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- Greece’s (Unfair?) Reputation For Bad Service
- I Finally Visited Crete: My New Favorite Greek Island?
- Review: Domes Zeen Chania, Marriott Luxury Collection
- Review: Blue Palace Elounda, Marriott Luxury Collection
- Ugh: I Was Accused Of Damaging My Rental Car
- Review: SeaJets Ferries Greece
- Our Unexpected Stay At Mystique Santorini #Bonvoyed
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- Review: Katikies Mykonos Hotel
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For our first four nights in Greece we stayed at the 102-room Domes Zeen Chania, a Marriott Luxury Collection property on the island of Crete. In this post I wanted to review the property in detail.
Long story short, despite some hiccups with our stay, I’d recommend staying here. Not because it’s individually the greatest hotel in the world, but because it’s one of the best hotels in a beautiful area, and the property has a lot of redeeming qualities.
In this post:
How & why I booked Domes Zeen Chania
We spent a week in Crete, which I adored. Crete is the biggest island in Greece, and we decided that it made the most sense to split our time between two parts of the island. For the first portion of our stay we visited Chania, located in the northwest of Crete), and then we spent the balance of our time in the Heraklion area (in the northeast of Crete).
In Chania there are two best points hotel options, both belonging to Marriott Bonvoy — there’s Domes Zeen Chania, a Marriott Luxury Collection property, and then there’s Domes Noruz Chania, a Marriott Autograph Collection property. We selected the former, and were ultimately happy with that decision.
When it came to booking our room, I decided to just outright book a two bedroom villa, since I was traveling with my mom and her partner, and we valued being able to have one area to hang out in. For context, base rooms (which I would have had to book two of) cost around $300 each, while the two bedroom villa cost $700.
Realistically the difference wasn’t that much (compared to booking two standard rooms), and on top of that the two bedroom villa came with some extra inclusions, like breakfast and dinner each day, access to the Haute Living Room (including food & drinks), 10,000 bonus Bonvoy points, a welcome bottle of wine and fruit plate, and more.
While this wasn’t cheap, ultimately I thought it was fair for what we were getting.
As a point of comparison, Domes Zeen Chania is a Category 7 Marriott Bonvoy property, meaning a free night redemption costs anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 points per night, depending on whether it’s off-peak, standard, or peak.
Domes Zeen Chania’s interesting history
This hotel first opened back in 2018, and was known as Casa Cook Chania. The hotel was owned by Thomas Cook, the European vacation package company, which owned both hotels and airlines. Thomas Cook went out of business in 2019. At that point the hotel was rebranded as a Marriott Luxury Collection, which is what it opened as for the summer 2020 season.
This made me confused and skeptical going into our hotel stay. I was confused because the pictures online made the hotel look very nice. At the same time, I didn’t necessarily have very high hopes of a hotel that was built specifically for package vacation holidays. And while this was one of Thomas Cook’s higher end properties, Thomas Cook wasn’t exactly known for luxury.
Domes Zeen Chania location
Domes Zeen Chania has a fantastic location. It’s really close to the city of Chania, and just a short 10-minute drive from the old port and old town, which are popular with visitors.
You’ll definitely want a car in Crete — driving is easy, and parking at the hotel is free. This gives you the freedom to explore the area, from visiting wineries nearby, to visiting the island’s best beaches (like Balos and Elafonissi), to spending a day driving through the mountains.
By the way, you might at first be confused when you pull up to the hotel. The one-lane road leading up to the hotel is located behind a gas station, and you might not even realize it’s there. No, you’re not lost when your GPS basically tells you to turn into a small street behind a gas station.
Domes Zeen Chania check-in & lobby
Even though we arrived at the hotel late at night, the check-in process was still smooth. There were several staff working, and one person offered to park our car and take our bags, while another person checked us in, while another person offered us a drink.
The lobby was cute and modern, with plenty of seating, and a generally inviting feel.
The lobby even has some outdoor seating with views of the property. This gives you a good sense of the layout of the resort — it’s built into a hill, with the lobby being the highest point of the property, and the pool and restaurant being the lowest point.
