FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Domes Zeen, a Luxury Collection Resort, Chania, Crete [Master Thread]

Aug 9, 2020 | 11:17 pm

#10

littlevoices

Join Date: Jul 2008

Location: HKG

Programs: Marriott Ambassador (Titanium Lifetime), BA GGL (one year only, natural Gold), HH Diamond, Ex-BD*G,

Posts: 3,716

Happy to report back having stayed at the Domes Zeen, a Luxury Collection Resort, Chania hotel for one night in August 2020 (COVID-19 times). The hotel had opened about a week before, having rebranded from a Thomas Cook hotel that was here the year before. Chatting to the staff it appeared that only minimal changes were required, with the pool area being the focus. We had only booked a few days in advance as our holiday was last minute.

We had booked a basic room using cash for around €400 (Tropical Bungalow, Guest room, 1 King, Garden view, Balcony) and used a SNA to get an upgrade to a room with a pool (Tropical Family Pavilion, Guest room, 1 King, Sofa bed, Pool view, Balcony, Private pool). The hotel was at 90% occupancy (mainly Brits, French, Belgians according to the chatty concierge), so this was a nice move and probably made the stay for us (whilst a lot of the rooms have pools, it was nice to get one).

The biggest issue I had with the hotel was finding it, when your satnav points you down a small one-way round (that is actually two way) next to a petrol (gas) station, that is the right way… there are no signposts and we managed to take around 30 minutes trying to find the place (actually 15 minutes to find it, but we ended on a hill looking down on the hotel). Once this was done we had a nice welcome from very pleasant staff. Unfortunately there was a maintenance issue with our room so even though it was around 4pm, we needed to wait an hour for them to resolve. The staff dealt with this very professionally however and persuaded us to go to the pool and enjoy a complementary cocktail, so no real harm done.

Our room (really a third of a villa) was great, with a nice wooden deck area and private pool, we could just about see the sea – but realistically 80% of the rooms will have a view of the rest of the resort. For those focused on privacy of the pools, there isn’t much in any of the rooms from what I could see. The vast majority were overlooked and could be seen by others walking on the path/roads, however they were still very nice seating areas. The room was dark and very concrete focused, but sizeable and with a large comfy bed, plus a sofa bed/seating area. There wasn’t a bath, but a large shower area and bathrobes.

We ate dinner and breakfast at the hotel’s pool-side restaurant. The staff were very helpful and cheery, the food was good quality and served promptly – plus wasn’t too pricey considering it was a resort, for example wine. There is a fine dining restaurant opening in a week or two as well. A lot of people would be on half-board packages, but there was still a good selection of al-la-carte dining available. This was a bit of an issue in the morning however, as the “standard” breakfast was essentially bakery and Greek cold cuts (great), plus your choice of eggs. As we went for the al-la-carte options we had to pay some €25 for two mains, even though our rate included breakfast. Whilst we were warned, we didn’t quite believe, and this is quite different from most other hotels in this price range

Beach was not great, like much of the island, and a little stoney, but private with nicely laid out deck-chairs and planks to keep your feet away from the hot sand/stones. It was looked after till 6pm by staff, we just took a look rather than spending time there, our own private pool was good enough for us.

Whilst we didn’t use it, there was a fenced off children’s area that seemed like a good place to leave your children for a few hours.

There weren’t too many intrusive COVID restrictions in place at the hotel, but there were changes: Less house-keeping; QR codes/mobile phones to view the hotel menus; hotel staff wouldn’t come in your villa or park your car; and our luggage was disinfected before being delivered. This meant we had the amusement of room service wine being opened outside of the door, and that our bags could get in the hotel golf buggy but we couldn’t. I suspect many of these will change over time, as they were inconsistent between different Dome properties.

Overall: Nice staff, pretty unique hotel and very different from a standard Marriott, so very worthwhile staying. Would be happy to return.See the pictures below to bring it to life!