Eliros Mare Hotel — Hotel in Municipality of Apokoronas

We stayed here for 7 nights. Overall our experience was great and we did have a nice stay. But we also found there were a few things that could be improved.

Staff Reception and restaurant staff were all very friendly especially Hazel, she couldn't do enough for us. She knew my son had an egg allergy so she always made sure there was a special portion of food for him every night. Although there was an issue once with the restaurant staff, she sorted it out for us right away. Christina at the pool bar was great and my son loved her. We did find the staff at the beach bar wasn't as friendly and welcoming. When we first arrived the bar, no one explained how the snacks worked and basically those snacks were left over from the breakfast and they were not fresh. They served lunch between 12-3pm at the beach bar if you want fresh food, don't miss the time frame. We did enjoy having lunch there with a seaview. The buffet at the main restaurant was very good, especially dinner. Every night was different. We did all inclusive and you are allowed to take drinks and food away so it was a bonus as we could enjoy them in our room if we couldn't stay out.

Room We booked a superior beach front sea view room for 4 people on Expedia. We requested a free upgrade as we saw other reviews but we were offered an upgrade for a pool room for extra 80 euros a night, but the pool was actually very small. Not only the room was meant to be for 2 people and there was hardly any view so we didn't go ahead. We did feel the manager was quite eager to sell the room though. The interesting part was our seaview room. The room and the view were both very nice. However, the stage was located right in front of our room and they had entertainment every night except Thursday. The music was actually VERY loud all the way til 11pm. You could hear even if we closed the windows. As we had our little toddler, this was really not ideal for us. But we wanted a sea view room so we had to compromise for that. Appearently all seaview rooms had the same problem. If we knew this was the case, we might not have booked this hotel. Also I asked to refill the toiletry items 3 times but it was never filled even until we checked out.

Facilities There was a main pool in the hotel and it's very nice and clean. Having the pool bar there was very relaxing. The beach is just near by. Unfortunately the pool was very cold during the first week of October so we didn't use it much. Sun beds were available some days but you can't avoid people occupying the beds with towels.

Mini club There was also a mini club for children which was one of the reasons we chose this hotel. Sadly my child didn't get much out of it. The girl who took care of the children, she seemed to only focus on children over 3 years old. And the club facilities was very poor, there was hardly anything to play with for the young children. The mini pool was nice, but there was not much to it. If the hotel wanted to attract different types of families, they should really invest more. We ended up going to the playground in the hotel next door, my child loved it. They also did mini disco in the evening at 8:45pm. Again, we found our child was excluded. The girl only focused on the older children and she never paid attention to the little ones. There was another toddler and parent like us, we played and danced with our own children as they were not included in the dance. This was really the major downside I found about the hotel.

Special note If you have young children just starting to walk, be sure to hold them tight. The stone pavement in the hotel looked nice however it's not friendly for young children. My 18 months old was very eager to walk and there was no stopping him so unfortunately he fell quite a few times with quite a few bad cut and graze.

I see why the hotel has such a good review if you are adults without children or with older children. This is such a mix feeling for us. We might return when our child is much older as generally hotel is nice...

We've not long returned home from a fabulous week at Eliros Mare and wanted to share our experience. The decor of the hotel is really lovely and it has a real chic feel to it the moment you step through it's doors. It's not a huge hotel but it's very well laid out and feels really spacious. The main pool area is nice, and has the sun pretty much all day without the need of having to move beds around, which is a good job as it's not really possible to move them. There aren't a lot of sunbeds around the pool and upon arrival the staff beg you not to reserve the sunbeds in the morning which most people do abide by which is nice, it means there's no sunbed wars. If like us you like to find your favourite beds and stick with them, just make sure you get up early for breakfast and then go get your beds after like we did, we managed to get the same beds every morning by doing this. My only gripe is that the sunbed toppers are black and plasticy which means they get very hot, as do the black sausage pillows which aren't very comfortable might I add. Also, the pool towels you get are so narrow that they don't even cover the whole sunbed, so we ended up having to get two each.

We had paid extra to have a room with a private pool which in my opinion was worth every penny! The room itself was great, nicely decorated and nice and clean. The private pool is fantastic and very well maintained. We had a room on the west side of the hotel which meant it had the sun from around 12pm. This was perfect as it meant we could spend the morning around the main pool and then after lunch go back to our room and sunbathe there.

