Dan and I spent a lovely and relaxing week just outside of Chania, Crete last July (2025). We stayed at Domes Zeen Chania, a Marriott Bonvoy property (making it ideal for those looking for point redemptions). While it is not in Chania proper, we had a wonderful stay at Domes Zeen Chania would easily return. This post details our stay at Domes Zeen Chania in July 2025.

Our private terrace at Domes Zeen Chania.

Pros of Domes Zeen Chania: Beautiful property, spacious rooms with excellent air conditioning, natural beauty, especially at sunset, possible to use Marriott Bonvoy points, American style mattresses (IYKYK).

Cons of Domes Zeen Chania: Lots of families with children, pricey compared to other hotels in the area, more Western International than Greek, located far from Chania town.

Sunset from the main pool at Domes Zeen Chania. The sunsets were consistently outstanding. 

THE DOMES ZEEN CHANIA PROPERTY

Domes Zeen Chania is located in greater Chania town – a 15 minute drive, or a 45 minute walk, from Chania’s famous Old Venetian Port. As it is outside of Chania, the hotel is somewhat secluded, abutting the sea on one side and being pretty closed off from the public otherwise. There are a few businesses – beach clubs and restaurants – within a short walk, but you will likely spend most of your time at the hotel unless you venture into Chania proper. In other words, this is a good spot for those just wanting to enjoy a relaxing vacation without too much sightseeing.

Chania’s Old Venetian Port. You should certainly make your way into Chania for this sunset.

Domes Zeen’s primary building, which houses the checkin area, a common area that was not very popular, and the “Haute Living Room”, is the sole thing guests see when arriving. In fact, Domes Zeen appears tiny on arrival. Once inside that main building, however, you walk through and view the rest of the property from that main building’s back terrace, revealing that this building is on the top of a hill, and all rooms, and the rest of the resort, are spread out down the hill until eventually reaching the sea. A series of stairs and walkways connect the entire property, but there are also golf carts available to chauffeur guests quickly, and easily, around the property. We walked everywhere except transporting our luggage at check out (which was at like 4 AM!).

The checkin area at Domes Zeen Chania.

The back terrace revealing the resort.

A view of the Domes Zeen property from the min building’s back terrace. Each “building” are individual rooms.

This main area also gives guests its first vibe of the hotel, which Domes Zeen Chania describes as “boho chic”. I would agree with that description. Think muted tones, a bit of a West Elm feel, without too much going on. Aside from the rooms, there are no public areas between the main building and the pool and restaurant area, which, in my opinion, was the true heart of the property and where most will spend the most amount of time. The pool and restaurant area are located at the bottom of the hill, just in front of the sea. The pool area houses the hotel’s two restaurants, as well as its bars. The hotel’s small beach is located behind the pool.

Walking into the Domes Zeen pool and restaurant area.

Domes Zeen’s pool and restaurant area in the evening.

THE ROOMS AT DOMES ZEEN CHANIA

One exciting aspect of Domes Zeen Chania is that all rooms are stand alone buildings with a (somewhat) private pool accessible from the room. Very modern; very cool.

We stayed in two rooms during our stay. Our first room was a “Tropical Open Plan Suite“, which was located toward the bottom of the hill, very close to the pool area. This type of room is, again, a free standing building with a terrace featuring a plunge pool. The pool area was the highlight of the room and quite beautiful, but you should know that in this type of room, the plunge pool is shared with the neighboring room, separated by a short barrier between the two pools. This is an interesting concept, but also made the pool much less private that advertised. You couldn’t use the pool without seeing your neighbors (if they were either in the pool or on their terrace).

A view of the terrace and plunge pool.

The main entrance to our room.

In terms of the interior of the room, the primary area includes a King bed with all sorts of lights and outlets easily accessible, including both European and American outlets.  Directly in front of the bed is a living area with a comfortable couch that converts into a twin bed if necessary. A flat screen TV is mounted on the wall. Floor to ceiling windows provide views of the terrace from the bed/living area. Heavy window shades ensured that no sunlight came into the room if you so desire.

The bedroom/living area of our room.

