Opinions THE ISLAND Gouves

The GDM Island Hotel is listed as a 5-star luxury resort and offers numerous rooms with private pools. However, our stay was terrible, so we cannot recommend the GDM Island Hotel at all.

We wanted to spend a few sunny days in the south in October 2023. We arrived at 12 noon and wanted to check-in. However, the room was not ready until 3 pm. The first room they took us to (No. 668) was located about 400 meters from the reception and restaurant. It was on the ground floor and was terribly cramped and dark. The bathroom was right next to the bed and was only separated from the room by a curtain.

Upon request, they offered us an alternative room (No. 999) 500 meters away. This one was much larger but still quite dark and gloomy. Most rooms in the facility have narrow louvre windows in the bathroom that cannot be completely closed, allowing insects to enter freely. The bathroom ventilation in our room didn't work, and the air conditioning was leaking water. The bathroom sink unit had come off the wall. Plastic strips were attached along the bathtub, presumably to cover up mold. There were no power outlets in the bathroom, only one in the hallway, one on one side of the bed, and one behind a chair on the floor. The flat-screen TV was ancient and far away from 4K quality. The loungers on the terrace were covered in leaves and seeds, making them unpleasant and unusable.

After two days, we were offered a room with a sea view right above the pool and evening live music, which we declined. The white loungers and daybeds around the pools were unclean and not inviting.

To reach the small and narrow sandy beach surrounded by rocks, you had to cross the road. Its use was free for hotel guests, but there were no showers, and reaching the only unsanitary restroom in the pool area required a long walk through the hotel complex.

In the restaurant, you had to wait to be seated by a server. The staff at the reception and in the spa were not particularly friendly. There was a small supermarket on the property, but this led some guests to drink from cans by the pool.

The hotel was located in the flight path, so you could track the weekly flight schedule. The hotel's surroundings were terrible. Fortunately, we had a rental car and could explore the beautiful places on the island ourselves.

We have visited many perfect holiday destinations, but we were completely disappointed by this stay.

Eine wirklich schöne Anlage und ausgezeichnetes Essen! Leider war unser Zimmer sehr weit abgelegen und der Flugzeuglärm störten ein wenig. Alles in allem aber eine Empfehlung wert!

A nice hotel, stayed a while back so a little delayed review. Good rooms, facilities onsite, breakfast was the same for all the 8 days we stayed, DJs were mostly good in the afternoon. Overall a nice place to relax and unwind.

Ein schönes Hotel. Hier kann man sehr gut entspannen.

alles gut.
Kann man weiterempfehlen.

We had a wonderful week at The Island. Everything was perfect: the friendly service, the amazing food, the pools, the lovely cats, the beach and the weather. The only that could be improved is the amount of shower gel& shampoo in the room. Another point, that is really important to us: we hope that the cats are cared for during the winter, when the hotel is closed, especially the cute kittens. They are so young and can't care for themselves. We would love to greet them next year again.
All the best, family geib

Tolles Hotel. Viele kleine Pools und Ruheecken. Direkt am Strand.
Nachteil: direkt unter der Einflugschneise vom Flughafen und nicht drumherum, wo man mal abends flanieren kann

Der Ort Gouves ist wirklich nichts besonderes zum Glück sind wir im BESTEN HOTEL THE ISLAND mit sehr freundlichen Personal, super gepflegte großflächige Anlage mit Top View Richtung Meer

This hotel seems to manage to receive reviews from both haters and lovers. Which makes it hard to come to some lind of conclusion beforehand. Therefore, i try to be complete in this overview.

I had to repost this review because it was possibly in violation of the google policy, although i dont know why.

