Name: Giannoulis Cavo Spada Luxury Sports and Leisure Resort
Price range: from £583.19pp (7 nights includes flights and transfers)

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This hotel wasn't our original destination. However, due to a flight cancelation and availability at short notice this is where we ended up. From the moment we entered the resort we were treated very well. Given the size of the resort it still has a one to one feel when it comes to guest relations. Once the staff got to know us we were all on first name terms. Nothing seemed too much for any of the staff members. The rooms we were allocated were modern, spacious and always cleaned and serviced daily.
The food I would describe as above average, always plenty of choice. Drinks were good with some made by premium brands at no extra charge. The hotel is set on a good size plot and although quite busy we never felt like we were surrounded by other people. Great location with regular local buses just outside the resort taking you to other parts of the island. All in all the holiday turned out much better than expected given the short notice when booking.

Excellent stay we will definitely return.

Positives
Food was lovely. Not too much of a rush at mealtimes. 
Could still find sunbeds anytime of the day. 
Room was spacious. 

Negatives
We arrived early hours of Friday morning, so was shattered and was looking for a nice peaceful day. Went to bed, woke up in time for breakfast. Apparently Friday is disco day. The music starts about 10am and gets progressively louder until it ends just before 11pm. It’s non stop and was noise overload. You can’t hear anyone speak at the bar. You could still hear the music in the sea. We tried to go to the furthest areas to avoid it (looked like quiet a few people tried to do the same) but then you could hear the hotel next door playing conflicting music. 

Had earphones in but to block out the noise they had to be at an unhealthy level to attempt to block out some noise. 

If you want this then great, if you don’t it was awful. We tried to get in touch with the rep to move hotels as we really didn’t want to be there

Rep was useless, rude, passive, aggressive and lacking in customer service skills. Maybe she is new as she was very inexperienced in holding a group meeting and lacked skills in dealing with people and complaints. 

It did get a bit quieter after Friday but we were on edge the rest of the week thinking the music was going to be as bad again. 

Just not the holiday we were looking for

Beach is pebbly, definitely need shoes to get in and out of water. 

Transfer back to airport took hours,  not the transfer time we were led to believe

We left feeling extremely disappointed with this hotel and would not return.

Not for us

Firstly this is a nice hotel that is clean and everything you would expect.
The staff are friendly and if you're a sports fanatic (we are not) then you can gym, run and yoga away to your heart's content.

The hotel location is right by the sea (although far too rough when we went to go in it) and the pool is spacious and pleasant enough to swim in.
I have to say that the food was superb. Plenty of choice and some really delicious dishes for all tastes. Both breakfast and dinner options were spot on.

But sadly this is where the positives end.

We went half board for a change as we thought the all inclusive package was a little pricey when booking.
When we arrived late at the hotel we asked whether there was any water in the room only to be told there was none but ample drinks in a well stocked mini bar. So we bit the bullet and consumed 4 small bottles of soft drinks to the tune of 16 euro.
We booked a junior deluxe suite. Nothing deluxe about it but there was a desk in there with a chair so I suppose that constitutes a suite. All in one room.
One of our boys had a sofa made up but the other had to make do with a creaking camp bed which was disappointing. Not something befitting a 'luxury 5 star spa resort'
The room was ok but a little tired - one plus is that it opened up to the pool on the ground floor.

Now onto the drinks...

A plastic half cup of cretan lager will set you back 6 euro and a mailbu and coke an incredible 11 euro. My children had a mocktail each one evening which consisted of half a lemonade and a dash of blue curucao - an absolutely shocking 17 euro for both!!
The mini bar was astonishing where a miniature whisky or vodka will set you back 10 euro and a small sparkling wine 12 euro.
Such importance is placed on the contents of that mini bar that there is a person assigned each morning to visit each room to check it - nothing is left to chance! Normally a task for housekeeping, I've never come across this.
We removed the temptation by going to the supermarket to get some supplies. But there was a polite note saying that the mini bar contents was not to be touched.

And this is where this hotel lets itself down.
It's permanently looking to screw a little more out of its guests - even themed nights like BBQ's and Italian were charged as extra - even to all inclusive guests.
We enquired about upgrading (just to escape the eye watering drink costs) only to be told it would be an additional £1200 for 2 adults, 2 children!
And if you're all inclusive don't think about helping yourself to the ice creams in the fridge by the pool bar - they're for'ultra' inclusive guests - so guess what? - there's a cost for that as well.

The weather was mostly cloudy with some sun in the afternoon but bear this is mind when booking later in the year as the hotel was closing at the end of the week we were there.

Most guests here are a combination of gym rats and super fit bods who spend all day in the gyms or running around the hotel or elderly couples - not a great hotel for the kids. There's also huge swathes of middle aged scandanavian women meditating all over the place.