We were assigned room 1002, which was a two bedroom suite located just below the lobby. This meant that we had among the best views (since we were high up), but also meant that it was the longest walk to the pool and restaurant.
The hotel has a set of stairs from the top to the bottom, or alternatively there are winding paths, and you can be driven in a golf cart.
Domes Zeen Chania two bedroom family villa
Our two bedroom villa was marketed as being 699 square feet. I find that most hotels exaggerate the size of their rooms (by including outdoor space in the square footage, for example), but in this case the villa was indeed “only” 699 square feet.
Just inside the entrance to the villa was the living room, which featured a couch and two chairs.
Along one wall was a television, as well as a Nespresso machine and minibar, which had snacks and drinks available for purchase.
Waiting on our table was a welcome fruit plate. While the description of the rate I booked indicated there would also be a bottle of wine upon arrival, that never did appear.
The villa had one bedroom on each side of the living room — rather than having proper doors, there were just flimsy sliding doors, so there’s not very good sound insulation between spaces. One bedroom (which I gave to my mom and her partner) featured a king bed.
Along the windows was a chair, along one side of the room was a desk with a wooden chair, and along the other side of the room was a TV, which was awkwardly angled.
Rather bizarrely, this room’s bathroom wasn’t actually in the room, but was off the living room. So there was no way to enter this bathroom from the bedroom without going into the living room. The design also didn’t seem very functional — there was a sink, then there was another sliding door leading into a single area that had both the shower and toilet.
The toilets had a glossy black finish, which seems like a very bad design choice — that’s a guaranteed way to make sure every single spot can be seen.
Toiletries were from the Byredo Le Chemin collection, which I quite liked.
The second bedroom was on the opposite side of the living room, and featured two twin beds that were pushed together. Along one wall was a TV, and then along the other wall was the bathroom, which in this case was actually within the bedroom. Note that this room was otherwise a cave, as there was no natural light, aside from a very small window in the corner.
In the case of this room, there was one room with the toilet, and then one room with the sink and shower, which I found to be a bizarre combination. You basically shower right next to the sink, and it also means that the main mirror is all fogged up when you’re done showering.
There was a severe trash can shortage in the room as well. For example, in the second bedroom, the only trash can was right next to the toilet — there wasn’t one in the bedroom, and wasn’t one in the bathroom by the sink.
The highlight of the room was probably the outdoor space, which featured plenty of seating, as well as a plunge pool.
In particular, it was nice to be able to enjoy the sunsets from here.
We were grateful to have a shared space at this hotel, though the rooms definitely weren’t the highlight of this property. As I mentioned above, this hotel initially opened as a Thomas Cook property in 2018, and the room design gave off that vibe that this wasn’t designed as a “real” luxury hotel.
To me the room felt like it was designed to appear high end on the surface, but a lot of corners were cut. Personally I found the design to largely be impractical. For example, all the furniture was ridiculously low to the ground, there was nowhere you could actually sit and eat (or even play a board game), and most of the seating wasn’t particularly comfortable.
And then there were just so many other strange design choices beyond that, from the flimsy sliding doors, to the strange bathroom setups, to the lack of natural light. I suspect that the regular rooms probably have less objectionable design choices than the two bedroom villas do.
Domes Zeen Chania Beach House Restaurant breakfast
Beach House Restaurant is Domes Zeen Chania’s all-day dining restaurant, and it’s located right next to the pool. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating, and we always sat outside — the views were awesome, and there was never a shortage of tables.
Breakfast was served daily from 7AM until 11:30AM, and primarily consisted of a buffet. The buffet is self serve, though you are required to put on gloves while serving yourself. The buffet consisted of one station along the kitchen, and then another station across from that. Overall I’d say the buffet was excellent.
The buffet included cereal, fresh fruit, pastries, salad, salmon, yogurt, cold cuts, cheese, sweets, eggs, and all kinds of Greek dishes.
You could also order eggs, and on top of that a basket with bread was placed at each table at the start of the meal.
Custom coffee beverages were also available. Service was extremely well intentioned, but my one complaint was the pace of service. Even when the breakfast area was quiet, it took 15-20 minutes to get a cup of coffee. And when the restaurant was full, it regularly took over 20 minutes. We ended up already ordering our second cup of coffee the moment we received our first one.