The food in the hotel is okay, I have nothing bad to say about it but being a big foodie and perhaps being spoilt in some of the places I have travelled to, I wouldn't say there was anything I would write home about. There is always a huge variety and always something pleasant to eat. We particularly enjoyed the BBQ dinner in the beach restaurant, the lamb kebab were very tasty! And dinner in the main restaurant on Fridays was Mexican food which was a very nice surprise as we was craving some spicy food. Kudos to all the chefs particularly the guys making the pita gyros some lunch times, they was very tasty, a hint of mustard on the chips is a new one of me and certainly one I will try when making these myself.

Finally we'd like to say thank you to all the staff, they are all so friendly and very attentive. Do yourself a favour if visiting here and try and learn a few of the basic phrases, it goes a long way and puts a smile on the staffs faces.

Special mentions

Yiorgos (Paul Hollywood), such a great guy and makes a great cocktail. Ask him for a Long Island Mojitea (Mojito with a dash of coke)

Maria - she works in the main restaurant breakfast and dinner but it seems like she works all hours. Nothing is too much trouble and she will be sure to put a smile on your face. I was learning new phrases each day to surprise her.

Christina - she works at the pool bar and is so nice and friendly. We had a lovely chat with her about life in Greece and how she would love to come to the UK to work (not sure why lol I know where I'd rather be). Oh and she also makes some lovely cocktails.

Hazel - the English lady in the main restaurant. She is so lovely and very chatty. She also saved me a plate of sushi one night as we were missing dinner due to being in Rethmyno. So glad she did as I had a very disappointing dinner there and arrived back at the hotel very hungry!

Eleni - She was so welcoming and very helpful. She spent some time explaining the various trips that...

The Eliros Mare Hotel marked our first ever vacation in Crete. We booked all inclusive and stayed there for seven days. It was a wonderful experience, everything I'd hoped for. We are a child-free couple from Switzerland and we booked a beautiful room with a private pool. I have a lot of good things to say: The hotel was very quiet. A few loud kids during the day, but almost all the guests were well behaved. Quiet at night. The staff was excellent and very very friendly, we were treated very well. We especially want to thank Maria from the beach bar and Katerina from the main restaurant for treating us so good, it was a real pleasure, we already miss them. The two barkeepers at the beach bar were also great, very funny and very friendly. (χαρούμενες σαρδέλες) The food was excellent. Everything we had tasted great, compliments to the chef. Sometimes you could tell that the plate was warmed up from the day before, but it tasted great anyways. Huge buffet also, you can eat so many different things. Drinks were also very nice. The location itself is fantastic. A few steps from your room is the wonderful beach, where the only downside is that sometimes if you arrive late, you will have difficulties finding free sunbeds. If you want to visit another town, the bus stop is right outside the hotel and it's very easy and not complicated. Also near the hotel, there is a supermarket and some souvenir shops and restaurants. There is also a pharmacy. You will have everything you need. You will also always have a good time with the friendly Greeks. Room service was fantastic, they come multiple times a day and give you fresh towels, they clean up your mess and are very discrete. We never felt disturbed by them.

The only downside are the beds. We are a couple and we booked a room according to our situation. What we got is not a big bed, but two narrow 90cm beds just next to each other, leaving a huge gap between the mattresses. That's not very romantic, why not use a big mattress for 2 people? The beds were also very very soft, we both felt that in our backs in the mornings. Very uncomfortable. The shower was a little loose and it feels like the place was recently renovated, but here and there you can see that stuff isn't very new or just poorly fixed. The mosquitos are constant and they are many, you should bring something to fend them off. Spray helps. Keep your window closed at night, use the AC and the ceiling fan if you're getting hot. Oh, another very important thing, and a very negative one: there is practically no privacy in your private pool or on your terrace. If you step outside, there will be your terrace, then there is the pool, then a few metres of lawn and then the property ends. Outside the property people will walk by constantly to get to the beach, also in the evening and at night. And they will always look, and they will see you, because there's nothing that obstructs the view into your room. No walls, no bushes, no plants, nothing. This I can't understand, it's very indiscrete. Also, multiple times a day, hotel staff will walk by your pool.

So if you want to get romantic and do sexy times, you better go inside and pull the curtains.

In short: We had an amazing time in this hotel and we want to thank all the staff for their hard work. Maybe we will return in...