The food deserves a special item. For all 12 evenings, there was not a single evening with a repetition of the menu: Peking duck, lamb, pork on a spit, seafood....and much, much more, which made us very happy! Everything was superbly prepared! The staff in the restaurant is not Russian-speaking (during this period there were very few Russian 3-4 families), but all the staff are positively disposed towards all vacationers (Germans, French, English, Russians). On the day of departure, we were again pleased. Everyone knows that the check-out time is 12:00, and the check-out from the hotel is at 18:00 (because the departure is at 22:30), we were allowed to stay in the room until 18:00 at no extra charge.
All the days that we spent in Minos Palace were just our dream: calm, measured, without fuss, without nerves and with good service.
Evenings were very romantic - with live music and a glass of good wine or cognac.
As it turned out, we just dreamed of such a vacation. I really liked the location of the hotel - not far from the city, but not near the road. The view, both on the hotel and from the hotel, on the sea, mountains and the city is magnificent! The city is 7 minutes by car, of course you can walk for 20-25 minutes, but... we used a taxi (fixed price 6 euros).
If you want to retire or just relax with your soulmate, or take a friend / girlfriend and arrange a vacation - for YOURSELF - I can recommend Minos Palace.
PS. before the trip to the hotel, as an experienced user, I read that the rooms do not have one large bed, but two, which are not very comfortable... so, when we checked in, I asked for a room with one large bed, but they do not such numbers. But we were offered a mattress, which is placed on top of two beds. This is how the issue was resolved.
Traveled a sufficient number of different excursions and all very, very much. There is something to see in Crete! I highly recommend the archaeological museum in Agios Nikolaos itself. Go there yourself, the entrance is mere pennies. You can also go on your own to the island of Spinalonga - 15 euros per person.
By the way, if you go from the peninsula where the hotel is located, but, having gone out onto the road, turn in the direction opposite to Agios Nikolaos and walk quite a bit, you will come out to the Stavros No Problem tavern. The hostess of the tavern is an elderly and very pleasant woman. She has simply amazing delicious cuisine, true Greek hospitality and reasonable prices. Be sure to try her homemade wine and raki. We took a couple of bottles of both home from her.
We really liked the trip, we will definitely visit mainland Greece!
I will try to be as objective as possible and state the main advantages and disadvantages of this hotel.
The contingent of the hotel, as I already titled my review, elderly people are mostly foreigners, but they can
to be immigrants from the CIS, young people, if they exist, are very, very few.
The dignity of the hotel lies in the fact that a complete relaxed atmosphere, things that would interfere with you
rest and enjoy the Aegean Sea is not at the root. The rooms are excellent, spacious, cleaning-change
towels daily. The area is small but well maintained. Restaurant lacks variety
offered dishes (especially dessert), BUT everything is at a decent level and edible. The staff is unobtrusive and
courteous. The sea is beautiful and really deserves the Blue Flag. And for the rest of the merits:
the highlight of the hotel is its location, next to the romantic and beautiful town of Agios Nikalaos (on foot
up to 30 minutes).
And now, let me state the disadvantages: LACK OF BEACH - I’ll tell you that it doesn’t exist at all, in fact,
that miserable cluster + for which they do not look at all - is not called a beach, large pebbles along which
it is very difficult to go to the entrance to the sea, then the entrance to the sea is a couple of meters and the depth is about 2 meters,
the bottom is cobblestones, that is, it is necessary to swim immediately from the shore . . which is accordingly not suitable for
normal water entry and exit. There are very few sunbeds and umbrellas, those wishing to sunbathe need to advance
take places, since there are not very many who want to, since vacationers (70%) are elderly foreigners,
and they prefer the pool. A small area, but clean - there is practically no opportunity to cheer.
There is NO entertainment on the vine, except for an elderly man playing the piano in the lobby before dinner.
I mean, all your entertainment in the hotel is THIS is your room with TV!!!
Summing up: Rest is pleasant and comfortable, but in order to have a little fun, you need to go to the town
otherwise, in the hotel you can simply die of BOREDOM.
1) excellent rooms (we lived with a sea view), everything worked, they cleaned every day, the bed was changed twice a week, towels - every day. No complaints
2) pleasant and very helpful staff, of course, cannot be compared with Turkey)))
3) delicious cuisine, never repeated in 14 days, dishes for every taste: a lot of seafood
Minuses:
1) THE BEACH is tiny (((Natives of the former USSR arranged "Crimea during the stagnation", occupying all the sun loungers with their towels at 7 in the morning, and they could come to the beach at 12 or not at all. I always "knocked out" a place for myself, but not without unflattering dialogues
2) the complete absence of young people, the contingent - ELDERLY foreigners (70%)
From entertainment, you can go to Agios Nikolaes (by taxi - 10 euros, 10 minutes to go), walk in a straight line for about 30 minutes
The sea is SUPER, transparent and very warm