Grecotel LUX.ME White Palace
Grecotel LUX.ME White Palace is a 116-room all-inclusive resort on the beach at Adelianos Kampos, east of Rethymno, and it is the most polarising hotel in this batch. White Palace scores 8.9 on Booking.com across 507 reviews and 4.6 on Tripadvisor across 2,560, and the reviews split cleanly along one line: guests praise the grounds, the pools, the private beach and the wine room, and a minority report communication breaking down with staff at reception. The resort is a strong choice for a family all-inclusive week and a weaker one if you expect problems to be solved on the spot.
Crete Locals has no commercial relationship with this resort. We earn a commission if you book through the availability links on this page, which costs you nothing and does not change what we write; both ratings were read from the platforms on the date in the table.
Hotel information
| Hotel | Grecotel LUX.ME White Palace |
|---|---|
| Address | Adelianos Kampos |
| Type | Air conditioning · Airport shuttle |
| Style | All-inclusive beach resort at Adelianos Kampos, east of Rethymno |
| Signature | A refrigerated wine room included in the all-inclusive package, and bread baked on site |
| Keys | 116 rooms and suites, including sea-view and swim-up categories |
| Dining | Buffet with show cooking stations, all dishes labelled for allergies |
| Beach | Private beach, with pools guests describe as spotless |
| Watch for | Reception communication, busy breakfast, and older rooms with three-speed air conditioning |
| Evenings | Live music until about 11pm, audible from the nearer rooms |
| Airports | Chania (CHQ) and Heraklion (HER), both about 70 km |
| Booking.com rating | 8.9/10 (507 reviews) |
| Tripadvisor rating | 4.6/5 (2,560 reviews) |
| CreteLocals score | 8.3/10 · read the verdict |
Booking.com and Tripadvisor scores checked on September 25, 2026.
Location
Grecotel LUX.ME White Palace is located at Adelianos Kampos. The map below shows the exact spot; Google Maps and Waze give turn-by-turn directions.
Who White Palace suits, and who should skip it
White Palace suits families and couples who want a full all-inclusive week on a private beach with swim-up rooms as an option. It suits guests who like a large, immaculately kept site and who will use the pools and the beach rather than the town. Travellers who need fluent problem-solving at reception, or who want a small hotel, should consider the boutique properties in Rethymno town.
Advantages
- Private beach and pools that guests describe as spotless throughout the season
- Swim-up and sea-view rooms, the categories reviewers say are worth the difference
- A refrigerated wine room with the selection included in the all-inclusive package
- Show cooking stations where staff cook to order, and bread baked on site
- All food labelled, which guests with allergies mention specifically
- Concierge and porter service at arrival, praised consistently in reviews
Disadvantages
- Repeated reports of reception staff struggling with English, leading to unresolved requests
- Breakfast gets busy, with a single station serving the omelette queue
- Air conditioning in older rooms runs on low, medium and high with no thermostat
- Corridor cleaning starts early and wakes guests in some wings
- Evening music runs to about 11pm and reaches the nearer rooms
- Some rooms place the shower inside the bedroom, which not every couple likes
The rooms: 116 keys, and the category decides the week
White Palace holds 116 rooms across sea-view rooms, swim-up rooms with direct pool access, suites and family rooms. Guests who paid for a sea view say it was worth it and go further, advising a room overlooking the shared pool near the water sports for the widest outlook. Rooms are described as large, airy and very clean, with generous bathroom storage.
Two quirks are worth knowing before you arrive. Some rooms put the shower in the bedroom rather than behind a bathroom door, which guests either enjoy or work around. And the air conditioning in the older stock has three speeds and no thermostat, so the room tends to land either too warm or too cold. Ask for a renovated room if temperature control matters to you.
The wine room, the show cooking and the all-inclusive package
The all-inclusive package is more generous than most on this coast, and the wine room is the proof. It is refrigerated, the choice is wide, and it is included rather than upsold, which guests notice because it is unusual. Alongside it, the kitchens run show cooking stations where staff cook to order and take instructions on how you want a dish done, and the bread is baked on site.
Food labelling is the detail that matters most to some guests. Every dish is labelled, which one reviewer travelling with a shellfish allergy relied on when a buffet leaned heavily on mussels. Against that, breakfast is the pressure point: the choice is broad and the quality is fine, but one person can be serving a queue of five at the omelette station, so early risers do better.
How to get there
Fly into Chania airport (CHQ), about 70 km west, or Heraklion airport (HER), about 70 km east. Adelianos Kampos sits just off the north coast national road a few kilometres east of Rethymno, so both airports work and neither is obviously closer.
Pre-book a transfer, since an hour on the national road with children after a flight is the part of the trip people underestimate; the operators and fares are in our guide to taxi and transfer services in Crete. Hire a car if you want Preveli, Arkadi monastery or the Amari valley, and check the deposit and insurance terms in our car hire guide for Crete. Rethymno old town is a short drive or a bus ride west, which is the evening out most guests take once or twice in a week.
The Crete Locals review
White Palace earns 8.3 from us. The physical resort deserves more than that: a private beach, pools guests call pristine, large clean rooms, an all-inclusive package with a refrigerated wine room inside it, bread baked on site and food labelled for allergies. On the hardware and the housekeeping, this is a well-run Grecotel property, and the 4.6 average across 2,560 Tripadvisor reviews reflects it.
What pulls the score down is a service failure of a specific kind, and it appears too often to leave out. Several guests describe reception staff who do not follow what is being asked, answer a different question, and pass the problem to a manager who is already stretched. One review puts it bluntly, that staff end up inadvertently misleading guests because they have not understood them. That is a staffing and training issue rather than rudeness, and in a 116-room all-inclusive resort where guests cannot simply go elsewhere, it turns small problems into a ruined afternoon.
Everything else in the negative column is manageable if you know about it. Breakfast is busy, so go early. Corridor cleaning starts loudly in some wings, so ask for a room away from the service stairs. The older air conditioning has no thermostat, so request a renovated room. The evening music runs until about 11pm, so the far wings are quieter. None of these would stop us booking; the reception problem is the one to weigh.
Book White Palace for an all-inclusive beach week where the food and drink offer is genuinely broad, pay for a sea-view or swim-up room, and handle anything important through the resort’s app or in writing rather than verbally at the desk. Choose a smaller hotel in Rethymno if you would rather have 30 rooms and a manager who knows your name.
