Candia Park Village

We spent so long trying to find somewhere in Crete and booked Candia Park based on the reviews, it felt like a gamble as anywhere does when you’ve never been there but we needn’t have worried. We stayed here from 4th-14th October 2024. We couldn’t have been happier with our experience. My husband has run hotels, restaurants and bars for years in the UK and USA, this makes him a very fussy traveller and very critical, he is not easily pleased but we’ve been back a few days and he’s already booked us in for next year! The staff are everything here, they are SO friendly, welcoming and accommodating. From reception to the bar and restaurants to the cleaning staff who bring fresh towels and clean the room everyday, they also made cute bows out of the bed sheets and even made a little bed for my daughters toy that she absolutely loved. These little touches were so appreciated. They work so incredibly hard and still manage to make you feel comfortable and well looked after. We have allergies, mine is very severe/ anaphylactic which is new to me and very frightening. Wherever we ate, the buffet, a la carte or even when we arrived at 11.30pm (and the lovely Maria on reception made us pizza!) they were so reassuring, they checked everything meticulously. Whenever I went to the buffet the super friendly head chef would give me a tour of every single option and tell me what was in it and if it was safe for me to eat, honestly I wish I could have brought him home with me, I felt so bad for inconveniencing him so often but he never gave any inkling that he wasn’t happy to do it and made me feel so safe! It’s the perfect place if you don’t like big, all inclusive hotels, surrounded by other Brits. It feels authentic just like a village and is absolutely beautiful. It’s spread over quite a big area which makes it all the more special, there’s an ice cream parlour, gym, shop and spa, all lovely. There are stunning views from every angle, a private beach with excellent snorkelling and the pool is so relaxing, the kids can have fun playing but the lifeguard makes sure it’s within reason. It’s close to Agios Nikolaos town centre and Elounda which are both well worth a visit. I would recommend hiring a car, it was easy enough online and saved us travelling at least an extra hour on a coach transfer, the hotel was so easy to find from Heraklion airport and took just under an hour. One very small criticism is that our children are 11 and 13 and we were surrounded by babies in every other apartment, whose crying woke us up every morning. I’m sure it was just an unfortunate coincidence and if we had mentioned it, something could have been done but it would definitely be something to consider. Thank you to all the staff at Candia Village Park, we will look forward to seeing you next year and hope you enjoy a well deserved break!

Old fashioned hotel Quite noisy all day and night because of the people arriving and leaving with the suitcases Food is in the average but not the quality of other hotels done just before with less stars It is an hotel for the families with kid club two beautiful pools, a small beach with old sunbed. Take your mask as there are many fish in the little bay. This hotel needs to refresh the rooms as only the bathroom are refreshed Personal is really kind, helpful