Behind the bed was a for-pay mini bar/fridge, a complimentary tea kettle and coffee machine, and a Marshal bluetooth speaker that the hotel staff was very excited about (we didn’t use it).

Tea, coffee, and speaker.

Large closets and a modern bathroom with a very nice shower are located behind the bed. The shower is a rain shower and is outfitted with Naxos Apothecary products (the upscale arm of Korres, apparently only available in Greece). I very much appreciated the Naxos Apothecary products (and dined at its restaurant in Naxos later on this trip!).

The shower in our room. Not the best picture, but it shows its large size for reference.

Naxos Apothecary products.

Our second room, which was a complimentary upgrade due to Marriott Bonvoy status, was a “Sapphire Family Pavilion“. This room is was about the same size as our Tropical Open Plan Suite, maybe slightly larger. The pool area, however, is way nicer and way more private. Indeed, it is completely private and not accessible to anyone else. The Sapphire Family Pavilion was also located right in the middle of the property’s hill, resulting in oceans views (not possible in our Tropical Open Plan Suite). Between the two rooms, I am not certain which we preferred. We liked the location of the Tropical Open Plan Suite, but preferred the privacy and views of the Sapphire Family Pavilion.

The pool from our upgraded room. Slightly smaller, but MUCH more private.

Both rooms also included a welcome amenity of Turkish Delights (candy) and a small bottle of Ouzo, a very popular liqueur in Greece. This was a nice surprise.

A welcome to Domes Zeen present.

THE DOMES ZEEN CHANIA POOL

Domes Zeen Chania has one communal pool for use by all guests. The pool is located close to the sea, and while in ground, gives sort of an infinity pool vibe. It is very pretty. We did not use this pool too much, as it was very popular with families and children during our visit…. In any case, as all rooms have private pools, this didn’t matter too much to us.

The beautiful pool at Domes Zeen Chania. Note that these empty pictures are taken before the pool opened for the day.

THE BEACH AT DOMES ZEEN CHANIA

Domes Zeen Chania offers off a small private beach, complete with fancy sun loungers, for hotel guests. Like many beaches in Greece, the beach is rocky and the water can be rough. We had “red flag” days a few times during our trip. The beach is also home to the hotel’s food truck, serving coffee, drinks, and small snacks to hotel guests using the beach. I was impressed that the Domes Zeen Chania carried over the same level of service from the pool to the beach.

Domes Zeen beach area.

A close up of the beach.

Dan enjoying the Domes Zeen Chania beach.

RESTAURANTS AT DOMES ZEEN CHANIA

As of July 2025, Domes Zeen Chania has three restaurants on site. These restaurants collectively serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as snacks and bar drinks. Given the diversity of restaurants, guests really don’t need to leave Domes Zeen Chania to eat. I am confident many guests would be totally fine having every meal at the hotel. We did venture out almost daily, but we also ate several meals at Domes Zeen Chania.

A local meat and cheese platter at Gallina.

Ammos Beach Bar: Ammos Beach Bar is the food truck on the beach. It serves coffee, drinks, and small bites during the day only. We did not eat at Ammos.

Beach House Restaurant and Bar: The Beach House is Domes Zeen Chania’s primary restaurant. A large buffet breakfast is served here daily, as is a la carte lunch and dinner. We dined at the Beach House restaurant one evening, and had breakfast here every other day. The food is trendy Mediterranean. It was pretty good, but I would not go out of my way to dine here. We honestly found better, and more reasonably priced food, in Chania.

Breakfast at the Beach House Bar.

Breakfast at the Beach House Restaurant is served alongside the pool. Sparkling wine is included.

This is a Calamari Carbonara, with the pasta made of calamari, at Beach House Restaurant’s dinner. It was pretty good.

A local fried cheese at Beach House Restaurant’s a la carte dinner. I very much enjoyed this dish.

Dessert at Beach House Restaurant for reference.

