SOL BY MELIA MARINA BEACH CRETE

Stayed here for 2 weeks in room 1111, 10th-24th october. Fantastic room, only issue being we feel requires a few sunbeds on the terrace, as it is so big, and really a lot of wasted space, but the sun is on it all day. Also the drain in the bathroom comes up when running water in the sink. Although these didn't cause any issues to us. The Animation team are all fantsactic, big thank you to Laura , John (unga bunga) George (katastrof), and Gina, who have all been amazing, our kids have loved every minute with these people, from kids club, mini disco, and just seeing them all about, they make such a fuss! (🩷 S&F xxx) The hotel staff are so friendly, big shout to Niki at the swim up pool bar, always smiling, and also Asta in the indoor bar, always so polite and kind. The food, was very plentiful, and we always found something to eat. The restaurant staff were amazing too, always showed us to a table especially at busy times. The restaurant got busy as the ju jitsu teams started to arrive, and it was annoying at times as food was being cooked fresh for them and customers were not allowed that food. Isla restaurant was very nice, we got 2 visits. Both times were exceptional however if you don't like seafood then this is probably not for you, as you have a set menu, mostly seafood. Very pleasant experience throughout, all staff are very helpful and I have not come across a rude or unhelpful member. Only one recommendation, the gate at the start of the building was always locked, meaning we had to walk round, not a big issue but when coming back with lots of bags of shopping it would have been nice to just walk straight in. The hotel itself caters for a lot of german guests, (who albeit are sometimes a tad rude.) The final week, we interacted with the French Animation team, they were also great. Sorry I cannot remember names but thank you for including our children in the Looky disco. The photographs are the only thing that let this down, they are so expensive! We had a free photo shoot, then when the prices came, we decided we would only take 2 at €13 each as the packages are ridiculously priced at €195 for the small package upto €489 for the largest package We went out of the hotel and hired a beach buggy for 2 days from Okay car rentals , this is a must. We went right up into the mountains, drove to heronissos and visited beaches there. We visited Cretaquarium, saw the sharks, turtles, lots of fish. We took a trip on the land train also, this was a nice little family activity and not expensive. We will return to this hotel in the future, we have all had the best 2 weeks! Thank you to all the staff.

We had such a wonderful time staying at Sol Marina Beach in August, I think it is probably the first hotel where we have not wanted to leave and would definitely go back. We arrived late at night (1am) due to an hour long delay on the tarmac at Gatwick, transfer time from Heraklion airport is about 25 minutes. Upon arrival we were checked in promptly and told there was buffet food waiting for us in the restaurant. The staff helped us with our bags to our room, we were in the bungalows and were given no. 1501 which is ground floor right next to the swim up bar no more than 10ft from the pool - great location. I agree with some of the comments that the room is a little small especially for a family of 4, but we tend to spend as little time in the room on holiday as possible. The rooms are clean and tidy with pleasant, light decor but we felt they missed a trick not having some additional storage in the desk. During our holiday we spent the majority of our time in the hotel, due to the fact we had two young children (3 & 7) and the hotel had everything they wanted to keep them entertained. Children's pool with slides was great, always space and sun loungers available. Quieter pool was great for chilling out a bit more and the larger pool really good for activities. We also used the spa which was cosy and pleasant, staff were very helpful and treatments reasonable value. Kids Club was amazing and can't speak highly enough of the entertainment team Andrea, Simmi, Mia, Savannah and John Unga-Bunga . It gave some welcome rest for us parents and their energy at the aquadiscos in the day and minidiscos in the evening was amazing - our children loved this. Also would like to mention how friendly, thoughtful and hardworking all the staff are from front desk, reception, bar staff, spa and cleaners. The hotel is kept extremely clean and presentable at all times, they really do work especially hard to make sure everyone enjoys their holiday. Food in the restaurant is a good quality, yes the same food is repeated in the second week due to the themed nights but we really didn't find this a problem. Only minor thing about the restaurant was the absence of a cooking station which seem to be prevalent in most hotels these days but since they are catering to a large number of guests here I suspect the queues would be a little unmanageable. Special thank you to Nikki on the swim up bar who is so attentive when serving drinks and great conversation. Isla by the Sea is great, you get one booking included in your stay and the food is Greek meze selection, I would recommend Monday's as this is live music night - also fantastic views of the sunset. Only thing I would mention about the bar menu is they don't have 'typical' cocktails, only variations of them so we missed our pina coladas and margaritas. Only minor thing I would say is that we didn't make the best use of the beach due to it not being nicest, the sea was a bit rough with two small children and sand not the finest but that didn't stop others. It is very spacious and plenty of sun loungers but another minor thing would be that there is no bar on the beach, which would be handy even to just get water without going back to the hotel.

A fantastic week at Sol Melia Marina Beach, we travelled together with four families of 4. Before we arrived I emailed the hotel with queries and requests and they were very quick to respond and really helpful. All the staff in resort were really friendly, happy and helpful. The animation team were brilliant, special mention to Chicken man George and John Unga Bunga, lots of enthusiasm and energy and fun activities and mini disco! Hotel was very clean and plenty of pools to choose from, only negative was the temperature of the pools in October. If there was to be an improvement it would only be to heat the indoor pool. Food was delicious and plenty to choose from, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Drinks were good too, plenty of cocktails to choose from! Thanks for a fabulous week, location was great being so close to the beach. The kids loved the waves and lovely soft sandy beach.

There were some surprisingly good things about this hotel and equally some disappointing parts. Resort - We went there from Oct 22-27th and though it was 22 degrees every day with the wind it could feel chilly. The beach was not the prettiest but our kids loved it, the hotel had its own part and felt quite connected to the hotel. There were two parts this hotel excels in, first its the kids offerings, (though we could only rate this for younger kids), kids club was excellent, thank you Laura and Raf (chicken man!), and the evening discos were great in their amphitheatre. We went to bed after this so can’t comment on the later entertainment but I would imagine it was good. Our kids really had a great time. The hotel feels very middle of the road and my first impression weren’t good, reception staff were quite sharp and not massively customer friendly. Facilities are ok, the gym is passable although not that well equipped. The snack bar is very average and the drinks are self use and all unbranded fizzy drinks. Pools are good albeit nothing amazing and kids pool area is nice but very much for young kids. There is an indoor pool that they don’t heat which was odd. We had a bungalow and it was very basic, no mini bar and more space than furniture, it had an entrance area that was about a third of the room and a total waste of space - very bizarre. The other part this hotel is great at is the food. It takes you by surprise as the buffet is manic, busy and not well managed but the quality of the actual food is better than some more expensive hotels we’ve stayed at. The food and the kids offerings are paramount to us and due to this I would give the hotel top ratings in relation to its price but we had two instances where the reception staff/management weren’t great, which was disappointing. Our son had an accident and wet the bed one night, we asked for new sheets (and said not to worry we’d remake the bed ourselves), and it took 45 minutes to turn up with the sheets. Then on our last day our bathroom flooded due to some drain issue, and I had to phone reception twice to get an engineer to turn up and agin this took about 30 minutes, which left us to try and stop water from getting to our belongings for what seemed an eternity. Then we didn’t even get an apology.

We were a party of 16; 4 families with children aged 6-12. The hotel and its entertainment were perfect for our group, everyday there was something to do which suited all the children and adults alike. Big thanks to George aka ‘chicken man’ and John for all their games throughout the week, our kids thought they were both great! The food was lovely, nice restaurant area, always plenty available. The beach was so close, literally 1min walk from the hotel. The waves in the sea were a big hit with our children! The only down side would be the cold indoor pool. Having this heated would make this hotel even better! Thanks for a great stay!