Village Panorama Hotel

do not book this hotel, we have just returned from a weeks stay and are glad to be home! we arrived at 5am myself ,husband, daughter and 2 year old grand daughter to be told our rooms were not ready for occupation until 7.30am. after complaining we were given a room with 4 beds in supposedly till 7.30. my husband and i were given a room at 11am but my daughter and granddaughter had to wait till germans checked out of thier room. after giong back at midday we were told they could not locate the germans who had gone walkabout, this went on till 2pm when she was given a room elsewhere. the toilet in this room was not working and we were told it would have to be fixed this would not be possible till 6pm by this time we had had enough and insisted on another room we were eventually sorted out at 6pm firsr day of our holiday ruined. we paid 30 euro for air conditioning that never worked. the food was poor exept for the salads which were very nice. there were not enough seats around the bar area for the size of the hotel. on a more positve note yes there is one! the area was very nice, beautiful scenery, and the greek people very friendly. i would go back to crete but certainly not at the village panarama.

Have just returned from two weeks at the Panorama Hotel. Myself and my husband had a nice clean room, which we could not complain about with a lovely view. We enjoyed the pool and there was always something you could eat at meal times. Considering what we paid, you would get nothing like it in England, and having two weeks of sunshine with food and drinks we were extremely happy. The views are fantastic, but definately not for people who cannot walk very far, as they would be very restricted. Can walk to the nearest beach in ten minutes (20 back up!) where there are plenty of bars and restaurants. Taxi back up is 7 Euros though, as they it is a longer journey back by road. The entertainment is limited, but something to look at, and holidays are what you make it. We had a great time, but heard a lot of moaning from fellow holiday-makers (mainly English). The people from other countries were enjoying themselves and having a good time. You do need the air conditioning though! We moved rooms on last day, as ours was sold, and had one of the Bungelow rooms down the hill. Have to say wouldnt have lasted long in one of those, full of mosquitos, ants outside and dim lighting. So definately try and get moved if you land in these rooms! Plenty to do in Crete if you wanted to get out and about, roads are a bit hairy though, very hilly round Hotel Panorama! We hired a quad bike which was fun. All-in-all we had a great two weeks so if you want to enjoy a bit of Greece, it is an alright place to stay.

We were sold this hotel as 3.5 star accomodation. It does not even warrant 1 star! We are well travelled, this being our 4th trip in the last 12 months to give you an idea. We have never experienced so many problems with one holiday before. To summerise, the rooms are advertised as a pool view, TV, Hairdryer, Fridge & Radio. Many of the rooms do not have these and some even have concrete beds and no windows. The pool has algea patches in it and people were complaining of infections. The showers were also covered in black gunge and algea. The food was very poor choice and quality and sometimes even uncooked chicken. I never get ill on holiday but I was ill most of the week and for a few days when I got home. I saw a cat in the kitchen one day and no one attempted to shoo it out. The place is riddled with cats and insects. The room was not cleaned all week and no fresh towels provided. The woodwork at the hotel is rotten. My husband almost fell from the balcony when he leaned on it and it came away from the wall. I could go on but I don't think I need to. We paid £400 each for this holiday - I can understand the last review was pleased as they paid half this amount and clearly were not expecting the standard that we had been assured of. If you like a clean hotel and decent food, then change your hotel now. Don't take the travel agents reassurance that they will move you if you are disatisfied when you get there - we tried that and they refursed!

What can we say, after arriving at 5am could not wait to get our heads down and have a sleep in a room with a nice double bed which was promised (never happend) although we must admit we had a nice room with a fantastic view, dont get carried away that was it. 5 euros per night air con you will need it. The food was absolute rubbish and they dont cater for kids atall, they say they have kids disco but it was the same every night, heads shoulders knees and toes, superman, birdie song in GERMAN, half hour and thats it, Beer was ok, but only half a pint at a time and just two drinks per couple, my partner thought the wine was ok. The swimming pool was good when you never had the Gobbie people shouting all the time, STAFF were the most un polite, rudeist people i have ever ever met in my life, So if you are coming here take extra money to eat out, as you cant eat there for a week, and if you are here for two weeks, REALLY SORRY. We met a absolutly lovely family which made our week great, and thanks for making my birthday a special one with all the basuca's, (Mark, Sue, Taron many thanks we love ya) cant wait to see you again, you made our week worth being there..