Domes Zeen Chania half-board dinner
Our rate at Domes Zeen Chania included half-board. You could eat either lunch or dinner, and you could select an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert. While I’d usually consider it a shame to eat at the hotel, in this case the cheapest rate for our room included this, so there was no opportunity cost to it.
This greatly exceeded my expectations — the food was excellent, and this also proved really useful, because we were often tired in the evenings, so this was a handy option for dining.
Dinner was served nightly from 6:30PM until 10:30PM, and you can find the menu here.
The meal always began with a basket with bread and olives being placed on our table.
For starters we tried the mezze, the salad, and the calamari.
For the main course we had the seabass, chicken, and lamb, which came with some sides, including fries and vegetables.
For dessert we had a chocolate mousse dish with ice cream, a vegan dessert, and a cheese plate.
I thought the food was excellent, certainly better than I was expecting for a hotel that includes meals with many rates. And the portions were also huge. Service was also more attentive in the evenings. We also loved watching the sunset from the restaurant.
Domes Zeen Chania also has a fine dining restaurant with a tasting menu. This was closed during our stay, but for that matter I didn’t feel like we missed out — the restaurant was tiny, and the “regular” food was so good already.
Domes Zeen Chania Haute Living
Domes Zeen Chania has what’s called “Haute Living.” You get access to this if you book certain room types and rates, though I don’t believe you get access to this purely based on status. Here’s how this concept is described (my goodness, what puffery):
Found at the intersection of luxury, slow-living simplicity and discreet privacy, our constellation of Haute Living Selection villas and pavilions is an ode to tasteful indulgence.We are no ordinary luxury hotel in Crete. If you want to feel like a veritable VIP, our most privileged options comprise the Haute Living Selection, for families and couples seeking an immersive experience of laid-back, sophisticated hospitality. We want to give you the option to dial up your sun-kissed getaway to the maximum. That’s why we’ve created this exclusive hotel-within-a-hotel concept that allows you to experience unparalleled services and amenities.
The most significant benefit of that is access to the Haute Living Room, which is described as offering all day hot and cold snacks, fruits, salads, traditional delicacies, tea and coffee, branded wines, soft drinks, juices, and more.
This basically sounded to me like an epic club lounge. Well, unfortunately I was disappointed in that sense. The Haute Living Room is in fact just a small room off the lobby, which almost looks like a conference room.
The food selection was limited to a couple of fruit plates, as well as one daily “creation” from the chef.
Most days that was a chocolate croissant that didn’t taste particularly fresh.
The drink selection included a Nespresso machine, tea, a bucket with soft drinks, and some small bottles of wine.
So yeah, lower your expectation of the Haute Living Room. It makes a club lounge at an airport hotel in the United States look good by comparison (which is saying a lot).
Domes Zeen Chania pool & beach
Domes Zeen Chania has one main pool, located next to the restaurant, at the bottom of the resort. There’s plenty of seating around the pool, though a lot of the seating is in a rocky area.
There’s also a beach across from the hotel. There’s a path leading in that direction, then you have to cross a dirt road, and then you arrive at the beach.
Definitely manage your expectations when it comes to the beach — expect big rocks, rather than powdery white sand. Then again, in general you don’t come to Greece for the beaches (though there are exceptions).
Domes Zeen Chania gym
Domes Zeen Chania has a super cute outdoor gym, located towards the bottom of the resort. I love the concept of an outdoor gym, especially during these times. There was a solid selection of both cardio and weights, so big kudos to the hotel for this.
Domes Zeen Chania opening issues
I only realized a day before we arrived that we were actually staying at the hotel for the opening night of the season. That’s usually something I’d recommend avoiding, since it’s rare that everything is perfectly ready to go on the first day. However, we have no regrets in that regard, since we’re so happy with when we visited, since the island was still quiet.
That being said, I think it’s only fair to acknowledge that the hotel really didn’t have stuff in order until about two days after opening.
On the first full day of our stay I tried to use the outdoor gym. As I was lifting weights, someone came running up to me:
“Can I help you?”
