We've been back from our family holiday to Crete, Greece for a few weeks now and I just realised that I haven't yet written a blog post about it. We went to Arina Beach Resort on an all inclusive basis and honestly, it was amazing! We'd spent SO long searching the internet for an all-inclusive resort to take the boys too. We wanted something that would be good for us vegetarians, have slides for the boys, be near the beach and feel modern and Arina Beach Resort ticked all of the boxes and more online and and then when we got there it was even better than we'd hoped!
The hotel is right on the beach and has it's own private part of the beach that is attached to the hotel, right next to the outdoor bar so you can wander and get drinks to take down to the beach too. One thing I loved the most is the incredible views of the sea from so many parts of the resort. It felt so calming and the sunsets were stunning to watch. Plus my boys absolutely love being by the beach and on the sand, so it was perfect for them.
The food was also incredible and we found something different for us every lunch and dinner time. There were different themes each night and the food was clearly labelled so we knew what was vegetarian and what wasn't. The boys are quite fussy, especially with dinner time, but they always found something to eat and the chefs were more than happy to make something up if you asked. In fact, throughout our whole stay, we never came across any staff who were unfriendly, all of the staff at the hotel were more than happy to help if we needed it.
The pool areas were fantastic! Especially the water park pools which is where we spent a lot of time. The slides are SO much fun and were perfect for us and the boys who were 9 and 7 at the time. Right next to the bigger slides is a smaller water park area for younger children, babies and toddlers and it was brilliant! Then next to that is an outdoor bar, plus there are toilets nearby and a small restaurant overlooking the sea where you could grab lunch from. It was a perfect set up! We took the boys out of school to go and so I think it may have been less busier than if say we had gone in the school holidays, but we always found sun beds. There are a few pools around the resort, the main pool just by the main restaurant seemed busiest, but we only went there for one morning as we preferred the kids water park area and indoor pool.
The only criticism I have, is that the water was slightly cold, but to be honest after a while you did get used to it and I imagine it's perfect for the July/August months when the weather is a lot warmer. The boys favorite pool was actually the indoor pool because of this, as like me, they love being warm, and the indoor pool was a really lovely temperature. On our first day the indoor pool was very busy as it rained all day, but after that it was always quiet. We bought a float and pool noodles for the boys and they used them in the indoor pool the whole time. The only thing to note with the indoor pool and children is, they do say it's mostly for adults, but they don't mind children a bit older using the pool as long as they are quiet as it is attached to their spa area.
Our room that we stayed in was a family room which had a sliding door between the two parts of the room which the boys and Adam and I slept in. This worked perfectly for us as it gave us space in the evenings. The room was super clean, modern, very spacious and we could see the sea from our balcony too!
The resort is close to the airport, about 15 minutes I think, and you could see and hear planes going over a lot. I read about this before we went and I wondered if it would bother me, but it didn't bother me one bit and I never heard any planes at night in our hotel room.
I am a proud crazy cat lady and there were LOTS of cats about at the resort, it was lovely to see them being so well looked after. I actually packed a load of cat treats in my suitcase before I left for our holiday to give to any strays I found. You could also buy cat food from the shop at the resort too, which of course I did. The cats do wander in the restaurants everyday by their own accord, of course this didn't bother us one bit, but it's worth knowing in case you're reading this thinking of going there and you don't like or are allergic to cats.
There was always a kids disco on in the evening and then afterwards it was random acts / singers. Some of the entertainment was better than others. Our favorite during the week we were there was a woman who played the saxophone to modern music and also a man and woman who sang and at the end taught Jamaican dancing. I can't tell you how good their voices were - they were absolutely INCREDIBLE and had so many people up and dancing including Adam and the boys.
I can't really fault Arina Beach Hotel, it's somewhere I would 100% recommend to someone else looking for a family holiday that offers it all!
Thank you for reading. Alex xo
