Just returned refreshed and relaxed from golden beach. The hotel has a strange lay out, lots of corridors and ways out.The food was good,think the variety was being scaled down as coming to the end of season,but when you holiday late in season it is to be expected.The staff were polite and friendly,rooms clean and beds very comfortable.The hotel is situated on the beach in the center of the village which was nice having somewhere to walk and shops to look around.,ideal for travellers who have walking difficulties and cannot do hills as the street is on the level just need to take care of some of the high kerbs . The bus stop just outside hotel takes you into Rethymnon,journey time around 15 minutes,can be crowded on the bus, often standing room only, so may not be suitable for the not so able guests.

We arrived at the golden beach in the early hours of the morning. Are rooms were not ready and we were told by a scribbled letter that they would not be ready until 7am wee had to sleep in reception. Staff were rude especially the head waiter, bar and reception staff. Food was terrible well ok the breakfast was not to bad if you like onion rings for breakfast the salad was alright but the main meals were horrid we ate out quite a few times. Stay again never.

my wife and i have just returned from 2 weeks half board at the golden beach. lovely hotell in an ideal spot right on the beach. our room looked right onto the beach but some rooms are below ground levet. 2 mins from the bus stop with a regular service into rethymnon ( takes about 15 mins) cost 1.20 eu each way. u need to buy your tickets from reception drivers tend not to take cash.
the down side to this hotel is that it caters mainlyt for germans. the cold buffet we fgound very good but the hot food was very repetitive and at tiomes bland. we even had fish fingers on offer one night. if olympic / thomsons want to send british hoilday makers to this hotel they need to do something about the food. it didnt spoil our hoilday but were we disappointed with the standard of the food as were all the brits we spoke to. the weekly greek night is very godd but there is an addtional caharge of 10 eu per person but it was well attended and at least we had some grrek food.
if you are looking to book trips go to the agent directly opposite the hotel tell them u r from the golden beach and they will discount the price. the tripps to chania and the south coast tour are very good but long days and the yellow train is worth looking at
if you ate looking for a good value lunch trythe local bakery. go out of the main entrance to main road turn lleft along main road and the bakery is just past the garage on the right hand side. 5 mins walk

we stayed at golden beach rethmynon, crete. no room was available on arrival they offered a basement. Finally got a room which had great sea views but stank to the point of making us gag. Had to fix it ourselves with bleach, candles and cutting off the vent. no one cared about our issues.