Marianna Hotel

I have just returned from the Hotel Marianna and thought I absolutely must put a review on here immeadiatly. On first appearances the hotel marianna seems a ltttle out of the way compared to other hotels within the area but in hindsight it is a very good location as there is no noise from the local tavernas. I call it the hotel of contradictions because even though there is no noise from the local tavernas the pool bar attendant more than makes up for this as he was playing his music quite loudly until the small hours and well after the pool had closed at 22:00.

When you first "check in" to the hotel you are greeted with a warm welcome by the manageress you are very quickly informed of a welcome meeting at the pool bar 10 minutes after you arrive! It is not the welcome meeting provided by the tour operator it is an 'in-house' arrangement. When you gather at the bar you are greeted by a man who offers you free wine and meze, very quickly he launches into a sales pitch about the Taverna attached to the restaurant. After this the staff talk to you and you feel welcome and like they are genuinely interested in you, you soon come to realise that after this intial introduction they could not care less about you.

The manageress was about as useful as a chocolate teapot when it came to customer service and helping the guests and providing information when it is asked for. The cleaning staff left a lot to be desired as out towels were not changed every day and you were lucky if they spent more than a few minutes cleaning your room! We were in room 10. They were also miserable you could say hello to them in the mornings and you would be lucky if they acknowledged you by looking at you.

The room was as to be expected from a hotel of this rating small and fairly compact, there was a not a shower basin more a shower coming out of the wall and you have to hold it above you head when you want a shower. This is fine as this is the case in many hotels but you have to be careful walking around as we noticed the water escaped the bathroom and seeped under the door.

Although despite any shortcomings with the rooms the view more than makes up for this on the balcony you have a sea view with views out across Perissa and the mountains and on clear day you can see Crete.

We went Bed and Breakfast and therefore cannot comment on the Self Catering facilities.

Breakfast in the mornings consisted of various kinds of bread, ham, cheese, feta cheese, brioche, boiled eggs and on occasion processed chicken. They serve orange juice, tea, coffee and water. Ask for an earlier breakfast time to fit in with an excursion ask at your own peril.

Our holiday advisor was fantastic and she actively sought everyone out to make sure they were having a very good holiday and could she do anything to make the experiance better.

This hotel was acceptable but I'm not sure I would recommend it to family or friends. It was a bit difficult to find and was lacking some basic amenities such as hairdryers or a single public computer. However, it was located next to a beautiful mountain and had views of the ocean. If you are looking for no frills whatsoever, this place should be fine.

my husband and I stayed at the Marrianna for our 2nd honeymoon. The room is basic but kept very clean, the kitchenette is very very basic but you dont want to cook all the time!!!! The hotel were very accomodating, when they saw my leg was in plaster they put me on the ground floor with easy access to the pool. Phil the bar man loves his rock so thats all that plays by the pool but he is very friendly and nothing is too much trouble, his dog "Ozzy" is adorable. The hotel is brillantly situated and easy to walk to all the restuarants. Recommend hiring a quad to go around the island. Best restuarant by far is Sirrocco situated behind the beach road, the bread is to die for...Will definatly be coming back to this hotel again and would recommend it.....

i have just returned from santorinini and feel that i must write to put the record straight on the marianna hotel. on reading the reviews i was very put off the hotel and was not looking forward to my stay there....

but im realy glad that i went....the towels were new, brilliant white and fluffy, there was no noise at all from the pool bar and the apt was spotlessly clean. the bathroom was brnd new and lovely, the only negative thing that i have to say about the hotel is that it would be good if mattresses were provided for the sunbeds as they are very un comfotable but i solved that problem by buying a lilo, i would recommend this hotel, also the bed linen was pristine....no holes or anything in them as was advised by another member

A basic but very clean and friendly hotel. I would go again and would recommend. The owner, can't remember her name was lovely, the girl at the pool bar was really nice, if you use the sunbeds invest in a lilo about 8 euros it will make it less uncomfortable, views stunning, resort really nice but you must visit Kamari by water taxi because it is even nicer, hire Quad Bikes they are so much fun, see the sunset from the lighthouse, and if you have seen "sisterhood of the travelling pants" or read the book I found all the spots where they filmed. A lovely island and I was sad to come home!!!

My wife and I spent a week in the Marianna hotel. In terms of facilities, this is a very basic B&B, but sometimes that can be enough. The room was large and clean; we had two single beds but I did see one room with a double bed. The room also came with a small balcony which we used only for drying clothes.

Breakfast is simple: tea/coffee/chocolate, along with bread, butter and jam. Each day there is also a treat - most days, half a tinned peach, but on two days we had hard boiled eggs and one day a slice of cake. For tea drinkers, there is a small selection of teas available. I supplemented my breakfast with special tea (rose and hibiscus), sweetener and peanut butter. Otherwise you might be a little hungry.

The hotel is about 400 metres from the sea front, shops, buses, etc, and is placed on a slight hill. Whilst this makes walking to the sea easy, it also makes walking from the sea harder. We hired a motorcycle for most of our stay so this wasn't a problem. One advantage of the location is that one is always guaranteed a seat on the bus - these fill up fairly quickly.

