christianj

Just booked this with Chase UR points. Hilton wanted 80k per night for a base room with sea view so for 4 nights it would have been 320k….Chase had it for around 80k UR points for the 4 nights. I ended up booking an upgrade into a Deluxe Room with sea view and a private pool for 108k UR points…which HH wanted 596k for.

madderlake

That's wild - so 25K points a night using UR points? Good reminder to check out portals (Chase, Amex, etc.) when comparing points stays!

christianj

Yes, base award room was 25k per night with UR. I paid 27k per night (due to booking higher category) but considering HH wanted 148k per night for this upgraded room with a private pool, I still think I did ok.

madderlake

Nice - did they honor Diamond or Gold elite status?

christianj

It’s a future reservation so won’t know yet. Reality is that the rate I booked includes breakfast and I’ve already booked an upgraded room with a private pool so based on comments here it’s not like there is anything else I could have possibly gotten for my status that I didn’t get in this booking. 🤷‍♂️

madderlake

good point! Time to hoard UR points lol.

Caps44

Any issues with wasps around the pool, breakfast?

christianj

Odd question! What prompted you to ask this question? You are there now and having an issue? You read about wasps somewhere?

Caps44

Was more curious, a friend was in Corfu last year and it ruined his holiday….Wasps were all over the place. If you Google wasps and corfu you will get so many mentions.

just wanted to see if the issue was also in Crete and at this particular hotel.

StanStorby

When we were there mid-July there was some presence of wasps but not that much. As long as you don't stock food around the pool, there is no issue.
When having breakfast and dinner, no issue either. I have more wasps here in my garden in Belgium than we have seen during our 2 weeks in Crete.

Caps44

Thank you.

my concern was the videos you see of half a dozen wasps hovering over peoples plates as they eat! Seems more an issue in the northern, greener resorts in Greece such as Corfu and not the southern ones such as Rhodes, Crete and Kos.

lost_in_translation

Wasps in Greece depend a lot on the time of year in my experience too, you can see hardly any in June in Corfu, but then by the end of September the island is overrun by them and eating outside is difficult in many places.

Schwann

You might have some feline company though... that's another "Greece" thing!

Caps44

Indeed, just wanted to see if Crete in July was an issue, although I’m hearing the issue is more in the greener northern islands rather than the south.

EqualOpp

Completed a 2 night stay at Royal Senses in September. Weather still great...Hilton Diamond, upgraded to the same room as others have noted in the past. 1121-1126 on the diagram. A suite with a little lawn, no pool upgrade despite request in advance. I was a little disappointed in that (Thinking back to my plunge pool at the Conrad Punta de Mita), but over my 2 days I realized having a nice little green lawn was actually pretty nice. Besides, I drove to another beach and enjoyed that - except for Preveli - where I started to walk down then realized I didn't want to deal with the horde of people.
After Royal Senses, I stayed elsewhere and went to Balos and Elafonissi among others. One was great, other over-rated. Balos is great, but only if you get there early like I did - like 8am early. Assuming you don't like crowds. Elafonissi is maybe better...if you arrive early - which realistically would require you to stay overnight in the town there. But view of Elafonissi is not as nice / dramatic as Balos.

Didn't much care for the Royal Senses hotel beach -- though I see why they built it.

Had an end room, so pretty good view. Having a ground / 1st floor room is better in that you don't see anyone below you -- where as a 2nd floor / balcony room gives you a better view, but in many of those rooms you would see a pool below that you couldn't use. The room decor / color scheme is beautiful. I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed the size of the suite as well. So it's definitely an upgrade from the standard room - which I'm guessing are mostly 2nd floor balcony rooms. About half the rooms on the property have their own pool by my reckoning.

Quite a few people...not sure what the occupancy was, it wasn't full...but meal time - dinner, it was quite busy by all appearances, though I only had breakfast there, and usually earlier.

The pools CLOSE EARLY which I thought was a little odd...and then "everyone" eats dinner with a silent pool area. I recall swimming at night at the Conrad and liked that. Though now that I think about it, a stay in Turkey last year at the LXR Bodrum - the pool also closed early, but it didn't bother me. Practically no one when I went there...due to COVID. Helped that I had a great Jr Suite.

The Royal Senses pool is relatively narrow, but very long, so easy to find your own space as I did. Had late check out. Staff is great...nice welcome dish of treats when you arrive and a towel to wash your face. No early check-in though. but they do have a changing room downstairs if you elect to go into the pool before your room is ready, I did not, as I went out and drove to Preveli and Plakias.





Pool closing at 6:30 PM.



Inviting looking at night, but no swimming. Of course, you can sit by the pool. Of course, if you had your own room pool...you could use that anytime.




Lots of people at Preveli...with many more on the way down. Parking lot was nearly full. Ok..it's not as jam packed as a Rio or UK beach might be on a sunny warm day, but still way too many folks for me.