After reading all the bad press about the hotel we were aprehensive to say the least. We only read the reviews the night before travelling! We arrived at the air port to find about 300 holiday makers looking down at the revolving belts awaiting their luggage. They were standing where they were told but nowhere near where their bags were being off loaded!!! Got a taxi straight away without any fuss and it cost 25 Euros. Got to the hotel and showed ourselves to our room. Clean but basic sums it up. View from the balcony was wonderful. Got to see an inland room later the cliff face is 6 inches away from the end of the balcony making sitting out impossible. Didn't need the air con at all. 15 Euros for the safe key (non-refundable). Every time you took the key magnet out of the holder the power went off meaning the fridge in the room was of no use and stank. Arrived late and was given access to the food counters to make some food. Got a drink from the bar and it was obvious that they were cheap substitutes. if you don't like Ouzo then you are stuffed. 2 drinks per person at the bar!!! We found all but one of the staff were friendly and helpful. Tip*** the bar staff work better if you "buy" them a short. They drink it with you at the bar and they are happy to see you again. It is all inclusive so the drinks are free anyway so why not! Food or as my kids call it SLOPS!!!! it reminded me of a school canteen that was in dire need of a visit from Jamie Oliver! Packet soups, over cooked frozen veg and cuts of "meat" I have never seen before. Que for 20 mins for fried liver. Yum! Deserts were friut, Jelly or a great big splodge of angel delight. Some of the meals were labeled Greek Speciality but no Moussaka etc... TIP 2 **** get in quick or eat out! Entertainment? What entertainment..... there were half hearted attempts at entertaining those brave enough to stay at the hotel during the day. Thank god for table tennis! Night time was worse 15 mins of Aga-bloody-do!!! the staff could have done alot more to keep everybody going. And if there are two entertainers why do they both have the same day off? TIP 3**** If hiring a car then get one from the hotel not the reps.. 66 Euros from the rep and 50 from the hotel. Pool. Yes get there first thing or no chance of a sun bed even one of the broken torture racks that lie around the pool just waiting to chop off fingers or toes. And there are plenty of them. Clean pool. Shelves steeply in the middle from 1.5 meters to 3 meters in a step so be aware if your kids are not confident in the water. Kids Play ground. IT IS A DEATH TRAP. The slides are broken and falling over, the see-saw has only one seat and the swings are all falling to bits. Beach. Bit of a hike down there but well worth the effort. The sea again shelves down quickly to become quite deep quickly. 2.5 euros for a sun bed and there are plenty available until about 11:30. Beach front restaurants and bars offer much better food and are quite reasonable. Cash point in the town. Given a room to freshen up in before departure as we had to vacate the room at 12 noon. One duty free shop in the airport. Overall the hotel was bearable but not ideal. Would not return ever. You get what you pay for. This was a cheap deal and we got a cheap hotel.

we like most booked then read the reviews! However when we got there we realised we had landed lucky with our room, although it was very basic the view was amazing, we also had a fridge, so we were happy. The pool area was nice and the staff friendly, the main topic around the pool was the rooms & food, it seems most people had read the reviews, and decided the best way to spend there holiday was to complain about anything & everything. Some people like us actually enjoyed the food, if you are looking for british stodge & lots of cholestrol top ups dont book, the food was fresh & mainly healthy, lots of salads (sorry we enjoy salad). The wine was ok, i liked the rose, and beer was nice & cold. I have to admit i dont think its ideal for young children as not many of them would like the food. The walk to the beach was fine, but if you have walking problems dont try it! There is a nice bar 2 minutes from hotel & they are really friendly & even let you use their pool, so if you are not up in time to get a sunbed at panorama you can go here.

