Phāea Cretan Malia, a Member of Design Hotels

Explore Phāea Cretan Malia, a Member of Design Hotels
9.0
Exceptional
From 395 reviews
Cleanliness

9.0

Room Comfort

9.0

Location

9.0

Service and Facilites

9.2

Traveller Reviews Phāea Cretan Malia, a Member of Design Hotels

Number of reviews per page
20
40
Top reviews
Shanti
icon-with Children
with Children
10.0
/10
Reviewed 15 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

Beautiful property and lovely food - great for families
Gemma
icon-with Children
with Children
10.0
/10
Reviewed 45 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

This is such a brilliant hotel for young families. It’s a really beautiful place with some lovely restaurants, bars & some cute additions like the gelateria & the little on-site kafenio. The staff are brilliant with kids and they’ve thought of everything you need. Malia isn’t the prettiest area, but parts of the Old Town are charming with some lovely, great value restaurants. My only criticism of this hotel how expensive the restaurant are. We chose not to go half board or all-included but I wish we had – I think it would’ve been much better value overall!
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daniel
icon-Friends and Family Family
Friends and Family Family
10.0
/10
Reviewed 45 week(s) ago

Hotels.com verified review

great hotel
Bryony Claire
icon-Leisure with Children
Leisure with Children
8.0
/10
Reviewed 46 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

Pros Rooms very nice with everything you need Huge beds Staff very friendly Food and setting at the restaurants lovely (especially Cretan and Italian) Kids play area was nice to have especially on a rainy day Design of property is stunning Cat cafe and organic garden were nice places to potter around Cons/areas for improvement Relatively small for a resort and not much to do around the resort. Bungalow rooms are not actually bungalows - our room was on the first floor Balconies small Pools not heated enough to be a pleasant experience in October (24 degrees outside). Daughter was turning blue! There’s a nice splash pool for toddlers but it’s under trees so coated in tree debris all the time - feels like it should’ve been cleaned out more regularly Menus were all on qr codes in the app but you couldn’t order through the app There was a yoga pavilion so I expected to be able to pop along to yoga classes but they only had private yoga classes on offer. Every other resort I’ve stayed in does free sessions once or twice a day Massage was lovely but availability was very limited so recommend booking in advance. Offers were advertised but not honoured. Seemed to be one “experience” available most days but they were pricey. For example Brad making we’d have paid €200 for two suits and a one year old Similarly we paid €23 for our daughter at the buffet (but she was free the second time) Difficult to get restaurant reservations within a day or two Beach not the nicest
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nneka
10.0
/10
Reviewed 54 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

Amazing family resort
Daniel
10.0
/10
Reviewed 54 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

Beautiful resort, totally kid friendly, pristine beach and pool, amazing staff, excellent food. Would recommend 100 times out of 100
Jessica
icon-Leisure Family
Leisure Family
10.0
/10
Reviewed 55 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

We spent a week here with our two daughters. It was an amazing experience. The hotel itself is beautifully designed with several options for swimming and laying out. It was great to be able to stay at a hotel where we could access the ocean directly. We never had issues finding beach chairs. The staff was incredibly nice and the food was excellent. Would love to return here again someday!
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Natalie
icon-Leisure with Partner
Leisure with Partner
2.0
/10
Reviewed 56 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

Misleading, chaotic, and not as advertised: We booked this hotel for a romantic birthday getaway after seeing the beautiful photos and descriptions online and on their social media. Everything suggested it was a peaceful, couple-friendly place — perfect for celebrating. The reality could not have been further from that. When we arrived, there were children running around everywhere. Walking to our room, we passed hundreds of children, overcrowded areas, sun loungers blocking the paths, and even a dirty nappy right outside our door. It felt completely over capacity and nothing like the relaxing escape we’d been promised. We decided to at least try a cocktail before making any decisions, but the bar area was just as chaotic — yet again, swarms of children running around unsupervised. At that point, we cancelled our stay and booked another hotel immediately. If you’re looking for a quiet, romantic, or special occasion stay, this is not the place. Completely misleading advertising and a very disappointing experience
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Zaki
icon-Leisure with Partner
Leisure with Partner
2.0
/10
Reviewed 58 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

AVOID AT ALL COST !!! this hotel is not adult friendly. thousands of kids running around screaming all day and night. parents lounging on the grass and walking areas everywhere. beach is rocky. breakfast buffet is average with a lot of frozen foods. not worthy of the design hotel list.
Maxine Victoria
10.0
/10
Reviewed 62 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

The hotel had a calm, relaxing atmosphere, good choice of restaurants and was perfectly located on the coast.
Brandon
icon-Leisure Family
Leisure Family
10.0
/10
Reviewed 62 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

We stayed here in June. The large family suite with bunk beds was very comfortable and the staff was very diligent about replacing towels which was really appreciated. The room was supposed to be seafront but in reality we were looking at trees blocking the view. The beach is great IF not windy. We had a few days where the wind meant no swimming at the beach was allowed. No big deal but something to be aware of. Mezze and Mouries restaurant had great food. The breakfast options are also great. The Italian restaurant was our least favorite, with some of the food lacking flavor, but the view overlooking the beach is special. It was a bit frustrating that the Beach Shack was closed for food on Sunday but the food was good when open. There were always chairs on the beach. We were there for over a week and the kids requested to try kids club and enjoyed it. It was very well staffed (6 staff for 3 kids) so they clearly enjoyed the attention. Cons: wish it was possible to order drinks poolside. We were coming from the States and in hindsight, Malia is a bit far to visit some of the best beaches on Crete. We chose it because it was close to Palace of Knossos and the archeology museum but we ended up spending a night in Chania to go to Elofonisi bc it’s too far for a day trip. The hotel app was not particularly useful. Everytime I tried to make a reservation for dinner I got an error. On the plus side, I called the hotel to make the reservations and always got what we wanted.
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James
icon-with Partner
with Partner
8.0
/10
Reviewed 63 week(s) ago

