W Suites by Estia in Stalis

We arrived late at night a family of 11 checkin etc was ok but we needed to get some food - the lady on reception/bar said food was not available but said next door was very nice (this place was a joke basically just shouted no no food and when later visited in holiday had an experience on a whole other level you could only eat certain food in certain places even if two people wanted to eat different things - never heard such a load of rubbish anyway we had to trail further into town not knowing where we were going eventually finding a grill house Two rooms were as advertised the third was definitely not - very basic jet 2 have false advertised this one (see previous review) We felt the hotel was very much cash orientated especially when we wanted to keep a room as we were a late checkout it was demanded The saving grace on our part and probably everyone else’s is the absolutely amazing lady who runs the pool bar and cooks breakfast I believe - she ran around all day making sure everything was just right - brilliant with the kids and was up and down to the main kitchen fetching exactly what you wanted to eat bless her We had a couple of other issues too long to mention Hence to say we wouldn’t bother again

I’m going to be brutally honest in my review, but you do get what you pay for I suppose and this is a budget apartment block. It’s well situated on the beach road. Turn right and you’re 15/20 mins into central Malia. Turn left and you’re 20 mins into Stalis. Cheapest supermarket to the right, bigger supermarket to the left (Gemini). Nice welcome when we got there, given a cold beer and drinks for the kids, then taken to our room. Room seemed nice, seemed to have everything we needed plus two balconies. However throughout the holiday we had numerous issues with hot water or no water pressure at all when showering. When we did have pressure the bathroom flooded despite our best efforts. I started having my evening shower down at the bottom pool side! Lots of very small ants, so take any spray with you. Pool areas. Bottom one seemed nice, not enough sun-beds down there though and plenty of space for them. Beware the wobbly paving stone path which moves as you walk. Also watch out for jagged bits of metal sticking out the floor near the edge of it. This and the dirt path are your route up to the top pool, which initially seemed fine. Again, not enough sun-beds available thoughout the afternoon, but no issue getting one on a morning-you do not have to get up at 6am which is good. A few problems up there. The pool side shower and toilets had no water for a week-the toilet block was eventually locked. When the shower worked, the pipe was split and it squirted out either side. The first few days, the pool was initially quite cold-which was ideal. Then it seemed to get quite warm, as if it wasn’t being filtered properly. For a few days it then had a hosepipe running across the car park to it adding cold water. Maybe this was all related to the water issues with the toilets, shower etc?? The pool side snack bar was ok. Prices for drinks varied on a daily basis and food was over priced for what you got up there. Broken chairs and bits of junk near the drinks fridge made it look scruffy. One bonus was the free floats and pool toys for kids. This area could be so much more, especially if they cut the grass and invested in more sun-beds and laid it out better. I cannot rate the food at the main bar at the front as we didn’t eat there, the drinks were fine though and well priced. All the staff seemed really nice and I couldn’t really fault them, especially Nico. Cleaners worked hard but never left enough towels for the amount of guests in a room. We never had our balconies swept once through the stay nor the steps leading up to it. This is where we had to keep spraying ant spray…. Not sure what the badly Astro turfed area was meant to be but it was scruffy and let the complex down. Lots of junk lying around on the grass etc, which could easily be removed. It definitely needs some love and attention in the communal areas though. Overall, a nice enough place as long as you can see past the issues. I’d class this as two star due to the amount of attention the g