Village Panorama Aghia Pelagia, Crete. We have just returned from a two week stay and all I can say is never again. Hotel is very basic, no air conditioning in public areas.( Air con in rooms is charged at 5 euros per day). Most of the staff are very unobliging, and anything asked for is too much trouble. Serious lack of staff for the amount of guests staying in this hotel. Not really all inclusive, more like full board with a few drinks thrown in as extras. No snacks or ice creams for the kids. Tea, coffee and cake is laid out late afternoon, but you have to be quick as most people were like vultures, and as the cakes were limited you might miss out. Evening dinner chaoctic, fighting for tables and chairs, if you happened to arrive later than 7pm it would usually mean cleaning the table yourselves, as the staff were allways busy doing something else. Entertainment is useless, never running to schedule and nothing much for teenagers or kids. Mini disco at 8.30pm (which lasted all of about 15 mins). Quizes, karaoke and a disco sum up the evening entertainment, but not all of these are on the same night. Thomas, the entertainer has a day off on a Sunday, so in peak season no entertainment on this day. Sunbeds were not easy to come by. Most guests set their alarms for 6.30am to get a bed (and these were not the Germans but the English). Views from the hotel are absolutely fabulous and at the end of the day a holiday is only what you make it. We did manage to have a good holiday, as we met some fabulous people and spent very little time at the hotel during the day.

arrived at 4am totally knackered from journey. was given key and told where to go, no help with cases, when we walked into our room we just looked at each other in disbelief. two single concrete beds and a camp bed for my daughter, the room was stifling had to go back to reception and ask for air con to be put on, was then told had to pay 35 euros for the week, which we paid as you wouldnt of beenable to sleep without it. looking forward to breakfast which was absolutely awful, as was lunch and dinner,ended up eating out most nights, entertainment for childrenwas poor.disco if thats what you can call it for kids was birdie song in (german) heads shoulders knees and toes, hokey kokey, superman, every night in all it lasted half an hour, the ping pong table kept breaking in halfit was a total joke. the view from our room was lovely, staff very rude and unhelpful, it was a break for a week and the only thing which kept us sane was the lovely couple we met,who will be friends for life, so if you get to read this steve & helen thanks again couldnt have survived without you.

