Alai, Crete, a Tribute Portfolio Resort — Hotel in Municipality of Chersonissos

This hotel is ideally situated with everything on your doorstep, yet the accommodation was set back enough to not hear anything from the Main Street. Staff are very friendly, the main hotel is bright and spotless with a large reception/lounge area. |The hotel pool area is right on the seafront so the views are amazing, the pool is very large and easy accessible though very deep, so you would have to be a swimmer, children would have to be accompanied and be wearing arm bands if they were not good swimmers, there was also a tiny paddle pool for babies/toddlers.|Though if the hotel was busy there would not be enough sun lounges, unless they do put more out in peak season. There are lounges on the beach but the hotel charge €12 euro for these that includes 2 lounges and an umbrella, you can get the same nearby for €6/€8. There is a pool bar but again very expensive, a large beer was €6 but on your doorstep or on the beach plenty of bars charge €3/€4, the same with the food and Ice cream most are priced at least €2 more than local bars/bakery's etc. The hotel also provides beach and pool towels daily. |On the beach water sports are plentiful, the beach is a lovely for a walk along with lots of beach bars/restaurants. The sea is quite shallow for a good distance so ldeal for paddling, inflatables etc lots of good areas to snorkelling with 3 platforms we used, that had ladders theses are at the very end of the beach near romantic corner by the mountain. |The rooms are very dated and looking very tired although they are air conditioned and spotless, the beds comfortable and everything you need is available (except an iron) the rooms are serviced daily with fresh towels and bedding is changed regularly. We had a lovely housekeeper called Stella, she was very friendly and also left fresh bottled water daily. We had a decent size balcony and a beautiful sea view, which we did pay extra for. There is a safe deposit box but the hotel charge €30 a week for this. We also kept the room on as our flight was in the evening the charge for this was €60 for 5 hours. We had to pay a tax on arrival which everyone pays, I think it was €21 for the week for 2 of us. |The restaurant was very nice, clean, well stocked and was well staffed. On arrival we were given a table and someone brought tea/coffee snd juice to the table, then breakfast was self service with lots to choose from, so there is something for everyone. |There is a bus route close by to visit nearby areas, there is a happy train that actually takes you on some very good trips all brilliant and well worth doing. We hired a car for the day for €50 then we put €20 fuel in, we went to Agios Nikolios and Sisi to see the sunset both amazing. I have also been to Spinalonga and Mochos for the Greek night both highly recommended. There is so much to see and do should you want to venture. |Overall we had a brilliant holiday and loved every minute of it, Stalis is a lovely place with plenty to do and see, your holiday can be as busy, lively or quiet as you want to make it. |The only reason I never gave a 5 star is because rooms need an update and I felt the additional hotel charges were too high plus the bar/food was...

First, let me say that the hotel was perfectly located near to the Beach as possible, great location. Also, it was remarkably clean and the rooms, poolside and walkways too. Room was quite small but adequate. Only German channels (8 of them) one Sky, bed linen changed every other day, and two bottles of free water every day, and fresh beach towels daily. But, within 24 hours of our arrival we had 4 "mis-haps". Firstly, the shower head was pouring water sideways, bit of a shock as cold water hit me unexpectedly, then the toilet lid would hit you on the back when seated, the drain in the floor suddenly overflowed with "dirty" water (Ugh), then the kettle lid fell off while my wife went to pour, almost scalding her! All the items were fixed quickly, but surely previous tenants must have reported at least a couple of these problems?? Also, the shower cubicle itself was so small and round that if you dropped something, you would have to step outside to bend down to pick it up!!! We were B & B only, but the breakfasts left a lot to be desired. Orange juice only, coffee was very bitter, stone cold fried eggs, bacon under-cooked. Milk, butter, margarine, jam, honey etc. all came in little plastic long-life containers ( a nightmare to open or recycle). Added to that, two days running the milk was OFF, even though the use by date said Dec 2023, even though I reported it earlier. |Would I return to Stalis? Probably, but not to this hotel as it doesn't deserve anything more than 3 stars at best. Finally, there are notices in all the rooms about putting towels on poolside beds/umbrellas early morning, stating they would be removed if not occupied - NEVER HAPPENED - same crowd every day hogging the same locations,...

Just returned from a trip to Stalin’s and the Zephyrous Hotel. Our room wasn’t in the main block, but in the adjacent block next door, we had a great sea view from the balcony, parts of the room were a bit dated. But it was spotlessly clean, the shower and loo were brilliant, lots of hot water and a powerful shower. We were grateful for the bottles of water left every day. The room was up several flights of stairs with no lift, not too much of a problem for us, but could be for some. We tried to make sure we had everything with us for a day by the pool to save having to climb them to much. We hired a car for 3 days to explore further, and the area was beautiful, our trip to Spinalonga was lovely, we explored the mountains and down to the south of the island, which is very different. We booked half board, unfortunately this was an error on our part, breakfast was ok, plenty of choices, however we were very disappointed with the evening meal, so chose to eat out. The pool area and it’s closeness to the beach was fabulous, however some of the sun beds were very uncomfortable and you could see they were in need of repair. Everyone was very friendly, particularly Athena in reception. We found the cost of drinks very expensive, but there is a beach bar next door which was better. Whilst I loved the area, I did feel a little let down by some aspects of the hotel, the advertised John Street restaurant was closed and seemed to be being used as a storage shed, in parts there were redundant, possibly broken sun beds being stored, the lack of atmosphere in the canteen like dining room, and the poor choices of eating options means we wouldn’t...