InterContinental is opening a resort in Crete next year

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• Phillip says:

  25 May25 May 05:20

  My last stay at Domes of Elounda in September was very disappointing with very poor service standards, so I’d welcome any worthy new addition. Domes Noruz is the group’s shining star where service is concerned!

  • Chas says:

    25 May25 May 05:54

    I’m off to Domes Noruz for the first this summer, so really pleased to read the positivity of your comment!

    • King says:

      25 May25 May 06:30

      We stayed in Domes Noruz a few weeks ago and the service was incredible. However we did have some issues with our room allocation, specifically the sublime loft sea view. They have two iterations of the room, one with a plunge pool which is on the terrace with a sea view and one with a plunge pool hidden away. They also advertise the pools are heated, they are most definitely not.

      • Chas says:

        25 May25 May 07:26

        Thanks – we had read some review that mentioned that the plunge pools were very “refreshing”, so our expectations were set accordingly. We also read some reviews from repeat customers who preferred the slightly cheaper Upbeat rooms to the Lofts, so have gone for a sea-view one of those. My wife and I are both curious about just how private / visible the terrace of these rooms is though, especially given that is where the bath is! Time will tell I guess… Any other hints / tips?

        • chelseafifi says:

          25 May25 May 13:49

          Currently in Domes of Corfu, HL and hotel room very different to Miramare and Elounda (as I expected with price comparison) only first day but first impression very good, Italian Frourio restaurant excellent last night and Topas looks lovely for later this evening.

        • King says:

          27 May27 May 22:02

          I think they were semi private(vertical slatted wooden panels) we didn’t see many people in their room pools given the sunlight drenched the pool areas perfectly.

          The HLS upgrade isn’t really worth it imo, given the club lounge is a converted business center in the basement.

          They have an indoor pool (in the spa area) which was free to use provided you booked in advance.

          The Golden Bay Bar restaurant next door is perfect for drinks and dinner.

          Taxis in to Chania town each way were meant to be between €7-12 but were always €10. Pallas was a nice gastro bar. (reminder to bring Cash too)

          We booked thru Welcome Pickups return transfers for c.€50. Although the hotel offer something very similar.

          Orthodox Church St Apostoli is on a little hill and has beautiful views of the surrounding areas.

          Happy to answer any questions 🙂

• TimM says:

  25 May25 May 05:29

  There are thousands of hotels in Crete why such interest in a new chain hotel? Chain hotels were invented to make travel-shy Americans feel they are still in the US when they have to travel abroad. Why not travel to Crete when in Crete?I don’t know why some bother leisure-travelling at all if it is only to stay in a chain hotel.

  Agios Nikolaos was made famous in the 1970’s as the setting of the BBC series ‘Who Pays the Ferryman?’ and is now the most touristy part of the island. Anything nearer Heraklion rather than the other airport, Chania is very touristy. To escape the masses on Crete, you need the Western part of the South coast, i.e. the opposite diagonal to Ag. Nik.

  • Dubious says:

    25 May25 May 06:24

    Does Charon accept Apple Pay these days?

  • Peter K says:

    25 May25 May 07:14

    Why the interest in a chain hotel?
    1. It’s head for points, you can use points there for your stay?!
    2. I’ve stayed at some very uninspiring local hotels when abroad, chain hotels provide some idea in advance of what you are getting.
    3. Saving money on a hotel by using points leaves you more money to spend on visiting the local area.
    4. If you have food allergies/intolerances then big chain hotels are usually much more clued up on this and you don’t lose some holiday either being ill or having to source alternative breakfasts etc when it turns out the place you’re staying at doesn’t even understand the concept of cross contamination, though you checked in advance before booking to stay.

  • SammyJ says:

    25 May25 May 08:14

    Because we generally can’t get free nights in local hotels using reward points?!

    The clue is in the name – if you’re more interested in cash stays at local hotels you might be better on a Lonely Planet forum rather than Head for Points!

