The food is beyond praise, the rooms are excellent, the staff is friendly, everything is fine. On the day of arrival, everyone is given a rose and a glass of champagne is poured. It is very interesting that they came up with bungalows, there are a huge number of them and everyone is different from each other. We "came" and the pools. The people in general, it seemed to us, were hanging out near the pools more - there were drinks, a tavern, and cool animation. Or on the slopes lie in sun loungers. Concerts are held in the evenings - they have a small open-air theater, and musicians are invited to the bar once a week. Such a huge, well-groomed and beautiful territory that I did not want to leave. We went only once to Rethymnon by bus, for souvenirs, although you could also buy them at the mini-market on site. Crete itself and Rethymnon did not really like it, compared to the hotel, it was unkempt. It was still interesting to look at their life and wander around the Old City.
The weather is beautiful, there was a storm for the first couple of days, but the bays perfectly protect from waves. There are many bays, five or six. One is big, the others are smaller. There are six pools, we found only three, it seems that they are all with sea water. The air temperature was 33, the water in the pool 31, the sea feels a little colder. In general, we are delighted, thank you very much for a wonderful holiday!
We are longtime supporters of the Iberostar network, which has never disappointed our expectations, so we decided that it would keep its brand in Crete as well. Booked Iberostar Creta Panorama 4*. A couple of days before the flight, the tour operator TUI made us nervous. 07/12/19, around 17-30 we were informed about Overbooking!
“Overbooking is a strategy for the sale of goods (services), in which the supplier of goods (services) assumes more obligations to supply goods (provision of services) than he can fulfill, in the expectation that not all of the obligations actually have to be fulfilled. Also, overbooking is a possible unfortunate result of applying this strategy, arising due to errors or a combination of circumstances.
Briefly speaking. We have to check in on July 15, and our room is vacated only on July 16. At the tour operator's office, in response to our request, to redo the vouchers so that we have guaranteed reasons for traveling to another hotel, they began to freeze, and taking into account Friday evening, they stopped answering at all.
Our nerves were saved by the travel agency "On Turgenevskaya" in Irpin. Its director, Lyudmila (a beautiful woman in every respect), directly contacted the Iberostar office, for which she has the greatest respect! They did not refer to non-working hours and confirmed Overbooking, guaranteeing a settlement for the day at grecotel white palace 5 * on “all inclusive”. As an apology, Iberostar changed our Iberostar Creta Panorama 4 * board from HB to all inclusive, and also provided free sunbeds in paid places. BRAVO IBEROSTAR! BRAVO TA "On Turgenevskaya"!! ! The next day, and the operator "was born" by sending the vouchers we requested!
The holiday started at grecotel white palace 5*. To be honest, the hotel does not pull on either a five or even a four. There is almost no territory, so there is nowhere to walk. There is nowhere to leave the hotel. Left and right fields and wastelands. Despite the fact that we had a “sea view” number on the voucher, we were settled in a room overlooking a field cultivated by a tractor that raised columns of dust. Also "didn't pay attention to our" all inclusive ". We quickly restored the "status quo" by moving to a spacious room with a sea view and receiving "all inclusive" bracelets.
The hotel is right on the beach and the view from the sea view room is amazing. The view from the rooms on the other side, described above, is depressing. The hotel is very shabby. The carpeting in the corridor is obscenely faded, the ceiling is cracked, the upholstered furniture is crushed by long-term use, the plumbing is alive, but, as for the five, has long been obsolete. The keys to the doors of the room and safes are metal on wooden key chains.
Unpleasantly surprised by the food. As for the European five - very meager. Very!
The sea is very cool! Warm! Transparent! Fairly shallow depths. The entrance is on stones, which is somewhat inconvenient, but then the bottom is sandy.
Having moved to Iberostar Creta Panorama on July 16, we felt the difference between five and four. Moreover, the Iberostar four was an order of magnitude cooler in every way! Large landscaped green area! A lot of plants! Paved walkways along the sea.
