Village Heights Golf Resort, Hersonissos, Crete

Management response: Dimitris, Manager: Reply to the above review by the hotel manager. We believe that there are a number of issues mentioned in the above review that results to misinformation of Holiday watchdog members and visitors who come across Village Heights Golf Resort. Our resort has been awarded every year, since the beginning of its operation, with the RCI Gold Crown Award which is the top RCI distinction. Our hotel has also been awarded with the environmental award “Green Key “ which is given by the FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education) and certified by TUV NORD for the food safety management systems as per ISO 22000:2005 The average rating (minimum 1 – maximum 5 points) given to our resort by RCI clients who have stayed within September 08- August 09 is the following: Check in / Check out 4.7 Resort Hospitality 4.7 Resort Maintenance 4.7 Resort Amenities 4.4 Unit Maintenance 4.5 Unit Housekeeping 4.5 Staff Respectfulness 4.6 Resort Atmosphere 4.6 All above ratings can be confirmed by RCI. The hotel management and staff have been educated in respected and top rated tourism and hospitality institutions and have significant experience in the tourism industry in 4 and 5 stars hotels. The most common and usual comment we receive from our guests is excellent, beautiful resort, staff very friendly, helpful and efficient. Village Heights is a hotel where all guests are equally well treated and served. The management ensures everything possible is done to create a memorable experience for the guests. Pool Towels Until 2008 we were not providing pool towels. Reading our guests questionnaires we corrected the problem and now the resort provides pool towels, even on a daily basis if guests wish so. Housekeping The beds are made every day (except Sundays), linen is changed once a week and towels are changed upon guests’ requests (even daily). Washing machine and dryer There are instructions for all electrical appliances that our guests find in our hotel amenities as well as instruction manuals for the appliances that are found in the apartments. We inform our guests upon arrival that they can contact us in case they find it difficult to operate them. Distance from the beach Our hotel is located 6 km away from the nearest beach. Nowhere (in RCI catalogues or other brochures) is it stated that we are located on or close to the sea. However, we provide guests with a shuttle bus service that runs every day, on a frequent basis. Cleanliness of the beach The beaches in Chersonissos area are visited by 1 million guests every year and we have never come across a complaint regarding their cleanliness or their length. We expect from all our guests to point out any problems that might occur during their stay so we can do anything possible to solve them. However some negative comments and comparisons with 2 star hotels in Cancun and Malaysia found in reviews above do not reflect the high ratings of satisfaction of our guests. We strongly believe that these specific reviews are not constructive criticism and their purpose is to discredit us instead of helping us to improve our service and the amenities and therefore we do not accept them. Resort Manager