"As always there are pros and cons to the hotel but overall we felt it was good value for money.
We were welcomed at reception and staff were helpful. We were there as a couple for a week and the 'tax' was €70 payable in card or cash. The receptionist pointed out a QR code on the back of the room key that had useful hotel information (WiFi is good in the hotel so easy to access).
Beds were comfortable enough. Had 2 pillows one very hard and the other very soft - to the extremes.
Rooms are pretty basic. We had a small cupboard and then a hanging rail in the main bedroom. Only 2 drawers but the sideboard and bedside table had storage 'holes'. The mini fridge was helpful and we were left on bottle of water a day. If you take a reusable bottle you can fill this anytime at the pool bar area if you need more.
The main pool, bar and snack bar were easy to find and access from reception. The main pool was where all of the activity areas are as well (mini golf, table tennis, darts, yoga, water aerobics, kids playground)
However, we did have to ask where the 'quiet pool' (with swim up bar) was as it wasn't signposted - The kids splash pool was next to the quiet pool. We were staying in the main building but if you were staying in one of the more separate buildings it was possibly more obvious to find.
In general the buffet food was good. We especially found the theme nights the best (Mexican and Asian) but there was always some sort of griddled meat and salad if nothing else.
The pool bar had a fair variety of drinks and cocktails. These were all poured by hand (plastic cups in the day glass at night if you were drinking there). The main inside bar in the evening had a slightly different cocktail menu. These were all poured by a machine so at times ratios could be off is something was running low.
If you walk out of the hotel on the beach road out the back there is 'Isla' where you go for your one Al a Carte meal. Isla is also open as a bar/restaurant to the general paying public.
When we arrived for our complimentary meal we were given a 'menu' and told we would receive it all mezze style in 3 parts (starter, mains and dessert). Not all tables were told the same as we had another table ask us to look at our menu.
The food was nice but we found the service a bit hit and miss (we never received one dish at all). I think unfortunately for us we were there at the same time as quite a lot of 'paying' customers as well as a group of about 20 from the hotel also having their complimentary meal so think we were a bit forgotten. We did actually purchased a bottle of wine for the meal but you could just have the standard beer/wine/soft drinks that are normally served in the buffet restaurant.
If you walk further along the road (turn right when you enter the beach road from the hotel) there are 3 or 4 other restaurants about 100 metres away. These had the best views of the sunset while we were there and the far end one had some nice rocking chairs. I would definitely recommend going down at least one evening to have a drink and watch the sunset.
If you carry on walking along the road you pass little beach/bay that you can pay for sunbeds on, just passed that and you will see a sign on the bend for the town center pointing up the road to the right. If you walk up there there is a little shopping area on the left but carry on and turn left by the jeep hire you will find more bars and restaurants (get Google maps out if you struggle - we spoke to a lot of people who didnt know it was there).
We ate in Knossos Taverna which was lovely food. They have a great garden out the back with a small kids play area. They also do traditional Greek nights with dancing etc (Weds, Fri & Sundays I think). Highly recommend going any night for food and drinks.
If you fancy going further afield taxis booked from reception cost €20 to Hersonissos and €40 to Heraklion (we found local taxis in the towns to bring us back - they were about the same price).
All in All we enjoyed our stay but did feel the need to leave the complex for a change of scenery."
