If you have been following my Instagram account, you will have seen from the photos and Insta stories that we recently took a trip to Crete, staying in the SeaCrete hotels. We havenβt been abroad as a family for over 18 months and we were all very excited. I love flying and exploring new places. The last holiday we went on was to Greece, we went to Kos and Noah/Isla had the dreaded chicken pox. We loved Greece though and couldnβt wait to see Crete.Β
We didnβt know what to expect from Crete beforehand. I thought it would be similar to Kos; dry and not a lot of people. But it didnβt feel like that when we got to Crete, it was very green, and it felt like there was a lot more life here. When we arrived on Monday 22ndApril 2019, it was cooler than the UK, it had just been 24 degrees in England over the Easter weekend and so we had got used to the hot sunshine. It was cool for the first few days of our holiday and then we had the beautiful sunshine and 27 degrees heat. We couldnβt have asked for more.
Kalyves Beach Hotel
On arrival we spent a night at Kalyves Beach Hotel, which was in the heart of Kalyves. It has a romantic setting, nestled in the village, by a river and fronts onto the beach. It had a little something for everyone I think whether you are travelling as a family, couple or friends. I would say this is the quietest hotel of the two, there were less children and it felt cosier. The big lobby area filled with comfortable sofas were very inviting for an evening game of Sneak Peek!Β
After we had put our luggage in the hotel room, we took a walk around the beautiful bay of Kalyves. It was a nice walk and the bay had calm waves, which was nice as the children ran and splashed. Letting off steam from their extremely early morning and sitting still on the plane. We found a spot in the harbour and watched the fishermen pottering around their boats. We also spotted a tornado on the harbour; it must have been about 12 foot long. I later found out that this was left there from the war.
The hotel and Kiani Beach Hotel had a similar theme in terms of entertainment: 8:30pm is the mini disco, ran by the kidβs club and they dance energetically around, encouraging the little ones to join in. Then after this the evening entertainment starts. At Kalyves there is one main area where you eat and watch the shows in the evening. Itβs what made me think of it as a cosy environment, it felt safe and relaxing. I spotted groups of people on the sofas in the evening: sitting with their children playing, sitting with their friends drinking and laughing or just sitting together admiring the entertainment. It was nice, especially after our busy day.
Kiani Beach Resort
From day two onwards, until the end of our time in Crete, we stayed at the sister hotel to Kalyves Beach Hotel: Kiani Beach Resort. It was everything we expected it to be from the website and Instagram accounts that we had mulled over before we booked our flights. The resort is split up into two main areas, it is separated by access for taxiβs and a road to the car park β not a busy road by any means but you have to be careful crossing with small children. We stayed in the new area which had been built only last year, this was the area with the long swimming pool, slide pool for the children and a small park. It had its own restaurant, kids club for the under 6βs, indoor pool, gym and spa. It was great because it was all brand new. Everything felt clean and looked stylish. The other main area was quite large and had the beach front to it, there is a beach bar, restaurant, kids club for over 6βs and the other 2 pools. You can hire kayaks and join in with some of the sporting activities here too.Β
We made sure we spent half the time in the new restaurant and the older restaurant, we wanted to make sure we had the chance to eat in both. On Easter Sunday we sat in the beach side restaurant as there was a lot of entertainment on for the guests. It was amazing. I will write up about our Greek Easter weekend in a separate post as I learnt a lot from my trip into Kalyves to witness the mass and burning of Judas.
I have so much to say about our trip to Crete with SeaCrete hotels that I am going to split it up into a few blog posts, so that I can cover the areas of family travel better. We spent 3 days out and about exploring Crete, two excursions booked with Kiani Beach Resort and a day trip with Kalives Travel who gave us a car for the day. We explored a lot on these 3 days and the itinerary of our adventures will be coming up in the next travel post.
I will also go into more detail about Kiani Beach Resort, I want to share details of our room, the facilities and important information β like what times the kids club is open! There is just so much to cover. I hope you enjoy the posts, photos and videos. I would love to answer any questions you may have about our trip to Crete and our stay with SeaCrete Hotels, just in case there are things I have forgotten.
Here are a few of the photos from our stay with SeaCrete Hotels:Β
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