs is a gym. There's also a warm water swimming pool, a yacussi, a spa and a tiny shop. The beach is cobblestones, no sand, but two big outdoors swimming pools will refresh you. Yes this is relaxed luxury.

K B

We had the most wonderful holiday in this hotel, it was truly a 10/10 experience. It was our first holiday with our little boy (5.5 months) and the hotel made it so special and easy for us. We stayed in a semi private pool room and it was perfect for us! Everything at this hotel is great - the rooms, the service, the food, the facilities, the cleanliness, but what makes it exceptional is the friendly, genuine nature and attentiveness from the staff. I was a little nervous before going as hadn’t travelled with a baby before, I emailed the hotel with some questions and the manager, Silver, replied promptly putting my mind at ease (assuring me we’d have a bath, cot, etc.) He was also there to great us when we arrived and made sure we had everything we needed. A special thanks to Vasilia on reception, who is a credit to this hotel - she took great care of us, and her daughter who also works there was lovely too, and also Antonis in the restaurant and Alex at the door. Everyone was so friendly and made such a fuss of the baby. The pool area was lovely, always plenty of sunbeds at any time of day. There was music playing at the pool bar, so a nice atmosphere, but it was quiet enough that you could easily relax in areas of the pool without hearing it (the pool area is so big!) The yoga and fitness classes were high quality and the instructors had great energy. The indoor and outdoor gym facilities were exceptional. The food in the buffet restaurant was lovely, really varied, and catered very well for dietary requirements (gluten free, lactose free). The chefs were also very helpful if I had any questions. The view of the mountains is beautiful and peaceful. We also enjoyed eating at the a la carte restaurant whilst listening to the live music. We could not have asked for anything more for our first family holiday - it was perfect. As some reviewers have mentioned, the beach is stones, not sand, but that didn’t bother us. We knew this when we booked it, and still enjoyed walking along the beach and a refreshing dip in the clear waters.

Mike Mike’s

The hotel overall is nice – the rooms are clean, spacious and comfortable, and the location is beautiful with a calm and relaxing atmosphere. The staff are polite and the service is generally good. However, I must be honest – this is not a true 5-star experience, it feels much more like a decent 4-star hotel. I left with mixed feelings and, to be fair, a bit disappointed. The beach area, while having very clear water, is full of large stones, making it almost impossible to walk barefoot. You really need water shoes to enjoy it. On top of that, there are no proper showers or foot-washing facilities at the beach entrance, which means guests end up carrying sand everywhere. For a hotel that claims to be 5-star, these are basic things that should be in place. What really disappointed me the most was the way guests are treated differently. On the day of our departure, we had to leave the hotel very early (around 2am) to catch our flight. In every other 5-star hotel we’ve stayed at, staff have prepared a small breakfast or takeaway package for us when leaving so early. Here, despite informing reception in advance, nothing was arranged for us. To make matters worse, when we passed through reception, we noticed two breakfast packages ready on the desk – clearly for other guests, but none for us. That was the moment I realised how stingy and inconsistent this place can be, and it left a very bad impression. Overall, this hotel has potential, but it’s not 5-star quality. With some improvements in facilities and a more consistent, fair approach to all guests, it could be much better. For now, I would honestly rate it as a 4-star experience at best – and quite a disappointing one considering the expectations we had.”

Katie Fredriksen

was put in this hotel for 2 nights when our actual said there were plumbing issues in our rooms. we were placed in the private villa, villa itself was lovely and the food at the all inclusive buffet was delicious, pools were lovely. Everything was clean and staff were friendly and helpful. the villas were a bit awkward to get to the main hotel restaurant, with no proper path. This hotel is kind of isolated, no shops, restaurants or supermarkets within walking distance but would be okay if you had a car.