Knossos Studios

me and my boyfriend stayed in the studios last July after booking a late deal two weeks before. the owner and the rep were really friendly and the room was basic but sufficient. the best feature was the balcony as we sat out there for hours. we didnt use the small kitchen area so it didnt matter that it was a bit dated, but you must hire a fan in high season or you wont get to sleep, but all in all it was a nice room.
its a nice small hotel,10 minutes walk from Malia and we spent a day in Hersonissos as well as a boat trip to Spinalonga. Stalis town is lively at night, we watched the world cup final in the satelite bar on the first night but every other night we ate at "Minos" which served the best Greek potatoes and the owner was really friendly.

1 reader found this review helpful

We stopped at Knossos in September 2010 the rooms were very basic, of a average size the bathroom was tiny (typical Greek) and a shower you can only wash your legs with. The rooms have a fridge, kettle and hotplate. We got 4 glasses 2 cups and some dirty pots and pans. The pool area is very basic we found flies and bugs in the pool, but the bar is priced well unfortunately you can’t eat food at the side of the pool – strange and the owner got very stroppy about this we only wanted to buy beer to take to the room. We paid allot of money for this 2 week holiday but unfortunately it was not worth nowhere near what we paid. Stalis is very nice loads of beaches and loads of shops, Bar, and restaurants Quad hire is great you can get a 50cc quad for one week for 56 euro we had a C3 car for 5.5 days for 120 Euros We found it better to pay a little more with the quads and get a 300cc as the fit in with the rest of the traffic and deal with the hills better. Over all the resort is fine (not as Greek as I would have liked) Thompson are still charging £1700 for this in October for 2 rooms we have stopped in much better for allot less I would say this holiday is worth £1250 - £1400 maximum depending on time of year.

The Knossos studios are small and basic accomodation but are clean and ideally situated close to everything in Stalis, but are still quiet at night time. Elena who owns and runs the apartments is a wonderful person who cannot do enough for you. The only down side is there is no air conditioning and hiring a fan is a must (10 euros p.w.)
All in all we had a good week in Stalis and the Knossos apartments were a good base with everything close to hand and Elena makes the perfect hostess.
Maureen & David
Newcastle

1 reader found this review helpful

This year will be the fifth time ive been to crete, and the fourth time staying at Knossos.
I LOVE IT THERE. These family run apartments are just what you need. There not much in the rooms, but its all you need. I go there with my grandparents who have been staying at Knossos for about fourteen years now. Theyre good friends with the family.
The appartments have such a lovely pool aswell.
It just a few metres from the beach.
And close to some amazing resturants.
My favourite place to get away.

myself and my partner stayed at the knossos aparts in stalis, crete for a week comencing on the 13th may 08. the weather was fantastic and our apartment was basic but adequate. The apartments their selves are run by a very friendly english speaking family who were there to help with any queries. The local bars were just 50maway and the beach was the same. There was plenty of bars and plenty of english pubs.

