Avra Imperial Hotel

I stayed at Avra Imperial Hotel twice last year — once in May for a short visit to plan a corporate event, and again in June when I returned with my colleagues for the event itself, staying for four nights. While the hotel has potential, it fell short in some areas that matter for both business and leisure stays. The hotel is fairly new and the room was clean and modern, but it didn’t feel like a true 5-star experience. The bed was uncomfortable, and the room had too many light switches with no clear logic, which made using them unnecessarily confusing. The hotel grounds were clean and well-maintained, but the layout around the pools lacked elegance. Sunbeds were packed too tightly together, giving no sense of privacy or style. There was very little natural shade, which made it uncomfortable to sit outside during midday. The beach itself was not well arranged, and there were construction works nearby, making it noisy and far from relaxing. At lunchtime, there were several dining options available, each with a different atmosphere, but the service was consistently slow across all of them. It often felt like the staff was overwhelmed or understaffed, which led to long waiting times and a somewhat frustrating experience during what should have been a relaxing meal. That said, the food itself was excellent — well-prepared, flavorful, and with great attention to detail no matter where or what you chose to eat. We used the spa only during the first visit in May, where I had a good massage experience. However, when we returned in June, there were no available appointments at all — a bit disappointing. Entertainment was practically nonexistent. No music, no live shows, no evening vibe. For such a large hotel, the lack of energy at night was very noticeable. There was only one bar open in the evenings, and while the drinks were excellent, the atmosphere was very flat. Regarding the event, the evening itself went smoothly and the setting was nice. However, we were surprised to be charged €15 per person for a welcome glass of Prosecco — despite all guests being on an all-inclusive plan. Communication with the hotel prior to the event was rigid and at times frustrating, which added unnecessary stress to the planning process. Although my colleagues enjoyed the stay overall, I’ve organized similar events in other countries where the experience, service, and value were significantly better. I personally won’t be returning to Avra Imperial in the future.

Just returned from 11 nights at the AVRA Imperial...and had a lovely relaxing time. Chose Avra for it's gym and spa, having struggled to find something similar in the Mitsis chain. Let's start with the positives: the staff, architecture, beds, pools, the food and drink were all fantastic - all helped along by 25-30c sun and warm sea. The gym and spa are included in the all inclusive package, and you must try the 'thermal zone'. The mediocre: the 'relaxed' housekeeping (hand soap were empty when we moved in) and not knowing what would be cleaned when was painful; the electrics in the room kept going off ( and had to be reset by reception); plastic rattan sun loungers were seriously uncomfortable; bar table service was ok if you only wanted one drink - want a second and you had to go and ask for it. All inclusive didn't include everything, and you had to keep checking what was in your package (which was exhausting and felt a bit penny pinching). The blinking awful: unbeknownst to us we were originally allocated a room with an interconnecting door. It was locked, but provided Dolby surround sound quality audio of absolutely everything going on next door. Which neither side asked for nor needed. After a complaint, we were moved and upgraded, but it just shouldn't have happened. The upgraded room had a giant sliding wardrobe door that had come off it's tracks and wouldn't close properly and obstructed the drawers ( a bit of jiggling by me got it back on track, but no one had checked it). Overall: had a lovely relaxing time, and definitely wouldn't say don't go. Just be aware of the above. The trick that luxury resorts should pull off is exceeding your expectations without you even noticing it - Avra unfortunately missed it this time.

Here is my unbiased review of a week long stay at Avra Imperial in Kolymbari. We arrived late at night due to a delayed flight. We had booked a suite with a private pool. When we got to reception, the late night receptionist welcomed us and asked for a debit card immediately (no explanation as to why. For people who do not travel often this might come out as a weird request). The receptionist later informed us that we had been upgraded in regard to our stay, our room. That energized us slightly after the long flight and bus trip. We were told to wait for a concierge to help us with our bags. The concierge arrived and collected our luggage and guided us to our room in one of those little golf carts. He was extremely careless with our (expensive) luggage when loading it onto the cart. We got to our room and it was completely dark at this point so we couldn’t get a complete view of the surroundings and where our room was located. It felt like in a movie where a salty landlord shows you the whereabouts of the room in 10 seconds. The concierge left quickly. The room itself was, unfortunately, not clean at all. There was dirt, grime and mold in the bathrooms, and a foul smell. Furthermore,we ended up finding one cockroach and five more, a total of six cockroaches wandering the room, and tons of other different bugs and spiderwebs. We started looking where the roaches came from and found a crevice from the wall facing the bathroom. We also moved one of the sofas since there was dirt and hair on one of the pillows. We found what looked like insect larvae, three of them. We ended up calling the travel agency immediately who then called reception. They would get back to us so we waited for a call from reception while killing some more cockroaches. Eventually they called back and advised us to wait for the receptionist’s colleague. A good 10 minutes later, the concierge knocked on our door.. The concierge had towelse came in and looked around. We tried to communicate with the concierge but he would speak nothing else but greek. He picked up the dead cockroach mound that we had already killed and gathered on top of a tissue. The concierge did not even bother to look at the other areas of the room. Since the mound of dead cockroaches was in the hall, that and the livingroom where we pointed out the webs and larvae was the only places he looked. He was visibly irritated and we barely had a chance to try talking to him, as he was horribly rude and unhelpful, almost aggressive. There was a language barrier but his behaviour was unacceptable regardless. We called reception again as well as our travel agency, and asked for a new room, there was no way we were going to sleep in that room. I should also mention that before the travel agent started taking us seriously , she recommended we should try and catch the cockroaches with a glass and let them out. Their tone changed when we mentioned there were more than one and the pace was visibly dirty. My husband call