If white palace stands right on the beach, then Iberostar is on a plateau rising above the sea. You need to go down to the sea, and accordingly, you need to stomp back up. It didn't bother us at all. The climbs are neither steep nor tiring. When descending to the sea, artificially created bays. Everything is much prettier and brighter. The sea, due to the rocks, looks more colorful. There are places to stay in the green zone with a gorgeous view of the sea and rocks from the top of the plateau!
But the first night was a NIGHTMARE! It was a bloody night! We were just "eaten" by mosquitoes! Midnight could not fall asleep under their nasty squeak and ringing! But the "Morning of the Streltsy Execution" has come! The vile insects were finished, and only multiple bloody footprints on the white walls reminded of them. However, the bites all over the body also did not allow them to be forgotten! After complaints, we were given a fumigator at the reception. We also bought the spray and cream. The following nights, the disgraced mosquitoes did not bother us much. But such mosquito-beaten vacationers walked around the hotel that it was painful for the eyes to look at them. I tried to find out why the hotel does not poison mosquitoes, but I did not get a coherent answer.
I thought of a possible reason myself, already at the end of the holiday. Many cicadas live in the greenery of the hotel, which create a certain flavor with their unbearable horn. Perhaps the mosquitoes are not poisoned so as not to kill the cicadas. I do not even rule out that they are protected by law. Cicadas, not mosquitoes.
The hotel rooms are also somewhat tired. Room keys and safe also metal with key chains. To turn on the light you need a magnetic key - a big metal plaque!
Food in Iberostar Creta Panorama is incomparably better than in the five white palaces, although it is still inferior to Spanish and even Montenegrin Iberostar. But this, apparently, is a feature of Greece.
We are not fans of booze, but I can say that the red Greek wine is weak and the white is pretty good!
So why is the hotel rated low! ? 1) Mosquitoes! This is the main disadvantage. A person on vacation should not walk around swollen from their bites. This is a mass phenomenon here! 2) Safety on the beach! Lifeguards are not observed, and the coast is rocky and the sea is restless. 3) Safety during the descent to the sea is not guaranteed. Despite the steep dangerous cliffs, their fence looks conditional. The cliffs are overgrown with bushes and grass and are poorly visible. I urge parents to be very attentive to their children in order to protect them from misfortune.
Let this review be useful to someone.
Finally, I want to say that we ourselves are the creators of our mood! On the positive - and in the hut the rest will be gorgeous !!!
I will answer questions at lawprotections@gmail. com
We were given a room on the first floor. A delicious cake and champagne awaited us at the table. But! About the room separately : ) I liked the room itself: quite spacious, nice, good for a couple. The bathroom has a shower (just part of the bathroom is closed with a curtain), the bathroom is also large, with all the necessary cosmetics and a hairdryer, sliding doors, without a lock, just a romantic, what's there. The view from the room to a beautiful garden with palm trees, birds singing loudly in the morning) which definitely gives the room a zest, BUT! The same first floor was the reason for us to change the room. The first and most unpleasant thing for me was the presence of a too open balcony. It's just a very small step - and you're on the street. Exactly the same way back. In general, come in - whoever you want. It is clear that outside tourists are unlikely to do this, but sleeping with open windows (which are also panoramic, like sliding doors) was uncomfortable. With the window open, anyone can enter the room from the street. Plus, it's just uncomfortable when tourists and gardeners walk around the garden and see everything that happens in your room. For example, in order to comfortably change clothes, I had to either run to the bathroom or draw the curtains and create a cellar effect in the room)) The second problem of the room, or rather, all the same first floor, is insects! Climbing into the room was not difficult for either people or insects, which, in general, is logical. Ants, small spiders, etc. , etc. - all this crawled on our floor like at home : ) But all these problems ended for us the very next morning, when we asked to change our room to something then higher. It didn't pose a problem. Without further questions, and even, as it seemed to me, the hotel staff, somewhat concerned about our dissatisfaction, quickly found us a free room on the second floor. This room was designed for a family with a child, with a bed and a sofa. It seemed to me that the number is a little smaller than the first. The bathroom instead of a shower cabin was already with a bathtub and was locked, and was also smaller. To be honest, I was even a little sorry to leave our first room with its exotic, but still the floor played a role. From the second floor, the sea was already visible, and the palm trees, although not so close, but also looked very good from the balcony. The downside of the room was poor wi-fi. He only caught on the balcony, at a certain angle of the tablet and the correct arrangement of the stars in the sky. In order to communicate with relatives in the evening, I had to splash with anti-mosquito spray. But in general, it was possible to use wi-fi in the hotel lobby, so I can’t say that this greatly spoiled our impression.
