The animation is wonderful. There are already three children's clubs on the territory: a foreign one with cheerful Italian girls, "Zebra" for kids and "Pirates" for older children. Despite age and language distinctions, wherever you go, you are welcome everywhere, no one will drive you away, but, on the contrary, they will find a kind word and an interesting activity. It's fun even for parents, honestly : )
It so happened that the birthday of a two-year-old daughter fell just in time for the period of stay. We asked Dasha from the children's club to come up with something, counted on a cake with balloons, well, a maximum of "Happy Days" performed by the animation team. However, what "Zebras" and "Pirates" came up with exceeded all our expectations! Under the guidance of educators, the children prepared greeting cards and posters, danced round dances, played non-trivial games, organized contests, congratulated the birthday girl in every way, successfully entered the mini-disco into the plot outline of the holiday, where the apogee of the event was the appearance of a "zebra" in human height and specially baked pie. We, mom and dad, were delighted, and what can we say about children!
We want to thank all the hotel staff and animators from the bottom of our hearts, and - special, warm gratitude - to the organizers of children's leisure Stefania, Diana, Barto and, of course, "captain" Dasha! Thanks to people with such sincere zeal, the ability to find a common language with the kids and a creative approach to their work, I want to return to the hotel.
In short, we had to pay for air. Second. We booked an individual transfer and it was agreed that there should be a child seat in the car. So, there was no child seat either from the airport to the hotel or back. Third. The tour was called "Adults and Children" and was promised a children's club "Zebra" (it was, about him below), as well as the Zebra itself. That is, last year there were Luntik, Pchelenok, Mila, who were directly involved with children, this year Zebra was supposed to be (as in the photos provided by the tour operator). So in three weeks, Zebra was only once for an hour or two. And that's just for taking pictures. A kind of photo report for Natalie's management. So, if you decide to go to this hotel with a child, do not promise him that he will see and play with Zebra (as we promised ours), otherwise the child will be upset later.
In general, there are no other comments to Natalie, which is why I wrote that I was 99% satisfied with their work. By the way, the transfer was ordered for only one reason - the unwillingness to wait for the bus to load and the unwillingness to ride around all the hotels where people are transported until we get to ours. It turned out to be very convenient, although twice as expensive as just taking a taxi. And yet, we arrived at about one o'clock in the afternoon, while the registration was completed - it was already 13-20. We drove to the hotel by car - 13-45, which turned out to be very convenient, because we had time for lunch (the restaurant is open until 14-00). Those who traveled by bus were content only with cold and hot snacks in the cafe by the pools; naturally, they were late for lunch.
As for the hotel itself. In principle, the descriptions on the Internet correspond. The territory is all in greenery and marble, beautiful and dignified. I didn't like that there were only stairs everywhere.
But I didn’t like it only because of the child - we have it reactive, it always runs and it’s very easy to fly off some stairs head first. The child must be led on a "short leash" if you do not want injuries. Swimming pools - three adults (one of them - indoor), two for children. No complaints about all the pools, except for the children's near the kids club. There is always some kind of dirt floating there, dead bees. Until I told the reception about it, the pool was not cleaned. Then, however, they cleaned it right away. By the way, only two people work at the reception. A woman with whom it is difficult to communicate even in English, and a man, Antonis, who speaks excellent Russian. The staff is almost all friendly. Always smiling and saying hello. For some reason, many of the staff often have a desire to touch the child, stroke his head. There is generally a good relationship with children.
Especially if the child remembers a couple of words in Greek (kalimera - good morning; calispera - good evening; efharisto - thank you), so he generally becomes the best friend of the attendants.
Beach. Do not believe if a tour company tells you that the beach is pure sand. If sand, then pebble, mixed with stones. In general, I knew about this, and it did not upset me, because, for a child, this is exactly what is needed. Excellent prevention of flat feet, a good massage for the legs. Sunset in the sea - stones. Normally, you can go either near the pier, or to the left of the pier, 200 meters (opposite the neighboring hotel). There are a lot of algae on the shore and in the sea, especially when there are winds and waves. Although there were days when the sea was perfectly clean and transparent. Sea urchins, which were written about in some reviews, we did not meet in the sea. We saw them only on the stones that collapsed the pier. So, the chances of stepping on a hedgehog are practically zero.
Sunbeds are free, towels too (you get cards upon arrival, which you change for towels. If you lose a towel, you will be fined 15 Euros, although when we checked out, I forgot to return these same cards, and no one took anything from us, didn’t demand. I then at the airport I gave it to Natalie's representative, asked me to transfer it to the hotel, otherwise it somehow turned out ugly. ). There are no problems with sunbeds throughout the day and there is no need to get up at 5 in the morning and run to take a seat. As well as around the pools. There is enough space for absolutely everyone.
Food. Well, everything here is top notch. In fact, I have not tried, probably, 90% of the proposed, because there is too much of everything. The cuisine is mainly European. Pork, beef, chicken, duck, rabbit, fish are the main dishes, and everything is cooked very well. I don’t eat any kind of oysters, snails and mussels, so I can’t say anything about this.
