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The adults-only sanctuary, where innovative well-being and a unique landscape come together to create a transformative journey. Secluded on its private peninsula, Minos Palace Resort offers 360° sea views, resembling an island within an island, it is located between the town Agios Nikolaos and Elounda village. 150 luxurious lodgings boasting unmatched sunrise views, majestic sunsets and infinite blue horizons, you are presented with a plethora of options for your romantic or solo escape. Wellbeing is an integral part of our dining concept. Discover menus that transform seasonal, restorative ingredients into nourishing, heart-warming dishes, all served in a natural setting, surrounded by sea. Discover Nao Wellbeing Center: through diagnostics and ultra-personalization, we usher in a new era of wellbeing, powered by science for a comprehensive understanding of your mind, body, and habits.
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At Minos Palace Resort, guests often commend the immaculate and well-appointed rooms, though there are occasional mentions of room service shortcomings. The hotel's cleanliness across its gardens and common spaces consistently receives high marks. Visitors appreciate the enchanting atmosphere provided by its tasteful decor and stunning architecture.
The serene amenities, including private beaches and attentive drink service, contribute to the relaxing experience, although some suggest enhancements to the breakfast and gym facilities. Although the location is celebrated for its tranquility and proximity to town, some guests find the pricing steep, questioning the overall value. Service is generally regarded as friendly and professional, with notes of slower response times during busy periods.
Location
Picturesque
Atmosphere
Serene
Rooms
Comfortable
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Spotless
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Relaxing
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Something that stands out in this hotel is that you feel like a small hotel, you don’t see many people anywhere, there are nooks to lie all over the contours, the beach is not crowded, ... it’s a wonder. We stayed in a pool room shared with four other rooms, and thanks to the little desire that the English and Germans have to mind in pools, we always had it for ourselves!! The food is sensational, really. The beach restaurant has a crab salad and a grilled squid with lemon that raises spirits! I recommend drinking water and Greek beer, because wine is very expensive (in Spain we do not like to pay 8-10 euros for a normal glass of wine). Remember that in Greece there is a habit of serving some dessert (fruit, sweet,...) after eating, so sometimes you have to order dessert. They used to put grapes here. All great.
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Date of stay: June 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
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Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:No hay problema con las tumbonas y las toallas, hay de sobra. En la playa hay zona de arena y de...
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Quick review as I’m still sitting at the pool. Pro’s: Employees are fab- friendly and efficient Rooms are very large and bedding is perfect Breakfast is varied and you can order lots of different things. Good quality- thimbs up for great fruit every day 💕 The site is gorgeous- the beach area and the main pool. Take a walk around the gardens too 👍
Negative: The guests block chairs at the beach area hours before they use them. Terribly impolite for those who want to use them early and then release them for others. I suspect it’s tough for management to handle this but they should try.
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Take a walk around the grounds- lots of hidden surprises
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Terry Kavieris, General Manager at Minos Palace Resort
Responded 1 Sept 2023
Dear LyndaParis_France, Thank you for sharing your wonderful review with the online community. We are truly delighted to receive your feedback on so many aspects of your stay experience and in particular the friendliness of our dedicated team. We have also taken a note of your comments on the beach sunlounges, a subject we touched upon on previous reviews. My team and I sincerely hope that you enjoy the remaining of your stay and look forward to many more onward opportunities in welcoming you back to our unique resort. Warm regards, Terry Kavieris General Manager of Minos Palace hotel & suites
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A lovely hotel visually - I wouldn't say it's a 5 star, although everyone is very lovely, the service just isn't a 5 star service, but I think it will improve. We wasn't explained anything upon arrival or shown around. Theres no signs to show you where to go for any restaurants, lobby or bar areas. First two days we constantly got lost.
Location is beautiful, beach and sunbeds are wonderful.
When we booked it said we would get an upgrade if available, we never got this and was shown to a sea bungalow ( which is more like a 3 star room) we asked to change and they then offered us much better options.
The cocktail list needs to be improved, if you stick to classic cocktails without some strange twist, I think everyone would prefer ( the espresso martini is very questionable, along with the Pina colada) Wine is lovely.
Plates were often left on our table at breakfast for too long, and the offer of coffee and orange juice also took awhile, some mornings we had already eaten our breakfast before anyone offered drinks. However the breakfast selection is fantastic.