All in all it was ok but it was heavily tainted by the need to rip guests off and this leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
The only plus we got is that the pool bar people must have thought we were all inclusive (as most were) so we got the majority of drinks for free as there's no wristbands here. That probably clawed a few hundred back so cheers guys!

Cava Spada thinks it's a 5 star resort but it's not - it's a 4...at best.

We have holidayed mainly in the middle east for years where they work to the principle that if they look after you and you enjoy your stay then you'll return - and it works.
The brief at this hotel is to grab as much from you as possible and I don't want to feel that way when I'm on holiday.
For that reason we won't be returning to Cava Spada - there are much better resorts to spend your hard earned cash on.

Nice hotel but never  5 star luxury - don't go half board and beware of added extras!!

We had a nice short break here, with a few smaller issues. The resort is clean and well laid out, the pool is nice and large (it's not over 1.1m anywhere, which I didn't love but would be better for families) with a good pool bar and nice sun lounger area. As others have mentioned there is a beach and there are loungers out on it for the hotel, but it's not a particularly pleasant spot and we didn't go there at all. Beach towels are provided but you have to put down a cash deposit for them, and they're far too small - this could easily be improved by getting proper beach towels and allowing people to borrow them for free, only charging them if they lose them to their room. 

The buffet restaurant is a real highlight, the food was excellent, the mealtimes easy to access, the wine and drinks provided there were great. We went to the a la carte, they ask for a 18e minimum spend per person on drinks which was a bottle of wine. We didn't love that place and I wouldn't make an effort to spend extra money going there unless you're getting bored of the buffet. Compared to other inclusive resorts, the snack bar for food outside of mealtimes was disappointing, usually quite sad looking sandwiches or very cheap pizza or cakes. This would be another easy improvement to take it to a 5 star rating. The all inclusive drinks were good, I liked the wine and the beers, the cheap cocktails were what you'd expect. It's a shame they buy such a poor tasting cheap coca-cola substitute for the bar drinks, it stopped me getting my usual rum and coke!

I had a massage at the spa which was great, would recommend booking in there. We didn't make much use of the sports stuff but there were plenty of people enjoying yoga and aerobics classes or using the tennis courts.

The room was nice, maybe slightly dated now but perfectly acceptable and very spacious, good amenities. We went for garden view and I'm glad that we did, I think the pool-view ones looked quite noisy in general. What was really disappointing here is that on our last evening the toilet stopped working in our room. I can completely accept that it may not be fixable outside of working hours, but I really did think they would allow us to move to a different room, which they did not. The hotel was only half full, there must have been dozens of rooms available, but being told that basically you're going to have to just live with no toilet in a hotel room is absurd. I mentioned it to 2 members of staff that night, and again at reception the next day when checking out, and there was no offer of compensation (eg we'll knock off the minimum drinks charge you spent at the a la carte since you had to walk 4 minutes down the hallway in your pyjamas to use the bathroom). I've complained through our travel agent.

So I've ended up knocking the review down to 3 stars, I think without our toilet and customer service issue on the last night it would have been 4 or 4.5.

Nice resort but some issues

Where do we start? What a fantastic hotel, the food, the drink, the staff were all incredible. 

The buffet food is always fresh, and changing so it never gets tiresome, we could eat greek salads all day, everything was so fresh. We did the a la carte restuarant a couple of nights, which was also excellent, along with the BBQ and Fish night. All great, and varied, so i'd recommend the Ultra all inclusive just so you have access to all these at no additional cost, keeps things different and fresh. Big shout out to all the staff at the restaurants, always pleased to see us, recommend us different wines, and nothing was too much trouble.

UAI is also great for drinks, the people behind the bar soon knew our order, and they all made great cocktails! Excellent brands of bourbon, whisky, rum and tequila! Big shout out to Panos and Geogina who were always pleased to see us and make our trip extra special. Mexican beer is my new favourite. Also the 3 lovely women at the main bar who were amazing, and humoured us the more tipsy we became!

We were lucky to experience the amazing Ele Sole villa too, which was perfect for a group of 4. Close enough to the hotel to grab a drink, walk for lunch, but lovely and private so we could drink into the night and get up for early morning swims looking towards the ocean,

Again, big thanks to the lovely people at the front desk who sorted our transfers and excursions and the manager who our trip extra special, apologies we didn't catch your names, but we remember you fondly, and we had a fantastic time!

Andy, Faye, the other Andy & Erin :)

Amazing Hotel - in a wonderful setting

Situated directly on the blue flag sand and pebble beach, the family-friendly Cavo Spada Luxury Resort and Spa boasts marvellous views over the Gulf of Chania and the Cape Spada, from which it takes its name. Guests will appreciate the 1,700 m2, free-form lagoon-style pool as well as the fantastic spa area. Kolymbari is only a short stroll away, famous for the environmentally protected sea turtles that lay their eggs on the village's beach every summer. This elegant hotel is an ideal place for couples or families with children who wish to spend a holiday in luxurious surroundings.

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