  • Frustrated HfPer says:

    25 May25 May 09:11

    Why stay in a chain hotel? People that’s what people want – who are you to judge?

    • jj says:

      25 May25 May 09:31

      You can get free nights plus Avios in local hotels with Hotels.com which has a more generous loyalty programme than most chains.

      For me, my past year’s hotel stays have been 5 big chain, 2 medium chain and 3 owner-managed boutique. And that’s the order they ranked, from worst to best.

      There was one noble exception, the Beekman in NY by Hyatt, that was a good large chain hotel. But it wasn’t bas good as the boutiques.

      • JDB says:

        25 May25 May 11:17

        Sometimes one has to accept that forgoing Avios/points leads to a better outcome. Booking through OTAs etc. means you lose control. I will always check the online prices including Hotels.com but find that by contacting the hotel directly I can invariable secure a better price, get immediate upgrades, better payment terms, specific room allocation etc. and extras that I value, all of which are worth far more than any points. Even chain hotels cooperate with this, although we tend to avoid them where possible.

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          25 May25 May 13:27

          I completely agree when it comes to longer, higher-end leisure stays where extras are important. However for more pedestrian stays where they are not (e.g. two nights in Wigan/Slough for work), Hotels.com definitely has a useful role.

        • jj says:

          25 May25 May 14:54

          I broadly agree with what you say, @JDB. In my experience, a polite phone call to an independent hotel will often result in a 10% discount compared with the OTA price. Sometimes, though, the OTA deal is so generous that it’s not worth bothering with direct contact.

        • JDB says:

          25 May25 May 15:49

          @jj I don’t understand the logic of that. Unless the cheap OTA price is an error price (that might not be honoured), the hotel should always be able to undercut it instead of paying commission. I’d also be looking at considerably more than 10% off.

          We were in South Africa earlier this month and left a hotel that we had booked for a week after the first night (for a full refund) and split the rest of the stay between two hotels and also cancelled our hotel for three nights in Cape Town as it was under the same ownership. My wife kindly took it upon herself to sort all this out (while I negotiated the exit/refunds) and at two hotels got 15%+ off the best online price (no upgrade as best rooms anyway) and 20% off the third with a double upgrade to a huge suite. All independent or tiny chain.

          In Argentina I’ve just rebooked the hotel we stayed at in February at 30% off cheapest rate, no prepayment and in Mexico we rebooked for Nov/Dec with a 35% discount, annoyingly less than the 40% we had last year. Both single independents, both fabulous. These people hate OTAs!

        • jj says:

          25 May25 May 17:21

          @JDB interesting data points. From time to time, I do contact hotels directly to seek a better rate, but I have never managed more than 10% discount so I set that as my benchmark. Your experience means that I’ll certainly negotiate harder next time rather than take the first offer. I would certainly always take a 15% discount over hotel points or Avios.

• Nick says:

  25 May25 May 06:49

  Not sure I can trust IHG… have got a reward booking for the Regent Berlin in September- got an email this morning about a diamond room upgrade… only to find a cash booking for 3 nights from tonight has also appeared on my account.

  Shame I can’t use it as it’s a great deal with the suite upgrade- but slightly more worried how it’s happened – last 4 digits of the card it shows used to book aren’t mine either- so I’m guessing it’s a system mix-up, maybe thanks to being a “Smith” rather than anyone hacking my account or anything… how odd!

  • Whiskerxx says:

    25 May25 May 08:24

    Re IHG
    I also had a cash booking appear in my account for an hotel in Dubai.
    I have a reward booking for December, but this paid stay was yesterday.
    Seemingly booked throughBooking.com.
    Is there something strange going on?

    • Nick says:

      25 May25 May 09:01

      Interesting it’s not just me. I reckon it’s either a) innocent system upgrade issues linked to the new rewards programme OR
      b) with the new approach to upgrades, some kind of scam trying to leverage free upgrades (or the hotels getting out of upgrading by offering them to fake bookings which never show???)