Like many of you, I read the reviews and the panicked, i really debated cancelling my holiday, however the cost of cancelling wasn’t worth it, and decided to give it a go, and in all honesty I am glad I did. Just to give you an idea I came on this holiday with my friend for one week as a quick last minute deal and paid £279 each AI, I am 28 and she is 34. THE AIRPORT: A bit confusing as to where to pick up your suitcases as it was not clearly stated, but once we had that covered we were out quite quickly. The taxi was the worst part of this holiday. He told us 30 euros when we got in the car, half way down the road he changed this to 35, when we neared the hotel, he changed it again to 40 euros by saying hotel panorama was past agia pelagia. Please do not fall for this. The most you should pay is between 25-30 euros. We actually paid the most out of everyone at the hotel, the guy saw us coming a mile off. RECEPTION/ROOMS : Arrived at the hotel completely tired at about 5am. We were offered wine/water/beer and a sandwich. (didn’t look amazingly appetizing I must admit) Immediately we told the receptionist not to palm us off with the “cow shed” rooms (as they became known.) And we got a very nice room with an amazing view (see pics) A/C fridge & TV. Although no help with our luggage as there is only one member of staff on duty. HINT _ (take the magnet of the door key and keep AC on all day after cleaners have been) THE STAFF : I personally had no problems at all with any off the staff, and the bar staff were all very happy friendly guys who were certainly not pervy. None of the staff were rude, or ignorant, the jolliest guy there was Costas in the mini market, considering he was stuck in that shop all day with no fan or AC I was surprised at how pleasant and helpful he was to everyone. One of the waitresses could have done with a personality transplant but other than that everyone was nice. THE SUNBEDS : Yes unfortunately it is true, they are lacking badly in sun beds, however, as we discovered the 1st day anytime after 6am is too late to get a bed, we did not make the same mistake twice, and for the rest of the week we claimed our beds as soon as we got back from our nights out at about 4am every morning. Either that or set your alarm for 5am. THE POOL : Huge. Plenty of room for kids and adults, and room for lilo’s. Very slippery round edge, had a few giggles watching people fall in! THE BEACH : I am probably the laziest person you ever met so I was dreading visiting the beach but by the 3rd day I dragged myself down there and was pleasantly surprised. The walk down was about 10 mins at a very slow pace HINT (if you are going in the day take a dip in the pool 1st) The beach itself was amazing, very warm sea, fab views, sun beds are 2.50 euros. The walk back is about 15 mins, there are two slopes that are steep, but the rest of the walk is fine. There is a taxi in the day, and that will cost between 5 and 7 euros. FOOD: Breakfast was my favourite: consisting of Boiled eggs, potatoes, beans, sausages, bread, toasties, all sorts of cereal, fruit, Greek yoghurt, and each day the cook would do either pancakes, fried eggs & bacon, flour balls etc. Lunch & dinner was a mix, ok, if you are a complete fusspot forget it, but let me assure you I am very fussy yet, I can honestly say there was something for me every single day. (ok I didn’t touch Bambi & Thumper) but there was loads of salad pasta, rice, fish, chicken, Greek specialties and your English food. Some times they got it wrong i.e. watery mash, but you wouldn’t starve here. Also, I always get a Delhi belly when im away, and I didn’t get it here im pleased to say! This was by no means a 5 star restaurant, but what do you expect as its only 3 star. Some food was dry, some was sloppy, but generally speaking it was ok. There are queues for food so get there either early or later. It was a standing joke about the food, but when everyone was honest, the agreed it was it was worth the money. The restaurant does need some AC, and more tables, and certainly more variety for the deserts. Watermelon and jelly gets boring after a while. THE ALCOHOL : Wine beer and soft drinks were available as self serve in the restaurant and tea and coffee available along with cake near the bar (milk isn’t gross, bring your own long life) The barman have a strict 2 drinks per person per serve. This avoids even longer queues. It is a pain, but I understand their reasons. The alcohol was Raki, Ouzo, Vodka, Tequila, Whiskey, Brandy, Rum, Beer, Wine, & cocktails. RECOMMEND the panorama (yum) Of course its not your bacardi or teachers, and tastes slightly closer to paint thinner, but drink enough of it and hopefully you’ll forget. There is also a mini market reasonably priced that sells all your sun creams sweets ices, hats etc. THE ENTERTAINMENT : Also known as “the animation team” They produce a board each day with different things. Generally it goes something like this 10am Stretching 11am Volley ball 3pm Water polo 4pm Cocktail games/darts/ping pong 7pm Disco 8pm Kids dance (okie kokie etc) 9pm Karaoke, quiz etc. They are run by a guy called Thomas who really has fun and gets everyone involved. But night times really is awfully boring, so after two nights being held captive we escaped and started going down to the bars on the beach (warning taxi’s stop at midnight so prepare for the walk back) I can recommend “Nanus” for all ages as they have a dance floor separate from bar but “Paradise” leaves a lot to be desired. No tourists, lots of Greek teenagers, who aren’t impressed at tourists going there. OVERALL VERDICT : This hotel is ideal for people who purely want a good sun holiday, to layback relax and catch some rays. Ideal for a couple of mates or couples to just chill out. I really enjoyed it, One week wasn’t long enough however two weeks and id have been bored out of my mind, so ideally about ten days would be great here. Give the food a try most of it actually tastes better than it looks. And get involved in some of the water games, as it helps break up the day. Also if you want a change “pennystellas” is a hotel 4 min walk away and if you buy a drink there you can then spend all day in there pool. Food there is great and cheap, its quiet and you are made very welcome, they are very used to panorama guests using there pool. This is a cheap but pleasant holiday, for those who are not expecting 5 star luxury for 3 star prices!!! When not to choose this hotel: If your looking for Nightlife go to Malia. If you have small kids they have no kids club so best choose somewhere more child friendly. If you have a disability with walking then as this is a hotel in the mountains you have to expect steep inclines so don’t go if that is a problem for you. If you would like to email me to ask any questions please feel free.