The gym was always busy, but the gym needs updated equipment, an actual running machine and a safer bike. there's also no wipes or cleaning supplies to clean the machines or mats after.
yoga was ok, again nothing to clean the mats, so were reusing dirty mats most days.
if this small things were improved it would be a great 5 star hotel
We stayed at St Nicolas bay next door for two nights after and the service, and cocktails were AMAZING, the gym was GREAT. I couldnt fault it. Was perfect.
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Date of stay: May 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Stratos Patsakis, General Manager at Minos Palace Resort
Responded 22 May 2024
Dear Josiep, Thank you for sharing your feedback about your recent stay with us. We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed the visual appeal of our hotel, the beautiful location, and the wonderful beach and sunbeds. We sincerely apologize for the shortcomings you experienced with our service. Your feedback is invaluable as it highlights areas where we need to improve. Thank you again for your valuable feedback. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you back in the future and provide you with an improved and truly five-star experience. Best regards, Stratos Patsakis | General Manager
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My Rating is a Rating for my stay August 2024.... The remarks would certainly be different at another time of year:
On the bright side:
Very nice Pension out of town. Ace staff, smiling easily recognizable with their cream outfit QR code at the umbrella level to remote control Bedding/bedroom/decor design & cleanliness perfect! We love it. 🥰 Various, varied, generous buffet The small “spot” around the Pension seen sea 🌊 in the front line to lie on deck chairs with thick mattresses: really top with sublime views. Forbidden child (who can also be a bad side for some) The garden is remarkable maintained: Congratulations to the gardeners! Small garden area with aromatic plants 💫 Very clean rooms and common places congratulations to the people who care.
The bad side:
- Don’t find a place to lie down because quite a few guests put their towels down at 9am in order to “reserve” their seats and return 2 hours later: it’s frankly ODIOUS.... There is a note from the room asking not to do this because the Pension will give itself the right to remove the towels: THEY DO NOTHING 🤬🤯 it’s a shame....😔 definitely the fear of losing the customer... in these cases do not put words.
The only places available are in full sun, without mattresses for some chairs and without umbrella... 🥵 There are large four-poster “Day Beds” that remain empty because they pay at least €50/day...When crowded, the hotel should leave them free by removing the “package bottle of water or other fruit tray...” - Noise of sea scooters / boat with background music that can happen. Not continuously, thankfully.
The photos on the website are perfect. Like those of the guests.... Nobody takes pictures of the crowded beach with its side (glued/tight) or the huge restaurant almost full.
I made the mistake of not looking at the number of rooms at this Inn I just took into account the perfect photos that lead you to believe, wrongly, that you are in a boutique hotel with an exclusive side: this is not the case.
This is only my review of course...
To summarize if you like to be glued to each other, have to get up to quickly run put down your towel to reserve your deck chair... go ahead! For others, pass your way or come out of high season because the Pension is really, really TOP if not ♡
Too many people: kills the “exclusive/luxury” you think you have coming to this establishment: the image of their website is therefore unfortunately distorted.
Or maybe put more place to lie... 😀 to satisfy everyone: people who put their towels down as soon as they wake up and others...
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Date of stay: August 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Les chambre ds les 417 sont devant la piscine/mer
Bien demander ou donne votre chambre. Vis a vis...
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We stayed at Minos Palace for 10 days in June. Even the transfer from the airport to the hotel was very pleasant. At the hotel we were warmly welcomed and since our room was not yet ready, we could take a quiet shower in the spa area, change clothes and enjoy the morning including lunch already by the pool.
Overall, the food was excellent, the staff very friendly and accommodating. We would especially like to mention Anthimos & Marina, who made every evening in the restaurant a great experience.
The beach is clean, there are enough loungers ready. Also the pool is great and the loungers in the water are great for reading or taking a drink. Our room category was among the smaller ones, but completely sufficient and was always very clean. In general, the hotel is incredibly clean and pays close attention to hygiene. In addition, we have booked massages and our needs have been very attentive. The massages were really mega!
Our small criticisms (at the highest level): - The service at breakfast is sometimes a bit slow. In addition, the breakfast buffet lacks water. - The loungers are partly reserved as early as 6 am. I would appreciate the hotel taking countermeasures here. - On the beach there is only a toilet or changing facility higher up. That would be desirable further down.
Overall one of the greatest hotels I have visited. We will definitely come back!
