Vaya Suites

Very nice hotel with beautiful rooms. It needs a little attention to the cleanliness of the rooms, however. We stayed for 3 days and had a great time. Near the hotel there is also a rent a car and a bakery 4 minutes walk away. The big beach of Amoudara is 3 minutes walk away. Finally, the jacuzzi on the veranda is very good.

Definitely too high expectations – the pictures give a completely different impression than what you actually get. We had booked the Open Air Jacuzzi category. However, at check-in, we were initially given a large room with an equally large balcony on the ground floor. The area was completely enclosed by concrete walls, with another balcony above it. It was dark, and we felt like we were in a hole. We wouldn't have stayed a single night there. The receptionist, however, was very friendly and helpful. She checked our booking and explained that this was indeed the correct room category, but offered us alternative options. Luckily, the hotel wasn't fully booked, otherwise, they probably wouldn't have been able to help us at all. First, we moved to a smaller room right next to the reception. No view, but at least it was okay. Two nights later, we were able to move to room C5 further upstairs. The sea view from the balcony was nice. Unfortunately, that was the only positive thing. The receptionist was very friendly and helpful. The room was extremely noisy: all night long we could hear a rooster nearby, cars from the street, and, most disturbingly, every time the toilet was flushed in the room above us, the drain rushed right through our bedroom. The entire apartment smelled musty and sewage-like. Airing it out only helped a little. In addition, there were small but annoying issues: a leaky coffee machine, missing coffee cups and glasses, a wobbly tabletop, and some towels weren't completely replaced. The room cleaning also left much to be desired. We didn't use the sister hotel with its pool. Furthermore, in November, none of the rooms on the balcony received even a minute of sunshine. Even though many things could be sorted out somehow, this wasn't what we envisioned as a relaxing vacation. The hotel looks elegant, but the execution is disappointing: neglected rooms, unclean kitchen equipment and rooms, and overall a significant difference between the photos and reality. We wouldn't come back and can only recommend this hotel with reservations.

The pros: Clean, well-equipped, and comfortable apartment; jacuzzi on the terrace that barely bubbles but heats up well; beach quite close; parking in front; friendly staff, as is typical in Crete. |The cons: A very busy street to cross to …