danmeds12

Hi,

I am traveling to Crete with my wife in late September for 3 nights. We are having some trouble finding a hotel and were hoping anyone with experience could recommend a good place. Basically, we're looking for a hotel on the beach (or at least with a pool) for about 150-300 dollars/night. In terms of area, I've read a lot of recommendations for Chania on this forum, but am open to any other areas. We're looking to spend about one day laying on the beach and maybe two days site-seeing so I'd prefer a hotel in an interesting area.

Thanks in advance. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

stanbr

Chania certainly meets your description of being an interesting area, particularly the old town area and the Venetian harbour.
Having said that there is no beach in the old town area, The nearest beach is about a couple of kilometers away to the west in Neo Chora. That beach is just so so.
Personally I would choose to stay in the old town and drive to a beach on a day trip someplace like Falsarnia or all the way down to Elafonessi.
Here are pictures of Chania
http://travel.webshots.com/album/571195659jPcKjK

travelerjan

Your $150-300 per night at this time amounts to €110-220. On this budget It's possible to stay just outside Chania in a charming hotel with fabulous reviews -- Hotel Ammos -- http://www.ammoshotel.com/default.asp?lang=en http://www.hotelsofgreece.com/crete/ammos/

Ammos is ON a beach with a pool facing the beach, unusual for the area. The landward side of the property has a local bus passing, a 15-minute ride,no need to rent a car to go into Old Town to explore/dine etc. It also has a restaurant with highly-regarded authentic Cretan cuisine. I checked the rates and in "middle season" (late september) prices are within your range. There are 186 Trip Advisor reviews almost all total raves giving it #1 status in the Chania area http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ure_Crete.html

The only precaution: it has only 26 rooms, so hurry, and hope that you are lucky!

sheila

There are some lovely hotels in Chania, but few of them have pools. To get pools you have to end up on the "strip" to the west of the town, and IMHO, it's horrible there.

We love Paleochora which would get you a nice hotel on the beach, but it's much smaller than Chania.

If it were me, I'd take an apartment somewhere on the beach (probably on the Akrotiri somewhere) OR I'd stay in central Chania and drive out to my beach of choice.

travelerjan

Sheila, That's why I name Ammos... it is the exception to what you warn about ... it is NOT on that "strip", it is very close to Old Town, yet, it is on a lovely beach. That is why it is so unusual & in demand. Even one of my MOST demanding Athenian friends, Kostas ("Gas" is his screen name on trip advisor) was so knocked out by Ammos that he sat right down & wrote a rave about the food and service.

danmeds12

THanks. I emailed Ammos and they have availability. Would you recommend staying in this area instead of Eloundra? Seems like a lot of hotels are on that side of the island.

travelerjan

Yes there are a lot of hotels on the east side of Crete -- there is a long swath of about 30 miles along the coast east of Heraklion that has zillions of concrete hotels totally devoted to the "package-holiday" trade from UK & Germany -- lots of beer, full English Breakfasts, pubs for football... to be avoided, in my opinion but perhaps not in yours. Elounda is beyond that and quite upscale, has "resort-type" hotels, spas, all that. People stay on premises, don't really experience the authentic Greek island that is Crete. If that's what you want you are welcome to it. The Western side of Crete has more dramatic scenery, much less touristic, lots of history, has Chania the 2nd most beautiful Old Town in Greece. But it's your call.

Before taking internet opinions as your sole source for decision-making, however, I would urge you to actually pick up a Guide Book and read about Crete. The Rough GUide is an excellent one... You can borrow it from the library if you don't want to buy. Also, here's a great website to give you visuals and info --not a commercial "booking" website, it's created by Cretans:http://www.explorecrete.com/
... here's another: http://www.we-love-crete.com/index.html
... and if you're a BRit, here's a wonderful website of essays about life in Crete by Ray, an ex-pat who knows Crete and writes enthralling pieces about it ... http://crete.wordpress.com/about/

sheila

travlerjan, help me out with location? Is the Ammos the hotel that sits on a slight rise on the right hand side of the main road as you leave Chanis going west? Google unhelpfully has it in the town centre

travelgourmet

FWIW, the Ammos just made T&L's list of top budget beach resorts.

travelerjan

Sheila, go to the website for exact location... I have not yet been fortunate enough to stay there. The website says it is on Glaros Beach and "5 km from the Chania venetian harbor, 1 km from the cute little villages of Galatas and Daratsos, and 4 km from the VIllage of Platanias ( centre of night life). A taxi from the airport will cost around 30-35 Euros, takes 20-30 mins. The revolving fotos on Ammos Home page give a good picture of the seascape ... if one drives west on the local coast road, it would be impossible to miss it.

danmeds12

Thanks everyone. As usual, this board is tremendously helpful. We are going to email the Ammos back today and book our stay there. It seems like a wonderful spot.

sheila

The website links to Google maps, and I think that's wrong.

travelerjan

sheila if you really want to pinpoint it, here's a link to a really detali map of Crete (click & it gets huuuuuge) http://www.explorecrete.com/crete-ma.../Crete-eot.png
-- locate Galatas & Daratsos, back fom the shore just a bit, and Ammos is on the shore between the 2.

I don't always use Google, it can confuse. A really good road map is often better.

HelenG

We stayed at the Ammos Hotel in 2006 and fell in love with the property, Nick the owner/manager and the wonderful staff. You will not be disappointed. Their on-site restaurant serves delicious lunches and dinners. As mentioned earlier, it is a short bus ride to the center of town and there are some convenience stores within walking distance for every day sundries. The beach may not be the best, but it is clean and sandy. Enjoy your stay!!

sheila

Yes, that's what I feared....

beanweb24

Travelerjan -

You say that Chania is "the 2nd most beautiful Old Town in Greece." I'm wondering what city takes your top spot. I'm in early planning phase for a possible trip to Greece in October 2010.

Thanks!

stanbr

Beanweb
I am not Jan but I know the answer.
Nauplion
http://travel.webshots.com/album/551991579dJbWvh

Chania

I agree with Travelerjan about western Crete having more to offer than eastern Crete, if you have to choose. I also agree with stanbr, Jan will say Nauplion. Personally I think they tie.

beanweb24

Thank you both... I have never heard of Nauplion, but I am looking forward to researching it!

Stanbr - your pictures are beautiful!

stanbr

While researching Nauplion remember it can be spelled several different ways including Nauplio and a few other variations.

Here are some Chania pictures so you can compare which is number one and 2.
http://travel.webshots.com/album/571195659jPcKjK