“No thanks, I’m just working out.”
“I’m sorry, the gym isn’t open.”
“Why? It’s an open air gym, and it has all the equipment. I can’t just lift some weights?”
“It only opens Monday.”
Why an open air gym isn’t open is beyond me.
Similarly, the hotel’s beach setup was being built for the first two days of our stay.
Similarly, for the first two days of our stay, the only drinks in the Haute Living Room were the Nespresso machine and tea selection. I was confused, so I brought this to the attention of the staff, and showed them how the website made it sound like there would be a full drink selection. Sure enough, that also showed up on Monday.
Then there’s the spa. I asked no fewer than four employees were the spa was, and everyone pointed me in a different direction. I finally asked the front office manager (since I figured he’d know), and he pointed me in the right direction. But then when I got there, I saw that they were still doing construction on it (as you can see, the doors were still being installed).
A couple of days into our stay, the front desk staff asked me how our stay was going. I explained it was pretty good, except for the fact that for the first two days of our stay the beach area, gym, and spa, weren’t open, and that was a bit disappointing. That was met with silence.
Anyway, I think it’s only fair to mention these things in the context of a thorough review, though this is something that others hopefully won’t have to deal with.
Domes Zeen Chania service
The staff at Domes Zeen Chania were generally well intentioned and friendly, but not necessarily polished. Service was often quite slow, and employees often lacked knowledge about the menu, hotel facilities, etc.
That’s something I’m ultimately quite forgiving of right now, given that coronavirus has caused labor shortages at so many hotels, and also hotels are having to adjust to a new reality.
Domes Zeen Chania guests
Guests at Domes Zeen Chania seemed to almost entirely be young German families with kids. There were lots of kids on property (we’re talking dozens of kids under five). The kids were for the most part well behaved, but definitely expect this to be more of a family resort.
In fairness, we were traveling over school holidays in Germany, and coronavirus has also changed the types of guests visiting many properties, so I’m not sure if this is always the case, or just when we were staying.
Since we arrived the day the hotel opened, it was initially very quiet, but filled up more each day. I’d guess that by the time we left, the hotel was probably at 50% occupancy.
Bottom line
I know this might not sound like a glowing review, but we had a nice stay at Domes Zeen Chania. I recommend staying here because the area around Chania is gorgeous, the resort itself is quite nice, and this is an awesome base from which to explore the area.
Domes Zeen Chania is a quirky hotel — it was built as a Thomas Cook vacation package resort a few years ago, and became a Marriott Luxury Collection property as of 2020, after Thomas Cook went out of business.
Despite the rooms feeling like they’re style over substance, we liked this resort on balance — we loved sitting for extended periods by the pool in the morning having breakfast (and it has to be an extended breakfast based on how long it takes to get coffee), it was nice to lounge by the main pool and on our deck, I liked the outdoor gym (when I was allowed to use it), and the dinner was very good.
I think the Haute Living Room concept could use some refinement, or at least the hotel should do a better job managing expectations. A stale croissant does not “all day hot and cold snacks” make.
But still, all things considered, I’d recommend this hotel if visiting Chania. I’d consider returning, though I think next time I might try Domes Noruz Chania, just to see how it compares.
If you’ve stayed at Domes Zeen Chania, what was your experience like? If not, would you consider staying at this property?
I am currently staying in a hotel next to Domes and swimming at the next beach separated from resort's beach by small rocky cape, I climbed the cape the other day and commented to my wife that the resort is having a gravel beach rather than sandy and we being luckier with the beach as "ours" is a sandy one. There is also a sandy beach further away to the west (Paralia Hrisi Akti), maybe...