Gallina Restaurant: Gallina Restaurant is Domes Zeen Chania’s upscale restaurant. Also located by the pool, but at the opposite end than the Beach Bar and Restaurant, Gallina serves a la carte breakfast and dinner. We enjoyed breakfast here twice, and I generally preferred it to the buffet. The a la carte items at Gallina were larger and tastier in my opinion. We did not dine at Gallina. For those with included breakfast, you generally have a choice between the buffet at Beach House Restaurant or ordering two a la carte items from Gallina (a starter and a main or a main and a dessert). There were one or two add-ons at Gallina Restaurant (such as lobster) but I didn’t think it was too crazy given that which was available as complimentary.

A cute breakfast table at Gallina Restaurant.

Local Broccoli Eggs Benedict at Gallina Restaurant. This was an amazing dish. 10/10.

Dan opted for the more traditional Eggs Benedict. He also enjoyed this very much.

The Shakshouka item at Gallina was incredibly tasty.

The most delicious Cappuccino Freddo from Gallina.

Beach House Bar. These are Gin and Tonics, a water, and a complimentary container of nuts (a nice touch).

OTHER AMENITIES AT DOMES ZEEN CHANIA

Complimentary activities: On arrival, we were told of several complimentary activities in which we could partake, one of which included a wine tasting at Gallina Restaurant. We tried to sign up for the wine tasting, but it booked up days in advance. The hotel did offer us a complimentary wine tasting another evening, but we declined. Moral of the story – these events are small and book up. Book like when you check in (and it may still be booked up, especially if you are only staying a few days). The hotel should also send this information in advance.

Shuttle into Chania proper: The hotel also runs a shuttle into Chania proper once per evening at a cost of about 10 euro per person. We also attempted to book this, only to be told shortly before departure that it had filled up and we needed a taxi… Similar to the complimentary events, you need to book this in advance (or really, the hotel should offer more shuttles…)

Walking path to Chania. There is a beach path from Domes Zeen Chania to Chania town. It is a flat, relatively well maintained trail but it is not well lit at night. We used it at night but solo travelers may find it a little sketchy at night (to be clear – we did NOT see anything sketchy at all during the day or night)

Walking path into Chania from Domes Zeen. This is a public path, and we say numerous people using it during the day and in the evening.

MARRIOTT PLATINUM BENEFITS

When we visited Domes Zeen Chania, I held Marriott Platinum status. As a result, we received complimentary breakfast daily at our choice of the Beach House Bar or Gallina Restaurant. We were also offered a room upgrade on our final evening.

HAUTE LIVING PROGRAM

Domes Zeen Chania offers an interesting program to any guest called “Haute Living”. While we did not partake, from what I gather, this program is similar to staying on the “Club Level” of other other hotels, including offering a room with complimentary snacks and drinks for members of this program in the main building. Participation in this program was tied to the type of room booked. I believe one could also upgrade to it.

NEGATIVES OF STAYING AT DOMES ZEEN CHANIA

While we had a wonderful time at Domes Zeen Chania and it was a stunning property, there are a few negatives that I must mention:

First, the location of the hotel. While branded as being in Chania, the hotel is a good 45 minute walk from the heart of Chania. There is a beach path to walk into town, but it gets pretty dark at night (although we always felt safe, solo travelers may not).

Second, there were a lot of families with young children at Domes Zeen Chania. The hotel is generally family friendly.

Third, the extras, such as the wine tasting and the shuttle, seemed to book up very far in advance. The hotel should either advise of these options earlier or offer more spots.

Fourth, the hotel is not terribly easy to walk around and if you have any mobility issues, you will need to use the hotel’s golf cart shuttles to get around.

Fifth, we found the hotel restaurants and bar to be pricey compared to other restaurants in Chania. This is to be somewhat expected at a secluded hotel geared toward Americans, but it’s worth noting, especially if you plan to spend most of your time at the hotel.

As I mentioned earlier, I would absolutely stay at Domes Zeen Chania again, especially if I could book on points (which we did for this trip). I think these things bear mentioning for people planning an expensive, possible once-in-a-lifetime trip to Chania.

STEAL OUR TRIP

Domes Zeen Chania: Apteron-Str., Chania, Greece 73 100. The hotel closes for the winter and reopens in late March.

If you are considering staying here, check out our friend’s review of Domes Zeen Chania on We Leave Today (here!).

A final sunset from Domes Zeen Chania. The sunsets here may have been the prettiest I have ever seen.