Review: Domes Zeen, a Luxury Collection Resort in Chania Crete

Here is our review and scoring of Domes Zeen, a Luxury Collection Resort in Chania Crete based on our stay in a Tropical Open Plan Suite with Shared Pool this summer.

Domes Zeen Chania (Luxury Collection Resort) is a family oriented resort that has been part of the Marriott portfolio since summer 2020. Previously, the hotel was owned by Thomas Cook and known as “Casa Cook Chania”, a boutique beach resort offering laidback luxury. Domes Zeen was rebranded as a Luxury Collection Resort with 106 rooms and 64 suites.

1.    Location 18/20: 

Domes Zeen is located about 2 kms away from Chania Center and 3 kms from the Old Town. A big perk of the resort’s location is its proximity to Chania; it is very easy and pleasant to walk down the path that follows the beach. We walked to town often and found it to be pleasant and safe (although the ~5 minutes along the beach area was very dark). Domes Zeen has a convenient location for exploring the west side of Crete: it is approximately a 10 minute drive from Chania, 30 minutes from Chania Airport, 1.5 hours from Elafonissi, 75 minutes from Balos, and 45 minutes away from some of the wineries you can visit (but a rental car is needed). We found that the road leading to the hotel from the highway was a bit tricky (narrow and bumpy). 

The hotel is not directly on the coast, but sits across it from it along a dirt pathway that leads to town. The beach itself is rugged, but beautiful and a great place to watch the sunset. The coast is too rough for swimming, but there are several calmer coves within about 20 minutes that are more suitable. 

2.    Bed and sleep quality 18/20:

The bed sits in the middle of the open-plan suite and faces outwards towards the terrace and pool. Black-out shades made the room really dark, the air conditioning was quiet, and overall design of the rooms (with direct access from outdoors) made it feel much more like a semi-private villa instead of a typical hotel room. 

3.    Room and room amenities 19/20:

The resort design was inspired by a traditional Greek village, with terraced bungalows along the hillside, each with private outdoor spaces. The aesthetic and design have elements of tropical “brutalism” – think minimalist, concrete, stone, and rattan. It reminded us of The Slow in Canggu, Bali.

The indoor space was well thought-out and very comfortable, but our favorite feature was the large outdoor terrace with lounge chairs, a small outdoor couch and pool. The room description for this room-type indicated it had a “shared” pool, which turned out to be only somewhat true as the single long pool was split between two rooms, but each portion was at a different elevation – which made each section more-or-less private (other than being able to see your neighbours in the pool below).  Despite this, we found that there was adequate privacy, although we were surprised that the room next door was occupied by a family with small children as we were led to believe that rooms were arranged in a way to separate couples and families. 

The room had a mini-fridge, robes, slippers, a Nespresso machine, and a Marshall Bluetooth speaker. As an arrival gift, they provided us with a bottle of Greek sparkling wine and a fruit plate.

4.    Bathroom 9/10:

The bathroom was really nice with natural light from the overhead skylights. It featured double sinks, high quality toiletries and towels, and a large shower with good water pressure.

5.    Hotel Public Areas and Amenities 9/10:

First impressions were definitely misleading (a rough side street through a residential area leading to a dirt parking lot). This all changed after stepping into the lobby, which is perched up on the hill and offers a nice view of the resort and the coastline while enjoying a glass of the welcome sparkling wine.

The hotel has a large pool by the restaurant, an outdoor gym, and beach chairs/umbrellas. We did not use the main pool as we had our own and it was too crowded during our stay (this pool was very popular with families). 

Breakfast was served every morning in the main restaurant buffet style. There was indoor and outdoor seating. Overall, we were impressed and satisfied with the breakfast offerings: a mix of local and international foods, lots of healthy and vegetarian options along with more indulgent treats. 

We also had lunch at the restaurant once and enjoyed the food; fresh seafood, healthy salads, and a good selection of drinks. We did not have dinner as we were not interested in the dinner menu.

6.    Service and staff 7/10:

The front desk staff were very welcoming and attentive, even going above and beyond to offer-up handwritten restaurant recommendations when we told them we were travelling to Agios Nikolaos next. 

We were not surprised that our SNA request was declined due to the hotel being sold out. Like at Domes Miramare Corfu, we were offered a complimentary lunch at the restaurant as a gesture to thank us for our loyalty to Marriott as Titanium members.

Housekeeping was somewhat disappointing for a resort of this caliber; despite only offering cleaning every 2nd day, many small cleaning details were regularly missed and water was never replenished.

Overall, we felt that service was generally above average, but there is definitely still room for improvement. 

7.    Overall Value 8/10:

We used points to stay here and really enjoyed our stay due to the resort and its location. Having breakfast included as a Titanium member, and a complimentary lunch offered by the hotel really extended the value of our stay. Considering how expensive seaside resorts in Greece can be during the summer, and the impacts of a low exchange rate, using points here made our trip very affordable.

8.    Overall:88/100 

Would weleavetoday to go back? YES