If you have just booked this hotel and have read this then please ring the tour operator back up and upgrade the hotel straight away. If you haven't booked yet please never book this hotel! THE ROOM: We had to change our room 3 times in 2 weeks: When we walked into the first room we thought we had gone back in time. It had a cobbled floor, lantern lights! no aircon, fridge, tele, i think that this room only just got electricity installed! The beds were so uncomfortable and squeaked every time we moved. They were also single beds and we wanted a double one. After a limited nights sleep we went back to reception and they told us to come back at 11am to change our rooms (already wasted half the day) so we carried our suitcases up the steep steps back with no help from staff. The second room was ten times better but still a hundred times worse than you would want. It had aircon and television but the beds were uncomfortable (just a matress on concrete) and there was a large gap between them (not recommended for couples). We stayed in here for a week but had to move when we noticed that piping hot water was coming out of the cold water tap. We spoke to reception and they said we would have to wait for a technician the next day. But I kept running the water anyway and what i saw next was absolutely disgusting - The water coming out of the cold tap (the one you use to brush your teeth!) was brown ! ! ! ! We changed rooms again after a long argument with the extremey rude receptionists and got a similar room but the view was a brick wall this time! We stayed in it because we couldnt be bothered to pack again and argue with the receptionists. THE FOOD: If you can call it food! The restaurant was warm (with no aircon) and there were flies everywhere. There were not enought seats for all the guests so you had to wait for a seat and your food got cold. When you had one, it was dirty with the previous persons food on the table cloth. The 'food' was disgusting! Breakfast was not worth getting up for and there were only frankfurters and beans! Crepes were offered sometimes, but only if you wanted to wait in a ten person queue for ten minutes. Lunch was also rough. We tried to get in straight away as soon as it opens as otherwise you would have to wait fifteen minutes (and not exagerating!) to get to the food. Melon was often the only desert offered (and you get very bored of that after 2 weeks!) Dinner was the same but the queues were less (because people would eat out so they would get a proper meal). We ate out for dinner four or five times for something edible. Over two weeks the food consisted of: Runny Mashed Potato Soggy Chips Deer Stew Carrots Brussel Sprouts Pizza Burgers (red in middle) Pasta (quite often plain with no sauce) Bland Fish and thats basically the menu for the duration. THE DRINKS: The soft drinks were all watered down and not fizzy. The beer tasted really cheap. Other alcholic drinks on all inclusive were ouzo, vodka raki, white and red wine, and tequila and that is it - nothing else! There was very often a ten minute queue for drinks at night which was ongoing all through the night so try and sit at the bar - (YANIS is a good barman - the rest are just perverts). THE POOL: Very dangerous! - Drains that you could trip over, a steep slope between the shallow end and deep end with no warning. The sunbeds were broken and uncomfortable - there was not enough for even half the guests. If you want one you have to get up at 5am in the morning. THE BEACH: THe beach was nice although a very long walk, steep and dangerous, it is a 15 minute walk (or 5 euros in taxi) but is worth it to get away from the hotel. At the beach the shops offer food and water at half the price at the hotel shop. (The hotel makes you pay for bottled water!). Watch out though as there are a lot of pervs around! ENTERTAINMENT: What entertainment?!? IT WAS SO BORING! When you look around the hotel it is hard to try and find a smile on someones face. The entertainment was only on from 9.30pm - 10.00pm most nights. There was Crete quiz, Bingo, Music quiz, Disco, and Karoake was just introduced as we were there(lucky). It was so boring. Everyone thought so. We are not boring people and we made some good friends out there but everyone found it depressing. Karoake was the only good thing. THE STAFF: Reception were so unco-operative and rude. They would always blame you and not the hotel. They were never smiling. They must have a hard time working in such a dive with everyone complaining all the time. That is probably why they are so good at arguing with you. Don't use the telephones next to reception as they charge you ridiculous prices! Get a phonecard from the supermarket and walk down the hill a little to the payphone - dont ask reception for directions as they wont tell you.