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Date of stay: June 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We can fully confirm the positive reviews regarding the location, facilities, relaxation factor of the hotel and the very committed and pleasant staff. The guests are international, at our time mostly from Great Britain and Germany/Austria and behaved as one would expect in a hotel of this kind. Our "shared pool" suite was a great refuge for us for 10 days, especially the pool was great and we mostly had it to ourselves. The torn mattress was immediately replaced after a complaint. The bed and pillow are very comfortable, only the TV is placed in a completely pointless way (not visible from the bed). There were enough comfortable loungers on the beach and in the rocky plateaus, although they were mostly "reserved" early on, so that the shady spots quickly became scarce (the umbrella cannot be adjusted). The breakfast buffet gave no reason to complain, but the evening buffet always had its ups and downs and the warm dishes, although varied and mostly tasty, were lukewarm at best (which is a general problem with all buffets). The vegetable side dishes were almost always cooked for far too long, the starters were rather limited and not particularly sophisticated in their preparation. The desserts made up for this. The very good wine list with many reasonably priced Cretan wines deserves special praise. New and impeccable rental cars can be easily booked via reception, the car is brought to you and picked up from there. The back massage in the spa by Maria Stella was great! Overall, a highly recommended hotel and we would stay there again at any time. Thank you for the lovely days!
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
A wonderful wellness hotel in an incredible location. Situated in the beautiful resort of Agios Nikolaos the hotel sits on its own quiet peninsular with amazing sea views. It has a great balance as it is away from the main resort but only a 10-15 minute walk gets you to the esplanade that runs around the main town - and was a great 10k safe running loop for me. The pool, beach and many little nooks on the hillside with sunbeds and loungers are all peaceful (adults only resort) and all have calming, beautiful views out to sea. The friendly staff were happy to chat and provided a great service. The buffet breakfast and dinner were very tasty, with good a selection of dishes, one of my favourites was the warm fava topped with black sliced olives - I had to be careful not to overeat! We treated ourselves to the special a la carte restaurant over looking the beach for one of our meals and were not disappointed, the seafood was devine. We would certainly return as the location and balance the resort provided was ideal, and we also felt we got good value for money.
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Date of stay: May 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Stratos Patsakis, General Manager at Minos Palace Resort
Responded 22 May 2024
Greetings from Crete and Minos Palace Hotel and Suites, Thank you so much for your wonderful review! We're thrilled to hear that you had such an enjoyable and relaxing stay with us at our wellness hotel in Agios Nikolaos. It's great to know that you appreciated the peaceful and scenic location of our resort, as well as the convenience of being just a short walk away from the main town. We look forward to welcoming you back for another wonderful stay in the future. Warm regards, Stratos Patsakis | General Manager
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My husband and I spent 8 nights at this hotel and had such a lovely time.
The hotel is set in a peaceful location with great views , lots of different areas to relax and sunbathe in throughout the day , whether you want the beach , infinity pool or one of the sunbathing decks jutted into the side of the rocks. Drinks service was very prompt , u just scanned the QR code and they were delivered to your sun lounger . We never had a problem finding a lounger .
Most lunchtimes we went to Nyn Restaurant where we throughly enjoyed the food, wine , relaxing setting , and such wonderful friendly staff who made us feel so welcome . Thank you to Anthimos, Marina, Maria, Anastasia and Eleni you really made our holiday . The evening we visited this restaurant was very special , such a great setting with the perfect view , so amazing .
We also ate at the hotel buffet restaurant which had plenty of choice and we found breakfast also to be of good standard.
Pre dinner drinks with the poolside view and the sea in the background was lovely.
We also both had treatments in the Spa which were really good.
We had a sunset seaview room which was very clean and comfortable with a beautiful view over the bay to the town.
We booked a semi private Catamaran trip which was really great , lovely food , great staff and plenty of drinks, would def recommend.
We went into Agios Nikolaos for dinner at Skala by the Lake , and visited the new Piato restaurant twice as loved it so much . We also booked a beach day at Ammoundi Club, the food here was well worth a visit even if not going to beach . (7 euros in a taxi each way )
We also ate at the Samurai Sushi restaurant at the Royal Marmin hotel in Elounda , it was in a very tranquil setting as you looked across the bay , the food and restaurant was amazing. (23 euros each way)
We booked private transfers from the airport via holiday extra which cost £115 return.
