Despo Hotel

1 reader found this review helpful

I booked this hotel for two adults and a 6 year old and a 2 year old. When I booked this hotel I booked it after reading several reviews saying how nice it was and how the food was lovely. It is a small hotel which I thought would be ideal for my two year old who has a tendency to run off! It is only 10 minutes away from the airport (not 45 which was on my transfer information). When we pulled up it was one of those moments when you're wishing it wasn't your hotel, it's on a main road and to get to Gouves you have to cross a very busy road with no crossing. There was a lack of information when checking in as to the location of everything, but the hotel is small enough and you could see pretty much where everything was from reception.
The room. When you go away you usually expect something pretty basic, but this was beyond basic. The room itself was very small, a double bed, single bed and a camping bed in it, there was virtually no space to put any clothes and the room wasn't big enough to put the suitcases anywhere to even live out of them for a week! The beds were made out of concrete with only a thin mattress over them, they were very uncomfortable. Spoke to a few people over the week we were there and lots of them ended up on the sun loungers early in the morning because they were more comfortable than the beds! Then there was the bathroom, again you don't expect a power shower or anything like that, but it was dirty, smelt of stagnant water and you couldn't use the shower on the bracket you had to hold the shower head and use it that way, but you couldn't stay in there very many minutes because the tray filled up quicker than it went down! Although I think we were lucky to have a bathroom, some of the rooms in the basement of the hotel, yes there were rooms in the basement of the hotel, didnt even have bathrooms, they had a shared facility which was also the toilets for the rest of the hotel to use when around the pool!
The food. I am not a fussy eater I do eat most things so can honestly say I had some lovely food, however, I also have two kids and my daughter ate virtually nothing out of the restaurant all week. The choice of food is very limited, we found lunchtimes consisted of pasta and chips every day. The salad table though was excellent. Breakfasts left a lot to be desired, you could have either toast, bread or cornflakes, but the bowls were not much larger than the size of ramekin dishes! They also put on boiled eggs but once they were gone they weren't replaced. Also once the bread for toast was gone that wasn't replaced either. If you wanted fried eggs, or sausages or bacon there was an extra charge. Not sure why they could boil an egg for nothing but you had to pay them to fry one!
The drinks. The most disappointing thing we found with the drinks was at the bar by the pool (the only place you could get drinks besides the restaurant) you could not get a none fizzy drink for my daughter, in the restaurant you could get still orange out of a machine but when I tried to fill up her bottle out of it was told I had to use a glass. I refused and said my daughter is 2 and she is not using a glass, they begrudgingly backed down eventually but I found I had to do this every meal time so she had something to drink during the day. You had a choice of coke, fanta or sprite. Alcohol consisted of red wine, white wine, brandy, ouzo, raki and beer. If you wanted fresh orange they charged you 2.30 euros per glass! The service was very poor also, especially late afternoon and evenings, the barman would leave a bar full of people to change cd's, or have a drink himself! We found if you took your empty glass back he'd serve you quicker. You can only have one drink at a time, if you want two for yourself you have to pay for the second.
There was no snack bar during the day, you could go to the pool bar for ice cream between 3-6pm every day and apparently there was a snack of the day but I never saw this.
The pool. I read before we left there were ample sun loungers and space for everyone, there isn't anywhere near enough. The space around the pool is small, sun loungers almost sitting on the pool edge which made it dangerous to walk around (I was more wary of this with the kids). The children's pool was nice, but very slippy underfoot inside the pool. The bigger pool is very deep, the shallow end is only small.
There is no entertainment at this hotel, but what they don't tell you is they have a taverna next to the restaurant where they host weddings and other occasions, they do invite guests to join for 15 euros a head! They have live music which is very loud and goes on into the early hours of the morning. Not so quiet a hotel!
The air conditioning charge is 7 euros a night, or 60 euros a week. We didn't get the air conditioning, we saw a few people buying fans for their room instead, we were luckily given a fan from a family who were leaving and found it a god send as we could shut our balcony doors and drown some of the noise out.
All in all we found this the stingiest all inclusive holiday, if they can put an extra charge on anything they would, there portions were small and the food was limited (that said none of us except my daughter were hungry we always found something). We were fortunate with the children really, some people we spoke to with children were having to go out for every meal as none of their children would eat anything as there was no "kiddy" food. The general consensus from other guests we spoke to were they need to sort out the beds, the air con and the bathrooms and the food, which when you go all inclusive that's a lot to sort out. Something we found out shortly before we came home was you could upgrade to a better room (for an extra charge of course!) to a bigger room with a tv, fridge and air conditioning.
We can honestly say we were very disappointed, it cost just over £1,700.00 to go there and we did not see £1,700 worth at all. We will not be going back and would not recommend it to anyone. Although if you booked it as a cheap last minute deal you probably would be pleased with what you got!

