Bella Vista

A nightmare of a holiday! Hated it...The holiday company sold us a different accomodation based in Sissi but sent us to this one! Then the complaint was ignored by the company as it was an error in the brochure...same name wrong apartments!
We booked a holiday with entertainment...there was only a BBq one night. Then if you did go out you had to walk up and down a huge hill!! What if I had been disabled would they have expected me to deal with the hill!! I never booked this holiday and I never asked for the huge hill!
We stoped in the villas at the front and woke up every morning with cockroaches in our apartment! The fridge that didnt work, and my partner dmaged his back because the sprinkler was sprayed all over the steps instead of the plants! We asked for a balcony but never got one instead we had to share with a couple that liked to sleep naked with all the shutters open!! The bathroom was disgusting!
Our bed was covered in ants all day and night and all the walls! I did hear through other holiday makers that the other rooms were ok just NOT the ones on the front even they were disgusted at our rooms! This was by far the worst holiday I hav ver been on!
THE tour operator took no blame neither did the holiday agent for sending us on this holiday! it's disgusting that we had to fork out all that money for a holiday never chose!!

this was the best holiday ive ever been on, it was amazing the apartments were beautiful apart from the ant but they never botherd you. Maria and Kosta were lovely too but rale will always have a place in our hearts. There was four of us that went and ended up in a group of nine, met loads of lovely people.
The beach was lovely and the sea very clear. The waterpark was cool although i did loose my hearing after someone dunked me under.
The pool was fantastic,very clean and the view from our balcony was amazing, you could see the beach. Although the stairs were tiring i wouldnt have complained about anything.
Rale is the best ever and we still keep intouch with him, we will defo go back because it was so relaxing.

My partner and I are in our late twenties and had a fantastic time staying at the lovely Bella Vista Apartments in Stalis. The views were amazing from the apartment, the pool was clean and the staff were really friendly and spoke English well, so many thanks to Kostas and Maria for such an enjoyable holiday. Most of the guests were either families or couples staying there.
They have a pool bar area which opens until the guests want to go to bed and plays music until late - our apartments were close by the bar but once we closed the door we couldn't hear any music. Mostly English people stayed there but a few Dutch and German people too. The apartments (we had a 4 bed for two of us) were spacious and clean. We had a proper bathroom to and patio area, kitchen and dining area (which doubled up as two extra beds if 4 people were sleeping), cooking utensils (although limited), fridge. The safe and air conditioning are payable as extras and the air con unit was only in the bedroom - every time you opened the door it automatically switches off.
The apartments are about a 15-20 minute walk to the nearest beach, and we walked up and down this hill about 3 times in a day! Quad bikes and car hire seem readily available, and the quads can be quite annoying and loud (but even worse in Malia). The bus stops are close by to Hersonissos and Malia, however, we booked 3 excursions and had to get the pre-booked coach from bus stop 25 (near Nana Beach Hotel) which is about 20-25 minutes walk from the apartments - but the trips were really good value for money (we did Knossos, Spinalonga and the Cretan night). The Olympic reps were also really good and let us swap a trip to another day as we missed one because the instructions to the bus stop were unclear and we went to bus stop 26 which was closer to the apartments only to realise that it was not in use, and the rep meant bus stop number 25.
Overall we had a lovely trip and wished we'd stayed for 2 weeks instead of the 1 and would highly recommend Bella Vista Stalis apartments to couples and families.

1 reader found this review helpful

Mum, Dad & 2 Kids (14,12)
These apartments are excellent (and have been refurbished for 2007) the pool is large and fresh water. Maria & Costas the owners could not be more friendly and helpful and Rales the barman/chef/entertainer is great fun.
Food at Bella Vista is fantastic, especially Maria's stuffed tomatoes and food on their BBQ night is a must. The location is up a hill, but you need a good walk after eating so much!! There is a supermarket 400m down the hill for supplies.
There are plenty of restaurants in town. We found Minos (walk along front towards Malia on right hand side) to be the best, friendly staff and the best potatoes, cooked to a traditional family recipe apparently.
The Crepe Man is worth a visit, the kids will love the crepes and his smiley face while he cooks. Shop around for sun lounger locations as prices do vary. Visit the aqua splash water park but book through agents in town. We loved Bella Vista so much we are going again this summer. Have booked direct this time, after all what do the tour operators actually do while you are there?