June 2024 Crete | MAN to CHQ | Escape Lounge | Ryanair | Kiani Beach Resort Room Tour | Dinner

Welcome to our family vacation vlog where we share our travel adventures to Kiani near Chania in Crete, Greece, during June 2024.

This mini-break is for 3 nights and 4 days, staying at the 5 star All-Inclusive‪@kianibeach‬ resort on the beach of Kiani Atki, just outside Kalyves. Booked last minute via On The Beach, a month before travelling.

This holiday is a weekend in the sun, that is minus the children, to celebrate a family birthday. I loosly use the term adult only, as the resort itself is family friendly. Our travelling party this time is, Mark, me (Sam), and Sally and Ross of ‪@riseshinefamilyvlog6806‬ .

This vlog is our travel day and an early flight demands a very early wake-up call. Setting out from the Midlands, we head up to Manchester Airport and Terminal 3 for our flight to Chania International Airport in Crete.

With departures being very busy we dig out the Dragon Pass and see if there is any availability in the Escape Lounge. Luckily for us, our early flight, makes for a quiet lounge, so we are able to pay the additional £20 per person, to increase the entry from two to four. It is important to remember that entry on the day is of course subject to availability, and is not guaranteed.

Like most airport lounges they offer comfortable seating, a serviced bar, self-service soda and hot drinks, alongside a buffet food offering. Which in our case was breakfast.

Our flight was with Ryainair and we opted to upgrade our flight booking by adding on priority and selecting extra legroom seats. This outward bound flight saw us sitting on row 2. It is important to note that the front couple of rows require that all bags and carry on be stored in the overhead bins. Nothing can be at your feet or under the seat in front if there is one.

A smooth and uneventful 4 hours later we arrive at Chania International Airport. Making the decision to grab a taxi out side of the airport for €45, rather than pre-booking a transfer.

We arrive at the Kiani Beach Resort Hotel in around 25 minutes. The check-in process was easy, with the helpful staff advising our room locations and given us our AI wristbands.

While Sally and Ross are shown to their room, Mark and I decide to up-grade the four of us, to their all-inclusive plus option. This expands the drinks selection, adds some other little luxury touches to the stay, and provides some discounts on the paid add-ons at the resort.

With Mark and I allocated an up-grade to a Loft Room, and Sally and Ross up-graded to a Sea View Family Room. We take you for a tour around these two accomodation types.

Our Loft Room is in the pool side of the resort, and is split across two levels. The downstairs is home to the main sleeping and bathroom area, whilst the upstairs has a separate twin-bed sleeping area and bathroom. Perfect for a family. The room has a balcony, terrace that overlooks the pool and children's splash pool.

Sally and Ross's room is on the beach side of the resort. It also accommodates a family, with a main sleeping area, and sliding doors that separate the double bed, from two single beds. The room has a balcony, terrace that overlooks the beachfront.

Our first stop is the beachfront where we sample some of the free snacks included in the AI package. Sampling some greek salad rolls (feta, tomato and cucumber) and both a savoury (ham and cheese) and sweet (chocolate spread and banana) crepe.

After a quick change, our second stop is to check out the dinner buffet options at both sides of the resort. To see if they serve different things. We found that evening, that some were the same, but there were some differences to the appetiser, main entree, and dessert dishes.

Sally and I take a little walking tour around the grounds of the hotel on the pool side. Noting the children's outdoor play areas, the indoor pool area, locations of the Spa and Kids Club, and the smart 3D location guide map. That is accessed by scanning the QR-codes displayed around the resort.
 
Continuing our walk, we all head out up the road to our last stop of the evening, the Bonsai Shisha & Cocktail-Bar. A short 5-minute walk from the resort we popped in for a drink, including milkshakes, check out their menu and suss out their sport tv set up. In anticipation for the Euro 2024 competition that was starting that evening with the Scotland v Germany match.

Why not come along ;)