3 readers found this review helpful

After booking the holiday we read the reviews and thought what have we done, judge it when we get there, on arrival we was given our key to one off the old rooms, well we walked in my husband pulled a switch cord and it fell off in his hand with that we was paying an extra 130 euros to upgrade to a better room.The private wedding partys start at 10ishpm and finish at 4ish,am, 15 euros to join, i dident get any sleep,(you need a good drink to help you sleep through the noise). There is a main road to cross to get to the beaches.The food was a big let down,we spent alot off our money eating out. The grandson loved the pool and can now swim.The staff where all really nice, the barman the best.The weather was great for the whole 2 weeks we were there.

3 readers found this review helpful

To say the food was poor is an understatement!We did not want or expect english food,i love tasting local food when we go on our hols.It is not a good representation of greek food at all. Poor quality,watered down milk for the cereal,tinned peaches every day for breakfast (unless there was any fresh fruit salad from prev eve meal)even the bread was almost inedible.Dinners consisted of Instant mash the consistency of a sauce,over boiled frozen veg,fatty pork,more fatty pork,rabbit,and goat although thay said was beef,and as vegetarians the choice was less than ltd. one day was slices of toms with slices of courgette with garlic sprinkled over it and put in the oven for 5 min as all raw.one day the only thing veg was boiled frozen carrots.the manager then brought out a selection of dishes after we complained.These dishes where avail as there was a wedding being held at the hotel that night,so was nice to know they where not served the same slop the paying guests where.Oh by the way the wedding went on till 3.30 in the morning and kept the whole hotel awake.The owner was not answering his phone when the rep called him, and then turned off his phone. The barman George was nice to the people who either tipped him or gave him free cigs,the others he kept waiting in a ques for up to 20 min, by going out the back,talking or giving drinks to those who had tipped him earlier.Also bullied people into taking glasses back by refusing to serve a drink unless you did,as he said he was not paid to collect glasses.He acted as though he was doing you a favour, and i pointed out the drinks where not free,we had already paid for them.Drinks are of a very poor quality even the soft drinks.Water, fresh juice,most spirits had to be paid for.the vodka gin that was free,was watered down.Good points are the room was clean,although the sheets where not changed in the week we where there.49euro for the air con for the week, and we where lucky as we had one of the good rooms as we paid the extra £44 before we went as some of the rooms where less than bearable.There was strong fumes of petrol coming up from the basement area, and was told was the boiler room.Then when we pointed this out the next day again,was lied to and was told was coming from the next house through the window.You also have to stumble around in the dark as most lights are off in the grounds and corridors.Most guests where going out for food,even though they had paid for all inclusive.Even the meat eaters said the food was bland,fatty,inedible,and always in a brown fatty gravy. If you want to loose weight,go to the hotel Despo

