Kiani Beach Resort review, an all inclusive hotel near Chania

The Kiani Beach Resort is a great all inclusive hotel near Chania. Read on for my Kiani Beach resort review, what to expect when you arrive, what the all inclusive package includes and what we wish had been different.

This post contains affiliate links. This means I may receive a small commission if you book via one of them. At no extra cost to you.

The Hotel

The Kiani Beach is a 5 star hotel located around twenty minutes from Chania on the island of Crete. It has some really lovely design features with a gorgeous reception area looking across the pool out to sea. It’s a fully all inclusive hotel so pretty much everything will be included during your visit making it a great value place to stay in Crete.

It has several pools, a small stretch of sandy beach and plenty of family friendly entertainment. Whilst it is plenty big enough to keep you busy for a week this is not a sprawling resort you’re at risk of getting lost in. The hotel has many different sizes of room, ideal for families of all ages.

Check the best prices for your stay at the Kiani Beach Resort

The Pools at the Kiani Beach Resort

The pool is always the first place we head to when checking into a new hotel. My daughter is water obsessed and being an only child she loves making friends with other kids around the pool.

The main pool at Kiani beach is a really lovely space, curved by design with a small toddler pool attached. It has plenty of sunloungers next to the water and overlooking the sea. Even though the hotel felt full, we still managed to secure some each day. There is a pool bar next to this pool which meant we could order drinks and snack throughout our day and we never had to wait too long to get served.

As we were staying in April the outdoor pool was still very cold and we couldn’t swim for long before having to jump out. Although people were still using it at all times of the day.

There’s also another outdoor pool in the building across the road from the main reception. This one is a better one for swimming lengths and was a lot quieter.

What we really loved was that we could use the indoor pool at this pool, it meant we could get plenty of swim time even though it was a bit cold. There’s another pool bar next to this pool which was always a lot quieter and my favourite place to get a drink – again included during your stay.

Read next: Planning a family trip to Crete

Kiani Beach all inclusive package

Your all inclusive package at the Kiani Beach resort covers all your meals, drinks and snacks whilst staying at the hotel. It also covers local Cretan wine, beer, non branded spirits and hot drinks. My 11 year old loved the unlimited supply of ice cream, freshly made pancakes and pop from the soda fountains. Meals are all taken in the main restaurant.

It also includes use of many of the kids activities, including face painting and donkey rides and beach towels.

I was a little disappointed there was nothing in the mini bar on arrival as we found with other all inclusive hotels on the island.

VIP all inclusive package – is it worth it?

The All inclusive VIP package at the Kiani beach hotel costs an extra €20 per person per day.  It does include a few extra perks such as discounts in the paid a la carte restaurant, the gift shop and on excursions. You can get a free cake for special occasions, a welcome basket, kids gift, bottle of water and better wifi. You get premium alcoholic drinks including 2 bottles of wine per day and posh coffees.

Being a 5 star hotel I would expect most of this as standard. We didn’t upgrade so no, I don’t think the package is worth it. I guess it depends how attached you are to branded drinks. You still eat in the main restaurant so the food is no different.

The beach at this all inclusive resort

The hotel beach is a narrow stretch of sand just down from the main pool.

The sand is soft but a bit pebbly and the waves gentle. It was lovely to have this option to feel the sand in our toes but it’s not really big enough to hunker down there for a day.

 

The rooms at the Kiani Beach Resort

We opted for a Superior family room and which had a large patio area, standard double bed and sofa bed in a separate part of the room. It had a mini fridge which was great for storing milk, snacks and drinks bought offsite to enjoy on the patio. Also a small kitchenette with a coffee machine.

The bathroom had a large bath with overhead shower, large vanity unit and a couple of complimentary toiletries. Shampoo and conditioner is not supplied so make sure to bring some of your own – or you can get some from the onsite minimart.

 

I really liked the design of the room with its bright colours, light wood finishes and white linen.

The patio was a good side but completely open to passers by. The noise from the pool bar at night was distracting but not too bad.

Originally we had an issue on arrival with an awful smell. The hotel had just opened for the season and the room felt very stuffy and unaired. The night porter was very apologetic and threw open doors and windows to let some air in. I would have expected a room change at the very least but the hotel was pretty full and I was too exhausted after our late flight to kick up a fuss. The smell did reduce but never quite went away.

There are plenty of other room options ranging from simple doubles to huge maisonettes and connecting rooms. Check the prices for the other rooms.

Dining at the Kiani Beach

I’m not going to lie – I hate all inclusive buffet restaurants, I’ll take an a la carte seated meal every time. I hate the waste, the queuing and it just never feels hygienic. But my daughter LOVES them! She like to pick and choose what to eat, and loves the chance to go up and choose what to eat.

The food at the Kiani beach was actually quite good quality, even though it felt you were constantly fighting with other diners to collect it.

You could eat indoors near the buffet tables or on one of the outdoor tables overlooking the pool. This did feel like you had more space. The Symposium Main restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Long trousers are required for men.