Walking around the hotel in the morning, we immediately appreciated its beauty: the garden is really big and beautiful: many palm trees, flowers, different alleys. The hotel is located in a small separation from other settlements, on a rocky shore, overlooking the sea from above - very beautiful! On the territory there is a small outdoor sports ground with horizontal bars and bars, those who wish not to turn into jelly during their vacation will have such an opportunity) But there is, in my opinion, a rather significant drawback - there is no normal beach near the hotel. A small bay, surrounded on all sides by artificially poured cobblestones - not quite what I, frankly, expected. You lie on a deck chair on a concrete slab and look at the same slabs and stones opposite. The sea is almost invisible. In short, there is no beach from the word. Immediately we looked after a good little beach a little further, with a normal sea and sand, quite cozy. From the height of the territory of the hotel it will be visible, so it will not be difficult to find it. There is a swimming pool on the territory of the hotel, at first glance it’s pretty good, but we never went to it, we like to splash in the sea) for those who plan to rent a car, there will be no problems with the beach, you can go anywhere. Nice beaches close to Rethymnon. In general, for two weeks of rest, we almost never repeated ourselves with the beach.
The cuisine of the hotel is beyond praise, the variety rolls over, I think everyone will find something for themselves there. I won’t even paint for a long time, otherwise drooling will flow) I can only say that the kitchen will not disappoint you.
Near the hotel there is a car rental with parking. The staff will not only help you choose a car, but also write down interesting routes on the map. It helped us a lot, because as usual we were not very well prepared for the trip)
In general, we were satisfied with the rest, without hesitation we would return to this hotel again. We definitely recommend the hotel, especially to those who plan to visit Crete by car.
Food is excellent: Several varieties of meat, fish, seafood, vegetables, side dishes, salads, 2 types of soup; in the morning - smoothies, champagne, about once every three days for breakfast - sandwiches with red fish. Desserts - for every taste, very tasty small sweets made from ground nut mass. It looks a bit like marzipan. Dishes were served very quickly, regardless of whether it was steamed salmon or mussels or a side dish. I remember the fish day with an abundance of different fish, perfectly cooked octopuses, shrimps and other marine life. Meat is also beyond praise, regardless of whether pork or beef or rabbit. For dinner, before entering, guests are greeted with an aperitif. They can also be done and carried out.
We took breakfasts and dinners; Dinner can be changed to lunch. Or buy lunch for 15 euros. You can also change the food system to all inclusive for 150 euros for 7 days per person.
There is an early breakfast from 5 am. At an early breakfast from hot only tea, coffee. In addition, cheese, cold cuts, yoghurts, only canned fruits. However, you won't go hungry.
Towels were changed every day, cleaning was conditional; we had a sea-view bungalow room, in principle, quite spacious, designed for 3 people. Plumbing, old, some details are reminiscent of the 80-90s. In general, the room needs renovation, and for a long time. This strained on the day of arrival, and then because of the sea view, proximity to the lagoon, at this moment they did not pay attention at all. In artificial lagoons, of course, the water is much calmer, even with a small storm. There are even fish, so the mask and flippers came in handy.
There are many pools, they did not swim; there were a lot of people at the central pool, all the main events are held. You can find something to your liking, but, of course, after the Turkish Salima and Simena Sun Club, the animation looks like amateur performances in a remote village, especially in the evening. They honestly tried to objectively evaluate, went three times, could not sit out more than 15-20 minutes, even after a martini. Of course, tastes are different, but still, I would not take children there, some rooms, to put it mildly, are not for children.
