Domes Zeen Chania

I've been a lot of places in the world and stayed in a lot of nice hotels, but wow, this one is near the top. The design of this hotel is suites carved into the mountain. Each room has its own pool and the rooms are huge and so sharp. You can get a golf cart to take you up to the lobby level, which we used often. The amenities include fabulous Cretan toiletries, robes, slippers, water, snacks and a bottle of local alcohol. Don't miss the free shoe shine, which I had been saying I needed to do when I get home and didn't see it until I was leaving. The large pool was just gorgeous and the breakfast buffet had everything. The staff was always smiling and helful especially our concierce, Marina (gosh I hope that was her name). My only regret was leaving! I'm not sure if I'll get back to Crete but if I do, I'm coming back here.

Stayed 10 days at this resort. Beautiful terraced complex built into a remote hillside overlooking the coast with Chania town and harbour within 20-25 min walking distance along the part costal pathway. Accessed by car via a most unexpected narrow ‘track’ road in what appears at first to be in no man’s land - until you finally see the complex in the distance. Very warm welcome on arrival. Usual check-in but refreshments offered while you go through the process of passport checks, T&Cs, allergy declarations etc. Luggage in the mean is taken care of while you are escorted to your bungalow. Which for us was a family room (only room available at the time of booking with TUI) with private pool at the end of 4 flights of steps. Buggies we learned later were available to call upon for a taxi to your rooms upon request. Loved the bungalow in terms of size and facilities and materials but not so much the design (central bed), dark decor (concrete and dark browns and greys) or lighting (no lamps with soft/warm lights only ceiling and hanging lights) which whilst in keeping with the creators vision, was a bit dull for us. Private pool area was our favourite place, very well furnished with robust, comfortable loungers, parasol and tables. Especially at night when the poolside lights came on creating a lovely ambiance. We sat out first thing with coffees and later with drinks. Full Wi-Fi available (throughout the complex and extended to the beach areas) so you could listen to your music and private enough not to disturb anyone. The pool itself was quite cool. Not so bad in all day sun and not so different from that ‘first wade’ into the sea. Divided into more of a dipping pool for adults, enough for some fun and modest exercise and a great paddling section for younger children. Fresh water so none of the chlorine - birds visited regularly for a drink and bath. Housekeeping services 3 x per day from replenishment and cleaning and an evening turn down service. Towels were very plentiful both in the bungalow and pool area as were fresh slippers and complimentary bottles of water. The staff were absolutely amazing - everywhere on the complex. Everyone very warm, friendly, helpful and extremely competent and obliging. Housekeeping services were excellent. So onto the dining experience. We did half board, breakfast and either lunch or dinner. We visit Greece every year and have always enjoyed 4-5 star resorts with buffet dining and Al a Carte as an ‘option’. But at this resort with the exception of breakfast it is all Al a Carte, choosing from selection of soup or salad starters then mains and dessert. There’s a wine list and there’s a chilled bottle of water waiting at the table. Whilst what the menu offered was beautifully presented and delicious, we were disappointed in that pretty much everything contained either one or more ingredient of butter, cream, yoghurt or cheese or a dressing of some sort. Replicate that across the entire menu and that’s a very rich combination, even for a 5-7 night stay. We longed for the occasional ‘clean’ salad that we didn’t have to ask for a dressing to be left off or accompanying vegetables other than just a single broccoli spear or grilled slice of courgette. Great that it was all locally sourced produce and the portions were decent but the meat/chicken content not so much. Twice we opted for the room service kids menu requesting adult portions of bolognaise (which was absolutely wonderful), burger and nuggets. After days of working with the very helpful catering team pre-ordering, being advised on what menu options we should avoid (and thereby reducing the menu options for us further) we decided to cut our losses and eat out. And that would definitely be a recommendation for us to anyone staying at this resort. There are hundreds of wonderful restaurants in Chania town serving fantastic fresh delights of like whole sea bass, stews, kebabs, pastas, salads with fresh bread and accompaniments and all very reasonable prices. And not everything is drowned in diary or dressings. This is Greece for goodness sake - you just don’t need to do this with food. It’s beautiful as it is! Every meal we were served came with complimentary raki, ices, honey cake and even with a wine or beer - less than €50 for two. We couldn’t get a glass of anything under €14 at the Domes resort (€8 we were charged for water at the table). On the whole we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and a huge shout out to Cristos - amazing guy. Thank you Christos for all your help, bless you. The Al a Carte dining experience was not for us - had we had known it wasn’t buffet dining we would have only done B&B.

