Hotel Axos

This family-run hotel is friendly, ideally located for walking to local tavernas, shops and the beach if you are without your own transport yet still handy for taxis and buses. The hotel has refurbished rooms which are very clean and well-equipped and much better than any other Greek hotels we have stayed in. There's a great swimming pool with changing facilities and a bar which also serves ice creams and drinks. Even a gold shop next to reception and all these facilities are run by the same family who speak English, French and Russian. Wi-fi and free internet access for guests and guests also receive discount from the gold shop. It's all in the centre of Platanes - a great centre just outside the main town of Rethymnon, just a 10 minute drive away. Beach is a 2 minute walk from the hotel, and there's plenty of nightlife, masses of tavernas with good food, shops, supermarkets - all within walking distance of the hotel. It couldn't be better located. Good for families or couples and, as the hotel is set back from the road we were not disturbed by noise. Can't fault it and we will definitely be back. 5 stars in our book and represents great value.

Stayed here for 2 nights and had a fantastic time and could not have wished for better Yanis, Sophia and Agnes you did us proud and made us feel very welcome. The hotel is great and we felt no need to ask for anything more thank you once again and hopefully if we are in crete again we will visit 10 out of 10! All the best Daz and Jack

Title says it all really! Just to reflect other reviews, this is a great place with a friendly atmosphere. The staffs are brilliant and very helpful. The breakfast is great with a range of food on offer. The staff helped to organise transport and look into excursion possibilities. The pool area was very pleasant with plenty of lounges. The bar was great with a huge selection of drinks and cocktails. The area itself is pleasant, many restaurants to choose from all within 5 mins walk. The beach nearby is sandy and has a beautiful sunset with the odd restaurant on the sea front- the BBQ mixed grills are excellent. All the restarants are very reasonably priced with a main costing 7->10 euros. A bus to Rethymnon is frequent (every half hour) and costs 1.20 euro. One note of warning - there are several local supermarkets (within 2/3 mins walk) where the price of food varies greatly (6 bottles of water varied from 1.20 euro to 7 euro within 2 mins walking distance! Would happily stay here again, great holiday, thanks Axos!

We picked this hotel from previous reviews and weren’t disappointed. We visited off season, so the hotel was fairly quite. The family who run this hotel manage to be both professional and personal. We felt we left as friends rather than paying guests. The rooms are clean, functional, comprehensive and comfortable, and the recent refurbishment has worked. There is free internet access for guests. We would have no hesitation in recommending this hotel for a wide range of visitors – we took my 80+ year old mother who was thrilled, but equally, young families seemed to be having a great time too. Taxis to the main town of Rethmyno are easily accessible and cost around 7 Euros. The hotel is on a road with other hotels and restaurants, some quite good and within easy walking distance, but worth a trip to town for some of the places recommended by the hotel owners.

We have just returned from our first visit to the Axos Hotel and are already missing the kind hospitality and efficiency of the family. The hotel has been totally renovated this past winter and only reopened on our day of arrival but they were ready for us! Our one bedroom apartment contained all we needed for a comfortable stay and was immaculate - in fact I must comment that I found everywhere we visited in Crete immaculate - we could take some lessons from them here in the UK. Any comment or request was acted upon by the staff immediately and always a big smile and friendly words. Their recommendations were spot on - basically they just wanted you to have a fabulous time. Breakfasts were well cooked and reasonably priced as were the snacks available through the day, Although we have travelled extensively throughout Europe over the past few years I have to say that we were floored by how expensive everything was on the island. A double whammy for us as the Euro is almost on par with the Pound. For instance, a filter coffee or "Nescafe" was commonly 2.50 Euros as were soft drinks. We live in a tourist area in the UK and are used to these prices at home but we sure weren't expecting it there. It's lucky we don't drink as prices for alcohol seemed high too. We were out siteseeing most days in our rental vehicle and found prices similar whether in a tourist area or not. Things were slightly less expensive in the small villages inland but it must be tough for the average Cretan to live. In conclusion, we highly recommend the Axos for those searching for good value, clean and well appointed apartments and terrific owners and staff!

We have just returned from our 5th visit to the Axos over 5 years and love it. It feels like going home, the regulars will know what I mean. The family are fabulous, they are warm, friendly and nothing is too much trouble. From morning to night you know you are being well looked after. The hotel has a lovely pool which is very peacuful to lie by. You can get regular snacks during the day or have the buffet breakfast and evening meal for a reasonable cost. The rooms are very spacious we stayed in a one bedroomed apartment. They are spotlessly cleaned on a daily basis and bedlinen and towels changed twice a week. The rooms have adequate facilities for those self catering, we made lovely toasties one day. The bathroom is good and has a hair dryer. The beach is only a couple of minutes walk away and is clean and has lots of sun beds for a cost of 2.5 euros each. There is plenty to do locally, shops, bars and restaurants, to suit all. Platanes is lively but not too noisy it would suit families and couples. The Steki, Vergina 2 and Kelari come highy recommended. There are plenty of supermarkets and a Lidl just round the corner for those who are self catering. There are cash machines and a pharmacy close by. You can book trips just by the Axos and also hire a car. We went on a great trip to Elounda, Ag Nik and Spinalonga ( for those who have read the book The Island you will find it very moving). Well if you don't visit this wonderful place you will certainly be missing out on a great holiday. Oh i musn't forget to mention those two lovely boys at the bar, Yannis & Manos. At the end of the night sitting at the bar is real entertainment watching Yannis ( TOM GEORGE) mixing his cocktails.

