Semiramis Village Hotel

The semiramis is not suitable for anyone who has difficulty walking up a very steep hill for 200 yards and then reaching your room which is more than likely to be more of the hill or up steps. The lift only takes you up one floor. It is only a 3 star standard and only just at that. Possibly has earned it's 4 star status by providing a games room which is so hard to use I never saw anyone in it - not that there was a lot there anyway. All inclusives seem to have a raw deal and I was extremely glad I wasn't. The trips I wanted to go on did not leave or drop you off at the hotel but rather 50 yards from the bottom of the very steep hill, definitely not worth it. I went to Knossos by using public transport and it cost me a quarter of what was being charged and I would guess much more enjoyable.
After the hill you are about 20 mins away from any life at all and have to walk on the roads to get anywhere. Taxis at night from the nearest village were 8 euros.
Food was barely passable.
It was clean,the Pool was good as was the weather and the views. The staff were also reasonably friendly and helpful.

the hotel was horrible. its not a 4* hotel as its suppose to be. we were so dissapointed. me and my partner were stuck there for 2 weeks. food was not tasty and always cold. only desserts were decent. rooms were poor. we changed our first room given because it had 3 single beds in it and was just horrible. the second room given was better but bathroom was still scary. shower curtain hung there on these different rings some of them missing. room cleaners would barge in without knocking the door. and our toilet door didnt have a lock. the hotel didnt have 'do not disturb' signs. no privasy at all!
no entertainment whatsoever. tennis court mentioned in olympic holidays web page doesnt excist at all. 2 pool tables were working for a week only. then they broke down and only signs 'out of order' hung there for another week.
in this hotel you will have to pay not only for your safe box, conditioning but even for fridge and internet. beach is really far away from semiramis hotel so is the nearest town. 30 - 40 minutes walk up and down the hills. when its so hot its the last thing you want to do.
once we wanted to order some food from the hotel menu. and we were told that they can only offer a toast or greek salad. how about that for 4* hotel?

Everything here was an extra, fridge 10 euros per week, Supposed to have T.V all extra unless you watched the 9 local channels, which were mostly in German.
Not child friendly, I took my 4 year old Grandaughter, no play area, no entertainment.
There was no food she could eat, so she lived for two weeks on bread. we had to ask for butter, as they did not put it out in the evening.
Luckily I was only half board, as the snacks, and drinks for inclusive was very linited.
If you want a cheap holiday, then it is ok, but do not go and expect good food, it was edibble and that is all I will say about it.
Not far to go to the locall towns 20 mins and 15 mins to walk in eitherdirection.
Lovely beaches all close by.

2 readers found this review helpful

i went to hersonissos 9th sept 2008 for 2weeks and had the time of my life there!! i came on here to read reviews before i went and alot of them had some bad points about semiramis hotel but honestly i couldnt say a bad thing about semiramis.
The hotel:
Semiramis is a beautiful hotel.
The receptionist's were very friendly and were always at hand when needed any help.
they explain to you about what times dinner etc. To get to your rooms you will have to use the lift that goes up to one floor BUT that is because all the rooms are set off like apartments instead of one building. Rooms are basic but are very nice and very clean.
Food there is greek and sometimes can be catered for germans but that was no problem to us because there is so much to choose from. so dont expect english food because you arent in england!!
all the staff there were really nice and we became good friends with them all.
There is no entertainment in the evenings so i wouldnt say this is an ideal place for children but they do have greek night where greek dancers come dance.
the pool is quite large and is salt water but its very nice.
Hersonissos
Star beach is there main area if you want to go to the beach one day. can be quite a walk so i would advise you to get a moped or quad or car.
Its full of bars, clubs and restaurants! During the day the town is busy and so are all the beaches but there is music playing on the beaches adn restaurants and snack bars behind you ( if you are on the beach, starbeach) there is also water sports here and also bungy jumping!! www.starbeach.gr here you can have a look at what star beach is like. At night it becomes alot lively, music is EVERYWHERE which is good if your 18 like us, nightclubs are futher on down the down and down an alley which leads you to this nightclub area by the beach!!
For food i would go to stalis (stalida) the restaurants there are really pretty and set right by the beach. There also is clubs and bars.
Stalis beach i preferred as it wasnt so packed like malia or hersonisos.
shops dont shut till 1 in the morning!!
All i can honestly say is that we all found it wikid but we are 18 so i your going as a family holiday it can still be fun. there is lots to do like boat rides, watercity etc. it really is a lovely place and im sure you would love it there.
as i said i came on here to read the reviews and i was abit worried but now that ive been there i couldnt say a bad thing, if there was any problems tell reception and they will sort it..!!
afharisto x

This Hotel in my opinion is not a 4 star hotel, the room we stayed in was basic with a hand held shower, the hotel did not cater for English food, it was mainly greek meals such as yogurt pie, turkey in orange sauce and very hard potatoes done in oven.
It is on a very steep hill, and the smell is appalling from pipes around the hotel of what smells like sewage.
I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.

