Santa Irene

It’s a small family hotel, with pleasant rooms and apartments, and everything feels set up for guests to enjoy themselves. The place is exceptionally clean. Hotel guests can get beach sunbeds for a small fee, and the snack bar covers what you need. The host and employees run things with experience. Cretan hospitality really shines here, and the place is far from mass tourism.

Really good coffee, and they serve a generous amount. The club sandwich was good too.

Sougia is a great choice for a quiet, relaxing holiday, with the beach and water especially good for kids and snorkeling. There’s a lifeguard, and the town has everything close by, from a well-stocked shop and tasty local food at a restaurant to a hairdresser on weekends. At Santa Irene hotel, we felt looked after without being fussed over. The owners and staff were never intrusive, and made us feel like guests rather than customers. It’s the best place I’ve ever been. We highly recommend Sougia and the hotel.

We came for breakfast and enjoyed the Greek coffee. The omelette with feta and tomato was OK, and the toast with feta was nice. Our fresh orange juice didn’t arrive at first, so I had to remind them; when it came, it was very good. The bill turned into a frustrating mess. They counted two juices though we’d ordered one, even after we corrected them while they were listing the order. We paid 29.50, then checked because the total seemed off. At the desk, the woman denied that two juices were included, listed the items, used the wrong price for one, then came up with another wrong total of 26. I pointed out it should be 25, so the extra juice had indeed been charged. We got 4.50 back, but after all those mistakes there was no apology at all. Not a good experience. Check your bill carefully if you go.