Lato Boutique Hotel

Good location, but a very disappointing Family Room. The hotel is in a very good location, central and convenient for exploring Heraklion. The breakfast was also decent overall. Unfortunately, the Family Room we were given was very disappointing. The view from the window was a run-down internal courtyard with stained walls, dirty rooftops and no real view at all. It was far below what we expected from a hotel in this category. The bathroom amenities were also extremely limited: there was no complimentary toiletries kit and the only product provided were two identical dispenser labelled “shampoo,” with not even a clearly marked shower gel or body wash. Our sleep was further affected by the poor soundproofing. Other guests were very noisy and, from around 7 a.m., we could hear repeated loud banging and other disturbances, possibly caused by cleaning or rooms being prepared. It seems there may be a significant difference in quality between Family Rooms, despite them being sold under the same category and presumably at the same price. If some rooms have such a poor outlook and noticeably inferior features, this should be made clear before booking. Otherwise, the hotel’s overall presentation can feel misleading compared with the experience actually provided. The good location and decent breakfast were not enough to compensate for a stay that was well below expectations and offered poor value for money.

I choose this property despite the negative reviews, believing they were one offs and in light of the other recent positive reviews. Unfortunately, this was a situation where you need to believe what you read and not discount them. I booked the “comfy room” on Expedia and when we first checked in, we were assigned a room across the street from reception. Thought this was unusual, but went along with it. When we arrived in the room, I immediately noticed that it did not match what I had booked. It was a very old dated room and frankly felt like a 2 star hotel. I would later figure out that this is their lower “3 star” sister property, which is not what I had booked. When I brought this to the attention of concierge, they agreed to look into it and a few minutes later, informed me that they had made a mistake and that my room will be changed to one in the “boutique” hotel. I was appreciative of them owning the mistake and making the change, but it still left me feeling distrusting. I was then told I needed to pay more for the city tax (sister property is less), to which I agreed as it was consistent with my expectation. When we turned away to go to the room, I was called back when they realized I had mistakenly paid them one less euro. Of course I turned back and paid them the extra euro, but felt it was a bit ironic considering they were about to cheat me out of much more than just a euro. This left me feeling even more bitter and frustrated with the experience. Be on the watch for this - I later read other reviews, ones I had initially looked past when booking, and saw other guests commenting on the same “mix-up”. Then there’s the new room we got. Still did not feel like it matched the photos made available online. Overall, it felt like a 3 star hotel at best, and certainly not a 4. It still felt old and dated, had spots of hair and dust on the floor, mold in the shower, a cracked mirror, the fridge smelled like vomit, and overall felt quite small. As we were getting ready, they did bring us fruits, a small bottle of wine and a hand written note, apologizing for the mistake, which we appreciated but by then felt a little too late and we were already too frustrated with the whole experience and room quality. I would have given this a one star, but added another at least for some of their efforts to make it right, though it still felt short of my expectations. It is also located conveniently near the port. Overall, I can’t recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Heraklion. I initially had another hotel booked and switched to this given what appeared online to be a “nice” room (based on the misleading photos), being listed as a 4 star hotel and what appeared to be good value. Instead, I feel like you get what you paid for. We were having an excellent Greece trip, great hotels and food, and this was a stand out let down relative to everything else. Please consider staying somewhere else.

I don't recommend. First of all, the room wasn't offered by Lato, it was a room in some apartments around the corner near Lato called Roca Amare Maisonette 1. Safety: the streets leading to the actual apartment are are very unclean, with homeless people, and feel unsafe. The apartment is dark, there's not enough light even with all the lights on. Room: very basic and tiny, feels tight. Coffee creamer was expired. The highlight: hotel doesn't want to take responsibility to announce important things to guests: for example "no paper in the toilet" or " don't forget your key in the door inside your apartment". They don't care how many times tourists lock themselves out by forgetting the key inside the apartment. They ask for $40 for a locksmith instead of putting a simple reminder on the door, a warning on the wall eg. 'Don't forget your keys or the door will lock on you even if it appears unlocked.' As a hotel, it should be their responsibility to warn guests that European locks function differently from the locks in the rest of the world. They said, 'Either you pay for a locksmith or you can't get inside'. Very unsupportive.

A lovely stay from start to finish! The staff were genuinely kind and their warm hospitality really stood out. The hotel is in a great location, making it easy to get around, and our room was clean and comfortable. We got an upgrade to the Junior Suite with Sea View and the view to Koules harbour was spectacular. A big thank you to the whole team for making our stay so pleasant! We look forward to return again in the future.