2 readers found this review helpful

Booked through 'On The Beach'. 2 x aduts, 1 week, all inc. at the Hotel Despo, Gouves. Arrived in reception 10:15 PM, Receptionist asked us to complete check-in forms etc. then explained 10 rooms have plumbing probs so they will put us in their sister hotel, the Kalia Beach. We protested, said we had selected Despo and have no interest of staying elsewhere and we had not paid to be 'allocated on arrival'. She shrugged her shoulders, said there is nothing she can do, the Manager is asleep and will not answer his phone, and now we must leave the premises, the taxi is booked.
We went to the gates unaccompanied and somewhat frustrated, tired and very angry.
Taxi arrived and driver said 'you are another overbooked, the Despo send you to Kalia, I know' ......
Arrived at Kalia, shown to a dark and very basically furnished room just 40 feet from the main reception desk, TV area and communal lounge. We had just finished unpacking when the Night Porter knocked at our door, said problem with room, so we re-packed and he moved us 2 rooms down - nearer to reception/TV/lounge etc.
Unpacked again. Went to get a drink, but told all inc.
finished at 11:00PM. We explained could have been here
at 10:15 if told at airport of hotel change etc. They would not give and charged us for the drinks.
Next day @ 8:00 AM we got our first look at the Kalia and it looked okay, but no available
sunbeds and only 6 umbrellas supplied. Later we learned vodka was not on the all inc. list, so had to pay [it is included at the Despo]. Awaited Rep, due at 11:30 AM for welcome talk but no show. Rang office, told she was dealing with a problem elsewhere and would visit the following day (nobody from office thought to telephone the Kalia to pass on a message to us and the other 8 guests waiting in Reception).
Eventually met and moaned at the Rep who informed us that the Despo & Kalia were sister hotels and the Despo have been overbooking rooms for a number of weeks, then shipping their customers to the Kalia. She confirmed by 10 rooms on the day we arrived and by another 5 rooms the following day. Said they had been told numerous times to stop, but continue to do it. And by a strange coincidence, they always have vacant rooms ready and waiting at the Kalia!
This is terrible customer service and undoubtedly a disappointing start to everyone's holiday. We are told that 'On The Beach' are aware but have done absolutely nothing to rectify this ongoing scam.
I'd like to advise everyone to avoid both hotels.

8 readers found this review helpful

I KNOW THIS IS A LONG REVIEW BUT PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT I HAVE TRIED TO GIVE AS MUCH FIRST HAND INFO AS POSSIBLE SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCE WE DID!!!!
We booked this hotel for our honeymoon, wot a disapointment. Me, my husband, son of two and my parents went for 2 weeks on 18th June 2010, the hotel had been described as family friendly wot a croc, lets start from the beginning. On arrival we were left outside the hotel at 5.15am by the rep and found the reception ourselves, check in was long and tedious we had to all fill out forms with our passport details, the night man told us if we didnt like our rooms to speak to reception in the morning, quite an odd thing to say on first arrival. He was right the rooms were disgusting they looked like an asylum, the pictures you see of the rooms on the net are the superior rooms which we ended up having to upgrade to due to the state of the rooms we had been given which was 130 euro per room, my parents room had broken glass all over the floor and werent even big enough to swing a cat in. The hotel provides facilities for outsiders to use for parties, great you might think, oh no not when you have a two year old and the parties, weddings etc start at 11pm and go on until 530am and they are not quiet this happened 5 times during our 2 week stay. Air con cost 90 euro also for the fortnight this is the ony hotel I have ben to that charges for water, there is no fresh drinking water available unless you pay for it, the food is pork EVERYDAY, this was an all inclusive holiday, wot an understatement, breakfast is leather toast and hard boiled eggs everyday, lunch begins at 1pm, consists of salad and pork, evening meal begins at 7pm also pork or beef that looks like dog food (its actually goat but they tell you its beef) and the same salad that was out for lunch this is not covereved or cooled just covered in flies, also note that you are handed your food this is not self service and are given a small amount at that, most of your time in the dining room is spent queing, snack around the pool begins at 3pm which is ice-cream and a spinach pasty???? you are not allowed ice-cream before 3pm so dont ask! There arnt enough sunbeds for everyone in the hotel so you have to get up around 7am or earlier to get your beds if your staying round the pool and the sunbeds they have are all falling to bits and lots of them have sharp bits on so be careful. Olympic reps couldn't care less about your problems so if you have booked with them don't waste your breath. The childrens park which is outside the restaurant is a giant cat litter tray it is full of cat poo which they rake over every morning so you can't see it, there is absolutely no entertainment on an evening after tea you go back to the pool bar which is the only one open to sit around the pool in your clean clothes where people have sat all day in there sun cream, obviously with young children this is not safe as it is very close to the water, if we were to do this I would have had to keep my son in his pram all night which is not why I took him on holiday. All in all I can say this is the worst place I have ever stayed on holiday, we have stayed in 18-30s accommodation that has been better than this, India was better than this!!! My parents have never been to crete or greece and after this experience they will never go again which is ashame as greece is such a nice place, needless to say we spent an absolute fortune as having to eat out all the time, if your thinking of booking here definately take my advice and DON'T but if you do or have already booked take loads of bug spray the mosquitos are viscious out there.. Hope this helps you to make a descision.