A lovely family holiday. Food in buffet and all the restaurants have been amazing, a great range to cater for everyone. Lovely hotel friendly staff. A few shops and restaurants around the hotel you can walk to. Overall a great holiday, I would definitely return!

We actually travelled in August 2023 but I felt it imporant to leave my review. This is NOT a 5* star hotel. I will list the issues we had: - First room we were given was one of the noisiest I have ever stayed in. We had arrived late from our flight so had no choice but to sleep that first night, but having a 4 year old the noise was awful. It was close to the courtyard and people were screaming shouting and banging doors gone midnight. They eventually moved our room which took some reminding constantly and had to be put in a completely separate complex to our family which we had not choice but to accept. - the new room albeit, quieter, kept having flooding issues in the bathroom which was smelly and rank. People kept coming to fix it but it kept happening. - If you don't call and book the kids club in advance (like, really in advance) it won't happen. My 4 year old also did not enjoy it - found it quite boring so we only did 2 half day sessions. - they say you can use your vouchers for the a la carte restaurants but again, don't leave this until you arrive otherwise you will not have a chance. - the breakfast is MAD - expect to queue for ages. - sunbeds. Like most other all inclusives this is standard. however we followed the rules (at the start) and did not get up early to reserve beds. But it CONSTANTLY happened. We then worked out if we went when some of us were eating breakfast it was fine, but the staff removed our items and dumped them - yet there were hundreds of other people who had done it and nothing was moved?! - housekeeping. if you have children, DO NOT leave sentimental soft toys/items, even in an obvious safe place in your room. Our daughter's toy she had had since birth and could not sleep without got taken by housekeeping. The hotel reassured us it would be recovered but nothing. We had literally left it out (not wrapped up in sheets) and it was likely binned. It was such an awful end of the stay. The staff really did not do anything to attempt to sort this for us. We were even happy to go to the external laundry people to look ourselves. It never was retrieved. I found there was inconsistency with service, the food (apart from the Asian restaurant) was really basic. For the price, we were really disappointed.

Me and my girlfriend spent a week at Avra Imperial Hotel half board last July, we have been to Greece and Crete several times before but never stayed at this hotel before. We really enjoyed our week here in the beautiful town of Kolymbari, we found the location of the hotel to be great since it was remote enough from major cities to enjoy the peaceful beaches and beautiful views onto the mountains that the town has to offer, yet it was relatively close to Chania allowing for a pretty quick transfer from the airport to our hotel as well as convenient commutes to the city using the public bus. There were lots of great restaurants such as Edem and Palio Arhontiko located close to the hotel (5 minute walk) allowing us to have a great A La Carte dinner and a sunset walk each evening we spent there. There were quite a few nice sightseeing opportunities close to the hotel such as the Byzantine monastery located just up on the hill (20 min walk) with beautiful views of the island and sea. Upon arrival we were pleasantly surprised by a sea view room despite opting for a garden view room. There was a supermarket located a short walk away from the hotel allowing us to stock up on essential items our trip as well as local gifts for our friend s and family back home. The rooms were clean, modern and renovated when we arrived. The rooms were designed beautifully and practically for a couple’s retreat, fridge was kept empty according to our request, the air-conditioning while not adjustable was set to a good temperature which allowed us to escape Greece’s July heatwave during the peak afternoon hours. All the necessary appliances and additional garments such as a safe, vanity mirror, fridge, bathrobes, slippers, mugs and glasses as well a corkscrew were found in the room as additional items were provided to us upon request. One little feature of the room which did annoy us was the matte glass window found in the bathroom leading to the hallway which we found quite unnecessary and let in excessive noise during the night from the hallway. The balcony of the room was large and provided adequate privacy from our neighbours, one thing we missed was drying rack for all the wet bathing suits we anted to dry after the pool. The food found at the buffets was very good and there was a wide selection. It was a well rounded mix of international as well as local dishes. The breakfast service (specifically coffee ) took quite a while yet nothing out of the ordinary and the restaurant staff were generally friendly and helpful. The opening times of the restaurants were adequate and even after a delayed afternoon cruise we managed to grab to get a lunch with most of the options still available. There was a wide selection of international and local drinks, wines, beers and cocktails at the bars and restaurants of the hotel (averaging at about 10 Euro per cocktail). The pools, spa and beach of the hotel far outmatched our initial expectations, with several pools too chose form