This place couldn't be bettered. The rooms are spacious and nicely decorated. The pool is immaculate and perfect for families with its nice childrens pool. Dimitris was on hand for our every beck and call, and all to rare thing in today's tourist industry. At first we though Kalyves was a little touristy, but now think it is perfect, you just have to choose where to go. The beach is fantastic and only a short stroll from the hotel. Really, you can't wrong with this place.

We stayed at Sunrise Suites for a few days in July and enjoyed it very much. We got a warm welcome by the hotel manager Dimitris and his colleague Katerina. The room was large and the bathroom too. The hotel was only seven years old and was fresh and clean with modern equipment, although the beds were a bit too hard for us. The room also had a kitchenette and a balcony with a view of the pool area and the coast. The pool area was nice and not crowded. There was wifi in the lobby but not in the room, where there was internet connection with cable instead and Dimitris kindly let us borrow a cable.
The breakfast area was outside and had great views of the coast. Breakfast was ok with yoghurt, bread, cheese, juice etc, but there were no vegetables or fruit. Katerina greeted us with a happy “kali mera” when we came to have breakfast and after a while also Dimitris came to have a chat with the guests. He told us about the area and also gave us some advice about where to go and what to see in Crete. He spoke English well (having studied in Scotland) and it was nice talking to him. In the evening when we came back from dinner, we thought of having a drink at the pool bar. Dimitris was at the bar, and although it was after closing time of the bar he offered us to buy drinks and we had a nice chat with him again.
The hotel is located uphill a few hundred metres from the water front, so it had great views, and the short walk from the beach and restaurants was no problem. Kalyves is a small village with a good beach and a few beach tavernas (Ikaros taverna was good). It’s a nice and relaxing place to stay for a few days between Chania and Rethymno.
We were going to take the bus to Rethymno from Kalyves, and so asked Dimitris if we had to take the bus from the village back to Chania first or if the bus from Chania to Rethymno stopped in Kalyves. He explained to us how to walk up to the bus stop on the main road (25 minutes slow walk) to catch the bus to Rethymno, as that bus did not go down to the village.

My husband and I actually stayed here back in June of 2008 on our honeymoon trip in Greece. We found this place online and it turned out to be a great choice for several reasons. This area, (Kalyves), did not seem to be as crowded as other, closer by beach destinations and was also very quiet. We found the hotel rooms to be clean, bright, and had small fridge and microwave which cut down our restaurant bills for a week. The pool was fantastic and never crowded, the breakfast served out on the hotel's patio was also really good. The staff was friendly, helpful. Location got three stars because it is a small hike down to town and the beach, but the walk is very quick and easy. We literally didn't use our rental car the whole time we were here unless we went to Chania. I would highly recommend this hotel. The prices were very reasonable without compromising. We would stay again for sure.

We visited Crete on our honeymoon and traveled along the north coast between Chania and Agio Nikolaos. We wanted to find a place where we could just lay back and relax for a few days, with a beach and good Greek food nearby.

Sunrise Suites and Kalyves Beach were the perfect combination and a great value.

The hotel is situated on the hills overlooking the village and the sea. It's not beachfront, but the tradeoff is more than worth it... the views are fantastic and the walk to the beach and the main street in the village is very short (five minutes max).

The rooms are clean. comfy (with A/C), and a good size. As advertised, our suite had a kitchenette which was terrific for fruit, groceries, juices, etc..

We balanced our beach time with time around the pool at the hotel. With its own drink and ice cream bar, the pool was a great way to finish a beach day and grab late afternoon sun. )Though there is no lifeguard on duty at the pool, there is a 12-15" ledge running just insider the perimeter of the pool that provides some measure of protection for kids falling in.

We tried the breakfast buffet on one day... not bad, but we were content with cereal and milk in the room.

Iakovos and Katerina were fantastic hosts, always cheerful and bending over backwards to help us with whatever we needed.

Kalyves itself was also a great place to spend a few days... we found the prices for food to be reasonable and cheaper than Chania or Agio Nikolaos... there are several seaside restaurants and all were good food/value... we took to ordering one main dish to split because there was too much to eat for two. Our favorite place was a psitaria (Mitsos?) that sold pita gyro (pork or chicken) for 2.5 euros, stuffed with tomato, onion, yogurt, and even french fries. (It's across the street from a small market and another fast food place).

The beach itself was clean, with little bars/restaurants offering umbrellas/chairs if you bought something from them. (though nobody ever asked us to pay anything)... the east part of the beach is protected by a jetty and is highly kid-friendly.. with lifeguard. In our section, we could even do a little body surfing.

The only odd thing is that English and other folks make Kalyves a permanent residence... so lots of non-Greeks around.

Still, given how globalization is homogenizing the greek experience, we found Kalyves to still be authentic enough, particularly with the food and the general pace of life/business in the village. There is a highway bypass, so traffic was light (we were there in late June).

We'd recommend the Sunrise Suites to anyone and it's fair to say the hotel and the town are family friendly.