We loved everything about this holiday , found all the people in Crete so friendly and the food was wonderful everywhere we went .
Minos Palace hotel you really delivered for us . Thank you
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Date of stay: June 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Hotel is quite hilly in places so maybe not suitable for everyone
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Stratos Patsakis, General Manager at Minos Palace Resort
Responded 14 July 2024
Dear Danielle, Greetings from Crete and Minos Palace hotel and suites, Thank you for taking the time to share such a detailed and glowing review of your recent stay with us. We are delighted to hear that you and your husband had a wonderful 8-night stay with us. It's lovely to know that you enjoyed our tranquil location, the variety of relaxation spots, and the convenience of our prompt drink service. We’re pleased that finding a sun lounger was never an issue and that the views from your sunset seaview room added to your enjoyment. We’re thrilled that you had such a positive experience at our Nyn Restaurant. Your kind words about Anthimos, Marina, Maria, Anastasia, and Eleni have been passed along to them, and they are all very grateful. It’s wonderful to hear that both our buffet restaurant and breakfast met your expectations. Thank you for choosing Minos Palace Hotel. We are thrilled to have delivered an unforgettable holiday experience for you. We hope to welcome you back in the near future for another relaxing and enjoyable stay. Warm regards, Stratos Patsakis | GM
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Our recent stay at this beautiful 5-star hotel was nothing short of fantastic. From the moment we arrived we were overwhelmed by the excellent service and warm hospitality of the staff. The staff were not only very professional, but also genuinely friendly, which made us feel right at home
Our room exemplifies modernity and cleanliness. It was clear that great attention was paid to the maintenance of the room which significantly increased the comfort of our stay. Another highlight of my stay was the quiet and efficient air conditioning and the home automation in our room. This ensured a good night's sleep in a quiet room with a great view.
The international cuisine offered in the restaurant along with the themed evenings(barbecue) was exquisite. As for the bar, I am pleased to say that the service was excellent(thnx Efteria) What struck me most was that, despite the prestige of the 5-star hotel, the prices for cocktails and drinks were certainly not excessive. This was a pleasant surprise that made our evenings even more enjoyable.
All in all, I can confidently say that this hotel has met and even exceeded all our expectations. The combination of excellent service, friendly staff, modern rooms, diverse dining options and affordable luxurious extras make this hotel a top destination. Our stay was truly unforgettable and we can't wait to return.
Note:
Since there is no poolboy or life guard present before 10 a.m., some,people are busy reserving (laying towel on bed) the hotel indicates that it is not allowed, but they ignore it.
Hygiene..... I myself wear swimming shorts by the pool on my bare skin, I saw many hotel guests wearing regular underpants under their swim shorts, I know it is difficult for the hotel to check but I find this very unhygienic.
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Date of stay: August 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Terry Kavieris, General Manager at Minos Palace Resort
Responded 11 Aug 2023
Dear harryk946, We simply cannot thank you enough for your thorough review and wonderful comments. Your high praise for our dedicated team is truly rewarding. Rest assured that your positive comments will be cascaded to all the team members with a special mention to Eleftheria. Cretan hospitality is something that we value and take pride in. Our aim is to go above and beyond guest expectations and on this occasion, it seems that we did just that. On a different note, we have taken down your comments on reserving sunbeds at the beach and around the pool and have issued strict guidelines against this unsocial behavior. Our entire team is eager to welcome you back soon and treat you to yet another memorable stay. Warm regards, Terry Kavieris General Manager of Minos Palace hotel & suites
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Junior suite with infinity sea view unbeatable, room 40 sqm, terrace 20 sqm, private pool with 4 rooms direct exclusive access, pool approx. 15x4 m. Service very good, beautiful complex, unbeatable location on a peninsula, lake view of completely unspoiled nature (but only in this room category). Food poor for 5 stars - half board is charged at 25 euros/day
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Hi Maria752013,
the private beach of the resort is located on the slope of a small hill. There are some steps that are leading directly to the beach and side patios with sunbeds & sun-lounges.
Always remaining at your disposal for any further assistance you might need.
There are more places to choose from in the Agios Nikolaos area.
PRICE RANGE
AU$408 - AU$781 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
hotel minos palace, minos palace hotel crete
LOCATION
GreeceCreteLasithi PrefectureAgios Nikolaos
NUMBER OF ROOMS
148
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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