Eva Maria Hotel

1 reader found this review helpful

Having read the negative reports on this hotel I was very worried prior to my holiday. On arrival I was pleasantly surprised. The bedroom was clean but basic but perfectly acceptable. Many people complained about the food but I always found something that I liked of the traditional Greek menu. The all inclusive bar was exceptionally basic. It included red or white wine, draft lager or ouzo. This was a self service area. Soft drinks and teas and coffee were all available all day. The bar and soft drinks counter shut at 11 but there was a pay bar available.
I had no complaints about the pool. In is on the smaller side but then again I often had it to myself.
As many have mentioned, the welcome I received from Eva was lovely. One of the down sides was the hotels location. Yes it is situated on a fairly busy crossroads. This could be noisy up until midnight.
There was a lively town/bar area with a 15 minute walk but those looking for a wild night life might be a little disappointed. This was a very cheap holiday at £199 all inclusive and I believe I certainly got my monies worth. So please don't be put off by negative comments you might read.

Although I agree with most of the other reviews about the false advertising of the property as being all inclusive with entertainment which it definitely isn’t I must say that the rooms were always clean and Eva and Maria, the two girls who helped to run the hotel could not be faulted.
They were understanding and very hands on if you had any problems or queries. The hotel rates itself as a 1 star or below whereas the operator rates it as a 2 star plus where the problems and complaints arouse from. The hotel is situated on a very busy noisy main road and is relatively far away from the beach and bars so is not at all ideal for families with young children, people with walking difficulties and people who have difficulty sleeping in a noisy environment.
While the hotel was very basic this was all made up for with the resort itself. The resort is relatively quite and peaceful with a large selection of bars and shops stretching from the beach upwards in an L shape. The locals bar and shop owners are very friendly and generous often offering us free drinks while we stood and chatted with them, and discounts of food orders if you visited the same place more than once. A couple of must visit places are The Little Treasures Gift Shop, Baraki and The Pig And Whistle which shows all the latest cinema releases on widescreen TV.
Overall I would say the accommodation was not up to scratch but was more than made up for by the hospitality of the local people. A great holiday and a place which I would definitely visit again.

I only hope that you read this review before you book and not after like I did, If you have then I would ask your travel Agent to change your accommodation.
The Eva Maria is a dirty 1 star (hotel) located on the corner of a noisy main road junction and opposite a smelly Petrol Station, No food is cooked on the premises it comes from a local hotel and heated up, The food is inedible, Nothing for children, no desserts, no Ice-cream unless you pay for it (all inclusive eh!!) No bar unless you pay for it, the so called all inclusive bar is just a table with 3 bottles of local Ouzo on it, a vending machine for Tea & Coffee and a soft drink machine that all needs a good clean.
The dining area, cutlery, condiments and table cloths were all dirty. Upon arrival my family were all very disappointed with what was awaiting us. This hotel is very basic with no comforts, a small dirty swimming pool, No entertainment, Broken lift and the Air Conditioning is to be paid for. Do yourself a favour and avoid this hotel at all costs.

We arrived at the hotel early in the morning, the bus driver dropped us off at the main road opposite the hotel and then drove off leaving us to cross the busy road in the pitch black. We made our way to reception where there was no one there. Apart from a young boy who we didn’t know if he worked there or not, the young boy woke up and got our room keys for us.
The lifts in the hotel have been closed down because they are not legal (we were informed of this by the Libra rep). So we had to carry our heavy suitcases up 2 flights of stairs.
The next morning we did not receive our welcome meeting until 4.14pm during this time Eva, the girl who runs the hotel did not introduce herself, nor did we have a clue how the all inclusive program worked.
The all inclusive programme was absolutly terrible, you had to eat at 3 set times of the day. The breakfast was hard boiled eggs, sweaty cheese, spam and a choice of cereals. The hot breakfast which was not available everyday was butter beans and streaky fatty bacon of some kind. The food was always served buffet style and was not covered so the flies were swarming all over this.
The lunch and evening meal were not much better, there was no choice so if you didn't like what was there you had no other alternative. The all inclusive drinks were left out on the table all day and was, ouzo, whisky, warm white wine, warm red wine and a draught lager with no name. All inclusive finished at 11pm, at this time all the lights were turned off and the hotel closed down.
The hotel offered no entertainment the whole week we were there.
The hotel pool was a good size but was not looked after and was always full of flies and insects. The scum was building up on the side of the pool which showed that it was not cleaned for a long time.
The main road is like a motor way, it is the main road of the island which takes you to all the other resorts. Buses and cars constantly pass and the screeching and beeping becomes unbearable.
The beach is a 15 min walk down hill past derelict hotels and the walk back up to the Eva Maria is really hard because it is all up hill with no path to walk on.
I would definitely visit Gouves again, the resort has something to offer for every one but I will not be staying at the Eva Maria hotel again.

Our holiday was booked with Libra Holidays as a 3 star all inclusive 7 nights, Eva Maria Hotel is 1 star accommodation. The standard of the hotel is very poor, rooms never cleaned or linen and towels never changed, rooms very basic, phone in room but no one on reception, food poor with no selection and cold, no food for kids, had to pay for ice creams, had to pay for pool table.
Drinks minimal, all inclusive bar 1 bottle of red and white wine beer pump Ouzo and Raki, glasses would often run out around 10.pm, closed at 11.pm, could not get a drink after that time as the dining area was shut, no drinking water after 11.pm, we had been there 5 days they then opened the outside bar, you had to pay for drinks, no one on reception at any time, it stated a 24 hour reception, lack of information given, reception area dirty, glasses never cleared away until next morning, when you came down for breakfast you sat at the tables that had not been cleaned from the night before, ashtrays full.
Pool area never cleaned, there was a green line around the swimming pool, sun beds never put back into place for the guests the next day, rubbish bins not emptied, toilets not cleaned, small bins were provided for soiled toilet paper but not empted, no soap or towel in reception toilets, floors always wet never moped, a number of guests had not had a drink since 10.pm as the glasses had run out, a guest asked for a cup of water after 11.pm and was refused as he had not any keys to open the dining room.
The manager was never seen. several complaints made from other guests but nothing was done, no member of staff seemed interested, only 3 members of staff working and running the hotel that I saw whilst there.