Hotels.com verified review

Well kept and lovely decor. Nice beach setup. Very big and more suited to families. Don’t think we have ever seen more babies, didn’t bother us but be prepared for a lot of baby strollers. Only disappointment was food. Breakfast buffet is excellent but dinner is at best mediocre. Problem is the restaurants cater to all inclusive guests and a la carte, which in this case meant ok service and disappointing food. Also Malia, the nearby town, is strictly bars and nightclubs, zero charm. Agios Nikalos 30 minutes away much nicer.
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Nick
icon-Leisure with Partner
Leisure with Partner
10.0
/10
Reviewed 66 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

Everything was exceptional – the room, food, service, staff, facilities, and location. We would definitely recommend the hotel and would stay there again without hesitation.
Dominic
icon-Leisure Family
Leisure Family
10.0
/10
Reviewed 68 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

Only downside for us was the huge number of families there with babies.
Catherine
icon-Leisure with Children
Leisure with Children
8.0
/10
Reviewed 95 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

We had a lovely holiday here. The kids club was brilliant, the restaurants were excellent quality food in all the restaurants. Other guests we met on holiday who were half board and eating in the dinner buffet each night loved it. Kids were welcome in the buffet with a kids section that is a bit like school dinners to choose from. The breakfast buffet was brilliant and the hotel’s programme of events and activities are great for families. My two negatives was that the restaurants outside of the buffet, were inflexible for children, which overall made me feel that the hotel would rather you were eating in the buffet restaurant if you are there with kids.. which isn’t for us. We booked bed and breakfast because we enjoy the freedom for our other meals to be in or out of the hotel and restaurant experiences as a family are something we enjoy on holiday. We had some great meals in nearby restaurants that were very welcoming for kids too so if you’re the same, and don’t enjoy hotel buffet dinners, then there’s places to go outside of the resort. And then my only other disappointment was the towels were threadbare and our room wasn’t as clean as I would’ve expected. Overall a 4 star experience. Not the touches you would expect for 5 star. Crete was amazing as ever.
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Stephen
icon-with Partner
with Partner
10.0
/10
Reviewed 99 week(s) ago

Hotels.com verified review

Lovely hotel, main pool quite busy but the private beach was amazing with great beach bar and chilled music. We avoided the buffet and had incredible food at both the Cretan restaurant for breakfast and dinner and the Italian for dinner. Charming staff, just needs a minor rethink in bathroom as shower was narrow due to placement of soap holder. Overall a fantastic experience and would highly recommend and return
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Joao Paulo
icon-Leisure Family
Leisure Family
10.0
/10
Reviewed 100 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

Beautiful hotel, great family atmosphere with the most down to earth staff. Would highly recommend, what a unique and wonderful experience!
ATHANASIA
icon-Leisure with Partner
Leisure with Partner
10.0
/10
Reviewed 102 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

Beautiful property and lovely staff throughout. Would stay again.
Seamus
icon-Leisure with Children
Leisure with Children
6.0
/10
Reviewed 103 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

The resort is stunning, absolutely beautiful and the staff was very nice and friendly. Very good resort for families so would recommend if you want to have a relaxing week with your little ones, would suggest for up to 3 years old as they have more activities for the little ones. In terms of food I was expecting a bit more for the price and with the half board only one restaurant is included (excluding drinks) so it’s best to get the all inclusive, feel booking through Expedia wasn’t very clear and there was a confusion on what was included and what not. Drinks were amazing especially cocktails and the wine was very nice. Beach was a bit disappointed as i was expecting more as it was rocky and small. Informations were a bit unclear sometimes but overall was a nice relaxing holiday with our little baby.
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yara
icon-Leisure with Partner
Leisure with Partner
10.0
/10
Reviewed 105 week(s) ago

Expedia Group verified review

When we arrived the service was great. Hotel was amazing the room was exactly the one I booked. Food was great in the restaurants but the prices are ridiculous.. I mean is this a Michelin star chicken wrap or what!? Either way it was great. The only thing that’s really annoying is that the hotel clearly says you cannot leave your swim towels on the beds to “claim” them. However people did this every morning. By 9am the poolside beds are taken … even though you can’t see anyone there, they all have towels on them. I guess people wake up and leave their towels and bags to claim the spot and then they go for breakfast. Hotel staff does nothing about this. In addition the riverside pool, ALL the beds by that pool are reserved for people that are staying in the bigger properties. Now this is really unfair. This means we cannot lay on those beds as someone can come at anytime and claim it.. so really how can I use any pool?? If this is the case the main pool should be reserved for people staying on that side of the hotel. But no, people have the riverside pool beds reserved but they also come to the main pool and take the beds… honestly it’s really annoying. We paid just as much but it seems that families have priority here. Upon leaving the service was very disappointing. There was staff I did not recognise but she seemed mad that I needed a transfer to the airport and no one said bye or the usual things hotel staff says during checkout. Her attitude was off.
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Number of reviews per page
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