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Cheaper
Average
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About
3.5
#22 of 30 hotels in Kato Gouves
Location
3.1
Cleanliness
3.8
Service
4.1
Value
3.8
See why so many travelers make Despo their hotel of choice when visiting Kato Gouves. Providing an ideal mix of value, comfort and convenience, it offers a family-friendly setting with an array of amenities designed for travelers like you.
You’ll enjoy relaxing rooms that offer a refrigerator and air conditioning, and you can stay connected during your stay as Despo Hotel offers guests free internet access.
The hotel features a 24 hour front desk and currency exchange. Plus, Despo Hotel offers a pool and free breakfast, providing a pleasant respite from your busy day. For guests with a vehicle, free parking is available.
During your visit, be sure to check out a popular Kato Gouves ribs restaurant such as Skorpios, which is a short distance from Hotel Despo.
Should time allow, Folklore Museum of Gouves is a popular attraction that is within walking distance.
We’re sure you’ll enjoy your stay at Despo as you experience all of the things Kato Gouves has to offer.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
This is a good hotel, between average and very good. We stayed in August, the hotel itself is fine but to get to Gouves you have to cross a very busy main road. The food was better than expected, my diet is mostly veggie, at breakfast I had beans, hard boiled eggs, cheese slices. There was always fruit and plenty of Greek yogurt plus salad and feta. Chips were always served at lunch, plenty of beige food for kids. The salad and feta was wonderful. If there had been pitta bread it would have been perfect!
Dinner was decent, there were nice rice dishes a couple of nights. I tried the non vegetarian moussaka and it was lovely. There were pasta dishes but they always had ham in. Could have made them veggie friendly to keep everyone happy. The meat was always pork but my partner tried some faggot/burger things and liked them. We only ate out one evening. My favourite dinners were the spinach type risotto and moussaka. There was a orzo dish with very lean stewed beef which I liked. There was also a baked egg cheese potato pie which was very nice. The drinks are limited but even the higher end hotels are like that! If we could have had rum instead of Brandy we would have been very happy but Ouzo, lemonade and blackcurrant was nice.
If you want a break and aren't fussed about venturing out the hotel it's perfect. There's a kid safe pool, kids seemed happy with ice creams from 3 to 6pm. Not sure what other snacks are available. As we only had ice cream because we always ate a good lunch.
The staff were all friendly, we didn't need air con as the room had patio door with an additional shutter which kept the sun out. Room was clean. Housekeeping staff were friendly, we had a funny moment when we had to be shown how to lock the patio doors and the member of staff made us laugh.
We probably wouldn't stay again because of the location but the hotel itself is fine, there were enough sun loungers for everyone.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Upon arrival, we were accommodated in the basement of the hotel. The room was small and not very cozy. The food selection was monotonous throughout the stay. The hotel pool was perfect, as the beach is 600m away, so you don't want to walk all the time. The hotel bar was excellent, acceptable drinks and as a bonus ice cream. For the undemanding, an excellent hotel with a walk to the beach.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Good location to spend some free time with family 👍😍 Food ok, and good variety. Rooms are very clean. They clean everyday. Very good bar service and good hosts. They offer free transfer to the beach!!
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Where to start with this place.. rooms were ok tho AC is extra cost per day. Some staff were friendly (until manager told them to stop chatting with guests and do more work!). Those were the positives.
Food. Pretty awful overall, very very limited selection, often repeated so not much variety either. Snacks from the pool bar very hot/miss. Staff not knowing which meat a dish was (was told pork, goat and lamb by three different staff members about the exact same dish). Mostly lukewarm if that and eating area was quite basic.
Cleaning processes weren’t great. A child had a number 2 accident in the pool one day and staff just fished it out with a little net then emptied it into a flowerbed by reception. No extra chlorine or anything applied so people dived into area accident happened soon after as no signs were put up.
Location, was ok. Good for buses but you have to cross a major road to get into the town. Town consists of several bars, a few restaurants and that’s about it.
All inclusive was ‘ok’ tho you had to finish your drink in order to get another, you can’t just order two drinks which was odd and selection was very poor as no real fruit juices to make cocktails, so yeah it was ‘ok’.
Managed to meet some other great guests which made the stay bearable but I’d never return given the choice!
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Date of stay: August 2021Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is a super little hotel! Kept very clean and tidy with immaculate gardens around the pool area. It's a throwback to a more traditional Greek holiday before all the giant hotel companies came in with the supersize resorts. The staff are all friendly and there is a decent selection in the restaurant every meal, mostly Greek foods, salads etc but always alternate options for fussy eaters or kids. Bar is a bit limited on the all inclusive but it depends what you're after. It's not a banging night life place although the centre of town is a10 minute walk away, as are the beaches. Would very highly recommend this place and will definitely be staying here again on our next trip to crete. I would recommend paying the little extra for the ac right enough as it's VERY warm there
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Date of stay: August 2019Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What you get with Despo is what you pay for. It's cheap.
I should start by saying that I was with a friend and we weren't looking for the ritz. We were looking for cheap and cheerful all inclusive and that was what we got. However, we have been on similar holidays before and this doesn't stack up against them.
The food is simply utterly terrible and we didn't eat there most days as a result. Luckily down the road. there are a myriad of restaurants, bars that serve traditional greek food. Why the hotel at Despo couldn't put on some gryos or Souvlaki at any point, is beyond me but the food was shockingly bad.