I have just returned from my holiday in Crete, which was amazing !! I absolutely loved Crete and I thoughroughly enjoyed my self every singe day. The Semiramis Village hotel was a let down for me though, it didnt ruin my holiday but my opinion on the Hotel is not a good one at all, and I would advise you to find somewhere else to stay !
First impressions weren't all bad, there was a lift to the floor where our room was, but there was another 15 stairs to climb, and with heavy suitcases and at 5.30am, this was a more difficult task than it would seem. The room itself was adequate for the 2 of us, but we were unable to use our bacony if the air conditioning was on (which we had to pay 60 euros for), because the really hot air omitted from the a.c blew directly onto the balcony, which wasnt big enough to escape from it. The view from our balcony was amazing though, we enjoyed it through the glass windows nevertheless.
Once we were settled in etc we returned downstairs to see what the breakfast was like, as we had gone all inc. It was the most basic and unappetising food I have ever seen, I dont know if this is due to my usually picky appetite, but me and my boyfriend agreed we would not eat there for the duration of the stay. When takin advantage of our free drinks, we were rudely told we could have wine and Mythos (the draught beer there) and Ouzo, none of which i enjoed, so I had to pay for any other drink for the holiday.
All the staff were extremely rude and arrogant towards us, I dont know why this was, but they seemed a little more helpful towards the rest of the holiday makers, none of which were English. Maybe they were racist? Thats my assumption.
Everybody stayin at the hotel was Dutch or German as far as I could tell, and made absolutely no effort to speak to us or acknowledge we were there. Most days there is an early scramble for the sun beds, which are nice and the pool was also very comfortable, although very salty and not heated.
Hersonissos itself was brilliant, we went for a meal and drinks every night into the town and it was just perfect for us as a couple wanting to have a holiday to ourselves but also some sort of nightlife. For food i would definately recomment the TNT Steak House and Il Porto, both have a range of well made dishes both English and Greek. Every single bar has he expected PR tryin to pull you in with the offer of free drinks or shots or happy hour, do not fall for this because as soon as they get you inside, they will simply ignore you.
When we returned to the hotel on an evening, the staff and some residents seemed to have formed a small group around the bar and were very unapproachable, needless to say we never had another drink at the bar on an evening.
Certain things I would recommend you do are to visit one or both of the palaces in Malia and Knossos, the history surrounding them is astounding and they're certainly worth the 4 or 5 euros you pay. Similarly, another historical trip out is a boat journey to Spinalonga, this is a definate must see and both me and my boyfriend enjoyed this day out indeed, after visiting the island you pull into a small beach where you are free to get off or get into the sea, and a BBQ is available.
The aquarium is not a certain must-see, but its run by one man who obviously has a passion for his animals. But go at the beginning of the week, as the ticket you buy can be used repeatedly for 7 days.
We rented a mo-ped for the week we were there at a price of 55 euros for the week from a place called Royal Rentals, there are literally hundreds of rental places so whichever you choose you will get a similar price. The roads are a little strange to get accustomed to, but the decision to hire a mo-ped was a good one for us, as we were happy to drive up and down the coast to Stalis and Malia which weren't far away once on wheels.
To end on a negative, on the last day of our holiday we had to leave the room at 12 noon, leaving our luggage in the convenient luggage room, but we weren't to be picked up until 2.15am the next morning. The staff offered no assistance in what we should do for these 14 hours. We used the 'leisure facilities' just the once, which consisted of a ice hockey table and a pool table which were broken, a table football which had no ball. A ping pong table which often had a queue to be used, and a dart board and plastic darts. We never used the tennis courts so I can't pass comment on them. Overall, my holiday in Hersonissos was amazing and I would definately return, just not to this particular hotel.
(The hill is quite a steep one, though not AS BAD as people make it out. You certainly have to stop at the top to get your breathe back, and on a couple of occasions, our mo-ped almost cut out once at the top....)

