We have just returned from a week at the Panorama Hotel, Crete and would not ever want to go again. Myself, partner and three learning disabled clients all have aching backs from what seemed like mattresses made of bricks. The hotel itself was in a stunning setting, the food was good and the staff in the main were OK. Our gripe mainly is for the tour agent - First Choice. We have been on holiday with them before as a group and they met the criteria we need fantasically. We need, because of the various disabilities of our group, a hotel on the level (Panorama is up a very steep slope - hence the magnificent views over a bay), walking access to a village or town (This hotel is really out in the sticks and even worse there were no pavements to walk on making it very dangerous the try and walk to the couple of taverna's that were about 10 mins away), and lastly very little entertainment. That was one of our main requests and this hotel only had two evenings of entertainment in the entire 8 days we were there.

I would say this Hotel would be fine for younger people with more resilient backs, who can dodge the traffic quickly and want to do not much more than sunbathe and swim (the pool was freezing incidentially). I have never been on a holiday where I was counting the days to return home ..... Unfortunately i did on this one.

The hotel is located on a cliff/slope that overlooks the coast, offering a fantastic view that is typically mediterranean, with the ocean at the front and the mountains at the rear. There is a large pool area with an infinity pool and an outside bar/dinner for snacks and drinks.
The room was comfortable and large enough with adequate facilities.
We had our morning and evening meals outside mostly, which has a fantastic view of the nearby bay. The food was okay, sometimes even quite nice, though the cold buffet tended to be nicer than the warm food, which was overcooked meats that tasted increadibly salty. A lot of the food i had was far too salty for my tastes and often ruined my appetite, leaving me thirsty all night.
The location of the hotel is quite remote. There aren't many restaurants or bars for some distance and the nearest available places are about 20 minutes away by bus or taxi. Each taxi ride can be upto 10 Euro (£7) one way.
Costs for drinks in the hotel are quite high, especially in comparison to other bars in that part of the country.
We booked through medhotels and the rep was not too good. He spoke broken english and was quite dissorganised with regards to information, though this did not cause us any problems.
The only problem i found with the hotel is that some of the staff were quite rude and miserable. Some of the restaurant staff looked like they had been given 24 hours to live and would never smile. If we ordered drinks with our meals we were given the bill immediately, which is strange for English culture as we expect to pay when we leave. If we didn't put the money on the table for the bill we were constantly pestered until we paid, which isn't needed when your'e trying to enjoy your meal. On one occasion i was asked for my room number and the waiter didn't believe i was staying at the hotel and kicked up a lot of fuss. I found this to be quite offensive and after it was resolved the waiter was quite hostile towards me for the rest of my stay.
The internal dining room was crammed and uncomfortable. There were lots of people banging into one another and dropping plates and the staff would collect plates on a trolley as we ate making a lot of bad noise.
In all the hotel is not bad, though the staff really do need to be aware of other cultures mannerisms, as a lot of their behaviour can be deemed rude by the English who have general good manners. The hotel was rated as 5 star when we booked it, i would say its more like 3 or 4.

The hotel itself was nice the staff friendly and the food was above average for a holiday package hotel. The main issues were it was very windy and there is nowhere to sit outside even when the sun was shining. The only restaurant was outside so we were forced inside into what can only be described as a canteen for meals when the weather wasn't up to scratch. We had a seaview room which was above the main entrance to the hotel so there was noise from time to time with deliver trucks and coaches. The actual location of the hotel had very little around it so you couldn't really walk anywhere in the evening so it was either the bus to Chania or a taxi to the next resort which was quite costly. Overall it was ok but what be going back.

Well went there for our honeymoon upgrade room, the view was a car park and a bit of the sea , the rep " alision" very poor. 2 trips we booked one was cancelled , the transport was late and got the wrong tram , book through hotel cheaper . staff at hotel brill. management very bad . Dont go full board rip off . On the plus workers from housekeeping too bar staff too entertainment rob, phoenix . no probelm . great. Views fantastic in fact breath taking . a bit expensive as well .