Irini Hotel

This hotel was terrible,I would not recommend this to anyone.

To start with -we arrived at the hotel at 3am by a taxi and were left stranded for an hour and a half in darkness, Reception was locked up and we were stuck outside with our luggage exhausted after a 4 and a half hour flight!!! Luckily my boyfriend managed to climb through the gap in the door and he found a piece of paper with our names, arrival time and room number, someone obviously couldn't be bothered waiting up for us and didn't mind us sitting on a bench for the night. We got our key and checked ourselves in.
The room wasn't too bad, it wasn't the cleanest though. I agree with some of the comments, the cleaners didn't change our towels and sheets all week. The staff were all miserable with right attitudes, not very welcoming at all.They didn't want to know when we complained. The food was awful, they liked to recycle their food for the following day.....mmm nice. We chose to eat out every day instead. Beach was 20 min walk.
Pool wasn't great, the managers dog kept jumping in & it wasn't very clean.
If you can avoid this hotel, please do, it has put me off All Inclusive & if I were to go All Inclusive it would be 5*!!!

There have been a lot of bad reports about this hotel some of which probably not without reason. However, we paid £250 each for one week and was pleasantly surprised.
We were aware that paying so little would only buy a basic holiday but we were happy with that.
The rooms were cleaned every day, the sheets changes every other day and clean towels provided twice during the week.
The food was very basic but perfectly edible Greek fare. The pool was clean and although the sunbeds were old and worn they were in working order. The staff were friendly especially the evening barman (get to know him, he doesn't bite!).
Be prepared to walk 20 minutes to the beach and 30 minutes into town, or hire a car from Mikes Tours (approx 150 Euros for 6 days).
A good base camp hotel, perfect if you wish to see lots of Crete as it is central and good edible food if you decide to eat in!

Firstly I am not one to moan on holiday as I see a hotel as a place to dump your things and to have a sleep and shower, so I am quite happy for places to be basic and expect them to be so. I will however note the positive and negative aspects of my stay as best as I can. There wasn't anything hugely bad but there are lots of niggly things that add up.
Have just returned from a 2 week stay and when it came to rating this holiday I found it hard to rate out of 10 between a 4 or a 5. I agree with what most people say, that this holiday is mis-sold e.g things that are stated as all inclusive aren't and the locality of the town is a 25min walk etc.
I also agree that you do need to bring money as food is simply inadequate to keep you going for your your holiday. The food is basic and re-used, for example what you had for lunch on the Tuesday will be chopped up and put in soggy (yesterdays) rice for dinner on the Wednesday! The cutlery is mostly dirty.
The room was filthy, we had the same towels for 4 days until we moaned and our bed sheets were changed once in 2 weeks (not nice in hot weather!). The bin in which you put used toilet tissues in was emptied regularly for a few days and then not at all for a few more, it appeared to be pot luck if your room was cleaned that day.
The toilet seat was not attached and staff tutted when we told them, the toilet leaked whenever we flushed it and everybody else's toilet waste flowed into ours, other peoples shower water also blocked our plug hole (this was the same throughout the hotel).
The bed sheets my boyfriend was given had huge holes in, and our room was covered in cobwebs. Awful for peak season.
Now for the good bit, the bar staff were lovely and made the holiday (apart from the exception to one, who without details was extremely and scarily rude/aggressive to a customer and sacked for 2 weeks). The boss was a nice guy when you saw him but the other staff were rude and unhelpful and made you feel most unwelcome. No one greeted us the day we arrived, if it wasn't for the nice barman we would have been clueless. Even the next morning we were ignored by reception. It took us 15mins of standing around to just hand the key back after our stay. We appeared to be of an inconvenience to most of the staff. However we didn't complain once we just asked for towels and politely made them aware of the toilet seat problem.
The pool had no chlorine in it for a few days and no PH in it for a week so the pool went green and cloudy (you couldn't see the bottom) yet no one seemed bothered to fix it. The showers on pool side were blocked and overflowing with dirty water. That is disgusting and dangerous to our health.
We were left with no drinks at the bar except water for a whole day as the pumps broke even a week after they weren't fixed so we were served flat fizzy drinks that were filled up upstairs and brought down in random bottles that were all gone by mid day. The drinks machine was upstairs was turned off after breakfast and turned on again for lunch not good for all inclusive. The orange juice from the machine was also only that for a few days before they topped it up with grapefruit juice and didn't tell you. (bad for those with allergies or extreme dislikes.) Also if you just miss breakfast you have to pay
The Sat night entertainment is good for a laugh (one of the best nights) but be careful because we were conned into paying 6euros for what we we told was a cd of us singing at karaoke (we were played a snippet of us singing which enticed us to buy the cd for a giggle) We got the cd (no way to test it till we got home) only to find when we did get it home it was a cd of random old songs including foreign Spanish ones that I could have downloaded here as they have been released for months! what a con!
The local shops are run by lovely people so make the most of them, they were really helpful and the centre of Gouves and the beach is lovely.
I have only listed a few things but to some up I would go to Crete again but not to this hotel. Having said that I have had a relaxing 2 weeks and met some fab people. I have stayed in some basic places before but they have always been clean here I felt we were treated like cattle and everyone we spoke to felt the same.
Plumen the bar man and Priscilla the day bar maid made the holiday better for us.