A couple of times there were crabs, which are very tasty, but it is problematic to eat them, because they cannot be broken, and there is nowhere to take special devices for this. Everyone was wielding forks, knives and teeth)), looking sideways at the neighboring tables in order to see how others cope with this. The first time they gave crabs, I didn’t get it, because on that day there was a check-in, and, practically, exclusively from our compatriots, who (the only time in three weeks I watched this) created a queue 15 minutes before the opening of the restaurant and swept away everything that was possible (only Russians can put 15 different dishes on one plate, so much so that with a slide, and stick a crab on top, and carry it to the table, holding the food with your hands, because everything falls off the plate. By the way, plates with a diameter of 30 cm! ). The staff monitors the food, everyone immediately reports, there is nothing that you will not try, moreover, even before the closing of the restaurant.
All wines are sour and no matter how we tried to explain that we wanted semi-sweet or sweet wine, we did not get it. I think they just don't have it, well, it doesn't matter. Interestingly, if you order rose or red wine, then they bring you a jug of water along with a jug of wine. For what, I did not understand. Moreover, on a table set for three persons, there are three identical wine glasses and one slightly larger. No matter how much I watched people, I still did not understand. Someone drinks water before wine, someone after, someone mixed, then wine, then water. Some people don't drink water at all. But Russians (but these are Russians! ) are in their repertoire. They drink a glass of water, filled to the brim, on the exhale, then frown and bite, as if vodka was waved.
By the way, in this hotel there is a story about Russians (said a girl who works at a jeweler), as if a Russian couple came and during meals they got so drunk that they went to the toilet, they vomited, and then they went again and shoved in food myself. Idiocy! Even somehow it becomes a shame for the Russians. And after all, in any country such an attitude towards us, because everywhere we behave in a “proper” way. Naturally, not all.
Number. We got a room on the first floor, about halfway between the main building and the sea. Conveniently. But the room is not a fountain. I would say that 4 stars in Turkey is much better than 5 stars in Annabella. In general, one could ask to be moved to another room (better with Antonis, whom I wrote about above, then no problem), but we, in principle, were satisfied with everything. By the way, upon check-in they promise wine, water and fruit as a gift. There was wine with water, for some reason they forgot about fruits. Large double bed plus single bed.
They rearranged, laid out things and, in general, it became cozy. The room is cleaned every day, towels are also changed every day, linen - every three days. Cleaning is not so hot, they don't really try. And, what with tips, what without them. The air conditioner is incomprehensible, lives its own life. There is one cooling unit per bungalow, in each room there is a remote control on the wall. The shutters can only be rotated manually. And, no matter how you turn it, for some reason, it blows only in the area of \u200b\u200bthe bed. Works in 2 modes - ventilation and cooling. So, when in a bungalow few people turn on the air conditioner in their room, then no matter how you turn it on, it blows cold air, turn it on at least 25 degrees, it's still cold. And when everything is turned on, then put at least 16 degrees, one hell, only warm air comes out. But we somehow adapted to adjust for ourselves, we didn’t suffer much. Once the air conditioner broke down, said Antonis, he immediately called the repairmen and offered us any other room to choose from.
In general, everything is excellent here.
Kids club. For older children - a pirate club. Two guys are engaged, and they do it interestingly, and not as if it is a boring job for them, an obligation. Keep themselves on par with children. The kids like it, they run after those guys with ponytails. In short, the pirates - well done! Our child will grow up - we will definitely try to get to where the pirate club will be. By the way, these same pirates, the presenters, also perform at concerts. Personally, I liked it. As for the Zebra. Well, the fact that the Zebra itself was not, I wrote above. My baby was upset because of this, because we promised him that he would see a zebra and play with it. Here is a bummer. Kindergarten club. Not to say that there are really good quality classes with children, but at least there is something. The class schedule that is posted on Natalie's website is complete crap, zero correspondence. Children there just play, draw, swim in the pool.
Several times the kids club has moved to the sea, although I don't think they should. In my opinion, this is an initiative of educators. There were two teachers (the second one arrived later), I can only say good words about Zhanna. It can be seen right away that the person came precisely to work (like the pirates). The second teacher, in my opinion, Ira, came to really relax and get a tan. I wouldn't trust her with a child. Although, who knows, now maybe she began to fulfill her duties efficiently. And further. Many parents bring their kids to the club with snot and a cold. For some reason, teachers turn a blind eye to this. So, before you leave your child to play in the club, look at other children so that you don’t treat your own later.
Conclusion. In general, I liked the hotel, and the child is generally delighted. Would like to fly there again. Probably, if without a child, I would not fly there anymore, I would look for a hotel where there are fewer Russians.
There is almost everything for a high-quality and high-grade rest with children, except for those disadvantages that I wrote about above. There is no drunkenness, which is constantly observed in Turkey and Egypt, which is also, of course, a huge plus. I think that this hotel is very suitable for families with children. The only thing that is bad (as I wrote above) is the endless stairs, granite paths and the lack of baby food. But, oddly enough, our child (and he is a gourmet, it is difficult to feed him) not only lost weight, but on the contrary, gained a little weight. I think that when choosing a hotel for our next trip, I will still lean more towards Annabelle.
I hope my review will be useful to those who are going to go there with their children, as well as Natalie's leaders, in order to eliminate the comments that I wrote about. Have a good holiday everyone!
The hotel area is just great! Huge green park, lawns! 2 large swimming pools. Very good animation, fun. The beach is sandy and well maintained. The entrance to the sea is rocky. Accommodation in 2-storey bungalows. Rooms of various categories with balconies, verandas, just lawns with sun loungers and tables. In general, you should visit Crete.