I am currently staying in a hotel next to Domes and swimming at the next beach separated from resort's beach by small rocky cape, I climbed the cape the other day and commented to my wife that the resort is having a gravel beach rather than sandy and we being luckier with the beach as "ours" is a sandy one. There is also a sandy beach further away to the west (Paralia Hrisi Akti), maybe 5 to 10 minutes walk from the resort, but of course staying in a luxury resort expectations are high and not including walking to the beach. On the other hand, I wouldn't agree one doesn't come to Greece for beaches given that some of the world's most beautiful beaches are in the area like Balos, Elafonisi and Seitan Limani. Well these are maybe the exceptions you're talking about...
as a non-architect I was contemplating how well it fits into surrounding, at least for my layman's eye. I'm currently staying in a literally next door hotel having the view from my balcony of the resort and Chania but I can see only one or two units of the resort. Only when I climbed small rocky cape visible on the Ben's photo of a road to cross to the beach, i realized how big the resort is but not ruining the natural ambient, IMHO
We visited with my family last week and booked a Sapphire Family Pavilion with Pool. We are now in Mykonos and I just saw this post whilst sitting by the pool and thought to write a couple of words. As an architect, I found the design of Domes Zeen Chania quite exceptional. Actually after doing some research online after reading the post, I just realized that the hotel won the 2021 Sleeper Ahead award (which...
We visited with my family last week and booked a Sapphire Family Pavilion with Pool. We are now in Mykonos and I just saw this post whilst sitting by the pool and thought to write a couple of words. As an architect, I found the design of Domes Zeen Chania quite exceptional. Actually after doing some research online after reading the post, I just realized that the hotel won the 2021 Sleeper Ahead award (which is a great accolade). Hotel design is my passion and from an architectural perspective, I just loved the property.
On the services front, as we also visited some weeks after the opening, there were some hiccups, but nothing that was a major spoiler for us. We travel as a family and I found the kids club area great. The kids really enjoyed it and the fact that we were by the main pool, close to the kids, was very handy. I like this boho feeling of the resort and it definitely suits me and the family. I have stayed in plenty Luxury Collection hotels and I feel that Domes Zeen Chania is a great addition. I also wanted to do a quick visit to Domes Noruz Chania, but as it is adults only, I wasn't able to go with the kids, so I don't know how the two compare. Overall we had a great stay and I would definitely visit again.
Bonvoyed!
Beautiful Property had originally booked reservations here for our Greece trip next week, but my wife found this amazing Airbnb in Oldtown with a rooftop deck right in the heart of Chania, we couldn't pass it up. So instead, just took some of those points for a night in Athens upon our arrival into Greece at the Athens Marriott. Btw a very lovely Hotel with a pretty good Pan-Asian restaurant on the Top floor with...
Beautiful Property had originally booked reservations here for our Greece trip next week, but my wife found this amazing Airbnb in Oldtown with a rooftop deck right in the heart of Chania, we couldn't pass it up. So instead, just took some of those points for a night in Athens upon our arrival into Greece at the Athens Marriott. Btw a very lovely Hotel with a pretty good Pan-Asian restaurant on the Top floor with views. Ben in agreement with you the rooms which are very nice do seem a bit underwhelming. I am certain by August they will have all the wrinkles ironed out.
Wow - sad that this is actually in the Luxury Collection (looks more like an Autograph at best)...standards for inclusion into the tier have certainly slipped since the SPG days.
I’d argue that some Autographs are better than Luxury Collection properties to begin with. But the former certainly has an extra wide spectrum of property quality.
This hotel is selling through the various "billa Reisen" type websites in Germany and Austria. 5 nights half board, including flights with Lufthansa from Munich. From Euros 1049 per adult. The same hotel package you got. So about Euros 150 a night half board, plus airfare. You mentioned German families staying there so I looked up a couple of the German and Austrian discount travel websites.
Glad that hopefully COVID is behind us and reviews are coming back (which I've sorely missed).
The Haute Living concept is hilarious, both in its description and its execution.
@Phillip Interesting. My partner and I loved our Sapphire Pavillion Sea View Room. It’s one of the best rooms in a beach location we’ve stayed in. The views were amazing as we just opened the whole front curtains every morning and had a sea view from bed. We kept the other glass wall mostly closed for privacy as the pavillion next door could see inside. They can also see you if they peek a bit....