Well well well, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed my 2 week stay at Irini hotel.
Reading through other reviews I have to say the complaints made by some I was shocked to read and find it hard believing.
I personally thought that the pool was maintained to a high standard and was able to swim in it every day with no complaints of algae or frogs or what ever these people were finding in the pool.
A thank you to Cristos, the food may have been simple but also enjoyable, but how easy is it catering for the amount of people 3 times every day.
Hello Plumen my good friend... miss me yet?! ha ha ha! I have never met a more interesting, more intelligent barman in my life. I found Plumen a very pleasant and interesting man who always found the times to speak with the customers. He enjoyed a laugh with the clients of the hotel, although some of the other guests had mentioned to me in conversation that they found him very rude and arrogent, but then again with them being so ignorant as to how other cultures live they are not opening there minds and expect people to live and act exactly how the english live... not every one is english you know!!! Many a night I found myself abandoning my boyfriend to have a very deep intellectual conversation with him!! haha!
George the lovely George!! the owner of the hotel Irini. Very pleasant man and went out of his way to help you in every possible way he could. If you have a problem needing fixing that has to do with the hotel George will try his very best to fix it! George was very welcoming and sat with us for drinks on many occasions.
The rooms, very spacious and although we were told we would have a double bed, we were shown to a twin bedroom. But that is not the hotel's fault, that would be an error made by the tour operators, which from talking to a number of the guests that they had also been told they would be staying in double beds by their tour operators.
Not very far too the beaches, I myself didn't venture to the beaches as I found lazing beside the pool a bit more appealing!
The only complaint I have about the Irini hotel was the daytime bar man, but after many complaints from other clients in the hotel George sorted the problem out, many of the hotels guest found him to be very arrogent, ignorant and did not have time for the guests, he is clearly in the wrong job as he is clearly not a people person.
I'd like to thank all the staff of Irini hotel for making our stay in Gouves very enjoyable and I would definitely return. In fact being home is so boring I'd rather be there right now!!

This hotel was absolutely fantastic; couldn’t fault it like other people did!!
Hotel was very clean and staff were very friendly especially Plumin the night barman; fantastic and very friendly!!
Not too sure about the daytime barman but I think it was the heat that got to him!! Food was yummy, heard a lot of people say it was very oily but that is Greek tradition!!
Swimming pool was fantastic and the atmosphere around it was great too! As it was such a small hotel everyone knew everyone and all got on brilliantly a definite next year return

