As part of a two week vacation in Greece, we stayed a midweek from Monday to Friday at the Marriott Domes Noruz, Autograph Collection hotel in Chania. This property is located right at the beach at about 10 miles from the Chania city center and 15 miles from its airport.
Arriving at the hotel
Public transportation in this area isn’t the most efficient way to get to the hotel. Before our arrival we received an email from Marriott offering their pickup service in a private car for €50 (About 58 USD). While not very cheap, we opted for this easy mode of transportation as we were arriving in the evening and wanted to spend as little time as possible in transit. Our driver met us at the arrivals hall and directed us to a Mercedes car parked outside. The ride itself took less than 30 minutes and was smooth.
Once we got to the hotel, we were greeted by the receptionist. Our luggage was carried inside the lobby, located in a separate building on the property, and we were offered a seat and a welcome drink. We waited for a few minutes while enjoying our drink and after that the receptionist came back with our keys and gave us a tour of the property. The hotel has two pools and is located right at the beach, where it also has private lounge chairs.
Next to the pool is a restaurant which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner services, and in the middle of the two pools there is a pool bar. A separate building houses the spa.
Our room
We booked our stay in a Pool View King Bed room with a plunge pool. While we were waiting for our luggage to be dropped off at the room we took a look around and were amazed by the view we had from the room. Located directly at the pool it offered a stunning view of the pool and the sea laying behind it.
The view from our room.
The plunge pool and a bath tub were located in a private outdoor space, with a privacy screen that could be opened to have view on the pool. Inside the room was a king size bed, a bathroom with shower and toilet, a big closet and several storage cabinets. We were also welcomed by a bottle of champagne and a box with two chocolates, the latter being replaced every day.
View into the room. Photo courtesy of Marriott.
The spa
Our room reservation came with a complimentary 30 minute massage for two at the hotel spa. The massages were generic but refreshingly good. The spa offers a variety of massages and has an indoor pool with several lounge chairs.
The pool
The pool was located directly outside our room which made for a small trek to get some sun. With the Domes Noruz property being adult-only, the crowd wasn’t too bad, and the pool was usually pretty quiet. There were plenty of lounge beds around the pool, grouped in sets of two. The pool itself was great, the water chilly at first, but feeling pretty good once you’re in. The only remark is that the beach umbrella’s were located between the sets of chairs. Depending on the time of day, someone else could decide if you were getting sun or not, as multiple pairs of chairs got their shade from the same umbrella’s. Luckily, with the place being fairly quiet, this wasn’t a big issue, but I can imagine it might be less ideal if the pool is packed.
The beach
We spent most of our time at the pool rather than the beach, but the beach is located right in front of the property with direct access from the pool. Plenty of lounge chairs are available for use by guests and the beach is in walking distance to the cliffs at Iguana Beach, which offers nice sunset views.
Sunset from Iguana Beach
The restaurant
Being a Marriott Gold member, this resort offered us complimentary breakfast. The buffet was incredible, with plenty of options. A lot of the typical items such as bacon, eggs, sausage, waffles; but also a variety of local sweets, honey, yoghurt and a wide assortment of fruits. There was also staff waiting on the tables, serving coffee, tea and juices.
We didn’t use the hotel restaurant for lunch and dinner, but if it’s anything like breakfast, I would definitely recommend it.
The area
The area around the hotel is pretty low key. If you want to explore, I would highly suggest renting a car. We didn’t this time, and feel like we missed out. Luckily, Chania is only a short taxi ride away, with taxi fares around 10 euro’s each way. If you want to try out local restaurants, there are plenty near in walking distance of the hotel, with a variety of Greek and international cuisine.
Overall opinion
We very much enjoyed our stay at the Domes Noruz hotel. Our room was fantastic with great views, as was the pool. We only used the restaurant for breakfast, but that definitely one of the better ones I’ve seen at hotels. The massages we got were a bit short, but nothing to complain about when complimentary. I would definitely stay at the resort again in the future.
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