First the good:
- kind staff in general.
- modern and clean facility.
- multiple pools and plenty of sunbeds.
- nice beach in front with shallow waters.
- good quality bed and plenty large.
- breakfast is diverse and abundant.
- there is a fridge and free vault on the room.
- one free bottle of water each day is a nice extra.
- pricing for drinks at dinner is acceptable.
- covid19 measures were oke. Although a health check at the restaurant wouldbe better. Some people were coughing terribly.
- aduly only! Which we like.
- the airco was good.
- soubdproofing for outside noise oke (expect planes to pass frequently though)

Now what could be better:
- the log of wood in our room indeed had bugs in them which were munching all the time. Remove these logs or treat them please. We put it on the balcony.
- the rooms are quite small, but doable.
- the bathroom is way too small. And there is no room for your own stuff.
- the shower is a hazard. The tap is right next to your knees and you need to balance on the drain.
- dinner is reasonable. But in general, meats were cooked dry (pork, turkey, chicken). Not up to par with 5 stars i must agree with previous reviewers.
- more power outlets needed.
- the tv is outdated.
- the rooms are noisy! Better opt for an upstairs room! You can hear people move around all the time. Please, also change the noisy toiletroll holders! We could hear the neighbours as if they were in our room.....
- somehow, if you have smoking neighbours, the smell will enter your room trough the ventilation system.

So all in all, there is good, quite many improvements to be made and some bad. Therefore i come to a gair conclusion of 3 out of 5 stars. We did enjoy our stay and were able to relax.

Sehr freundlicher Empfang, nicht übertriebener, perfekter Service am Morgen und beim Abendessen, sehr angenehme Atmosphäre bei Tisch und in der gesamten Anlage, lange Essenszeiten, aktuell leider keine freie sitzplatzwahl im Freien, tolles, vielfältigstes Speisenangebot am Buffet, Zimmerservice sehr gut, Lage direkt am eigenen sehr sauberen Sandstrandabschnitt, tagsüber und am Abend bis etwa 22.00 etwas Fluglärm, da in der Einflugschneise zum Flughafen Heraklion gelegen, Supermärkte, Bars und Speiselokale unmittelbar um die Hotelanlage herum, täglich wechselnde Fitnessangebote, absolute Empfehlung

Wir sind das erste mal im The Island gewesen aber bestimmt nicht das Letzte Mal. Wir haben das erste Mal in einer Anlage Urlaub gemacht und haben es hier bestens angetroffen. Zimmer mit Meerblick war Top, nicht riesig aber völlig ausreichend. Einziges Manko, der Kleiderschrank dürfte etwas grösser sein. Die Anlage ist wunderschön gestaltet. Wir hatten HP und das Frühstücks-sowie das Abendbuffet lassen keinen Wunsch offen. Man hat 3 Pools oder geht über die kleine Uferstrasse undbist direkt am Strand. Strandtuch, Liegen alles inkl. Die Mitarbeiter sind sehr sehr freundlich und immer gut aufgelegt, trotz dem nahenden Saisonende. Der Urlaub war für uns ein Highlight.

Fantastic hotel, very well laid out within it's gardens - almost like a mini village with streets etc.
There are three pools, each with a slightly different feel and when we went (October) there were always plenty of beds available - both the "standard lounger" and the "four poster bed" types.
The resort itself has only a few bars / restaurants and we mostly stayed within the hotel.

Very nice .

Nice adults only, most aspects worth a revisit. Relaxed and quiet.
Only slight downside was nice setting but a little too remote.

Superbe hôtel disposant d'un des meilleurs accès à un belle plage en plus de ses nombreuses piscines disponibles au milieu du jardin luxuriant.
Les chambres sont petites et l'entretien de celle-ci pourrait être meilleur (voir photos).

Mention spéciale à Evaggelia pour son sourire et sa bonne humeur au restaurant le soir.

A lovely, fantastic hotel worthy of its stars. A beautiful clean hotel and complex with lovely friendly staff. All in all a fantastic hotel and fantastic holiday to be had from here.

Sehr schönes Hotel, was unsere Vorstellungen voll und ganz erfüllen konnte. Besonders beeindruckend war das stets freundliche und äußerst zuvorkommende Personal.
Vielen Dank für einen tollen Urlaub.