Where to start! Now I'm never one to complain actually but.....
Ok we arrived, it was almost pitch black, middle of the night and were greeted by two men in the dark reception, got to the room, wasn't fantastic. If you're a couple like us you'll have to push two tiny beds together (which fall apart - the slats fell out the bottom). The handles on the doors fell off, the light switches fell off, the shower wasn't on the wall, the sink was falling off and the bathroom dirty.
We were told we'd have to pay extra money daily for a safety deposit box which you could pick up and remove from the room! And for air conditioning, 5 euros a day.... but don't bother, use a hanger and switch it on for free when you like, the maids will turn it off again mind!
Our room was burgled on the second night! They took everything so we were forced to eat in the hotel a lot, which in itself was a nightmare. We were moved to an even better room... yeah right.
The flies on the food had more protein than the actual meat which was the cheapest roughest looking meat you could find! old skanky bits of chicken...well that's what it looked like but who can be sure! We preferred the stale bread and two/three day old salad.
Many of the staff made us feel unwelcome and uncomfortable especially the bar man who had a serious chip on his shoulder! It wasn't all inclusive either just 11am - 11pm so you had to buy the 4 euro drinks in between those hours! Breakfast = Cold beans and bread with stale cereal...mmmm.
Never go for two weeks like us, there's nothing to do unless you want a long walk!
We were misled to believe there was a snack bar... there wasn't... well there was a cupboard but it was full of chairs!
The kids facilities are appalling, consisted of a plastic slide!
One night they had a bbq which we thought was for us but it was actually for all the staff members and their families, families friends and their mates and not for any of the paying guests. But we were glad as it was cooked by a unhygienic looking partially naked fat sweating man who gave out blood soaked kebabs to kids. I wanted to show them how to use a bbq as they didn't have a clue and just burnt the edges of the food leaving the middle raw!
I'd never go back, it was a nightmare, the hotel was a complete hole, dirty pool, horrid rooms, unpleasant staff, repulsive food, naff location! And did I mention that reception was left unattended most of the time so anyone could grab the keys to your room!
AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE!!

