Macaris Hotel - Rethymno, Greece     

Just arrived back from the Macaris Hotel. I had a nice time but please take note of the following before you go. These categories are what most people are interested in: LOCATION - not great. Its actually located just off a main road and is not actually in the resort of Rethymnon itself. If you want to walk to the main tourist area with bars etc be prepared for a 25 min walk. I was prepared to do this a few times but in the scorching heat this became annoying quickly. Be very careful with children as the walk in through the main town or the harbour (both walks take the same time) is very dangerous. No road rules, zebra crossings where cars simply do not stop and i witnessed a crash right outside the hotel one night. Paths are single file at best and mainly in need of repair. One stumble and your in the road. If you like to walk in the heat then you wont this one bit but be warned. There is no real beach over the road just rocks. Nearest decent beach can be found a 30 min walk away. I was not happy about this. HOTEL - very nice looking, well laid out and clean. Reception staff pleasant enough but one lady seemed rude and off. Few smug/smarmy workers in the restaurant and bar area at times. Pool excellent and clean and view from the hotel bar was excellent especially when the sun was setting. Not impressed by the bar snacks. Avoid the chips like the plague. Room was cleaned daily and i was very pleased with the maids. Excellent. Occupancy seemed to be 70% German if anyone cares. No Sauna/Spa if thats your thing. ROOM - Not up to even 3 star in my opinion which was very disappointing. Small and more like an apartment. Very basic. Bathroom was tiny and cramped and room was located above the restaurant meaning an early wakeup each day. Not good if you fancy a lie in. HOTEL FOOD - buffet style. Breakfast i had once and it was vile. Not impressed at all. Evening meals were much better. Not much choice but it seemed they compromised quantity for quality which makes sense and worked for me. I enjoyed the food every night. Deserts were a bit sparse but nice. RESORT - Once you had walked to it it was fine. Old town was nice and busy and had some nice places to eat and drink. Beach front/harbour are where to go for a drink. Gets busy at night and the traffic is a pain and cocktails can be expensive 6Euro+. Fortezza was ok but nothing really up there once you had paid the 4 Euro to get in. OVERALL - I had a good time and i hope you appreciate these opinions but its not a 4 star and the location is not the best.

We stayed at this hotel for 3 days during May 2008. I have booked this hotel via www.hotel-board.com and got a really good price for this period of time. I've read all the review, and I was a little bit skeptical about what I would find there. What I found, was one of the best rooms I have ever stayed in. It had two levels, it was on the last floor. On the top level was the bedroom, with a large window opposite facing the sea. On the lower floor was a spacious room with a good view to the sea and the pool of the hotel. As for the other parts, the pool was ok, although I didn't get to swim there in the morning. It might be a little bit crowdy during high season Breakfast was very good with a great variety. Lunch, well, not extremely large buffet, but was ok and it was included in the price, although I didn't ask for it (which was good). The staff was friendly, but I do not pay so much attention to that anyway. Other than that, it was very nice and really close to the centre of Rethymno (not IN the centre though). You should not except something very luxurious or like it has been refurbished very recently. It seemed to be at its top like 10 years ago. Some things needed a little fixing, like the bathroom light was very low. If someone is very picky with things like that, they might be annoyed. But regarding the value for money rate, it was reaaaly high in my opinion!