Meal times were the only times at the hotel where staff weren’t great. They were clearly overworked and unsure what they were doing. Tables were left quite dirty and drinks often took a long time to arrive. Perhaps they needed a bit more training or were just getting used to the place after opening.

Anyone staying at the hotel can use the restaurant in the newer complex across the road. We were not told this at check in so unfortunately we didn’t get to try it.

Other places to eat

The pool bar offered a good range of snacks with plenty to keep the kids fed between trips to the main restaurant. The ice cream and pancakes went down a treat and you could help yourselves to salads and sandwiches from the fridge. The beach bar is open between 11am and 11pm.

If you want anything specific then you can always buy it from the onsite mini mart. They sell a wide range of ice creams, snacks and drinks. But also anything you may have forgotten to pack such as swimsuits, inflatables, toiletries and even clothes.

Kid friendly activities at the Kiani beach resort

No family focussed Kiani Beach resort review would be complete without covering the many kid friendly activities on site. There’s two onsite kids playgrounds (one has a very cool pirate ship design), two kids pools (one at each of the pools), a mini disco, face-painting and even donkey rides. The hotel has a pretty good kids club that organises fun activities like treasure hunts and movie sessions.

The animation team are easy to find around the hotel organising activities such as pool aerobics and saying hi to the kids. There’s also nightly family friendly entertainment in the pool bar such as karaoke, belly dancing and magic tricks. Kids will just love it.

Staff at the Kiani Beach Hotel

We arrived after a late flight from London and the hotel was pretty much all shut. The super kind porter managed to go and find us a couple of drinks, taking the time to check our room and ensure we were settled. Staff here really do care about you enjoying your stay.

Sports facilities at Kiani Beach

I loved that there were loads of sporting activities we could take part in at the hotel. The lap pool across the road from the main reception was easily big enough to get a good exercise session in which is so rare at a hotel pool. There’s also an indoor air-conditioned gym and organised sessions of yoga, zumba and aqua aerobics. You can hire the tennis court for an hourly session or take part in beach volley ball.

Outside of the hotel you can hire mountain bikes and head off into the trails or just ask reception for some recommended hiking routes in the area.

What to do around this hotel

Spend a day in beautiful Chania

The Kiani beach hotel is in a great location just outside of Chania. It’s an absolutely stunning city with a beautiful Venetian harbour and old town. This is also where to head if you tire of the all inclusive food. It has some fabulous restaurants!

Read next: Visiting Chania with kids

Visit the village of Kalyves

Kiani’s sister hotel is located in the tiny village of Kalyves. It’s a great place for a drink and a little mooch. It will take you around half an hour to walk into the village from the hotel.

Support the locals

The hotel is accessed via a very steep hill off the main E75 road. Pop into the restaurant at the top of the hill for a quick drink, the views across the bay to Chania make the hike up well worth it.

Just be warned, it can get very windy up there!

Parking for the Kiani Beach resort

The Kiani Beach hotel has a large, complimentary carpark. You can pull up outside the main reception to check in and unload then drive a little further down the track and you’ll see parking to your right.

How to get to this all inclusive hotel near Chania, Crete

The best way to get to the Kiani beach resort is to fly into Chania airport and organise a private car to pick you up from arrivals. The hotel can help you arrange this for a fee. We hired a car and drove to the hotel, the journey was under half an hour and mainly along the easy E75.

What we didn’t like about this hotel

For a five star hotel I didn’t feel that the hotel had quite enough wow factor, whilst the reception area blew us away with its huge windows and minimalist design, the rest of the hotel felt a bit dated. The rooms and bathrooms probably need a bit of an upgrade and none of us found the bed overly comfy. Obviously the smell on arrival put us off a little.

I wish there had been an a la carte dining option to give us a break from the main buffet and more options for lunch would have been nice.

If you are like me and crave an ultra luxury all inclusive resort in Crete then you should check out the Mitsis Rinela near Heraklion, it’s an absolute stunner!

Is the Kiani Beach Resort good value for money?

Are stay in April for a family of three cost us around £88 per night. Considering how much food and drink that included I think it was fantastic value for money. Although as mentioned I wouldn’t really class this as a five star hotel the price is excellent.  Looking at next summer this spikes to around £250 per night – I probably wouldn’t pay that much but would expect this to come down a bit closer to the time.

Final thoughts to finish this Kiani Beach resort review

For all the little niggles I would not hesitate to return to the Kiani Beach resort. It seems like such great value for money and I loved having the indoor pool and kid friendly activities on hand. For this stay our room was in the older part of the hotel and I would love to go back and try out a stay in the newer side where the indoor pool is. It honestly did look a lot nicer.

If you’d like to get more reviews of the Kiani Beach Resort then check out these on Tripadvisor.

Pin this Kiani Beach resort review for when you’re ready to book your next family holiday in Crete.

Read next: Things to do in Heraklion

If you fancy a brilliant all inclusive option a little closer to the UK then the Algarve in Portugal is a great choice. Have a look at my review of the AP Adriana Beach hotel to discover if it could be right for you.