Do not stay here!
We never complain about anything and always make the best of where we are but this hotel was awful. All that was missing was Basil and Cybil Fawlty!
This so-called hotel should come with a health warning.
Please, please find another place to stay. If it means that you have to pay out more, believe me, it will be money well spent. If you can't change hotels, then please take extra money for just the basics i.e., to eat out because the food is beyond belief, hire a car to see more of this beautiful island because this hotel is positioned in a god forsaken hell hole and is quite a nerve racking trek, especially if you have children, to or from anywhere local.
You will need to get out and about to have some relief from the sewer stench which seems to engulf the hotel at all times of the night and day, and not just when the wind is blowing in a certain direction.
Arrived to empty reception desk at approximately 3.00pm. (It wasn't even the middle of the night!). Eventually checked-in by grumpy young lady who turned out to be a cleaner.
Shown to our room. Ha ha!
Light fittings falling off the wall which included an imitation oil lamp with a glass top which was about to fall and smash. Toilet leaked from base of pan which consequently made the bathroom stink.
Water, soap suds and drain contents regurgitated back through a drain next to the toilet and covered bathroom floor every time bathroom used. Shower attachment had broken and would not stay on the wall. Sink so stained that bleach, which we purchased from a supermarket, would not remove.
Please note that the floors are not washed. The main areas are only swept. Under the beds and other few items of furniture are thick with dust. By the time you have walked from the shower to the bedroom, your feet are filthy. This is by no means exaggerated!
We had taken mosquito plugs which we plugged in within half an hour of us entering our room. We did not see or hear a mosquito the whole time we were there but we did get bitten. On our last night we discovered that we were being bitten by bed bugs and not mosquitoes. Infact, a mosquito would have been a welcome sight. We noticed minute black bugs scurrying across the bed when we moved a pillow!
We saw more wildlife in our room than at any other time we were out and about and believe me, we didn't stay at the hotel much at all! Lizards, spiders and bedbugs were present in our room on regular occasions and it seems they were included in the all inclusive package!
The electricity supply is something else. A previous occupant had obviously plugged something in which had caught fire as there was a large black smoke mark on the socket and up the wall. Thinking that this socket had been mended, we plugged a mobile phone charger into it. The charger became very hot and we unplugged it just in time! The hotel had numerous power cuts day and night.
We paid extra on arrival for a safe which wasn't even anchored down. If someone had broken in they could just pick the whole safe up and leave.
We had also paid for the air-conditioning. Whenever we went out, someone went in to turn it off! We took to hiding the remote control for the unit whenever we went out! It also didn't work properly. We set it to 18 degrees which in theory should have felt a bit chilly. Oh no, not a chance. You will sweat buckets!
Outside of our room -
The pool had been so-called cleaned the week before we arrived as people had complained about the green slime, frogs and dead bugs! Their cleaning involved putting bucket loads of chemicals into the water and fishing out the frogs that had then died because of poisoning and throwing them over the hedge.
The pool was passable when we arrived but the chemicals really stung your eyes and bleached any swimwear, towels etc that came into contact with the water.
Don't put a book or newspaper onto the bar as you will leave the back page behind. It is so sticky and dirty and comes complete with a consistent supply of wasps! You will find the barman sat at a table reading and when asked for something, he will wave you behind the bar to get it yourself. He will then sternly tell you off if you take something from the wrong place!
The food is atrocious. My husband will eat anything but even his iron stomach could not tolerate the food here. The only time we had bad tummies on this holiday was after having lunch at the hotel.
The food is re-vamped from the previous meals left over’s. Even chips are put into a pasta bake. There are no choices of food either. If you don't like what has been cooked - tough! There are no catering provisions for children either. Chips come with everything and flies are an accompaniment to the salad. Breakfast, which is served from 7.30 to 9.30am, consists of dry, stale cereal, warm milk, beans and fried eggs, (oh, and of course, more flies).
Should you not make breakfast and would like a coffee at 10.00am, you will have to pay for it. The so-called all inclusive is only "available" between 11.00am and 11.00pm. Anything, and we mean anything, that you may want outside of these hours, has to be paid for. There are no bar snacks or buffet available outside of meal times which are breakfast 7.30-9.30am, lunch 12.30-2.30pm and dinner 7.30-9.30pm.
What is included is the cheapest and nastiest that the hotel can get hold of. Don't get a coffee from the pool bar as it is taken from the machine in the dining room first thing in the morning and kept in a thermos flask all day. By 4.30pm, it's luke warm and so thick and strong, it will take the enamel off of your teeth.
There is no children’s club as advertised and the barman can be very rude to children when their parents are out of earshot, so please beware. One of my daughters politely asked for a lemonade and was apparently spoken to in a very abusive way.
The pool music is very loud and not to everyone’s taste unless you like Greek pop music.
The hotel is situated right beside a main road so if you're placed in a room at the front, you will need earplugs unless you live under the m1 and are use to heavy traffic noise 24/7 as there is no let up from the traffic noise all night.
There is no point in complaining about anything as it falls on very deaf ears and we can't even say it's a good place to just get your head down because of the bugs!
Oh by the way, the rep is non-existent and the mobile number obtained is obsolete!
This hotel is not 400mtrs from the beach as we and other holiday makers were led to believe. More like a 20 minute walk with no paths, coaches trying to pass down the narrow roads and the locals driving like maniacs. A trip to the closest beach is not for the faint hearted. The sea itself is beautiful once you've scaled the slippery rocks and waded through the mounds of rubbish and litter!
There are cleaner, safer and more accessible beaches at Kato Gouves, Hersonossis and stilida with the best we visited being Bali. It is well worth the 30 minute or so drive from Gouves.
A beautiful cove with clear warm water, clean beach, a few tavernas, cafes and restaurants line the beach, water sports and surrounded by a backdrop of mountains. Take the national road past Heraklion heading towards Chania. This is a fantastic drive through mountains with glorious views of little coves, rock formations and the sea. The English signpost for Bali is positioned right on the turn-off so be careful you don't miss it.
We found that the free water-park maps were great. Try to ignore the large amounts of memorials at the side of the roads. These resemble little houses on stilts or columns, some with crosses on and candles burning. Families who have lost a loved one in a road accident build them to hold photos and candles at the exact site the accident occurred and the loved one passed away. It is spine chilling to see these constant reminders of the lives lost on these roads and at the same time, have a Cretan motorist kissing your rear bumper at 90kph!
If you have children, a trip to water city at Annapolis is a must. The waterpark is situated on top of a mountain and the views on the way up are fantastic. The park itself is very clean and has plenty of attendants. A good eat as much as you like English breakfast can be purchased for 6euros which sets you up for most of the day.
Drinks are very reasonable too. Do take flip-flops to wear around the park as the floor is very, very hot to walk on. When you ride the chutes or flumes, the flip-flops can be slipped over your wrists and up onto your forearms freeing your hands so you can hold on!
We found a fantastic restaurant not far from the hotel called the Oasis. Come out of the hotel car park and turn right. On the first crossroads there is a bus stop and supermarket on your right. Go straight over and head towards the shamrock. We never tried the shamrock but was told it was good. Turn right at the shamrock and keep going down the hill. You will pass supermarkets, shops etc. The road bears to the right. Just after the bend, oasis is on the right. The food here is to die for. The chef cooks the meat and bread on a huge bbq and in a traditional clay oven in front of you.
There is so much choice and is extremely reasonable. (two adults, two children, starters, main courses and three rounds of drinks came to 39euros!!!). The Oasis does get busy but it's well worth having a drink in the bar whilst waiting for a table. They also have a children’s playground which is all enclosed and a pool table so mums and dads can have some quiet time but still watch the kids!
On the whole, we enjoyed our holiday in Crete because we were lucky enough to take extra money for car hire and eating out. My heart goes out to people who have saved for a couple of years to take their families here and have been miss-led like the people we met. How the owner of this holiday company sleeps at night, I will never know! (bet he doesn't sleep with bugs!).

