Rethymno, Crete hotel rooms at the Independent

"Loved this place, staff, buffet"

"We stayed here for about 4 nights and everything went well. There are two sections of the palace...one where the hotel reception is connected to and the other is a stand along building across the street. We've read online that one of the sections was the "newer" renovated one and I think that was the section with the hotel reception. We stayed in other section across the street and it was fine. It doesn't look so outdated that you can tell/feel it's vastly different. Every night, there is some type of special music or performance by the pool. That was a nice touch and appreciated. Everyone is very friendly as well. We opted for the daily parking of 8 euros and that came in pretty handy. There can be street parking but it is limited and you will have to drive around the side streets for one. "

"The hotel is beautiful, public spaces are not modern but very well kept, outdoor areas are beautiful with plenty of open space for the kids to run around. We had 2 classic double rooms and one 2BR Mythika suite, the classic rooms were OK, decent size, in good condition but could use some refreshing. The Mythika suite was amazing, spacious, renovated, cleaned a few times through the day and included tasty goodies (fruits, wine, etc). Mythika guests receive private beach seating, benefits at restaurants (which we didn't use as are our party were not entitled) and free late check-out up to 6PM! (which was fantastic as our flight was late). Beach and pools are very cozy, there's a shortage of sunbeds in the big pool but we managed. Parts we liked less: The water park, it's in all the hotel pictures on Expedia, and the hotel's FB an IG pages advertised the new park set to open in the beginning of the season. Unfortunately the park wasn't ready, it's set to open soon and we weren't offered an alternative. Other points: Hotel has lots of stairs, there are some elevators but they are small and slow. AC in the rooms works only in the afternoons, problematic in hot days and during the night (hotel could only offer a rattily noisy fan as a solution). Apart from the beautiful kids club we found the animation schedule a bit lacking. And finally, some of the staff are not as friendly as you'd expect for a 5* resort, we found ourselves having to "nudge" some of them into helping at times."

"Vacation was great. The hotel is well maintained and the service is excellent. We didn't have WiFi service in our room and they provided a modem for a wireless connection. The beach is small and not the greatest, but pools are nice. They should have recycling bins and not just garbage bins. Also the tour we booked to Knossos and Heraklion was just a private taxi taking us around and the taxi driver wanted to finish the tour as soon as possible. Not the nicest. Overall, our stay was great. My kids loved the pool and the kids' club. The young ladies who played with and entertained the kids were extremely nice and friendly."

"Really enjoyed our stay here, the hotel and room was immaculate condition. Shame the pool was a bit too cold at end of October but made use of the warm indoor pool and jacuzzi. Breakfast had a great choice and staff could not have been more friendly. Highly recommend. Only downfall was our room was supposed to be full sea view but more like partial sea view from first floor as part of hotel building blocked the majority of the sea view from our balcony."

"George was great checking us in, friendly and knowledgeable. Our rooms were clean and comfortable. The bartender at the pool bar was friendly and personable. Haven't had the breakfast yet, but the dining room looks great!"