Paid extra for a swim up room and got a room with a restricted view of the pool. The room 1301 was next door to a generator that sounded like sitting next to a tractor on the balcony . Did not get the 2 a la carte bookings as offered. Hotel began closing down on the Wednesday resulting in reduced food and drinks, creating an atmosphere that was not what we paid for, very depressing. No reference or guidance was made suggesting we would have a limited and incomparable stay to what was advertised. The spa facilities were also closed by Wednesday.

Accommodation was nice and clean in most areas but could have been cleaner in some places, eg head boards, curtains, inside pool stinks on poolside, really damp and musty, like it needed a good scrub. Snacks were cold, so not great to eat, I mainly eat chicken and this was normally dry and not nice to eat. I felt as it was end of season things were slipping and we didn’t get as good a service as we should have. Staff were mostly all amazing.

Just a brilliant hotel.

The hotel has a modern, stylish feel and a very relaxed atmosphere. If you're looking for lively entertainment and all-night partying, this probably isn't the place for you, but if your idea of heaven is a sun lounger, a cocktail and a good book, you'll fit right in. Check-in was seamless and, despite arriving on a late flight, we were delighted to find the restaurant had reopened for snacks. After travelling all day, that was very much appreciated and set a great first impression. The standout feature of the holiday was the BlueFit programme. I took part in aqua dance, yoga, fascia fit and several other classes with Ana, who was absolutely fantastic. Every session was well planned, engaging and suitable for different abilities. Yoga in the Cretan sunshine may have ruined normal yoga for me forever. It's now one of my favourite holiday memories. The food was generally very good. The Italian restaurant served delicious meals, although vegetarian choices were a little limited. The Culinarium was another excellent experience, with six appetisers served as a tasting menu before the main course. As a vegetarian, I was pleased that five of the six were suitable for me. The buffet restaurant offered plenty of choice and vegetarians are certainly well catered for, but after a week the menu did begin to feel a little repetitive. I would have liked to see more protein-based vegetarian options such as beans, lentils and pulses included more regularly. The pool bar had an impressive selection of included drinks, although worth noting that it closes at midnight. Personally, I was usually ready for bed by then anyway, but night owls may find themselves cut off before they're finished solving the world's problems over cocktails. The pool area itself was spacious, well maintained and had plenty of comfortable sunbeds. However, if you're visiting in October, be prepared for a refreshing experience. I'm fairly certain the pool water had only recently completed its journey from an Arctic glacier. One thing to be aware of is that the hotel doesn't have a beach directly attached. We had to walk along the road to find a beach bar with loungers available to hire. Not a major issue, but worth knowing if beachfront access is important to you. The rooms are beautiful, spacious and very comfortable. The king-size bed was excellent, the shower was good and the minibar was restocked daily as part of the all-inclusive package. The only real disappointment was the swim-up room upgrade. I'd booked it as a holiday treat after seeing the promotional photos, but our room was in a block of ten rooms connected by a narrow swim channel rather than one of the larger pool areas pictured online. Beyond the channel was a white fence that managed to block most of the sea and mountain views, which felt like a missed opportunity. At this time of year, the sun only reached our loungers from around 3pm, and given the temperature of the water, we didn't make much use of it anyway! In hindsight, I would happily book a standard room next time and save the extra money. Overall, Insula Alba is a beautiful, peaceful hotel with excellent fitness activities, friendly staff, great facilities and a genuinely relaxing atmosphere. While there are a few areas that could be improved, we had a wonderful holiday and would happily return, just probably without the swim-up room next time.

Hotel was amazing we had a lovely private pool. was modern and kept clean and tidy. Everything we needed was there. We did have to change rooms as the first room had no sunshine at all so couldn’t use pool so next day they moved us and we got sunshine in the afternoon which was nice and a slightly bigger pool