In may 2007 it had only just reopened and it was by far the worst hotel i have stopped in.
Facilities, non-existent. Food, barely edible. Staff, downright rude and ignorant. All inclusive, actually "all inclusive light" which is basic drinks and poor food. The list of facilities on the website is as fictitious as was the beach which was claimed to be 400m away.
I have left my comments in the forum for this hotel as JCH1. Their are varied comments and it appears that the place has improved vastly hopefully down to websites like this and complaining to the tour operator but i will not recommend this hotel, a waste of my weeks holiday and money. Plenty to do around there and lots nice places to visit but on an all inclusive you want to spend a fair bit of time at the hotel to "get you monies worth" but not here for me.
PLEASE LOOK IN THE FORUMS FOR THIS HOTEL ALSO.

I have just come back a few weeks ago, I found the hotel really good value for money.
The staff were really helpful and a good laugh. The rooms and pool were clean, food was really nice.
The hotel is nicely located just out of the way, there is a bus stop and a taxi rank at the end of the road, the bus costs roughly 2euros to get to the main places, such as the capital city Heraklion, Malia, and Hersonossis.
The bus also run roughly every half hour. I admit the beach is not 400m away, it’s a 10-15 min walk, but it is a lovely long stretch along the coast line.
I would recommend this resort, as I will definitely be returning.

Had a fantastic stay at Hotel Irene / Irini June 07. Had the same problem of trying to find out more about Hotel Irene before I went.
Some of the reports that I found were positively awful. I had grave concerns about staying there especially since it was the first time I was going away only with my daughter to Greece. After reading the reports my expectation was not very high.
I am happy to say that the week I spent at Hotel Irene surpasses my expectations. We had a fantastic time wish we could have stayed longer.
Yes it is a basic hotel but what do you expect for a 2*? The food is mainly traditional Greek and credit to the chef Christos, he is a lovely man that takes pride in his cooking, and the staff were all friendly and helpful and made us very welcome.
Lovely to have met George, Tassos, Lita, Marina, Costas, Plamen, Nikos, Niki and Christos. The room was clean and spacious, and the pool was very clean and every morning Costas was making sure it was clean.
The owner George is very hospitable and tries his best to make sure everything is running smoothly. If you are not happy about anything let him know and he will get it fixed. He cannot sort anything if he does not know what is your problem.
We spent many a happy evening trying out the delightful cocktail concoctions created by the barman Plamen. Credit to him for being there night after night and mostly till the early hours of the morning serving drinks and pandering to the customers’ demands.
We met some very nice and entertaining people. We have very fond memories of our stay and will certainly go back there again.
Some people were disappointed with the all inclusive provision - can I say that it may be the travel firms fault for misleading what the Hotel has to offer i.e. Level of All Inclusive provision. This hotel is class as All Inclusive Light Understandably people would get upset when they get there and it is not what they were led to believe.
I can't stress enough that this is not the hotel's fault. I have spoken to many people that have visited Greece and they say that a Greek 3* hotel is really only a British equivalent 2* and the breakfast provided is a Greek breakfast not an English one so don't expect, a Full English.
All in all my daughter and I had a fab time, we have nothing but praise. My only regret is that we did not book to stay longer! If you get a chance to go, give Hotel Irini a chance, make up your own mind about it and you never know you will also have a fantastic time. Everyone’s' taste is different.
The hotel is on the outskirts of the town, half hour's walk, taxi 5 Euros, bus 1.20 euro to nearest town of Hersonossis, every half hour, the beach is a 10 mins walk away. There are a few local bars and shops nearby.