Хороший отель для семейного отдыха Good hotel for families

Alexander Beach Hotel appeared almost at the last moment, because. there were no more places in the hotel that I originally wanted to (Iberotel). I had to agree at random, because there are very few reviews about the Alexander Beach hotel on the Internet. Then it became clear why.
General impressions of the hotel. The hotel is very good, rooms, meals (half board), service - all at a decent level. Room - overlooking the garden. Balcony. Palm trees, flowers, green, beautiful. TV with Russian channel RTR. The menu is quite varied. On some days, you can additionally order dishes from the menu, in addition to the buffet. One day a week - barbecue, for a fee - 29 euros per person. Didn't visit. In the evening, drinks are paid, of course, not cheap. Mineral water - 1.90 euros, beer - about 3 euros, sprite, cola, tea at the same price, approximately. I didn’t order wine, so I don’t remember the prices. On Sunday morning, the restaurant manager poured champagne for everyone. To my question, “What kind of holiday? ” He simply answered, “Sunday. We want everyone to be happy today
Hotel location. Somewhere between Malia and Stalida. -))) Malia is far enough on foot, no matter what they write there. The place where we were is simply called Beach Road. Hotels, shops, cafes, car rentals. Walking there on foot is extremely difficult, there are simply no sidewalks. They drive mopeds, cars, ATVs drive, Beach Road itself is not so wide, and cars park on both sides of the road.

Nuances. The main contingent of the hotel is the Germans. Therefore, the animation is exclusively in German. The staff is German and English speaking. The waitresses are very nice and helpful and try to learn Russian. There were 10 people from Kyiv, no more, for the whole hotel, including us. The hotel itself is designed for families with children. It suited me, no problem, because I myself went with two children (9 and 13 years old). The Germans came with large families (grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, fathers, a bunch of children, little-smaller). And all day by the pool.
Beach. Sea. Weather.
The hotel beach is like a beach, nothing outstanding. There are much more beautiful beaches in Crete. Been there only once. Sun loungers, umbrellas - free of charge. (Maybe because it’s not the season, I don’t know, although everywhere they write that it’s paid). There were few people on the beach, as I already wrote, the Germans and other foreigners, in general, preferred the pool.
The sea is cool, almost no one swam. Although we were swimming! In vain, did they come to the sea. -)))
Weather. Only on May 1 it rained and it was cloudy. The rest of the days - good weather, sunny, up to +36 in the sun reached. They burned up great.
Guided tours.
Excursions offered by the guide (Millennium Travel) struck me with prices. From 30-40 euros (Knossos Palace, Zeus cave) to 80-100 euros (islands) per person. Without the cost of lunch and entrance tickets. So we traveled on our own. (as I originally planned, after reading reviews about autotravels on the Internet). Honestly, it turns out much cheaper, bigger and more interesting!
Car rental. There are a lot of car rental points, as well as ATVs, motorcycles, bicycles, literally every 5 meters. Trade is appropriate. Do not forget, however, to clarify whether the rental price includes full insurance, which is very important, and 19% tax. And then they like to indicate prices without everything, and only when signing the contract it turns out.
I took the car the next day at a local rental, for 7 days. Chevrolet Matiz, cost about 140 euros (insurance included and tax) + I spent 70 euros on gasoline (in total I drove almost 1000 km in a week) Gasoline is about 1 euro with a penny per liter.

Why Matiz is small, it is convenient to park in the city, fuel consumption is small and inexpensive. Souvenirs. What did you buy. Olive oil 0.5 l -4.4. 5 euros. Creams 4-4.5 euros (by the way, they turned out to be cool, especially after sunburn). Plate - 11 euros, jug - 8 euros. Olive soap for gifts - 0.80-1.5 euros. Metaxa 5 * - 12 euros or so. Anise vodka ouzo - 6.5 euros (it tasted like pertussin syrup, who remembers-))))
Food outside the hotel. In taverns, they chose something like set meals (salad, meat or fish, side dish, dessert), all together 6-9 euros. Portions are huge. Pizza - 5-7 euros. Fresh orange - 2.5 euros. Coffee from 0.8 to 1.5 euros. At the supermarket. Beer 0.5 - approx 1 euro, water 2 l - 0.5 euro.