Santa Marina Plaza

We were booked into the Santa Marina Plaza for 10 days from the 1st October 18 but they had suffered storm damage which meant we were moved to their sister hotel, which was an upgrade so we only stayed one night at the end of our holiday, but the staff made us very welcome. This is a small hotel so quiet, the bar is cosy, the restaurant was nicely laid out, the beds were comfortable, the room was clean with water provided in the fridge, the view was a bit restricted - a side sea view from a small balcony, the beach was really lovely; we wish we had moved back sooner but hindsight is a wonderful thing. The surrounding area, what little we saw of it, was a bit tacky with cheap shops and cafes but it is nearer to Chania and I'm sure there would be plenty to do. The beach was clean and long and there were life guards on duty (unfortunately we couldn't swim as the sea was rough and the red flags were out) the hotel had sun beds right on the sand. For a quiet stay without children I would think this hotel would be very good. The bar prices were a bit high but I guess what you would expect for a 4* hotel. Non smoking rooms and public areas but it was allowed on balconies, wish it wasn't!

We visited the Santa Marina Plaza as part of a Travelsphere holiday group of 24 guests in October 2018. Having read the advice regarding rooms on this website I had requested a room on the top floor and it did indeed to prove to be good advice. The hotel is in the form of a U shape with buildings surrounding the pool - one side of the U is residential accommodation and the other side of the U houses the restaurant - the bar and reception form the base of the U. The rooms on the top floor are therefore the lightest with the best sea views. There is a small balcony with a table and 2 chairs which we enjoyed sitting out on and also kept the patio doors open all night to enjoy the sound of the sea. The hotel is situated immediately next to the sandy beach which is well supplied with free sunbeds and umbrellas. As we travelled late in the season the lifeguard station was not manned but we did see quite a lot of people venture into the sea for a swim. The beach is sandy and so we enjoyed going for walks along the beach and paddling in the sea. The front of the hotel is on a busy street with a vast choice of shops and food outlets. The hotel is immediately next door to a large supermarket and close to all other amenities. We had half board and found the choice of food to be superb with a wide range of different dishes available at every evening dinner - in fact we were sorry that some of our favourites were not repeated in the week we were there! There was always a choice of a hot soup or greed salad for starter, then a huge range of dishes for main course - meat, poultry, fish and vegetarian plus a range of cold desserts, fruit and ice cream. Breakfast included a choice of porridge (delicious with greek honey!), cereals, fruits, cold meats cheeses, salads, patisseries, eggs (boiled fried scrambled) and then mushrooms bacon sausages served on different days, Some days there were omelettes as well. We particularly enjoyed the warm apple pies and croissants. The greek yoghurt was plentiful as was fresh fruit and a good range of breads (including gluten free). Coffee was served to the table but there was also an extensive choice of tea (herbal, fruit etc) for guests to take with hot water to make their own. Both breakfast and dinner were buffet style which suited us as it was easy to select the foods you wished to try. We were out of the hotel 5 days on excursions arranged by our tour operator and the coach was able to collect us from directly outside the hotel which was very convenient. The majority of the staff spoke fluent English and all were very attentive, charming and keen to be of service. One evening when we were dining outside one of the waitresses even came over to offer me a shawl which I thought was very kind of her. Towards the end of our stay we discovered the basement in which there is some fitness machinery (treadmill, cross trainer, etc) and a hot tub. There were also toilets and showers in the basement. The swimming pool was unheated so we did not see anyone use it although we were told that one of our guests ventured in - it did look very clean though. All the hotel was kept spotlessly clean and was very well furnished. The quality of our bed linen was excellent and the beds very comfortable with extra pillows/spare bedding in the wardrobe. There were also towelling dressing gowns and slippers supplied in the room. There is an additional charge to use the room safe which some guests were surprised about. There is an electric kettle with minibar and fridge in each room. Teabags and instant coffee sachets are supplied free of charge but the capsules for the coffee machine are chargeable - we were happy with instant so I am not sure what the cost of these is. The lighting in the room was good and there were plenty of power points - we only used the air conditioning once but it worked fine and was not too noisy. Thoroughly recommend this hotel which is an adults only boutique hotel for a relaxing and comfortable stay.