The bar wasn't much better. The drinks range was very basic, there were no cocktails in the evenings. Granted i'm difficult but i was limited by not liking Raki or Beer. There was at least ouzo. The bar man was rude and insisted that you had finished your drink before you could get another one, even if you were getting a drink for a friend to save you all queuing! I saw him quarrelling and telling off with other members of staff and generally got the vibe that none of the staff wanted to be there. Fortunately there were a number of enjoyable bars that were within walking distance.
The pool was good, but there was an incident that was rather poorly handled. Somehow, someone had had an accident in the pool, and the staff dully fished it out with a fishing rod. This in itself wasn't so bad, but it was the fact that they paraded it around the communal area before depositing it in the bushes for all the guests to see, without making any effort to hide it away. Furthermore, they did nothing with the pool, not closing it nor even adding some chorine to disinfect it. In fact they just went back to bartending as if nothing had happened. Whilst this gave rise to a very funny moment when one of the oblivious german lads staying at the hotel dived in with the encouragement of his friends. Hilarious to watch but not very hygienic.
The rooms were very basic, no problems there but the fact that they charge for AC was a bit concerning.
The only saving grace was that I met a bunch of other guests who were lovely. Fortunately, I was able to make friends with a number of them which lead to excursions and meals out etc.
The younger members of Staff were also excellent. Dimitri and George in particular were exceptionally helpful, and were welcoming to us. They stopped for chats and told us about the Greek culture and life on the island. Between them and the other guests, they made the holiday a pleasant experience overall. Despos are lucky to have them covering their backs.
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Date of stay: August 2021
Rooms
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
From the moment I arrived at hotel the lady from reception Katherine was very nice, approachable and she told me that the room its not ready even tho I came earlier.
After 30 minutes she gave the keys of the room from ground floor, however the room was not as expected.
Toilet had to be cleaned again as it was full of flies and mosquitoes, room itself look old, old curtains, wardrobe cannot be used as its connected to the wall and humid inside, everything looks old and not properly maintained, aswell curtains and walls are cracked and the cleaning of the bathroom its embarrassing how it looked like.
Amenities in the room were not available ( one soap for hands) , no water bottles ( u have to pay for the water 3Euros per a pack of 6).
AC was available only with extra charge 8 Euros per day, but minimum 2 days you can book which I found it extremely ridiculous and WIFI connection was barely functional and very slow.
The bufet if you like to eat daily vegetables, fruits and almost the same food its ok, however they are not very open to accomodate request in case that you are traveling with kids ( “You have to eat what we prepared “, this was the answer when I asked for 2 boiled eggs, however when the eggs came they were cold, which means probably they were from the previous day.
Definitely the hotel needs a full refurnish and to focus on the standard of a decent room and especially that everything looks old and you could see that might not care about how the hotel looks like, if the people dont complain and everything its on extra charge( pool table, ping pong) .
Definitely I will not return here for the next time, and does not worth it those 3 stars hotel and they have pictures with renovated rooms(4 rooms) on internet.
I would not suggest to go there for a long holiday or with kids.
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Date of stay: August 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Bring ur own spray for mosquitoes and flies, but the only suggestion for future travelers : Dont...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dirty beds, bad room services and cockroaches were buzzing in our ears 24/7. The food was terrible and the bare minimum was served. They didn’t serve Greek style food whatsoever. There was one restaurant with no AC. We had to buy toiletries, drinking water, slippers and we had to pay for AC. Make sure you take/ buy a lot of mosquitoes repellent. The only good thing about the hotel was the garden ( if it wasn’t noisy with cockroaches) and Clair, the receptionist, who was very helpful and friendly. We were in there in August 2022. It was our first time to Greece and we were looking forward to celebrate our child’s birthday there, but turned out to be a worst hotel experience, unfortunately.
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Date of stay: October 2022Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Allocate a lot of money to eat out, buy toiletries, mosquitoes repellent, and slippers. Pay for AC.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The exterior is beautiful, the gardens are ok, the pool is clean, the playground is acceptable, but the rooms need complete renovation. we were accommodated in a tiny room, we requested a triple room, they added a folding bed for the child, but terrible. I changed the room the next day, this one located in a basement, larger, with a spacious terrace, but it smelled of mold, full of insects, flies and mosquitoes. cleanliness leaves much to be desired. I bought cleaning solutions and cleaned the bathroom and the room myself, otherwise it was impossible. the food was ok, we and our child had enough to eat. but nothing impressive.
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Date of stay: August 2024Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Absolutely terrible do not go to this hotel avoid at all cost!!! The manager and staff treat you like you are not welcome, and the food is terrible!! Manager is Also anti English. Told us that we cannot finish our food because food service had finished 10 minutes ago even tho we got there half an hour early. Also must pay 8 euro a night for air con which is a scam.
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Traveled solo
Room Tip:Just don’t go
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sheffield, United Kingdom97 contributions46 helpful votes
There are bars within a 10 minute walk that are nice. About 15min walk away there is the Annfield bar which has quizes ect don't know if they still have singers
Stayed at Kalia Beach. The Despo is the sister hotel and we did drive past and it looked closed. Glad of the move as location wise Kalia Beach is so much better.
There are more places to choose from in the Kato Gouves area.
PRICE RANGE
$66 - $103 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
despo hotel gouves, despo hotel crete, hotel despo
LOCATION
GreeceCreteHeraklion PrefectureGouvesKato Gouves
NUMBER OF ROOMS
73
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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