Mare Village Hotel

Getting around was easy enough. Georgiopoli has supermarkets, plenty of restaurants, and excursion companies, and the bus stop is about a seven-minute walk away. We took buses to Rethymnon and Chania several times, around €5, and used Google Maps for the schedules. If you can drive, you can reach the main areas of Crete. The hotel itself had a persistent sewage smell in both the rooms and buffet hall, which was really off-putting. Our room was clean and maintained, but the shower design wasn't practical, the whole bathroom floor got wet. The balcony was listed as garden view, though it looked onto a gravel car park and tall grass, and people at the buffet restaurant could see us sitting there. We never managed a pool day. By day two, we realized guests were getting up early to reserve the limited loungers with towels. We tried around 8:00am and they were all taken. Some had stains and food litter around them, and we wondered if people were leaving towels overnight or getting up at dawn. Most staff were very friendly, but we didn't find them very helpful with information. On arrival, we were told to photograph the all-inclusive hours, without directions to the buffet, pool, or bars. We had to go back and ask where each was. The buffet area was nice, but the food got repetitive. There wasn't much variety, the fruit tasted like it had been left out, and the sandwiches were a mystery. When we asked what was in them, the server said she wasn't sure, only that it was meat. There was enough to eat and stay full, but we skipped the snacks and meals became boring. The beach was okay, with patches of grass and twigs rather than a well-kept stretch of sand. Hotel guests still had to pay for beach loungers. We wish we'd read the reviews before booking.

The staff were friendly and helpful, and the hotel was clean, modern, and close to the town centre. Those were the bright spots in an otherwise disappointing 12-day stay in Crete. Food was a major letdown. Nothing was labelled, vegetarian choices were very limited, and my wife mostly ended up with chips and salad. Meals were often cold and tasted stale. There weren't enough pool loungers either. Unless you reserved one before about 8:30am, you were left with a chair. At the sister hotel's beach, loungers cost €10 a day and drink service came roughly every two hours. Our room was in a separate building across from the main pool. Before 3:30pm, using the pool or getting a drink meant walking back and forth to the main building. We'd already paid to upgrade, and tried to upgrade further, but were told all four of the limited higher-tier rooms were booked. The bathroom was the worst part. The shower flooded the room every night, and we needed at least four towels a day to keep the water contained. The room was very small, with just two drawers and four hangers for a stay this long. Two double beds had been pushed together, which wasn't comfortable or romantic, and the thin walls let us hear nearly everything in the rooms beside us. There were cats wandering around freely, even in dining areas, which made meals feel less hygienic and relaxing. With all these problems, it was hard to enjoy the holiday.

Our room looked brand new and was immaculate, so I think the hotel may have just been refurbished. The reception was also modern and spotless. We got a fantastic price, and the all-inclusive meals were plentiful and excellent. The beach was only a few yards away. Every day the room was cleaned, and all the staff were courteous, friendly, and helpful. Absolutely brilliant.

The rooms were clean and serviced daily, and the staff were friendly, if not especially helpful. We got no information about the hotel on arrival, and reception took 20 minutes to find our room. The pool was in another block about 100 yards away, with only 30 loungers. They were all claimed by 6:30am. The dining room was a canteen style setup, about 100 yards from the nearest hotel block, with no atmosphere and the same food every day. Chips came with every meal, even breakfast, so after three days we ate out every night. We liked the beach, but hotel loungers there cost €10 a day. Around the pool, some guests were very drunk by 11:30am and vomiting, and people were openly smoking weed. Police were also called to arrest a few guests over shoplifting at the store across the road. It's a cheap all-inclusive hotel. If you want to get drunk, high, and eat chips, this may suit you.