3 readers found this review helpful

HOTEL
Despo Hotel is average size with 70 rooms, quite a large reception area with some nice sitting areas inside. It's set in lovely gardens, which are kept well and has a little play park for the kids but no kids club or entertainment as advertised on the internet and in brochures. We had a kareoke one night during our 2 week stay - maybe this increases during july and August but obviously nothing much happens there in May/June.
It has 2 pools - one for adults and one kids pool but there is not enough sunbeds or tables/chairs for everyone to sit outside. There is one bar outside with one person serving you and you must take your glasses back to the bar if you want another drink. Glasses meaning glasses - not plastic cups as you would expect around the pool area with children about - I lost count of the number of glasses that were smashed during my 2 week stay and if you smash a glass - it's your responsibility to clean it up.
Our room was very small with one double bed and a bunk bed but I suppose that's ok as it was just a base to sleep in. However, the Superior rooms were better I was told so if you can, book them. The rooms were very hot and Air conditioning cost 7euros a day which is a lot if you're there for 2 weeks so we just didn't bother. It cost 25 euros to keep your room for the last day but even then you had to check out of it at 6pm. The cleaners came every day and replaced towels, emptied the bins and made up the beds, but that's about it really - we didn't get any clean bed sheets for the duration and the floors in the rooms were only mopped/brushed about 2/3 times. The rest of the hotel's interior was clean enough though but I didn't see anyone clean the outside areas at all. We wiped down our own tables every night after they had been used during the day.
The food at Despo was nice enough and plentiful and the waitering staff were very nice and very polite - a lot of people did complain about the food not being to their liking though, but my opinion is if you want traditional english food then don't go to Crete. There was potatoes, chips or pasta/spaghetti and salads every day so you won't starve. The one thing I won't miss however are the flies - they were everwhere: round the pool, in the restaurant, in the hotel!!!!!!!
LOCATION
The good thing about Despo Hotel is that it's only about 15 mins taxi ride away from the Airport which and cost between 25-30 euros. There is not much else around the hotel apart from one pub across the road and a small supermarket a bit further along up the road. To get to the closest beach you need to cross a very busy main road (which is horrendus at times with the volume and speed of traffic) and it will take you about 15 minutes walk to get to a ver small, basic beach. And don't expect much on your way down there - there's nothing to see apart from fields and building works and one or two shops and tavernas. There is another beach in the Centre of Gouves, which is good and a really lovely part of the island with lots of nice little tavernas, bars and shops and a few little beaches. The hotel will provide free transport to the centre but the only downside is that the it takes you at 10am and comes back for you at 2 - there's no option to stay longer is you wished to. However - well worth it and would certainly recommend going. Aqua City is about half an hour bus ride away and costs 30 euros for adults and children over 13 and 20 euros for children between the ages of 5-12 - under 4's are free. Again this is a good day out and well worth it.
Despo's is not the best I've been to but certainly not the worst either. The hotel in itself was ok with friendly staff but the location is not good when you have kids to entertain and keep occupied for 14 days. I wouldn't return here or receommend it for 2 weeks - one week would be enough here as it gets a bit boring with nothing to see or do and the lack of entertainment / activities here (It's also very expensive to eat/drink out if you do fancy a change from the all inclusive)

