Pergamos Village — Hotel in Municipality of Platanias

We stayed at Pergamos Village for 10 nights in September, and had an absolutely brilliant time.

ROOM The rooms are basic, but provide everything you need, as well as being relatively large. Each room has a balcony, a TV (all channels are Greek), a small kitchenette with a kettle and cutlery, a bathroom/wet-room, a safe, lots of storage, and a dressing table. We were able to pick up WiFi from our room, but I can't say for certain whether this is applicable in every room.

FACILITIES The pool is small but big enough for the amount of guests. In fact on our 10 day stay, there were 4 or 5 days where we had the pool completely to ourselves. There are plenty of deck chairs to choose from, and all are sun facing right through the day. By the side of the pool there is a small bar that serves drinks and a small menu of reasonably priced cooked food. All outdoor areas have WiFi, which is certainly fast enough for internet browsing and social media, but you may struggle when streaming HD video etc.

HOSTS By far the best part of our stay was Argi and his family, the owners. On arrival, we were greeted with two cold beers, then once we'd had chance to cool down and soak in the atmosphere, shown to our rooms. I have never stayed anywhere as laid back - we'd order drinks, and be told 'Pay now, pay later, whatever is best for you'. Every morning we were greeted like members of the family, and be asked about our plans for the day as we waited for our breakfast by the pool. The owners will gladly book taxis and tours on your behalf, and basically do everything under the sun to ensure you enjoy your stay. All the staff speak fluent English, and seem to relish in the opportunity to do so.

LOCATION The one downside to Pergamos Village is how far away it is from anything, if you're on foot. In a car, Kolymbari is minutes away, but on foot you're talking a 20 minute walk minimum. We ended up spending a lot of time in Hania, which is a €2.25 bus ride away. A note for British people - Crete buses are not the kind of buses we British are used to... They're air conditioned Mercedes Benz coaches with toilets and a luggage compartment! The beach is a short walk (5 mins) and there are two excellent restaurants nearby. There is a small supermarket directly next to Pergamos Village, and much larger supermarket 5 minutes walk down the road towards Kolymbari.

CONCLUSION Pergamos Village is an ideal hotel if you're wanting somewhere quiet, with all the basic amenities. The staff are what make the hotel stand out, and really do make you feel welcome, and will go out of their way to make your stay perfect. I'd recommend renting a car, as the location itself can be a little too quiet, but Crete has an excellent bus service. Not that we wanted to leave the hotel much... The pool is beautiful, and the hotel is basically relaxation encapsulated.

Room Tip: I'd recommend a garden or pool room, as the sea view rooms are right next to...

So many positives and any negatives are not worth mentioning for this lovely, friendly little hotel ||It seemed that everyone you meet had been here before and kept coming back... I've not known that before and the longer you stay, the more you realise why. The whole family and the staff are very welcoming and are very experienced in making you feel like you matter... at the end of the day, they're ruining a business, but you certainly don't feel like they're in it to fleece the hoards of tourists, you genuinely start to think that they do it because they enjoy it. |The odd thing that I also experienced is that that 'family' feel, extended to the guests too.... practically everyone there gave the impression that they were all part of some huge family... it's contagious ||So... after our welcome drink, we were shown to our room, a decent sized room with a balcony, a kitchen area, wardrobe etc... not plush by any means, but definitely more than adequate for a 2 week holiday.. so, we abandoned or baggage and went in search of food, as it was late and we were hungry, so over to Esperides we went. Another very friendly welcome greeted us and I have to say, we loved this place. We revisited many times, and not just because it was the closest, but because we simply lived it. ||The area....|If you want to just vegitate by the pool all holiday, that's great, there is everything you need here, but if you want to experience crete a bit more, you'll need to hire a car.. initially, I just wanted to relax and unwind for 2 weeks, but after a few days, I had an exploring itch that needed scratching, so hired a car for 5 days. It was the best decision I made, we saw some great places and visited some amazing beaches... we'll worth the money. |At the end of the road, you can get a bus, the busses are coaches to us in the UK and very comfy. If you don't hire a car, I suggest you at the very least, get a bus to kolymvari town... so many restaurants, but also a lovely little town. |The local beach is pebbly, you will need to travel to find the good ones.|Restaurants - if you go to the road and turn right, within a 15 mins stroll, you will find 5 or 6 restaurants... our favourite was vicenzos cornaros... lovely food and friendly, the worst we found was Kriti.. unfriendly and below par food, but you will need to try them for yourselves to gauge you're own opinions. ||That's about it really.... a very friendly place to spend 2 weeks, hire a car if you want to get the most from it, very hot in August, great restaurants within strolling distance||Highlights worth checking out:|Aptera - ancient ruins.. simply great|Eva boat trip - the best day of the holiday|Falassarna beach|Kalyves beach|The 3000 year old olive tree (better than it sounds)|The olive oil tour -...

Mt husband and I have just returned from a week at Pergamos and we had the most wonderful time. This is a fantastic family run hotel, - Argy is a star! He speaks fantastic English and will give you the warmest welcome you'll ever get, including a drink! Nothing is too much trouble for him or his mum and dad. They're really nice people and it's obvious that your happiness and enjoyment is very important to them. The pool area is quite small with only about 20 sunbeds but although the hotel was full, there was only ever a handful of people around the pool, so no problem getting a sunbed. And no sunbed reservers!! Fantastic! The pool snacks are tasty and good quality - try the special omelette! The apartments are really big and spotlessly clean. The shower is a shower tray with no screen/curtain and a hand held shower, but you master it quickly and on the plus side, piping hot water 24 hours a day, which is unusual.||||Aircon is 6 euros a day, which I don't think is unreasonable - I've paid a lot more. We didn't have it the first night and it was so hot, so it was a sound investment! ||||There are a few restaurants locally which are quite nice, but please, please don't stay local every night! You've got to go into Chania. The bus stops at the top of the road (it will say Chania/Xania on the front) and is only 2.6 euros. It takes about 40 minutes, but they're air-conditioned and comfortable. Get off the bus at the bus station and follow the sign to 'old town'. This will take you to the beautiful harbour lined with bars and restaurants. Some of the restaurants are quite 'keen' to drag you in, but they're friendly and do take 'no' for an answer. I'd recommend eating just a couple of streets back from the harbour - tiny little cobbled streets with so many beautiful restaurants, most of them in courtyards. So pretty and great food - more authentic and better quality than at the harbour.||||The buses back are on the hour and the half hour, the last one being midnight (11.30 on a Sunday). It's a bit chaotic until you know what you're doing - you need the coach back to Kolambari (shown as Kolampari on the front of the bus) - it's not a set bus number - you need to look for the number of the coach. ||||On our last day, there was no problem with us having to be out of our room by a certain time. If there's no-one in after you, Argy will let you keep your room - he's so laid back. If they need the room, they have a room for people to shower/change. ||||All in all, a fantastic holiday and a real hidden gem of a hotel, in a really peaceful location, with a lovely town only a bus ride away. If the world wasn't such a big place, I reckon we'd come back...