Malena Hotel & Suites — Hotel in Municipality of Malevizi

Crete’s Best Kept Secret! We drove to the hotel and parked up in their well maintained car park. There was never any issues with parking, we were always able to find a space. Walking from the car park was mildly confusing as the reception desk is through the main building which is the dining room but it gave us an opportunity to see some of the beautiful grounds of the hotel. Once at the desk, the staff were fantastic. We were offered a non-alcoholic drink upon arrival (very much needed to quench the thirst of travelling) and the staff at the reception desk were lovely. They carried our bags to our room and we were blown away with how beautiful it was. The room we booked had a private pool. It was so beautiful. We had sun on the pool the whole day and sun on the cabana in the afternoon. Other rooms had different sun patterns but I was glad to see we were all able to sunbathe through out day. From our room you could see a pool table and the fitness suite. It is clear they are growing some plants at the end of the pool to help offer more privacy and while it wasn’t a major issue, I think those plants will be very welcome when they’re tall enough. Even without a private pool, there were no issues at the main pool. Rarely crowded and always sun beds and cabanas free throughout the day. We stayed as half board and were so glad we did. The breakfast was good with fresh orange juice, a selection of cooked and cold breakfast options and more sauces and spreads than I’ve ever seen before. The dinner was such a treat. A total of 5 courses (two small starter plates, soup or salad, two main options and then a selection of puddings) as well as some bread to start. Well worth it. The food was all local meals so it was great to try food we perhaps would not have otherwise picked. As a self confessed wine enthusiast, we were a bit shocked to discover that Cretan rose is very dark. Our fantastic waiter helped give us advice and showed us a few different bottles before settling on a lovely Merlot. Note to anyone used to French rose - dark Cretan rose is not a problem! The staff were also very sweet in helping us celebrate a birthday. A bottle of wine and a note was left in our room and the staff remembered on the day and days after and asked how it had been. Another fantastic feature of the hotel was that there was a bookshelf of clearly left behind or donated books. I finished my book on the first day of the holiday and knew that finding another English book on the island would be tricky and expensive. Once I saw this bookshelf, I utilised it through out the rest of our stay. Such a simple idea but such a great one. There is a supermarket and a few shops within walking distance. You can also walk to the beach very easily - I believe there is quite the night life in the evening there. There’s also a bus stop right outside if you need. Overall, this hotel is such an oasis. The best one we’ve ever stayed at and I would highly, highly recommend staying here if you need some tranquility and...

We arrived at the hotel early in the morning after an overnight flight. Our travel agent specifically asked that the hotel consider giving us an earlier room and also other requests for an extra bed and a gluten-free meal. When we arrived, the receptionist was really unpleasant and showed no willingness to help and stuck to the basic rules. She also said that she did not receive any requests, which is completely untrue. We received the keys at 14:00 not a moment before, we entered the room completely wet that the maid had cleaned a moment ago. We immediately noticed that the air conditioner in the bedroom was not working and on the floor they had already prepared a "solution" a portable air conditioner that only leaked and gave off heat. I called the reception and the lady was really "surprised" by the problem and offered a solution for the bad portable air conditioner which is pleasant enough in the suite. I insisted on getting another suite at that moment and that there was no way we would sleep without an air conditioner in this heat, and she, as usual, did not try to help and in a condescending tone, constantly consulting with her manager. In the end they offered dinner as compensation and we didn't want it, we insisted on another room. I told her that as far as I was concerned, I should cancel everything and get my money back, she immediately replied that it wouldn't happen and that we could only get another room the next day. She consulted with her manager again, apparently they understood that we wouldn't give up and offered to cancel everything and get our money back. We asked her to stay because we still wanted to stay and that we would wait for a new room the next day. In all these conversations, I was the only one who initiated the contact, she didn't come to the room for a moment or call to update. I was so angry, she drove me crazy, I have never received such condescending and disgusting service in my life and it actually annoyed me more. She told me in front of people firmly that we wouldn't get any compensation. Horrible! Anyway, the rest of the staff are really nice. There was a leak from the air conditioner at night, the next day we didn't get a new room until 2:00 PM and by then we hadn't even unpacked our luggage. Again, the room was completely wet from the cleaning by the maid. Breakfast was very sparse, not impressive at all. The hotel is not as impressive as in the pictures. Definitely not something I will return to in the future. The manager only heard her side and didn't bother to talk to us. Too bad he didn't listen to the customer. They wrote to our travel agency that we ordered blankets and this is proof that we were cold, crazy! What an answer! I don't recommend it at all, they ruined the whole experience and...

We arrived at the hotel early in the morning after an overnight flight. Our travel agent specifically asked that the hotel consider giving us an earlier room and also other requests for an extra bed and a gluten-free meal. When we arrived, the receptionist was really unpleasant and showed no willingness to help and stuck to the basic rules. She also said that she did not receive any requests, which is completely untrue. We received the keys at 14:00 not a moment before, we entered the room completely wet that the maid had cleaned a moment ago. We immediately noticed that the air conditioner in the bedroom was not working and on the floor they had already prepared a "solution" a portable air conditioner that only leaked and gave off heat. I called the reception and the lady was really "surprised" by the problem and offered a solution for the bad portable air conditioner which is pleasant enough in the suite. I insisted on getting another suite at that moment and that there was no way we would sleep without an air conditioner in this heat, and she, as usual, did not try to help and in a condescending tone, constantly consulting with her manager. In the end they offered dinner as compensation and we didn't want it, we insisted on another room.|I told her that as far as I was concerned, I should cancel everything and get my money back, she immediately replied that it wouldn't happen and that we could only get another room the next day. She consulted with her manager again, apparently they understood that we wouldn't give up and offered to cancel everything and get our money back. We asked her to stay because we still wanted to stay and that we would wait for a new room the next day. In all these conversations, I was the only one who initiated the contact, she didn't come to the room for a moment or call to update. I was so angry, she drove me crazy, I have never received such condescending and disgusting service in my life and it actually annoyed me more. She told me in front of people firmly that we wouldn't get any compensation. Horrible!|Anyway, the rest of the staff are really nice. There was a leak from the air conditioner at night, the next day we didn't get a new room until 2:00 PM and by then we hadn't even unpacked our luggage. Again, the room was completely wet from the cleaning by the maid.|Breakfast was very sparse, not impressive at all. The hotel is not as impressive as in the pictures. Definitely not something I will return to in the future.|The manager only heard her side and didn't bother to talk to us. Too bad he didn't listen to the customer.|They wrote to our travel agency that we ordered blankets and this is proof that we were cold, crazy! What an answer!|I don't recommend it at all, they ruined the whole experience and...