4 readers found this review helpful

This was a great hotel, the room was a great size for a couple, we had tv, air con, fridge all the mod cons you would expect! The food was great, everything you could ask for for any diet! The cocktails were great and free if your all-inclusive which is a nice change! It was very mixed from family to young and older couples! We stayed in the Apartments next to the hotel which was good if you wanted a bit of quiet from the entertainers, who were also really good, great for kids, nightime entertainment was good for us big kids too! The beach is 5mins away, ther is loads of trips available, also a daytrip to eqypt that I wish I had known before hand or I would have took more money to go! We also went a boat trip with luch included which sailed the coast! All in all this is a beautiful place to visit!

2 readers found this review helpful

i think the reviews above had a worse time than us, and by the sound of it had very different staff.
on arrival we were greeted very nicely by the staff and directed to our room. the room was a hole, we had concrete slabs with matress' on and a concrete head board (needless to say our heads were sore after rolling around and banging them regularly). bathroom was clean but basic. there wasn't only enough room to walk around the bedroom which resulted in my partner breaking his toe.
the pool was lovely, only issues: glass around the pool and not enough sunbeds.
beach is miles away, we walked for half hour and was unable to find it.
majority of the staff were friendly enough but the restaurant manager was rude and thought nothing of shouting over the room at you. we actually found the food fantastic, its not all burgers, chips and stuff like that but it was more greek food with 3 different meats every meal. as a veggi i was slightly more limited but loved it all the same.
after talking to some of the other guests, the majority of us felt the same, none of us went hungry at all.
we also found out that we all had different rooms, some beds are wooden and some have fridges some have tvs. we all had aircon but it at an extra cost.

Nice hotel nice pool free bar 11am-11pm.good Greek salad and Greek food with potatoes or chips.

10 readers found this review helpful

My partner and I have just returned from two weeks all inc. at The Hotel Despo. We thought that the hotel itself was quite nice. The rooms were clean, the hotel staff were friendly enough, the gardens were very well looked after as was the pool area. The food was more than adequate and pretty much what we had expected based on the price we paid - not elaborate but certainly more than good enough to live on for the time we were there. We only really had three complaints.
1. The location... right next to one of the busiest roads in north Crete! In order to get to the very attractive beach and sea front you will have to cross this road and judging by the many roadside shrines next to the crossing points - this is not always a successful experience.
2. The noise. At no point during our stay did we ever get a "quiet night" - I'm not talking about barking dogs and the occasional quad bike/moped which you would expect. The hotel staff seemed to be active throughout the night moving crates of glass bottles across cobble pathways, shouting across long distances and on occasion literally whistling whilst they worked at 3am!!!
3. The Weddings. Each Saturday (we were there for two!) the Taverna located next door which also acts as the restarant for the Hotel hosts a traditional greek wedding. This normally starts at 10pm although the staff in the restaurant give their full attentin to this event and trest the hotel guest as littel more than a nuisance even to the extent that they begin to re-arrange furniture around you and quite literally grab cutlery and empty plates the moment you finish with them. The music kicks off at about 11pm... and continues through to 3 or 4am. No consideration is given to any of the hotel guests!
In Summary then, It's a very nice hotel, the staff that we encountered were friendly. The Food was OK, The Location is terrible, the noise was almost unbearable, and I could not in all fairness recommend this hotel to anybody and the bad boints certainly outweigh the good.