Kernos Beach Hotel is a beautiful beach hotel with acres of lush gardens, restaurants and an enormous pool. The bungalows, seaview or seaside are beautifully appointed with lovely patios. The only negative thing I can say is that it doesn't have WiFi, which in 2009 is a disadvantage, but there is an internet cafe nearby.

We were always concerned about staying near to Malia as it does not have the best reputation in Crete but agreed to chance it at the Kernos Beach Hotel as it was listed by Thomas Cook as a 5* resort. I must start by saying that the minute we arrived we wanted for nothing and everyone and everything was excellent. The food is outstanding (we stayed half board), in fact you could never eat it all or even think about trying all the different options.. The bar was good , the pool was huge, the sea was next to you as the hotel has its own private stretch. we stayed in a bungalow with a sea view, huge rooms, very modern, bathroom to die for! All in all an excellent experience - I want to go back again :-)

We arrived in our rented car to a friendly reception desk after a long flight. When we were given our room assignment we realized that it was not a "sea view" as we had paid for. We were shown on the hotel map a room overlooking a noisy, ugly road. We were polite and explained it would be unsatisfactory. When they saw that we were really refusing to occupy the room and saw me on the phone calling my travel agent, they had us meet the manager. After careful explaination of our expectations and price level we paid, he gave us a "Bungalow" room for the day and night. The manager explained to us that we would have to move out the next day into a room on par for the price we paid for with a sea view. We could not stay in the "Bungalow" because it was rented the next day to "regulars". I must say that the "Bungalow" room would have made anyone happy to stay in, even Tom Cruise. It was newly refurbished with plasma TV, Marble floors and bath, private patio overlooking the ocean. Even the furnishings were made of top-grade leather. The next morning I looked at the room we were suposed to be relocated to. HELLO...a dirt floor in the closet, and ugly, ugly, ugly. I couldn't get myself to walk into the bathroom because I was so put off. It looked as ugly and old as the room from the hallway. Here goes another two hours of arguing with the manager. When I told him that I know he wants to open up the American market to the hotel and I could not give him a good review on the internet, he buckeled. The manager called his sister property fifteen minutes away in Sissi. He got us relocated to a "Family Suite" at the Kalimeri Kriti, a 5 star resort. The brochure he showed us on the Kalimeri Kriti looked impressive. The resort turned out to be even more impressive in person. We can now say that we really enjoyed our stay in Crete. (I will post my review about Kalimeri Kriti). But regarding Kernos Beach Hotel the propery looks good but not the rooms, except for the "Bungalows" which are very acceptable and recommended. The food was good and the beach/pool areas were as what we would have liked. The property seems to be in a reconstuction mode. I saw a lot of new stone walls being built along with rooms being rebuilt. One day it may be nice to stay at. The Kernos beach just is not ready for the American market. The majority of the guests were from Baveria and they seemed happy. I guess the Germans don't expect much from a 4 star resort. I would like to add that the area of Malia is full of loud 20 something bars and fast food restaurants. Be sure that is what you want if you walk off the property. A car in Crete makes life easier and your vacation a great adventure. I will thank Suzy, my travel agent, for her advise on renting a car in Crete.

we booked last minute on latedeals.com this was a thomas cook holiday the hotel was described as 4star plus and all info on websites showed a good report. arrived early morning after a night flight given our room 117 not a bungalow as expected ,a 3 story complex with no lighting could hardly see the room number on the door. room looked pretty basic but as exhausted after flight left till the next day to complain. air conditioning noisy. a generator right under our room running all night and a noisy road with traffic all night. when complained i had to see the reservation manager who didnt turn up, next day when waiting again nearly asleep in resception the receptionest said she would move us at no cost to us why she thought we would have to pay i dont know. we were moved to the front of these rooms which did help on the noise. the rooms still only 2 star by my rating although i did get the hairdryer i was supposed to have.
rest of the complex was good meals good ,beach towels sunbeds and umbrellas provided. old town of malia lovely but the new part is for party people. i am writing to abta thomas cook and latedeals.com to complain about the wrong info i was given.the last day at the hotel was the worst no rooms to book out of our room by midday not flying till 6.30am. the room we were given to change in the dreaded 117. my husband went up to check this room just before leaving the hotel at 3.00am and the room still open had all the towels the 4 parties that left that day still on the floor so it looked like it was not going to be booked out. i will be looking for answers to why this part of the complex was bookable but not shown on the site.