Kiani Beach Resort, Crete

Hi guys,

Welcome back to my website, in the last couple of months I have neglected my site and writing blog posts. The reason for that is simply life as a self employed stylist/blogger and a mummy to two young kids just got in the way. I took some time off to decide what direction I want to take with my website and my blogging for the future.

Recently I went on the most amazing holiday with my family, it was a collaboration with SeaCrete Hotels & Kiani Beach Resort and as a part of the collab, blog posts were required post our trip.

So here I am sitting in front of my laptop with a big cup of coffee trying to decide how I am going to put into words just how incredible our holiday was.

While we were away, I had lots of content on my Instagram page (@ymsblog) and daily stories on everything we got up to as I wanted to share as much as possible on how lovely Kiani Beach Resort and Crete was. I have created a highlight bubble on my page so if you haven't seen it yet, please do check it out.

The proposal for a collaboration with this hotel came months ago while we were looking where to book for our summer holiday. I couldn't believe my luck and off course jumped at this amazing opportunity. We have never been to Crete or any of the Greek islands so it seemed like the perfect fit for our vacation.

Kiani Beach Resort is a 5 star all inclusive resort, perfect for families, couples and anyone that just wants to have a relaxing holiday with everything in one place.

It's a family run hotel with the most lovely staff, from the moment I got the proposal for a collaboration to arriving to the resort, throughout our stay and beyond, every single staff member we had to deal with were friendly, accommodating and professional.

Flights:

We booked & paid for our flights ourselves. We travelled from Dublin to Chania with Ryanair and the flight was 4 and a half hours. The price was very reasonable for the four of us, we booked priority and all the extras to make it easier travelling with two young kids.

I had a lot of questions regarding the long flight travelling with kids and on the way over with all the excitement of going on holidays, the girls didn't sleep at all but we had them occupied with toys, snacks and movies on the ipads. On the flight back, Andi our 1 and a half year old, slept for an hour and a half which made the journey a little bit easier. All in all, I was worried myself about being on the plane for such a long time with our girls but to be honest it wasn't bad at all as long as we were prepared to distract them when they got a bit restless and bored.

Accommodation:

The rooms at Kiani Beach Resort are new and modern and the room we had chosen was the maisonette style, which meant we had our bedroom and main area on one floor and the girls had their room upstairs. This was the best option for us but they have family rooms, standard double rooms, whatever your needs may be. They supplied us with a travel cot for Andi which was great as she is still so little. Our room had two bathrooms, kitchenette area, small fridge, some plates, glasses, cutlery and a hob for cooking. The rooms were extremely clean and the cleaners were very friendly and done their job quickly every morning. The balcony was very safe for small kids as that would be my biggest worry but that definitely wasn't an issue, they were safely able to play on it through out our stay.

Food:

As Kiani Beach Resort is an all inclusive hotel, your breakfast, lunch and dinner is free everyday if you choose that option when booking. It was a buffet style restaurant.

Breakfast was from 7.30 to 10 am

Lunch from 1 to 2.30 pm

Dinner from 7pm to 9.30pm.

There were different options everyday to suit a lot of dietary requirements. Kids options were great too, they had anything from chips, pasta, veg, fish fingers, chicken nuggets, meatballs etc.

There was a wide selection of cold & hot food for adults, selection of salads, veg, dips, spices etc. Variety of teas and coffees, pastries & bread, desserts and ice cream. Pancakes every morning, omelettes made to order & fresh orange juice.

High chairs were available for babies at the restaurant.

The pool bar was open all day till late for drinks and snacks, crepes were available and made to order. For all inclusive guests, there was an unlimited choice of soft drinks/alcohol, snacks & ice cream through out the day at the pool bar.

Pool:

Fresh towels were available from the pool bar every morning. There was a big outside pool and three 50meter lanes along with a small kids pool with slides fully enclosed, shaded with lots of sunbeds around it. Umbrellas were with all sunbeds. A heated big pool was inside the hotel which was a big hit with us as we found the outside pools cold. There is another big pool and kids pool at the other part of the resort, near the beach but we didn't use those.

Kids Club:

They had kids activities on everyday except Tuesday, a lovely kids play room and the animation staff were all really lovely. They would do anything from games to painting, drawing and crafts. It was on at different times everyday and any child from Andi's age to a teenager were welcome.

In the evenings, they had a mini disco, movies on a projector and some other activities but we couldn't make some of them as Andi goes to bed early as otherwise she's just too cranky. I'm sure it's perfect for slightly older kids. There also is two outside playgrounds, one in the old part and a smaller one in the new wing.

Facilities:

There is a mini market on the grounds of the resort for all your essentials, games room, Spa, car rental, tour booking and activity bookings. Taxis outside the resort.

Tours:

We were offered two tours for our collaboration and we chose to visit Elafonisi Beach. It's about an hour and 45 mins from Kiani Beach Resort. We got our own private driver which was great and we even got a child seat for Andi & a booster seat for Aidah. The girls slept for most of the way to the beach which made the journey nice and quick.

Elafonisi Beach is like no other beach, it has pink sand and the most clear turquise water that I have ever seen, it's really shallow so perfect for young kids.

The second tour we chose was Kournas Lake, we drove there ourselves as it was the day they gave us a rental car. Now this lake holds a very special place in my heart, while we were there on our rented paddling boat, Alan proposed to me. It was the most perfect surroundings and having our girls there made it even more special. Kournas Lake is only about 30 mins away from Kiani Beach Resort. To rent a paddling boat for 4 costs €12 for an hour. They have sunbeds around the lake shore and it's a lovely way to spend your day.

A boat trip was another activity we got to go on. It all depends on the weather and how windy it is on the day though. The day we went on the boat, although it seemed to be calm, the waves were way to big to have two young kids with us so after 30 mins we turned around and went back to shore as it was too scary for them. Instead we spent the day at the beach. #winning

Chania:

Te city centre is around 20mins away in a car from Kiani beach resort and it cost €25 in a taxi one way which is definitely expensive. Chania old harbour is beautiful, has lots of history, plenty of restaurants, little shops and gorgeous views of the ocean. It's very busy, especially at night and has a great buzz about it.

You can book your stay at Kiani Beach Resort on www.seacretehotels.com or on www.booking.com. Booking direct will ensure you get the best price available. They often offer up to 20% off on accommodation on the website and early booking discount.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post as much as I enjoyed writing it.

If you have any questions, you can contact me on Instagram.

Love E x