One of the advantages of the hotel is a panoramic view of the sea, large meadows along the sea, places and sunbeds, from my point of view, it was enough, apparently due to the fact that the people, mostly, were located near the central pool. To the sea - 50 meters down from the glade.
In the evening we went for a walk to the neighboring hotel, Iberostar Creta Marine.
The rooms seemed better, however, and near the central pool there are probably one and a half to two times more sunbeds than near our main pool. The territory seemed to be more well-groomed, but we did not see glades along the sea, the bungalows of the first line are very close to the sea.
Excursion program.
We went on our own to Rethymnon. Bus timetables are printed out and are at the reception; I read it, and we were told that tickets to Rethymnon had to be bought in a shop near the central pool for 2.20 euros one way. However, the driver also accepted on the bus. The final stop was not far from the fortress, we walked around the entire fortress at our own pace, in some rooms there was an exhibition of modern art, small, but still. We had a lot of fun walking along the streets of the old city. We planned to cope in a couple of hours, but did not want to leave, in total, we spent 5 hours.
Of course, more is possible, because there are buses with sightseeing tours in 8, in my opinion, languages. Near the fortress - one of the stops. The city has a couple of museums and, of course, a huge number of taverns and restaurants.
A dream come true to visit Santorini. Excursion for the whole day, and more time on the way than on the island itself. The ferry from Rethymnon takes 3 hours. From the hotel to the ferry - from 45 minutes to an hour, because tourists were also taken from other hotels. We spent some time on the island in the cities of Oia and Fira. Very nice, the houses are like toys. Then the whole group was divided into 3 groups: those who wanted to stay in Fira; excursion for an additional 15 euros by boat to a volcanic islet near Santorini and a group being taken to a black sand beach. We did not hear that in order to stay in Fira, you need to sign up, because, according to the guide, a separate transfer is ordered from Fira to the ferry, and places are limited.
Therefore, together with most of the group, we went to a black sand beach, where, following the usual practice, people were offered to have lunch (or dinner) in a certain tavern. Basically, no regrets. It was a little disappointing that almost an hour and a half was allocated for the tavern, and about 45 minutes - 1 hour for the cities. So, all at a gallop. We did not consider a two-day excursion, because we arrived only for a week. Of course, at your own pace, everything is much more interesting, but, given certain restrictions, it's good that you got to see Santorini with your own eyes.
There were a couple of not very clear moments. Buses may leave the meeting point in Santorini a couple of minutes earlier. One girl was forgotten, she was brought with another group. From another Russian-speaking bus, a couple was brought along with a group of Poles.
On the ferry, all tourists are sorted into groups, depending on the language of the excursion.
All buses travel along the same route, so the people managed to drive up on other buses, but it’s better to come up 5 minutes earlier and take the phone number from the guide. Before the ferry and after the ferry, except for the driver, no one accompanies. The driver speaks some English. On the ferry, all information is duplicated in 4-5 languages; cards with bus numbers in Santorini are issued at the ferry reception. It's hard to get lost, but it's possible if you don't listen.
On the ferry, many people were very sick, so if you are going to Santorini and motion sickness is possible, it will not be out of place to take motion sickness pills with you. Well, choose places closer to the axis of the ferry, there is less pitching.
Will I return to Crete again? Probably yes. Will I return to the same hotel? Unlikely. We will open new places, including in Crete.
The hotel itself is very beautiful; stunning views of the sea, nature;
With food, everything is fine (tasty, and there is a lot of choice);
The staff is very friendly, they say hello and smile all the time (it's very nice, you feel at home, everyone is happy to see you);
Housekeeping is decent, everything is always diligently bedded and cleaned;
There are three pools and all of them are good in their own way, there is one where you can relax and unwind.
Wi-Fi in the hotel is paid (3 euros per day), but every day 30 minutes are free. and this is enough for me personally, but the main minus in some rooms does not catch at all...
And lastly, about the good: the hotel has an amazing group of animators, every day there is something interesting, dancing, music, practical jokes, fun - this is BIG +)
IN GENERAL SUPER HOTEL)))))))))))))))