Alai, Crete, a Tribute Portfolio Resort

The location is ideal, with a beautiful beach setting. Guests appreciate the friendly staff, excellent breakfast, and exceptional cleanliness. The comfortable beds and well-maintained amenities also receive high praise.

The hotel is clean and well-maintained, both in the rooms and throughout the common areas. The staff, especially at the pool bar and in housekeeping, were very friendly and helpful. The nearby beach was beautiful and easily accessible, and the pool itself was nice, offering a pleasant place to relax – if you managed to get a pool bed! Unfortunately, towels were left on pool chairs for hours every day (sometimes up to three hours) to reserve spots, making it difficult for others to find a place. People would claim chairs early in the morning and then disappear to get ready, eat breakfast, and have a relaxing morning knowing their favorite pool spot was waiting for them. This went against hotel policy, but management did nothing, even after we raised the issue. This made mornings stressful for us, as we didn’t want to reserve chairs unfairly but still wanted to secure a place by the pool. The hotel seems to be expanding, adding more rooms, which might worsen the already overcrowded pool situation in the future. Happy hunting! :) Further, the hotel itself feels poorly designed and built, with some areas seeming unbalanced or awkwardly arranged. Our room lacked attention to detail; many things were crooked or improperly installed. The phone and TV didn’t work properly however they did fix the TV quickly after we mentioned it. There was also an issue of outside noise due to the lack of a door between the hallway and bedroom and at one point, the power was cut off without any notice, leaving us without electricity and water. It turned out to be planned maintenance and not an emergency, so advance notice would have been appreciated. Another major concern was the lack of understanding regarding dietary needs. There was confusion over vegan and vegetarian dishes – one menu labeled dishes as vegan, while another labeled them as vegetarian. When we asked the staff, they treated the two as the same thing. "Vegan, vegetarian? It's the same!" This is unacceptable, especially for guests with allergies, like those to dairy. Proper training for the staff is urgently needed to ensure the safety and comfort of all guests. The surrounding area is heavily touristy and lacks the authenticity one might expect from a more traditional Greek experience. It felt more like a typical charter destination than anything unique or local. In summary, while the hotel has some good qualities, such as its cleanliness, friendly staff, and proximity to a nice beach, several issues need to be addressed – particularly the staff’s understanding of dietary needs and the issue with reserving pool beds, as well as the lack of enough beds for all guests, especially with the upcoming expansion of the hotel. Sadly, we will not be returning.

Lovely clean and friendly family run hotel in the middle of Stalis Crete. Staff were friendly and helpful and the room and pool area was clean fresh and comfortable. Breakfasts were great and I’d recommend to anyone interested in holidaying in Stalis. The one caveat I’d put on it is that we went at the end of the season when the hotel was not full and had one whole block of about say 20 rooms unoccupied and the main block was not full which gave us an upgrade to a sea view room. This meant breakfasts and sun loungers etc were not busy and the whole experience was very relaxing and pleasant. When full I would imagine a different outlook and some of the non seaview rooms overlook other hotels and the main road which would be busy and noisy in peak periods. Also the hotel was only opened following refurbishment in July 2024 so you’d expect it to be clean and spotless. If you put a critical eye over it from a builders perspective (which I did) some of the finishing is suspect and will age and look untidy quite quickly but for us at that time it was perfect.