Fantastic holiday at Domes Zeen, Chania. So relaxing and beautiful, I loved all the vegetation around the grounds. Enormous pool, beautiful at night with the palm trees reflected in it. We stayed in a tropical bungalow. Very spacious, lots of storage. Enormous bed, extremely comfortable. Minor points but the light switches by the bed were a bit awkward to access, and as others have said the sharp wooden corners on the bed were a bit hazardous. Also the low hanging lights at the side of the bed were easy to knock. The drinks were very expensive. Fantastic staff, everyone lovely and so helpful. I will definitely come back another year. In thirty years of travelling to Greece and using Tripadvisor for recommendations the best hotel by far.

We stayed for five nights in a 2-bedroom villa. The villa was spacious, with 2 great bathrooms. It is very modern, with a large terrace and a small pool. The room was clean. The hotel is built on/in a hill; you can use a buggy to drive you around or can walk using stairs. Our room was very high up, and we walked up and down every day, very doable if no mobility issues. The main pool is very long and great for swimming; there are plenty of chairs available. The beach has fewer sun loungers, and it can get full but doesn't feel crowded. The beach has a mix of stones and sand. The breakfast buffet is served at the restaurant next to the pool and has a large and good selection of food. We had half board included and ate mostly at the hotel. The menu is changing daily, and the food was tasty. They also had a great sommelier; she made excellent wine recommendations. All the staff was really friendly, and there was a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere. We walked to Chania Old Town one evening and had dinner at a nice restaurant recommended by the hotel.

This was our third visit to one of the dozen or so Domes hotels scattered about Greece and our second on the island of Crete. Like Elounda, this is a larger sprawling property with a wide variety of room types, many with private plunge pools. We stayed 3 nights in a king bungalow with a private pool paying over €900 per night - a big splurge. Because of its hillside location, you need to be transported to your room from reception, which is up on top of the hill, via the golf cart service. Like other Domes, this luxury resort wants to be known for its warm, friendly service so expect lots of staff to answer questions and assist you during your stay. We had breakfast included in our package and this was served down adjacent to a large pool at the base of the property near the rocky beach. Like other Domes, the buffet was lavish. One odd thing about a resort of this caliber is trying to find it. Google does bring you to it but we were convinced it was another one of the annoying “ google shortcuts” we’ve experienced on our travel outside of the U.S. where you are sometimes routed through farm fields and onto goat paths to save 2 minutes. In this case google was correct. The only way to reach the property by car is to turn up a small steep, narrow, single lane alley adjacent to a Silk Oil gas station. In fact it feels like you are turning into the Gas station itself but you need to keep left. This is about the last place you’d expect to find a resort of this caliber but once you reach the top and turn right, you’ll see reception. Pull up to the front and someone will be there to help you. Free parking is in the field adjacent. The property was opened in 209 and our room was large and had modern technology built in like bedside USB charging. The low bed and pillow menu made for a decent sleep (especially after I got the hotel to unlock the thermostat to truly allow us to control it-same as at other domes where they have a 22 or so minimum preset on the AC yet make it look as if you can go lower). While technically seaside, we didn’t have a view and I’m not sure many of the other rooms did either given the layout in a sort of small ravine. Bottom line: a nice resort for people wishing to park themselves at a sunny property and enjoy a pool and beach. It is very family friendly and you can expect to see kids.