@Phillip Interesting. My partner and I loved our Sapphire Pavillion Sea View Room. It’s one of the best rooms in a beach location we’ve stayed in. The views were amazing as we just opened the whole front curtains every morning and had a sea view from bed. We kept the other glass wall mostly closed for privacy as the pavillion next door could see inside. They can also see you if they peek a bit. Though wr didn’t use the pool as it was too cold and it wasn’t heated. Maybe we lucked out on the room as I can see how if you’re further down or not in the right spot you don’t get the view and there is also no privacy.
Thanks for the review (I’m SO HAPPY you’re traveling again and I can’t wait to read many, many more reviews!), but I can’t imagine not being extremely disappointed for that suite at that price point. I really hate hotels that don’t put in comfortable furniture.
Terrific review and so happy to see commentary on Crete - big fan. Do recognize this is a points blog but would just acknowledge that few places in world set up better for just renting a house or apt for fraction of price. You will be driving often and off site most days. Crete without access to a car is such a missed opportunity. Restaurants across the island are great and not very expensive. I’d...
Terrific review and so happy to see commentary on Crete - big fan. Do recognize this is a points blog but would just acknowledge that few places in world set up better for just renting a house or apt for fraction of price. You will be driving often and off site most days. Crete without access to a car is such a missed opportunity. Restaurants across the island are great and not very expensive. I’d argue that none of the hotels have great beach access. And wouldn’t say clientele in hotels on the island is particularly diverse - heavily skews German year round. Still, I’d happily stay at any of points hotels on island as well. Wonderful review.
I’m actually sad to see the return of the buffet here. As Ben has already mentioned the food at the restaurant was great and last year, the Covid a la carte menu was exceptional, both in terms of what was offered but also how the choices were varied daily.
The staff were fantastic throughout. In many of these resorts the staff come from all corners of Greece and board at the property, most of...
I’m actually sad to see the return of the buffet here. As Ben has already mentioned the food at the restaurant was great and last year, the Covid a la carte menu was exceptional, both in terms of what was offered but also how the choices were varied daily.
The staff were fantastic throughout. In many of these resorts the staff come from all corners of Greece and board at the property, most of them young people looking for summer employment so I expect for a number of staff they have to start from scratch each season.
I too found the rooms a little odd, in terms of layout and how things were positioned. My room at the front by the restaurant was great for accessibility although without the view from above.
It felt like there were many repeat customers so I imagine many will be returning back from having visited in the Thomas Cook era.
We stayed @ Domes Noruz Chania in summer of 2019 using one of the old 7 night certificates from Marriott and that property was amazing and this was after we came from Mykonos Santa Maria so you know our expectations were high. We were upgraded to a loft suite and it made the 7 day stay spectacular. Breakfast and snacks were provided each day. What made it better was that it was an adult only...
We stayed @ Domes Noruz Chania in summer of 2019 using one of the old 7 night certificates from Marriott and that property was amazing and this was after we came from Mykonos Santa Maria so you know our expectations were high. We were upgraded to a loft suite and it made the 7 day stay spectacular. Breakfast and snacks were provided each day. What made it better was that it was an adult only property so there were no children around. I am a 6th grade teacher so on vacation, I like being around adults more. Beach access was very easy, restaurants abound in the area and taxis readily available outside. The stay at Noruz made a perfect ending to our 25 night European jaunt the summer of 2019.
Stayed there in summer 2019 as well, and enjoyed a loft suite. Loved the place!
Afterwards stayed at Domes of Elounda -also quite amazing, but in a different way. Highly recommend both places, but I'd give a very slight edge to Noruz as my fave.
Lucky's review of Zeen is certainly appreciated, but next time I'm in Chania, I'll probably stick with Noruz.
Lucky - Nice review. The property looks fairly solid and based on your review I would consider staying there when we visit Crete. The local area looks pretty fun. The plunge pool looks fantastic.
Isn’t there going to be a word on the A3 flight? That said, I’m glad you’re back to posting reviews, as they had stopped after the Aegon fiasco.
@ VT-CIE -- To be honest, there's not a whole lot to say. We were super tired at that point, there was a remote stand at both ends, and I wasn't able to snap any good pictures. If it's any consolation, I'll be reviewing ferries within Greece, which should be more entertaining than any flight review. ;)
Totally different experience last year in October at the end of their season.
