Libyan Mare

We had a lovely 10-day holiday at Libyan Mare. The hotel is a 10 - 15 minute walk from cafés, shops and Tavernas. The gardens and pool area at Libyan Mare are beautifully kept and are a god send when the winds of Paleochora make it impossible to be on the beach. At times, the winds also make use of the lovely balconies somewhat difficult because it becomes impossible to use the parasols and the sun is too hot to be without- just head down to the pool. Remember to use the "Please make-up my room" sign when you want the room cleaned. All bins are emptied daily, even if you forget the sign. The staff are very obliging and helpful, despite language barriers. They use their telephone to connect you with the manager's office. The A/C worked fine and the room temperature was very pleasant. In the larger suites, the bedroom is on the second floor and there is no on-suite bathroom. I've read that Crete has invested heavily in improving its water supply. The Libyan Mare is on a hillside and at times the water pressure petered out. The shower in our suite was in need of some renovation. The kitchenette was quite sparsely equipped, so don't expect to be able to cook up a storm! The beach can be easily accessed after a walk down the hotel driveway and across the road. The little rustic taverna at Limnaki Beach is a perfect spot for some tasty homemade burgers (meat patties) and fresh salads. Very friendly service.

If you want cleanliness and what you booked in advance to be provided then avoid staying here! If you are having problems in receiving replies to emails then please take that as a warning, cut your losses and book somewhere else! Our long awaited holiday started in 2019 when in the autumn we booked a week for June 2020 for 2 of us and paid a deposit. Due to covid we had to change our holiday dates to September 2020 (hoping the pandemic would be over by then). Of course it wasn't so again we amended to June 2021. In late spring 2021 travel was still uncertain for the summer. We asked the hotelier if it would be possible to again defer our holiday to August 2022 and that we would now like to now bring 2 teenagers with us (my partners kids from a previous marriage) and stay for 10 nights instead of 7. After countless emails back and forth with days/weeks of waiting for replies inbetween we eventually confirmed the Ariadne Suite. The reason there were so many emails is that we were asking about the room set ups with regards to bathroom and beds. A simple question for a hotel owner we would have thought?!!! We would ask some questions and never receive a reply or only receive a reply to one of our questions. It was like pulling teeth! Eventually we were able to chose the Ariadne as it had 2 showers, which was very important to us. It was also split level which offered something in the way of a little more privacy for me and my partner, rather than being on 1 level. We were also advised that the double bed in the lounge could be split- this was a little puzzling as the write up mentioned 'sofa bed' but we had it in writing and were happy that the boys wouldn't have to share a bed! We were asked to pay another deposit (we didn't think this strange as we were now staying for longer and increasing the size of our party to 4 persons). We sent the hotelier John the additional deposit with a screen shot of our confirmed flights for 2022 and all of our names. We did ask, and never got a reply, if the Erato suite would provide us with 2 twin beds in 1 of the bedrooms. We were more than happy to pay more for the accommodation (to give us space and a little more privacy) but didn't want to pay more if 1 of the kids had to be accommodated in the lounge. It would defeat the object of paying for more communal space and it ending up as a bedroom. Anyway fast forward now to August 2021 when we received an email asking where we were!!!!!????? We immediately forwarded the confirmation flight email which clearly showed the reservation for 2022, not 2021, incidentally 2022 was also in the title of the email! We were made to feel very guilty, like it was our mistake. Regardless our booking was reconfirmed for August 2022. We were now even more a little apprehensive about our reservation (due to the date mistake of the hotelier and the amount of emails) so we constantly kept in touch with John by wishing him and his family a happy Christmas, happy easter, saying how much w