My mother and I stayed 10 days at the Axos hotel end June 2008. We got tipped about this hotel by my brother who was working there at the time. This hotel with the most friendly and polite staff ever, has a super location in Platanias/Platanes, center village, near the beach, but still very quiet. We loved going to the beach in the morning and relaxing by the Axos swimming pool in the afternoon. The rooms are nice and clean, rather basic but I assure you won't need more than that on a summer holiday in Crete. I might want to advise the Axos staff to replace the spring mattresses... I guess they did their duty through the years (Axos will be renovated by next year, so....?). I also loved the Axos bar with fun music and comfortable sofas! Greetings!

My Gilfriend and I stayed at the Axos Hotel in July 2008 along with two of our friends. We are all in our early 20s / late teens and were looking for a holiday which would be fun and relaxing. The Axos turned out to be both. The Staff at the Hotel made our holiday. They were friendly, funny and very welcoming. The Hotel is a family run business and they do an excellent job. Upon our arrival, in the middle of the night, they gave us a welcome drink and made us some pizza! Our studio room was all we could ask for with a great Kitchenette, Dining table and double bed. We would have been lost without the Air Conditioning which ensured a good nights sleep. The only fault i could pick up on was the shower wasn't that great and had to be hand held. The beach was a two minute walk away and was verry clean. There was pleanty to do localy without being too lively. A short walk from the hotel we found bars, restaurants, gift shops and a place to book excursions. One day we took an excursion on the Barbarosa Pirate Ship. We swam in the crystal clear sea, Visited Caves and speant a coupla of hours at a beautiful remote beach. A short taxi drive away (6€) was the venition harbour, old town, castle and lots of great bars and restaurants. We ended most nights with a drink it the hotel bar which seemed to be amoungst the most popular bars on the strech. Thanks a lot to all the Staff at Axos! (and Mr Steki) We will definatly be looking to go back again! Yamas!

We have been holidaying at the Axos Hotel for nine years , we have been made welcome from the first time we visited Crete in this lovely Hotel. The family run buisness is second to none, and nothing is to much trouble. The Hotel is in a good location, 100 metres from the beach, and a good beach it is,there is lots of friendly Tavernas nearby, shops,pharmacy, basicly.everything you may need for a holiday.The Hotel is situated 6 kilometres ftom Rethymon,and you can catch a bus ,the service is regular .Both the Airports,Heraklion, and Chania,are only an hour by bus,or,you could hire a car from Takis at Voyager car rentals, which is only a few metres from the Hotel to explore this beautifull lsland.We are only two of many peaple who return regulary every year to the Axos, sometimes more than once a year, this Hotel Axos is highly recomended.

My husband and I spent a fortnight here recently on a self-catering basis. Our accomodation was a studio for 3 people with 1 double bed and 1 single.. The room was very spacious and well laid out, the kitchen area consisting of the usual (for Greece) sink/drainer/2 electric rings unit. There was also a fridge, kettle, toaster, sandwich toaster and coffee maker. There was air-conditioning available which we were very grateful for as the weather was extremely hot and humid during our stay. The bathroom a good size with a very small bath with shower over, toilet, sink and hairdryer. The room was cleaned 6 days per week with towels and linen changed twice per week. The hotel is run by a lovely family who also own the bar, jewellery shop and ice-cream shop within the same building. The family were always smiling and cheerful and very encouraging with my efforts to speak Greek! The resort of Platanias is quite busy, most of the visitors being couples and families of many nationalities. The beach is long and straight but we would warn people to beware of the sea, especially with children. The sand/shingle slopes very steeply into the sea which soon becomes very deep. There is a quite strong undercurrent as well and on some days there were lots of very strong waves, however, there is a red/green flag system in place and a lifeguard patrolling the beach. This was our 10th visit to Greece but our first to Crete; we have always found the Greek people to be warm and welcoming but have to say that in Crete, we found this to be even more so. Taverna owners shake your hand on entering and leaving - even the sunbed man on the beach did so. If you returned to a taverna, they remembered you and welcomed you back as a friend. We visited quite a few of the tavernas in Platanias during our stay, and even though we settled on a couple of favourites - Vergina No.2 and To Steki - all the food we had was plentiful and good. If I have to make any criticism at all, I have to say that the bed in our room was very hard and uncomfortable with badly fitting sheets. Having said this, it did not spoil our holiday at all. If we return to Crete in the future, we would probably stay in a different resort, just because the island is so big and we would like to see another part of it, but would definitely visit here during our stay