Rooms have so much natural light, you should have opened all the curtains up with beautiful views, the same ones you have from the pool. However, it does impacts privacy. That and the fact that the pool isn’t heated are only faults. I’d recommend booking Sapphire Pavillion Sea View rooms.
Haute Living also comes with a totally free mini bar with...
Totally different experience last year in October at the end of their season.
Rooms have so much natural light, you should have opened all the curtains up with beautiful views, the same ones you have from the pool. However, it does impacts privacy. That and the fact that the pool isn’t heated are only faults. I’d recommend booking Sapphire Pavillion Sea View rooms.
Haute Living also comes with a totally free mini bar with up to 8 items replenished daily. We also got free snacks and small drinks daily by the beach or pool. The “lounge” had excellent offer including boxes that you could take away with you if you went out and explored. The staff were also super polished and went above and beyond for my partner and me. On a week-long stay they also gave us a free dinner at a top restaurant in Chania and organised taxis for us all free of charge. We would also often get free drinks with dinner as well. The staff were also very knowledgeable about the area and gave us lots of recommendations.
@ meta -- Wow, talk about a completely different Haute Living Room experience. Here's to hoping it eventually gets back to that, because that's not at all what my experience was like.
This echoes my experience last October - I have to say it felt that management were making every effort to leave behind any remnants of Casa Cook!
My wife and I are staying at this property in mid-September. I'm a Marriott Ambassador member. It will be interesting to see what, if any, improvements have been made since your stay.
You should have high expectations from a Luxury Collection property.
You say it was a 10 min walk to Old Town (I've been to Chania previously but stayed at a different property). How is that walk and what is it like walking back at night after dinner?
@ Sam -- To be clear, it's a roughly 10 minute drive, not a 10 minute walk. It's probably not realistic to walk that distance at night. If you're not going to drive yourself, then I'd definitely recommend taking a taxi.
The hotel is walking distance from the outskirts of Chania, but that's definitely less charming and more chaotic, and not a particularly nice area to walk around.
Sam,
If you do want to walk, you can follow the coastal path towards the old town - when I was there in October they were building a bridge crossing the river that flows out to the sea. If completed that would make it really easy, if not, there is a smaller bridge if you walk along the river for a bit and come back on yourself. I would say altogether a 25 minute...
Sam,
If you do want to walk, you can follow the coastal path towards the old town - when I was there in October they were building a bridge crossing the river that flows out to the sea. If completed that would make it really easy, if not, there is a smaller bridge if you walk along the river for a bit and come back on yourself. I would say altogether a 25 minute walk to the old town, quite pleasant and safe even to do at night, although you might need a torch for the costal part of dark.
Thanks, Phllip.
The walk is always easier with a couple of tavernas or ouzeris along the way for pit stops!
the bridge is not yet finished as of today, but one can cross the small almost completely dried out river beneath the bridge, we walked the way several times already. Nicolaos tavern right at the corner after the bridge to recommend, maybe a kilometre down the street another one on the left side with a big wine barrel inside visible from across the street. While I agree with Ben that the outskirts area is not...
the bridge is not yet finished as of today, but one can cross the small almost completely dried out river beneath the bridge, we walked the way several times already. Nicolaos tavern right at the corner after the bridge to recommend, maybe a kilometre down the street another one on the left side with a big wine barrel inside visible from across the street. While I agree with Ben that the outskirts area is not charming, I personally never felt unpleasant nor unsafe (we walked at night)
It’s very walkable even at night. Not well lit, but nothing your iPhone light won’t solve
Thanks for reviewing. I actually booked two nights at both the Domes Noruz Chania and Domes Zeen Chania to try both in a single trip to Crete in August before continuing on to Mykonos and Samos. I believe the Noruz is adults-only and appears to have a better beach area but was planning to drive to Balos and Elafonissi anyways.
Yes, Noruz is adults only. It did not open at all last year due to Covid, instead moving any bookings over to Zeen.
Noruz is on a Sandy beach albeit a little less private than Zeen, as there are other properties on either side but it’s certainly a more lovely area. The grounds at Zeen feel a bit more private but as Ben says, not the best beach on the island.