Riviera Boutique Hotel
Riviera Boutique Hotel is a 16-room hotel at Stalis, between Hersonissos and Malia, and the smallest property in this batch. Riviera scores 9.6 on Booking.com across 325 reviews and 4.8 on Tripadvisor across 26. Guests book rooms with a private pool, come back the following year, and write about eggs cooked to order and thick sunbeds, which is a good indication of what a 16-room hotel can get right.
We have no commercial relationship with this hotel. Crete Locals earns 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 on the date in the table.
Hotel information
| Hotel | Riviera Boutique Hotel |
|---|---|
| Address | 104 Agiou Ioanni |
| Type | Air conditioning · Airport shuttle |
| Style | 16-room hotel at Stalis, between Hersonissos and Malia |
| Signature | Private-pool rooms, and a fresh egg cooked to order at breakfast every morning |
| Keys | 16 rooms, some with a private pool; guests call them small but complete |
| Details right | Thick sunbeds at the pool and the beach, food served at the beach, a fish barbecue evening |
| Evidence | 9.6 on Booking.com across 325 reviews; only 26 on Tripadvisor |
| Not here | No spa, no entertainment programme and little for children |
| Setting | A package-holiday strip, so the hotel's calm is something it creates |
| Airport | Heraklion (HER) about 27 km west, roughly 30 minutes |
| Booking.com rating | 9.6/10 (325 reviews) |
| Tripadvisor rating | 4.8/5 (26 reviews) |
| CreteLocals score | 8.6/10 · read the verdict |
Booking.com and Tripadvisor scores checked on September 25, 2026.
Location
Riviera Boutique Hotel is located at 104 Agiou Ioanni, in Stalis (Stalida). The map below shows the exact spot; Google Maps and Waze give turn-by-turn directions.
Who Riviera suits, and who should skip it
Riviera suits couples who want a small hotel with a private pool room and attentive service, in reach of Hersonissos and Malia without being in either. It suits guests who value breakfast being cooked rather than laid out. Families needing several rooms, and anyone wanting resort facilities, should book one of the larger hotels along this coast.
Advantages
- 9.6 on Booking.com across 325 reviews, a strong sample for 16 rooms
- Rooms with a private pool, which guests book again on a second visit
- Breakfast with a fresh egg cooked to order every morning
- A fish barbecue evening that reviewers single out
- Thick sunbeds at both the pool and the beach, and food served at the beach
- Staff named individually, on reception, in housekeeping and on the beach
Disadvantages
- Rooms are not big, which guests say plainly while still rating the stay highly
- Only 26 Tripadvisor reviews, so that platform’s picture is thin
- 16 rooms means limited availability and no flexibility to move you
- Stalis is a package-holiday strip, busy and loud in August
- No spa, no entertainment programme and little for children
- Nightlife means travelling to Hersonissos or Malia
The rooms: 16 keys, and the private pool
Riviera has 16 rooms, some with a private pool, and the review record contains the most useful kind of evidence: a guest who stayed once, returned the following year, and upgraded to a pool room the second time. They describe the room as not big but complete and very clean, which is a fair and unglamorous summary.
At this size the categories are few and the difference between them is real. If the private pool is why you are considering the hotel, book it early, because 16 rooms with a 9.6 rating leave little slack in July.
Breakfast, the beach and the fish barbecue
Three details recur and together they explain the rating. Breakfast includes a fresh egg cooked to your liking each morning rather than a tray under a lamp. The sunbeds, at the pool and on the beach, are thick rather than the thin plastic that guests complain about elsewhere on this coast. And the hotel runs a fish barbecue evening that reviewers describe as delicious.
None of those is expensive. All of them are decisions, and they are the kind a 16-room hotel can take and a 200-room resort cannot. Guests also name the staff, on reception, in housekeeping and on the beach, which is the other thing that only happens at this scale.
The beach arrangement deserves its own note, because it is where a small hotel usually gives up. Guests report loungers at the beach as well as at the pool, with the same thick padding, and food served down there rather than only at the hotel. A reviewer names the member of staff who looks after the beach alongside the reception and housekeeping teams, which tells you the beach is staffed rather than merely available. For a 16-room property that is an unusual amount of ground to cover well.
How to get there
Fly into Heraklion airport (HER), about 27 km west, roughly a 30-minute drive. Stalis sits between Hersonissos and Malia, immediately off the coast road.
Pre-book a transfer, since the coast road here is busy in summer; the operators and fares are in our guide to taxi and transfer services in Crete. Hire a car if you want the Lasithi plateau, Knossos or the eastern beaches, and check the terms in our car hire guide for Crete. Within Stalis the beach and the tavernas are a walk, and Hersonissos and Malia are a few minutes by taxi.
The Crete Locals review
Riviera earns 8.6 from us. A 9.6 across 325 Booking.com reviews is a high score on a sample large enough to trust for a 16-room hotel, and the Tripadvisor 4.8 agrees even though it rests on only 26 reviews. The hotel is doing what small hotels do well when they are run properly: cooking breakfast, buying decent sunbeds, remembering guests.
The honest note is size, in two senses. The rooms are small, which returning guests say without complaint but which matters if you spend time in them. And the hotel is small, so there is no spa, no programme and no second restaurant, and in August there is no ability to move you if something is wrong.
Set against that is the location, which cuts both ways. Stalis puts the beach and tavernas within a walk and Hersonissos and Malia within a few minutes, which is convenient. It is also a package-holiday strip that is loud in August, so the hotel’s calm is something it creates rather than something the setting provides.
Book Riviera for a couple’s week with a private pool room and a proper breakfast, and book it early. Book a larger resort nearby if you need facilities, space or a children’s programme.
