SAMARIA — Restaurant in Municipality of Sfakia

After a lovely hike in the gorge I went to the main ferry ticket office to enquire where to find my tour guide who I had earlier given money for the ferry ticket, and was directed across the road to this restaurant.

I’m not sure if he was the owner/manager but the old man - who matches the description of other reviews with a similar bad experience - was unnecessarily rude and full of himself. It put a damp spot on an otherwise lovely day.

I politely asked for assistance and proceeded to get a long winded, self important lecture from some arrogant man on a power trip, who was full of assumptions about what I was or wasn’t supposedly told by my tour guide and while I was too dazzled by the rudeness to even respond. Made a big drama and then finally, eventually he points out where the guide was which he could have just said at the start!

I mean, a little snarky comment about my unintended error for not being at the collection point earlier, followed by a grin and pointing out the guide’s location I would understand, but not a long winded lecture for no benefit to anyone.

When I got to the guide it was no issue and I got my ticket with plenty of time before the ferry departure, but the old man couldn’t help himself from making one more smart comment as I exited.

How does someone with that kind of personality work in hospitality? The only conclusion I could draw is he was having a sook that I wasn’t there earlier to sit in the restaurant despite there being no obligation with my hiking tour ticket to do so. He needs to get...

Stayed at the Samaria Pension last week. I have to say, Agia Roumeli / Samaria Gorge was one of the highlights of our trip, and the room we had at Samaria, with a big balcony looking out to the sea and the mountains was, for the price, an absolute steal! We had our ritual happy hour drink on the balcony each evening to watch the sun set before dinner.||The owner is a big personality, and makes you feel extremely welcome as his guest. Unfortunately the guest/host relationship involves an immense amount of pressure to eat at his restaurant. After he "caught" us eating at another restaurant one evening, his demeanour completely changed and we never again experienced the warmth he showed us on the first day. ||If his restaurant had been overwhelmingly good, we may have been happy to eat there every meal. Unfortunately it wasn't, and we found much nicer food elsewhere. Creeping around town at meal time, feeling guilty and nervous about getting 'busted' again put a negative tinge on the whole experience. Out of a weird sense of loyalty we did eat breakfast there every morning, which was repetitively underwhelming.||In summary, honestly, the room was brilliant, but if I were to go back I would stay at Calypso. I can't vouch for the rooms, but the food in the restaurant and the staff...

Stayed at the Samaria Pension last week. I have to say, Agia Roumeli / Samaria Gorge was one of the highlights of our trip, and the room we had at Samaria, with a big balcony looking out to the sea and the mountains was, for the price, an absolute steal! We had our ritual happy hour drink on the balcony each evening to watch the sun set before dinner.||The owner is a big personality, and makes you feel extremely welcome as his guest. Unfortunately the guest/host relationship involves an immense amount of pressure to eat at his restaurant. After he "caught" us eating at another restaurant one evening, his demeanour completely changed and we never again experienced the warmth he showed us on the first day. ||If his restaurant had been overwhelmingly good, we may have been happy to eat there every meal. Unfortunately it wasn't, and we found much nicer food elsewhere. Creeping around town at meal time, feeling guilty and nervous about getting 'busted' again put a negative tinge on the whole experience. Out of a weird sense of loyalty we did eat breakfast there every morning, which was repetitively underwhelming.||In summary, honestly, the room was brilliant, but if I were to go back I would stay at Calypso. I can't vouch for the rooms, but the food in the restaurant and the staff...