Good hotel location

Written: 6 september 2014
Travel time: 10 — 24 august 2014
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For a relaxing holiday; For families with children; For recreation with friends, for young people
Your rating of this hotel:
8.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms: 7.0
Service: 8.0
Cleanliness: 8.0
Food: 8.0
Amenities: 8.0
We went on holiday in August 2014.

General impression:
Liked the hotel. Pretty clean, comfortable, simple.
The Alkionidis Hotel consists of a building (the hotel itself), where the first floor is a spacious hall with free wi-fi and comfortable sofas and tables; dining room. Basement - changing room for the pool, w / m toilet. The upper floors are rooms. The hotel also has an elevator.

The territory of the hotel can be conditionally divided into two parts: a swimming pool (sunbeds, a pool bar, free wi-fi) and an area with tables under a canopy and hammocks for daytime and especially evening gatherings.

Number:

The room is simple but cozy. One large room with white walls (+ a separate bathroom), linoleum on the floor, three comfortable beds, a spacious wardrobe, a mirror, a couple of tables, an armchair, a couple more chairs and a table on the balcony. No special frills. No TV, radio, hair dryer, etc. Air conditioning is paid (I don’t know how much, we didn’t use it. It wasn’t hot in the room).
Plenty of standard outlets, no adapter required. There are bedside lamps and general lighting.
The bed linen for our arrival was clean and white. Pillows are comfortable, mattresses too - slept well on them. They also gave out towels, good, clean, soft (large for the body and face), and soap with toilet paper. That's all. There are no beach towels, no bathrobes, no slippers. Rooms are cleaned daily in the morning.
The balcony is huge, the railing is a solid waist-high wall (that is, no one sees what you are wearing and what you are doing), and the view from the balcony is excellent. We could see the sea on the right, and the village on the left.
Bathroom: The bathroom is a spacious room with a toilet bowl, a washbasin and a place to take a shower. The bathroom is the only drawback of the room. The renovation appears to have been done a long time ago. Plumbing acceptable, working. But the "shower" is a kind of bath (1
. 5 by 1.5m) on a tiled floor that doesn't even have a shower curtain. Washing in it, of course, is not bad, it is spacious, but splashes fly everywhere. We only had hot water at 7pm. More precisely, from 7 to 9. The rest of the time is only cold. We bathed in cold, fortunately, it is rather not cold, but cool by Russian standards, and it is quite tolerable for an adult to swim in it. But with small children and their bathing, it can be difficult.
The overall impression of the room was positive, it has everything you need for life. We rested actively and in the room mostly ate, washed and slept. Clean, light, good in it.

Swimming pool:
The hotel has two swimming pools. One is deep 2.40, the second is 90cm for children, and there is still a completely childish 40 centimeters. All of them are interconnected. Their water is warm and clean. Around are sunbeds with umbrellas. Sunbeds for guests are free, but not all, but only some. They are marked with a sign "for hotel guests".

It is better to borrow in the morning, putting it on your towel. The sun is strong, sunbathing should be done with caution. There is a playground next to the pool.

Meals: We went on a "Breakfast Only" meal plan. Breakfast lasts from 8 to 10 am. The dining room is spacious with lots of tables. Net. It's nice to eat in it. You can also take food and go to breakfast on the terrace. An absolutely charming female co-worker wishing you a good morning. Food is served in buffet style. You can eat as much as you like. You can even take it with you =)
Menu: coffee, tea, powdered juice drink, buns (black and white), ham, cheese, butter, various jams.
Minus: the menu is the same every day, at the end of the holiday we could no longer look at it. But tasty and satisfying.
There is also a bar. More like a pool bar. There, for your own money, you can order a snack, a drink (for example, scrambled eggs will cost about 2 euros, beer - from 2.5 euros).
I recommend taking dishes from home with you (since disposable dishes in Crete are expensive, from 1 euro) and a boiler.

Staff: The main staff does not speak Russian. But in English they are always ready to patiently listen to you (even broken school-level English), answer questions or help in the most accessible and understandable way. The staff are very friendly and accommodating. Great and nice people. No one had any conflicts, and indeed, they are ready to indulge all your whims and not interfere with your rest. But the maid still speaks Russian; )

Beach: the beach is sandy, clean. The entrance to the sea is convenient, the depth of 30 meters is not great. In places there are groups of stones (rocks), but they are clearly visible and few of them. Underwater life is not rich, although in the stones, while snorkeling, we found sea urchins, fish and caught a starfish. The beach is free, you can swim at any time. The sand on the beach is yellow and fine.

Hotel location:
At prices in the store: bread -1 euro, kefir - 1.5 euros, milk - 2.5 euros, beer from 1 euro, half a liter of vodka - 28 euros.

There are a lot of cafes around and in each you will be deliciously fed with huge portions of food. I especially liked the restaurant "Anaktoro Africa" ​ ​ about 30-50 meters from the hotel in the direction of Heraklion. Well, there are very tasty huge portions, Russian-speaking staff and a good interior (to eat for three "from the belly" 20-30 euros). Traditionally, after paying by check, you are given a compliment from the institution - fruits and crayfish.
Further along the road there are a lot of other establishments, including disco bars, souvenir shops, etc.
For lovers of hookah nearby (towards the village of Malia) there is a wonderful hookah (big hookah for the whole evening 10 euros). There are also many jewelry shops and a good restaurant "Sergiani", they also serve quite tasty food.
In general, the location of Alcyonidis is quiet and peaceful, there are no drunk tourists wandering around it, no bars are noisy, no cars are disturbing.
Globally: in global terms, the hotel is located very favorably. The village of Stalida, in the center of which it is actually located, is a small tourist village with all the joys of a tourist (shops, bars, cafes, spas, etc. ), but at the same time it is quiet and cozy, it is impossible to get lost in it and you can have a very pleasant time .
Nearby is the village of Malia (20 minutes walk). Malia is a noisy, party place. Lots of bars, nightclubs, drunk British students. It houses a supermarket "SPAR" - an advantageous place to purchase products. Prices are cheaper than in small grocery stores. For example, 0.5 kefir costs only 0.90 euros, watermelon 0.30 euros/kg. Cigarettes everywhere cost 4 euros.
We traveled a lot around the island, the first time by bus. The location of the hotel allows you to travel half the island.
It is easy to take a bus from Stalida along the National Highway to Heraklion (ticket 3 euros), the bus stop is located 10-15 minutes walk from the hotel. Intercity buses run every 15 minutes and do not have numbers we are used to. They differ in direction. So, for example, to go to Heraklion, you need to take a bus that says "Heraklion", and to return to Stalis - take a bus that says "Malia" (the nearest large village). And the stops themselves in Crete are indicated by numbers. Stop number 29 is located near Alkionidis. The conductor on the bus is always ready to help the tourist and indicate the right place so as not to miss the stop.

Thus, Alkyonidis is located in a quiet place, close to all entertainment, not far from party places, convenient for traveling around the island.

Travel: a car was rented from the hotel guide (1 day = 45 euros, petrol 1l = 1.7 euros). They were satisfied.
The traffic on the roads of Crete is very calm. People drive according to the rules, give way, do not cut. The hotel has a car park that allows you to safely park your car overnight.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original