      Was tempted to leave it and see if the points credit – but that’s presumably a breach of scheme rules and I have a lot of points that I wouldn’t want taken away from me. Slightly reluctant to just cancel the booking though in case it’s a genuine mistake and some poor sod turns up to find they don’t have a room… best give them a call I guess.
      (As an aside, for all the talk about a dedicated diamond helpline, I’m finding it hard to be directed anywhere other than the chatbot…)

    • Rob says:

      25 May25 May 10:37

      Has happened to me before where a hotel typed in the rewards number wrong. I got the points too!

      • Nick says:

        25 May25 May 10:47

        Thanks Rob… was toying with just letting it go- but didn’t want to be accused of lending-out my account for someone else to get an upgrade and risk getting the account cancelled down the line…
        I’ve contacted them now, they were useless, took at least 20 minutes before they even understood the problem. But given I’ve notified them, I guess I can’t be held as at fault now.
        Someone else has got a blooming nice upgrade out of it at the Berlin Regent too!!!

• jeff77 says:

  25 May25 May 07:39

  Does Crete attract many Brit abroad types or is it easy enough to avoid those scumbags?

  • Michael says:

    25 May25 May 08:25

    Won’t you be a Brit (assuming you’re originally from these sunny shores) abroad if you go on holiday to Greece?

    • jeff77 says:

      25 May25 May 09:16

      There’s a difference between a British person abroad and a Brit abroad.

      A Brit abroad is the type of oik who sings silly songs about the war in town squares and thinks they’re funny

  • Char Char says:

    25 May25 May 09:17

    I would expect if you avoid Chania, Heraklion, Stalis and Malia you would be ok!

    • jeff77 says:

      25 May25 May 09:50

      Good to know! Thanks!

  • Richie says:

    25 May25 May 10:11

    There are islands with short runway domestic only flights. There are also islands with no airports at all.

  • BP says:

    25 May25 May 10:39

    Crete is an amazing island. There’s something for everyone from Brits abroad in Malia to 5* luxury. It’s a great place to have a car and explore a little.

    • NorthernLass says:

      25 May25 May 11:17

      Agreed – Knossos is a must-do and there are plenty of other archeological sites which you can often have to yourself. The history of the resistance in WW2 is also very interesting, as is the story of the Spinalonga leper colony which only closed in 1957.

      • jeff77 says:

        25 May25 May 12:58

        Sounds good. I prefer to go on holiday to places with history and character and this sounds right up my street!

      • Ruralite says:

        25 May25 May 15:32

        You might be interested in a book called The Cretan Runner by George Psychoundakis who was a Cretan shepherd boy when the Nazi’s invaded in 1941 and immediately joined the resistance as a runner amongst other things due to his knowledge of the island and mountains. He was later awarded the BEM for his service in the war.

        • Chas says:

          25 May25 May 16:50

          The book Natural Born Heroes by Christopher McDougall is similarly great.

  • Dubious says:

    26 May26 May 08:08

    I once visited Chania during January – it was very peaceful, but I could imagine it being busy in the summer.

    There was snow on the mountains and was quite chilly once up high fat from the town. There were also men on the street with shot guns – I assume ready to go hunting for feather animals, but still seemed a bit ominous so I didn’t hang around!

• Lyn says:

  25 May25 May 15:45

  +1 for The Cretan Runner. Also for hiring a car and exploring the other lesser-known classical archeological sites on Crete. The whole island oozes history, from many different periods. Patrick Leigh Fermor’s books on Greece are also interesting.

• Michael says:

  25 May25 May 16:58

  We take six trips abroad each year. Two are return trips to the Elounda Beach Hotel. Four are to worldwide places we have never been before. And we hire a car from our friend Maria for 12 of the 14 days in Crete. I cannot recommend the Elounda Beach Hotel highly enough – the Elounda Bay Palace is next door, cheaper and may fit some budgets.

• Mike says:

  25 May25 May 20:34

  PS. Don’t holiday in Crete in July and August. Busy and hot – impossibly hot on the south coast.

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