1 reader found this review helpful

I snapped this holiday up at a bargain price for myself and my two children who at the time were 8 and 12. I booked it two days after Christmas 2005 as I was totally fed up, depressed and skint after the festive season shall we say!
Not knowing quite what to expect for my bargain of the year we arrived safe and sound on the 29th September (my birthday btw which prob explains why I chose to go this time of year :-) )......tired but happy as it was dawn and the sun was rising and yes, it was a clear blue sky and already warm!
Our room was what I expected, very basic but all that was required for the 3 of us on a chill out holiday for a bargain price! As long as we had a bed, toilet, shower and a fridge we were happy.....oh and also the fact that our front door opened straight onto the pool was an added bonus as well, hop skip and a jump......not even that!!! quick hop and we were in!! Although the sun wasn't on the pool all day. about 3 o'clock I'd say you would have had your final rays didn't in my opinion 'ruin' my holiday as the beach was a 5 minute stroll down the road.
Restaurants we favoured the most were The Cretan (although just a wee smidge more expensive then anywhere else but had triff views of the sea) and The Artemis. The guys in The Artemis were lovely and if you are going with children then you are in your element here. The beach is a lovely one and can't be faulted.
If you are going with computer/internet/MSN mad teenagers who's entire life revolve around chatting to their mates for hours on end on MSN even though they only saw them 10 minutes ago (what do they waffle on about?) then mum's you'll be ok if you want to lose then for a couple of hours as there are 2 or 3 internet cafes along the main beach road!! 1 Euro an hour....can't complain can we mum's for a couple hours peace hey?
If you are a traveling as a single mum like I was and are a bit unsure then please don't be......I found as a mum with children you did get treated with a lot of respect and courtesy as us mum's of course should be treated but PLEASE if you are single girls holidaying here as with anywhere please be very careful!
Two young girls staying next door to me who were 18 from Cardiff were forever being annoyed and one night were severely 'roughed' up and were actually incredibly frightened by the whole thing. Just be on your guard and of course be very aware!
Secrets was the bar we frequented most night on the main beach road.....owned by George, Vicky from Newcastle on the street who tried and successfully tried to pull the punters in and with a rather flirty Serbian barman called Dajan they made our holiday very enjoyable! Partying most nights till 5(ish!!) and yes my 2 seem to outlast me but then they weren't on the cocktails and ouzo shots!! Beware! Ouzo shots wherever you go lol! Don't say I didn't warn you!
All in all the holiday was what I expected it to be and I would definitely go back to Stalis And stay at The Knossos Apartments. Although not going this year as I am being rather more flamboyant and taking the kids to The Caribbean for Christmas this year (through FirstChoice :-) ) I am already trying to decide which month to go back to Crete next year AND to exactly the same place.
Oh, and the kids said to say they had a wicked time and they liked Artemis restaurant the best and Vicky and Dejan(pronounced Day-yan) were cool! :-) I go on holiday every year and have been to a variety of places. This is my second visit to Crete and definitely won't be my last....I think at last in my 36 years of life I have fallen in love!! Lol!

1 reader found this review helpful

Knossos Studios are your average basic Greek accommodation, rooms are small but big enough for two all balconies face the sun in the evening so if you are like me and like a chill out on the balcony after along day at the beach it is impossible, unless you want to be blinded by the sun! This also makes your room boiling in the evening as the sun doesn't go down till about 8.30pm so my suggestion would be to rent a fan for your room from one of the local supermarkets.
If you are a pool lover then this isn't the place for you the sun rises in the morning over the pool then around 3pm the pool is shaded. The pool is very small and there are about 8 sun loungers plus 2 children’s loungers, the pool bar is very cheap 1euro = soft drink 2euro = Beer
If you are a beach lover then a table/umbrella/sun beds is between 3-6Euros so of them offer different things like free drinks or lunches included in the price you just need to have a look around for the best price.
Knossos Location is fantastic it is in walking distance of all the local amenities there is a supermarket next door, the beach is a 2 minute walk along with the bars.
If you are looking to go on trips I would recommend that you go with the shops on beach road the prices are almost half the price of the reps prices, plus they are more reliable I went with first choice to the water park paid about £18.60pp (Prices with the shops on beach road between £10-12) and the coach turned up 15 mins early and went without us! We then had to pay an extra £7pp to go again because it was our fault apparently, then to go on the trip to find that there were supposed to be 6 people at our stop and not 4 and the coach to go without them was just the icing on the cake.
I can't say we had a bad meal here the food was fantastic recommendations all on beach road:
Knossos restaurant, Cretan Restaurant -Right next to the sea amazing views take your camera, El Greco, Artemis, Britannia -Good for a breakfast
The kelariko had an annoying little man outside (You will pass him every night) but once we had eaten there he chilled right out but to be honest his food was good.
Malia is a 20min walk away if you turn right on to beach road if you turn left you can get to Hersonissos (Perfect for shopping).