I spent 2 weeks in Malia and loved every minute of it, weather was gorgeous and apartments were very clean, lovely pool, with lovely food although the pool bar drinks prices are a bit on the high side, but this isn’t really a problem as these apartments are right in the middle of Malia's main bar strip (not for the faint hearted).
Malia is one of the liveliest spots I’ve ever been, Malia beats Ibiza's west end hands down although it doesn’t have any super clubs but there are countless other disco bars to keep you partying.
I’ve already been twice and am seriously considering returning.

5 readers found this review helpful

I have never contributed to a holiday review site before but due to the number of negative comments I've read regarding the Semiramis I felt compelled to do so on this occasion.
I fully appreciate that you can't please all of the people all of the time and everyone is different when it comes to holiday requirements, however reading some of these reviews you would think I had been to a completely different destination.
Admittedly, the hotel is set up in a hill so it is a bit of a steep climb up, but judging by the amount of food and drink consumed by my fiancé and I while we were away, it probably did us some good!
Pool was fab and didn't notice the salt water element at all.
Rooms were very clean and cleaned daily. If we were to go again I think we would stick to room only or B&B as we ate out a lot more than we should have done having paid half board already! The food was fine, but we wanted to try a variety of Cretan dishes each night and while the hotel food was OK, it tended to cater for German/Scandinavian tastes.
The hotel is between the resorts of Stalis and Herssonisoss. Stalis is about a 15-20min walk away and has everything you could need for a relaxing beach holiday. Bars and restaurants galore, but not too commercialised. We would highly recommend the Whisper bar in Stalis - best cocktails ever tasted and staff were so friendly and welcoming - recognised us every time we went in there.
Hersonnissos is a bit further - about a 30min walk. Great for shops if you like to do that sort of thing on holidays.

We went with Olympic and were offered a choice of excursions during our stay - 3 for 87 euros which we found to be very reasonable. We visited Knossos - although be warned that you have to pay an extra 4 euros to visit the caves and 6 euros to visit the actual ruins (Olympic didn't confirm that until we'd booked the trip). We also did the waterpark (Water City) which was fantastic and the Cretan night which was fab - lots of food and drink included and dancing for those who are up for it!
All in all it was a very relaxing time for us (we were there for 11 nights) and we would definitely go back again, maybe staying somewhere nearer to Stalis next time. If you have booked to go to the Semiramis and are concerned about some of the more negative reviews - don't be - we had a great time.

2 readers found this review helpful

Overall I thought this hotel was really good value. The pool area was nice with plenty of sun loungers. There are all sorts of nationalities staying there.
The food was delicious a real opportunity to try out Crete's local dishes-yummy!
The room was large, extremely clean with a gorgeous view of the mountains and beach, watch out for the sunsets really picturesque. We found the staff really friendly they always found time for a chat.
Greek dancers came to the hotel one night after dinner, they got everyone up dancing and were great to watch. If you go with Olympic Holidays they really look after you, make sure you go on some trips, very interesting and fantastic scenery.
We had a brilliant holiday!!

Where do we start? On arrival, we were given our room key, taken in the lift to the first floor and directed up a flight of stairs to our room. The room could not be found!!! We had to search the whole complex for our room, up and down several flights of stairs with two suitcases! By this point we were past ourselves with exhaustion and lack of oxygen. The room was fairly clean but very basic. We had also booked a double room and had been given a twin room. After a long hike back to reception we asked if we could be moved to a double room. We were told that we could but it would be the next day. The next day came and when we reported to reception again we were told that it would be the following day because no double rooms were available. So, two uncomfortable nights later, after breakfast we went to change rooms. We were then told to come back at 12.00 and a room would be ready. We asked if we could pick up the room key a little later because we were going out for the day. (Not too much to ask!) But the receptionist said no because they would have to give the room to someone else. We were not happy. This was just the beginning. The food was a disgrace. We lived on salad for a few days, until we could not stand it any more. The all inclusive drinks were a joke!!!!! The majority of the staff were just as rude as the Germans that were also staying there.
We came away for a relaxing, all inclusive, chill out holiday as for the first time, we had left our three children at home with their grandparents. We are just so glad that we did not take them to the Semiramis as they would have been so bored and starving with the lack of entertainment and choice of appalling food.
We took ourselves away from the hotel as much as possible to eat, drink and to be entertained by the local people of Stalis and Hersonossis. At least they were friendly and made us feel welcome. Which is more than we can say for the Semiramis Village Hotel. Just don’t go there!
Neil and Maria from York.
We would like to thank the English people that we met which helped make our holiday a good one.