Отель для отдыха с детьми. Hotel for families with children.

We are from Ukraine, we were in this hotel with our family. Three children: 17.7 and 2 years old. End of July - beginning of August 2012.18 days in total. The tour was bought in TUI. The hotel is typically family type. 90% - families with children. By country, something like this: forty percent Russian, forty percent Germans, the rest are British, French. I identified few Ukrainians, although they said at the reception that there have been a lot lately. The Greek staff does not speak Russian, although this is not a problem for me, on the contrary, an opportunity to practice English. But at the same time, among the waiters there are many trainees from Ukraine and Russia. Many from Kyiv. Also, among the animators, one or two of our girls are also mandatory. In general, the service was not bad, but so... imposingly Greek, unhurried, this was especially felt in the restaurant.
Rooms
The hotel is designed in the form of a Greek village. There are many streets and 2-3-storey houses, each with 4 rooms. All rooms, as far as I understand, are of the same type. We had a two-room apartment, but I looked at other guys, the rooms are the same in size and content, only without a partition. Each room, regardless of the floor, has its own terrace with a table and chairs, where it is convenient and pleasant to sit in the evening. The telly is small, but working. The interior is simple, modest, but at the same time quite cute. Everything is clean, cleaned every day, we left 2 euros for tea. There is air conditioning, a refrigerator, a coffee maker (did not use it), a toaster, a stove, pots, a frying pan, dishes, not bad in general. The vast majority of houses do not have a sea view. There is only one street with a view, although we did not suffer much from this. A baby cot and even a potty were provided without any problems.

Food
I can't stand olinkus, so we only took breakfast. Although it was possible to have breakfast / dinner, there is no all-inclusive in the hotel. Dinner buffet in a large restaurant could be purchased on any day for 27 euros per adult and 8 per child. The food is perhaps one of the weak points of the hotel. I mean, the food is not bad, the usual standard set, I would say. But there are only two restaurants: a large main one and a tavern near the miniclub and the beach. At the same time, both restaurants worked by the hour: a large one from 7 to 10 am and from 19 to 22 pm. And the tavern is from 12-30 to 15-00 and then from 19-30 to 22-00. Everything, there is nowhere else to eat. So if you are pinned to eat at the wrong time, then no way. Moreover, there are no restaurants near the hotel either. To do this, you need to go to neighboring towns.
But the room has a refrigerator and an electric stove. Therefore, simple meals can be cooked in the room. In addition, right under the reception there is a mini market, which, in principle, has everything you need, including vegetables, fruits, meat and pasta. Well, water, wine, beer, snacks, in general, a normal store.
Animation
The hotel has a good and fairly large mini-club. It is fenced with tall bushes, there is a good slide and swings on the sand. There is also an air-conditioned room where animators entertain children with various activities. Their day is scheduled with different games from 11 to 20. It’s really only possible to walk on the hill in the evening, from 18 hours, when the sun hides and the sand is not so hot. In general, children's animation was satisfied. They baked pizza together, and made salads, and sirtaki learned to dance and much more.
For adults, labukhs played almost every day near the main restaurant. Nothing special, but still. Also from the entertainment was a small American billiards, a couple of slot machines, computers. Sports: tennis court, basketball court, table tennis.
Sea

Sea 5 points. Very clean, quite salty and warm. It was at least 26 degrees all the time. Although the beach at the hotel is really small, but there were enough sun loungers and umbrellas for everyone. With the exception of two days, when a fresh portion of tourists from Russia drove in and began to occupy sun loungers from 7 in the morning. : ) But fortunately, it quickly stopped. Pine trees grew above the beach, and, mixing with the sea air, they created a pleasant inhalation effect. Although because of them there were many thorns in the sand. The entrance to the sea is rocky. The fresh water pool is located between the beach and the restaurant. Quite large, the depth varies from 0.5 to 2.6 meters. There are no water slides for children. Sun loungers and umbrellas on the beach and near the pool are free, beach towels too. There is a small bar next to the pool.
On the beach there is a rental of all kinds of water activities: catamarans, scooters, kayaks, banana, sofa, water skis.
Where to go?
Near the hotel there is the town of Agios Nikolos (20 thousand population). Take a taxi there for 10 minutes for 8 euros or by shuttle bus, about once an hour for 1 euro per person.
On the other side is the resort village of Elounda. There are more cafes and restaurants there. But the coolest fish restaurants were discovered by us a little further than Elounda in the village of Plaka. About 200 people live there, but at the same time there are about 30 fish restaurants with a good assortment of fresh fish. So, if you want to taste fish or seafood, then go to Plaka. Moreover, opposite it is one of the main attractions of this region - the island-fortress of Spinalunga. You should definitely go there and spend an hour and a half there. From Plaka every half an hour a boat runs there (8 euros per person round trip), so it's very convenient. Spinalunga is an old fortress, and then there was a leper colony. Interesting, but it is advisable to go there with a guide, because there is none.
Taxi fare to Elounda - 14 euros, to Plaka - 20 euros. Speaking of taxis. All taxis in Crete are of really excellent quality. Mostly comfortable Mercedes.
Where else can you go? We were in Knossos, like most tourists, but somehow he did not impress us. A clumsy restoration of some sort. In addition, we did not take a guide, but we should have. There were several other places, but the most impressive was the lunch in a small private winery near Vasilis in mountainous Crete. Simple but insanely delicious country food, homemade wine and a hospitable host pleasantly surprised us. You can also buy local olive oil, soap, herbs, brandy and of course wine.
Internet
At the reception, in the Internet cafe and restaurant there was free WiFi without a password. He worked, frankly, very unstable and sluggish. But it happened that he finished off to our house (100 meters).

Flora and fauna
The territory of the hotel is green and well-groomed. Lots of flowers, palms, olives, lemons. But there are almost no tall mature trees, and accordingly there are no shady areas.
Upon arrival, I immediately noted the complete absence of mosquitoes, midges and any such rubbish. I thought it was because of the strong wind that blew the first three days. But after that, there were no mosquitoes. But there were flies that pretty much got in a large restaurant. It is also surprising that there were almost no seagulls. But it was full of cicadas. At first I thought it was some kind of birds chirping in the trees, then I decided that it was crickets. It turned out to be cicadas - insects the size of a hornet, in appearance resemble a gray gadfly, emit a loud crack. They fly, but they seem harmless, although when such crap flies into the room, it’s unpleasant. On the last night, I discovered unpleasant living creatures. A small red-haired rat ran up to us on the second floor along a branch of a bush... But we slept with an open balcony all the time... It's good that my wife did not see her. : ) But now it became clear why so many cats roam the territory. So, if you go, close the windows and doors at night, you never know what.
conclusions
Very good value for money hotel for families with children. Everything here is aimed at children. A very relaxing holiday. There are no super-activities and discos here. If you don’t mind cooking on vacation a couple of times a day, then in general it can turn out quite economically.