I booked an all inclusive holiday with Libra Holidays. On arrival at 5am I was met by the barman asleep on the coach, when I woke him up it took over an hour to gain a room key.
The rooms were very clean however the noise was terrible, the hotel is on a corner of the main road which goes through the whole of Crete, and a petrol station and are room was on both sides of this corner.
The all inclusive was three set meals a day, there was no ice cream or desserts, the drinks were local drinks, lager and vodka but if they ran out of vodka (which they did regularly) it took a day to restock.
There was no entertainment which for an all inclusive resort is terrible, there was one barman aged approx 18 who played Eminem all day for the whole week.
There was a sister hotel up the road which we could go to as they had a dj however the only drink free there was lager.
There was an oil fire in the kitchen and the barman tried to put this out with water!
I would not go back to this hotel due to the noise and no entertainment. Very disappointing.

I had been quoted a superb deal from Happy Holidayz, which I thought may be to good to be true. But on arrival I was pleasantly surprised. I traveled with my family of 6 adults and 4 children on an all inclusive basis.
The rooms were clean and had everything you needed, wardrobes, clean comfy beds and even a wonderful view out of the windows.
The food was cooked by the family and was delicious and there was something for everyone.
The staff were great and couldn’t be more helpful. They loved the English and made you feel like one of the family.
Overall I was a bit skeptical, but I am so glad I went and will be recommending it to my friends.
I booked the hotel with Ian at Happy Holidayz, who was very informative and extremely helpful with our booking. Flights, transfers and hotel were all booked separately to get the superb deal I got and it all went perfectly. Thank you.

The hotel boasts to be a family run business, which shows the moment you arrive. You don’t feel you are a welcome guest, quite the opposite - a burden. Two daughters of the owners - Eva and Maria are the only ones speaking English, which makes it difficult to deal with things when they are not around. The attitude of the hosts is appalling - we’d been stared at, misinformed and at the end SHOUTED at because of tour operator’s blunder.
The hotel serves fabulous breakfast - two dry pieces of bread, tiny slice of cheese and ham from a packet and orange squash every single day - you would hope for something more on a Greek island, perhaps half a tomato and fresh orange, local cheese and meat and some variety. When on the third day of our stay we resigned from the delicacies we were served, the hostess couldn’t hide her indignation. Thank God she didn’t speak English so we can only hope what she was muttering to herself were not some obscenities. Not surprisingly there was hardly anyone ever in the restaurant despite it being a busy time of August. No one seemed to be even tempted to try their homemade cuisine although the rep praised their cooking skills - potatoes with beans, potatoes with nettle....
The hotel is fantastically located on a junction of two roads just by a petrol station so you didn’t miss hustle and bustle when you are away - there are always coaches and tracks passing by. The pool - or rather a paddle is only a couple meters from the road so you can always be at the centre of the action.
The rooms are quite compact, especially bathrooms which may be ideal for minimalists. You could easily have showers while sitting on the toilet pondering about Spartan life. There’s no fridge or kettle - most annoying as we could easily get by without a luxury like TV or radio in the room.
Overall, we feel we’d been ripped off by the tour operator paying £370 each for a week there, while the rooms in Eva Maria cost 30 euro per day in August . That makes £70 per person for accommodation - which is more or less a fair price for a place like this. We just wonder why we paid so much and will demand some answers from Libra.

The hotel boasts to be a family run business, which shows the moment you arrive. You don’t feel you are a welcome guest, quite the opposite - a burden. Two daughters of the owners - Eva and Maria are the only ones speaking English, which makes it difficult to deal with things when they are not around. The attitude of the hosts is appalling - we’d been stared at, misinformed and at the end SHOUTED at because of tour operator’s blunder.
The hotel serves fabulous breakfast - two dry pieces of bread, tiny slice of cheese and ham from a packet and orange squash every single day - you would hope for something more on a Greek island, perhaps half a tomato and fresh orange, local cheese and meat and some variety. When on the third day of our stay we resigned from the delicacies we were served, the hostess couldn’t hide her indignation. Thank God she didn’t speak English so we can only hope what she was muttering to herself be not some obscenities. Not surprisingly there was hardly anyone ever in the restaurant despite it being a busy time of August. No one seemed to be even tempted to try their homemade cuisine although the rep praised their cooking skills - potatoes with beans, potatoes with nettle....
The hotel is fantastically located on a junction of two roads just by a petrol station so you didn’t miss hustle and bustle when you are away - there are always coaches and tracks passing by. The pool - or rather a paddle is only a couple meters from the road so you can always be at the centre of the action.
The rooms are quite compact, especially bathrooms which may be ideal for minimalists. You could easily have showers while sitting on the toilet pondering about Spartan life. There’s no fridge or kettle - most annoying as we could easily get by without a luxury like TV or radio in the room.
Overall, we feel we’d been ripped off by the tour operator paying £370 each for a week there, while the rooms in Eva Maria cost 30 euro per day in August . That makes £70 per person for accommodation - which is more or less a fair price for a place like this. We just wonder why we paid so much and will demand some answers from Libra.