Iberostar Waves Creta Panorama & Mare

Ad Van Laarhoven

After reading some of the reviews here we were a bit worried about this resort, but that turned out to be totally unnecessary. The resort is BIG and has the most beautiful kept gardens everywhere. Everything looks well maintained, clean and offers amazing views over the sea. There are many pools from big and busy to smaller and quiet. Staff is super friendly and helpful and food is plenty and has enough variation. Especially if you change between the different on site restaurants. Housekeeping is also on point, even if you like to sleep in. Our room (4310) with great bay- and sea views was one of the 'old' ones, but still in good condition. The decor was maybe not modern but everything worked and it was comfortable. The location is great, especially if you have a rental car. Rethymno, Chania, Heraklion and several mountain villages are all within driving distance for a nice day or half day out. Would absolutely recommend this hotel for anyone who likes to relax and explore the north of Crete. Oh and the African Acrobat show at the evening entertainment is an absolute must see. Those guys are by far the best show we've ever seen in any hotel anywhere.

Brian Kuermaier

This was not at all the experience I was expecting. We have stayed at other Iberostar locations in the Caribbean and were very impressed. So impressed, that we bought into The Club. We were “upgraded “ to a newly remodeled room that was completely lacking in features. The shower drain backed up and we had to use every towel we had to clean up the water on the bathroom floor. Then the front desk acted like they were doing us a favor to bring us new towels. And they just left them on a patio chair instead of removing the sopping wet towels. The food was not good. The restaurants were not good. After trying the restaurants twice we decided to drive off site for dinner. The view was nice but the on site beach was not. We enjoyed the off site beaches much more.

Jordi - Hannelore Cauwenberghs - Smets

We stayed at Iberostar Creta Panorama and can only say this is a great hotel. The food was always delicious with a wide variety to choose from, both at breakfast and dinner. The hotel itself is large and beautiful, with wonderfully maintained gardens and very clean rooms. There are many pools and a new water park that is perfect for children, with plenty of sunbeds and seating available. The staff is incredibly friendly and welcoming, making you feel at home right away. The recently renovated bungalows are also highly recommended: modern, stylish, and very comfortable. Our son had a small accident and we had to go to the hospital. Without hesitation, the hotel offered to cover the taxi fare both ways. This thoughtful service is something we will never forget! One small downside we found is the difference between half board and all inclusive. If you book half board, you only get pre mixed drinks and you' pay €3,70 for a soft drink. It would be much nicer if you received a bottle of soda instead of a glass from the machine. This was a fantastic experience and we will definitely come back!

Ludo Lemor

We've stayed for our honeymoon at the end of September 2025 in this hotel and here is our review: Overall I would recommend this hotel especially to families with kids as it offers a good amount of activities for the age group 4-12 years. We've booked our stay via an agency. Fair to stay that the pictures mentioned on the website are not totally correct especially for the rooms as there are only a small part of the hotel that has been renovated. If you book a bungalow sea side as we did for example the room is quite old and smells a bit humid. Because this came as a surprise at our arrival and that we wanted to fully enjoy our stay we paid an extra fee to get a bungalow with private pool (which I 100% recommend.) The front desk managed was very very kind and helpful. Everything was always very clean as the cleaning staff always did a good job in the morning. Nothing bad to say in terms of this. The staff and animators are overall very kind and polite, and there are many activities organised throughout the day. The food is ok, if you're a picky eater like me it gets easily repetitive as there is not much variation in the morning, lunch and dinner. The hotel has 3 seperate restaurants as well but you can only book them once throughout your stay. I would not recommend the Greek restaurant, the food served there is just warmed up food from the lunch. The Italian restaurant is decent but don't take the seafood as there was sand in some of my food. The only good one was the barbecue which is a 10/10 but again, shame we could only book this once. We've rent a car at Hertz inside the hotel but unfortunately got scammed as they charged us 130€ for a basic car for 24 hours. We were not familiar with rental cars in Greece but speaking to people who've rent a car at the airport of Crete they paid 370€ for 17 days (!!). Also the lady from Hertz kept calling to ask when we would return the car while we made it clear this would be in the morning and not at night. We would rate this hotel with an overall 7/10. Would recommend this to families as price/quality it's good enough.

Konrad

We spent a week here and had a wonderful time. The rooms were excellently equipped and very clean, and the food was delicious, thanks to the chefs who clearly put a lot of effort into their work. The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming, and the beautifully maintained green grounds made it feel spacious and not crowded at all. We're already planning to come back!