Grecotel LuxMe Dama Dama

I can not recommend this hotel highly enough. We had an amazing stay, all the staff were extremely friendly, cheerful, helpful, polite and professional. Food choice was incredible and they catered for my daughter who is a Coeliac, going above and beyond in what they would cook for her. The bedroom was spacious, cleaned and stocked daily. The pool was sparkling if a little chilly - well it was early season. The beach was clean and beach beds were tidied every evening. There were various activities you could participate in if you wanted to (water aerobics/zumba/darts/beach volley ball) but you were never pressured into doing any of them. I definitely will be going back!

Our first visit to Dama Dama and definitely not the last. I would rate this hotel as overall 4.5 stars and in many areas 5 star, in particular the service, wines and drinks menu which was extensive. Plus points High level of service Extensive wine and spirits list Beautiful Main Pool Plenty of sun beds Greek and Italian restaurants excellent Excellent Management Very very clean everywhere Minus Points Rooms could do with a refresh but are perfectly okay and very clean Pool was not heated but did not stop us swimming every day Sun beds a little low but very minor point Previous comments mentioned the beach being dangerous. In my opinion I cannot agree with this. The concrete pier that is clearly a little old and in need of attentionhas been fenced off, the beach is shingle so bring water shoes. The only issue we had was a mix up on a restaurant booking for our anniversary. However the hotel rapidly sorted this out and for me the mark of a good hotel is how they resolve an issue and they did very well. Overall I would highly recommend this hotel, we had a lux me seaview room which was lovely.

We have just finished our holiday to Luxme DAMA DAMA and it was nothing short of excellent. The food at the buffet was of a great quality and there was always a good variety. We visited 3 of the a la carte restaurants and enjoyed each visit (the lava stone at the Italian is amazing!). A special mention has to go to the amazing Valerios at the Italian restaurant who had great banter, always took the time to make sure we were enjoying our meal and made everything at the restaurant seem so “elegant”! The Lobby bar is a great space to have some down time, play card games etc. and the ladies working at the bar were always very friendly and helpful! As for daily entertainment, different yoga and wellbeing activities were held in the yoga studio (massive shoutout to Aoife who took these classes, she is a great teacher!). There was also water Zumba and water gym at the main pool which was led by Diego and Dimitri who got the whole hotel moving, dancing and having fun which created such an amazing atmosphere, well done to them! Boccia and darts also took place on the gardens which were great fun with there being “special rounds” making it enjoyable for all! These activities were run by Irina who is amazing at what she does and is a very important member of the animation team and made our holiday that bit more special. She is a very polite person who always took the time to speak to us and encourage us to take part in the activities, so a massive thank you goes to her! The evening entertainment included acts like acrobats and singers (the supreme tribute act were great!) with most of these shows being held in the garden theatre. The beach bar also had ice cream , crepes and a buffet during the day which was provided a great space to take in the great sea views and grab a bite to eat. There is also a mini market and jewellery shop in the hotel and also the Epsilon shopping centre is next door for any gifts etc. The centre of Faliraki is easily accessible from the hotel (by foot, tourist train, taxi) where there is many shops and we also enjoyed a game of crazy golf. Overall, our stay at the Luxme DAMA DAMA was more than we could ask for! It was a very calming and relaxing experience and one that we thoroughly enjoyed!

First up the positives: - The majority of the staff we encountered were lovely and really tried to make the trip a positive experience, - Both the Asiana and Italian were fairly good al la carte restaurants and well worth a visit, the service provided by Maria at the Asiana was particularly excellent. - Overall the cleaners did a good job keeping everywhere reasonably clean. On to the negatives: - Overall there are a number of areas of the hotel that are tired and really in need of revamping, for example the secondary pool is surrounded by concrete and not tile which follows on to the ‘entertainment’ or stage area’, in all honesty it looks like this whole area has been thrown together on what was an old concrete car park, not very inviting and a stark contrast to the main pool area, - We started off in superior guest room side sea view - there was genuinely nothing superior about this room. the air conditioning was in reality nothing more than a loud fan and both the bathroom and bedroom had cracked tiles, mouldy grout around the sink and a shower screen nowhere near big enough to prevent a flood on the bathroom floor every time you showered. Following our completion of a feedback survey on day 2 we were moved to one of the family bungalows, this was better with operational AC, a much better bathroom and fewer issues although there were still cracked tiles and some bathroom issues. In general I’d say that the rooms started out being fitted in a manner that looked great on Instagram but they simply aren’t practical for a hotel. - The main buffet restaurant just isn’t fit for purpose, the food isn’t hot enough which for me is what I want at a buffet, and there is a lack of choice. On several occasions I noticed pizza being served that was nothing more than charcoal with some cheese on top and the selection was very similar most days. - In my opinion the Tavernaki restaurant is not great either in terms of food or service. Overall I’d say Grecotel the brand needs to undertake some work at this hotel to bring it up to the standard the staff deserve, focus less on the ‘instagram look’ and more on the offering. Having had such a wonderful stay at the Grecotel White Palace in Crete a few years ago we were excited to visit another one in the brand, not sure we will be trying another in the future.