Despite the information on the hotel's basic web page, there is no Internet access.

The hotel boasts an interesting feature regarding electricity which I have never seen before: the electricity in the room only works when the room key is placed in a special holder. Thus one cannot use the time when the room is vacant to charge video camera or mobile phones. We had the air conditioning on all the time that we were in the room; it did not heat up during the day.

Summing up, this is a basic B&B, but is perfectly satisfactory for the type of holiday one has in Santorini. I would definitely recommend it to my friends.

We stayed at the Hotel Marianna for our anniversary and were sadly disappointed. The hotel is cosy and traditional but we stayed in the basement.

When we first checked in, the man behind the counter walked us down a rather large staircase without even asking if I needed help with my luggage (I'm 4 foot 11 and 115 pounds), and when he saw I was having trouble he stated "this is a problem". Once my husband brought all of the luggage downstairs- it had to stay in the hallway, because there was no room in the room.

We slept in separate beds on our second anniversary. However the hotel was clean and the bathroom was bigger than the actual room.

It is a hike up the hill from the bus stop and the water (wear comfortable shoes). I am Greek and have been to hotels all over Greece, this is one that I will never go to again. They were not very nice and not at all accommodating.

The Hotel Marianna is nicely situated, being in a quiet road about 3 mins walk from the beach. The apartments are very small but were clean and the staff were friendly The pool area was nice and the bar would get food delivered from the restaurant they owned by the beach front. The apartments are situated next to the mountain with ancient Thira ruins at the top so it was pretty imposing and worth the climb.

On the downside, if you get a room near reception then you have no chance of a quiet holiday. We were woken every morning by the loud chats of the staff and telephones ringing and couldn't sleep because of the staff having their late night supper (?)around 11pm/midnight. The sunbeds were incredibly uncomfortable - buy a lilo if you want to spend much time lying on them!

The music from the bar wasn't too loud but depended on the taste of the staff, mainly soft rock ballads! We didn't find it intrusive and the satff were all very helpful.

Rooms were cleaned 6 times a week and towels and sheets changed once. In the week they pressure washed the patios etc which meant that water flooded into the apartment, so be careful what you leave on the floor - it may get soaked.

Perissa is lovely. Very relaxing with about 30 tavernas running along the beachside (separated from the beach by a small road). The beach isn't outstanding but the further you walk along it the better it gets. Some restaurants own the beach in front of their taverna and will deliver food to you at your sunbed. We were never charged for sunbeds.

The food was largely the same from place to place, very little variety. However, we had nice meals at the Forum, Veggara and the Volcano. Charlenas was OK but the service was appalling. The local wine is nice, with the white being less bitter than the red. All the food and drink was much cheaper than I'd anticipated.

You can get a water taxi from Perissa to Kamari or the bus to Fira for 1.9E. The bus runs to its own timetable despite the published ones!

However, it's not a place for children as there is very little for them to do and we saw very few children in the resort at all - about 3 in total. However, we did go outside of the school holidays.

There is a waterpark in Perissa, but don't bother - it's three slides and a bar.

Fira is very nice, a sort of mini Rhodes town. The only problem is that at several points in the day the cruise ships vomit out hundreds of American/Australian tourists and it gets quite crowded. We had the best meal of our stay in the Flame of the Volcano restaurant about 3/4 of the way up the hill. It was great, but be aware the owner stops serving food in the afternoon and only offers drinks after about 4pm (though he may well start again in the evening).

I'd definately go back to Santorini, it was a lovely place for a relaxing, laid back holiday. But, I probably wouldn't go back to Marianna, the cost charged by Portland holidays is too much for what the accommodation is.

Absolutely brilliant place to stay! Very friendly, very welcoming, clean, hot, gorgeous, quiet, everything you can ask for. Not fighting for sun beds all the time, the pool was always quiet!

Beach is close (along with tavernas etc) the food / drink is gorgeous and cheap.

What else can you ask for!

Very good apartments, only one small complaint, the sun beds were a bit hard on the bum, buy a lilo to lay on top of the sun bed!

We stayed at this hotel for 2 weeks at the beginning of June, we also stayed last year.

I have no complaints on the cleanliness, our room was clean, the bathroom didn't smell and our sheets and towels were changed twice a week. I agree that the beds (and the sunbeds) are the incredibly uncomfortable.

We had a ground floor self-catering room which had a nice terrace and good access to the pool area but it was noisy in the hallway in the mornings. There are other self catering rooms on other floors as friends of our stayed in a first floor one last year.

My complaint this year was that the music from the pool bar was very loud from about midday. It was blasted out for most of the day so it was impossible to have a quiet moment by the pool. The reason we went back to this hotel this year was because it was very quiet and relaxing by the pool - the bar wasn't open last year. If I wanted a disco all day I would have booked a hotel in the main street amongst all the bars and restaurants.

Definately book the tours in town. We did the sunset cruise which was half the price of Thomsons one. Try Kamari Tours.

If you want a posh meal then try the Vegerra Hotel restaurant. The Cyclades restaurant is good too. Don't bother with the Volcano Restaurant - we couldn't understand why everybody was raving about it.