Diogenis Blue Palace

Just returned from a week away with my husband, sister and brother in law. The location was perfect with beautiful sunsets, however the hotel was awful. We had 2 rooms booked, one looked like a dark dingy cupboard converted to a room with no window (room 215), the other was nice and big but dirty floors, stained towels, squashed insects on the wall, blood on the head board and horrible outdated bathroom, extractor fan looked like it had recently been changed but no tiling finished off around it. There was also a hatch behind the bathroom door that had gaps around it. There’s an awful smell in the rooms and the hotel seems to have an awful drainage smell whether you go. Furniture is so old and smelt stuffy so didn’t want to unpack clothes, you couldn’t open the drawers and only 3 clothes hangers in wardrobe. One room was changed (room 215), the other we asked to be cleaned and for new towels. This was just the start, 3 days into our holiday my sister came down with sickness and diarrhoea and was in bed on her birthday. My husband then came down with it for 3 days and myself soon after. We could hear other guests being sick through the night so obviously it was going around the hotel. My brother in law was lucky not to get it, we realised because he was the only one who hadn’t been eating salad. The food is served cold/luke warm, not hot by any means. What we had, tasted good, but such a shame it was always cold/luke warm. Pizza was good, that was hot as just freshly made from the oven. Desserts were reasonable, no ice cream though which isn’t a show stopper. We should have listened to the reviews about there being only beer, raki, ouzo and cognac and wine so not what we would class as all inclusive. We thought it was an exaggeration but it’s true! The hotel from the front and even around the pool and reception area looks nice to be honest, it’s behind the scenes that needs further work. The pool had lots of grit sand in from the beach which we saw being vacuumed whilst we were there by a grubby man walking round the pool with a cigarette in his mouth (just to note he had come straight from unblocking a sewage pipe where we saw all the mess down the passage way). We were shocked seeing him walking around the pool and near the kiddies pool! Sun beds are in short supply around the pool and beach. You need to be up and around for 8am to secure one. If you put a towel down, you need to make sure you don’t go off as hotel reception/management come round just after 8 and remove towels if you’re not on the bed. We didn’t get off to a good start with the rooms and decided as a group to make the best of a poor situation, the nail in the coffin was when 3 of 4 of the group became ill and this ruined our holiday. There seems to be a hotel doctor that appears at 1.30 pm each day so he must be busy currently . My advice would be to avoid this hotel, this is no way a 4* hotel. May have been once maybe but it needs regrading. Be careful of

Like many people, I was slightly apprehensive after reading some of the reviews, let me state that this was not our main holiday, just a cheap, no frills getaway to grab some sun and visit Knossos. For the price we paid (£600 each) I think it was value for money. The highlights for us were the food, which was all delicious Greek home cooking, and yes, it is mostly cold, but there is a microwave. Delicious bbq's and stone baked pizzas most nights. The local beer is fine but unfortunately the wine and soft drinks were poor quality. The staff are so friendly and helpful. We had a family room with a mezzanine floor, it was spacious and a fantastic bathroom /shower and lovely balcony, however, the beds were rock hard sadly. Main points to note, the hotel do not provide bottled water in the rooms, there is no tea/coffee making facilities. Bring your own tea and coffee, get a kettle from reception. Not much to do in Kato Gouves but local buses are excellent and cheap. Hotel beach needs a good clean up but the beach next door is great, although you have to pay for sunbeds €15 a set.

We have just come back from this hotel and we would like to give an honest review on our experience. When we arrived, we were welcomed by a very nice and friendly reception staff. The room was dated but it was ok for our needs. We were lucky to have a newly renovated bathroom, however the shower screen is far too short and it floods the bathroom floor during every use. The soap was only provided first day and then never was replenished. The room service was the worst we have ever experienced. The beds were never made, the surfaces never been dusted in the time we were there. The cleaners were not friendly and never said hello. The food in the hotel was the biggest let down. It was very very repetitive with a very limited choice. The quality was not good and it was barely warm and sometimes cold. You often read holiday reviews complaining about the food not being hot and being repetitive. But it had been always acceptable for us. However this was not the case in this hotel. Breakfasts were very poor, fried eggs were always cold, even if you come for the opening. The croissants were hard and of cheap quality, the coffee was barely drinkable. There was no dry fruit like figs or prunes, which we found very strange for a 4 star Greek hotel. We love tea but we couldn’t drink it in this hotel as the water quality very much affected the taste making it horrible. The fruit choice was very limited and most of it was not fresh and poor quality. The fish was absent from the menu, which is a shame. They did have squid/octopus a couple of times for almost 2 weeks. They had a Greek night with a BBQ once, however it was only pork. We didn’t go hungry, but we hardly ever enjoyed our meals. We were never looking forward to meal times like we do in other hotels. And we are far from fussy eaters. This hotel was the first we had ever been to that never served ice-cream, which was a shock. The hotel needs to improve/change their food strategy. Otherwise we think they will struggle to get repeat business. The restaurant staff were the hardest working people in the hotel. They were very friendly to everybody. The barman Bennie and pizza guy were also very nice. The bar drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic are of a very limed choice and not good quality. We noticed that the senior staff (hotel manager, the owner, head chef, etc) never drank from the bar. They always drank coffee in paper cups brought in from elsewhere and their drinks were always bottled from an outside cafe/bar. This speaks for itself. The head chef Ellias approached us and our friends on first few nights bringing us a bottle of wine and asking us to leave a very good review for the hotel, which we found very off putting. We spoke to other guests and they all experienced the same from him. He even asked everybody to mention his name in the reviews. We are even not sure if he was a real chef. We think he was just responsible for talking to people and giving them impression he was a chef and he was ge

Stayed 2weeks A.I. Room was lovely and hotel very clean. Beach across the road free sunbeds. After the first 2 days, we ate out. Food a big let down, always cold every meal. Drinks limited white/red wine, beer, ouzo. Spirits and cocktails to be paid for. Would not return, the food ruined it for us. Gouves is lovely.

We are staying at the hotel now. Having read mixed reviews we didn’t know what to expect from this hotel. We are very happy we came here. It is a little gem. The hotel is overlooking the sea. All the staff are very friendly and helpful. The hotel has a very nice feel to it, it is very very charming. The pool area is one of the nicest we have come across. Our room has a very beautifully renovated bathroom and a really good shower. The room itself overlooks the pool area and it’s a pleasure to sit there and just enjoy the atmosphere. Kostas and Chef Illias are genuinely nice people. They work very hard and they make everybody feel special and very welcome. They create a very pleasant atmosphere. Nothing is too much trouble for them. The food is very tasty and cooked with love. We really enjoyed the BBQ night with fireworks, live Cretan music and dancers. It was very special. We are really enjoying ourselves and already looking forward to returning next year. Don’t be put off by negative reviews. Just come, relax and enjoy yourselves. You won’t be disappointed.

The food was out of this world the chef ililias was so helpful and the food was delicious and could not ask for more the location was spot on for the beach the weather was perfect and our company was top draw we have had an incredible break thank you