Troulis Apartments

I went with my sister who has some severe health problems. Although initially the apartment appeared to be too basic for her comfort, the staff couldn't have been any more wonderful in making adjustments to help us have a wonderful holiday. They arranged for extra mattresses on the very afternoon we arrived so that my sister would be able to sleep better. And when I asked if there were any stereo's or TV's that I could play my CD's through, within a morning one had appeared in our apartment. It was always clean with fresh bed linen and towels each day. We were very lucky with our apartment location so that we could sit on our balcony and enjoy the fantastic view and again, the area outside the apartments was always clean and tidy.
There were a couple of things that perhaps could have made things like showering a little easier, but I put that down to experience and now consider myself to have the knowledge of things to pack for future holidays, just in case. We ended up totally in love of our little apartment with its simplicity and comforts.
I wouldn't hesitate to go back to the Troulis Apartments in Bali, Crete and hope that all lucky enough to go there have as wonderful a time as I am my twin sister did.

We have just come back from one week in Bali staying at the Troulis Apartments. All we can say anybody thinking of having a holiday at these apartments Dont Do It.
The first room they put us in was no bigger than a broom cupboard and you were overlooked by other apartments. No light in the shower room hence very difficult to shower and shave with no light.
Next day we went to the management and asked to be moved to another room, they moved us from room 58 to room 10 which appeared larger than the other room with a much better view. However the light again did not work in the shower room hence difficult to shower and shave in the dark. The front door lock was faulty and took us ages each time we wanted to get into our room.
A man came to fix the light in the shower room some ten hours after reporting it but after he had gone it stopped working again. In addition to this the rack on the wall for the soap etc fell apart and no showers had a hook on the wall for the shower head to sit so you had to hold the shower in one hand and your soap and sponge in the other which makes it difficult to shower.
After all this I decided to sit on the balcony and when doing so the back two legs of the chair broke off injuring my back slightly, I mentioned this to the manager who said this happens in the heat. Later that day I sat on the bed and that began to fall apart underneath.
No kettle provided so if you boiled water on their basic stove it took about 30 minutes.
The pool area was very small and the whole place did not look like they portray on their web site.
In the end we decided to travel around the island and booked into hotels.
Towels only changed once during the week and general feel the place needed modernising and painting very basic indeed.
We sat round the pool area for about one hour and the umbrella we were using broke in two when we touched it due to being very rusty.
We will be going back to Crete but never again to the Troulis Apartments it is in a nutshell a nightmare.

My husband and I have just returned from our half term holiday in Bali. We had a great time and although they had had the worst storms for 40 years the previous week we arrived to super weather and it stayed like this for the whole week. We arrived very late at night because that’s what Kosmar flights are and I must admit was very disappointed at our room. It looked like it had been forgotten. It was just so austere and uninviting.
I had looked on the Troulis website and was expecting far better so after a couple of hours sleep I went to see the receptionist saying that I was not very happy and he came up with another apartment which would become free at 12 o’clock. When we went to see it, it was entirely different and had a completely different feel to it and from then on it was a fantastic holiday. The other family that arrived at the same time and were also put into these back street apartments also complained and were also re-housed. Although basic the apartment was bright and airy and overlooked the smaller of the 2 pools which we had exclusively to ourselves the whole week.
The view from our balcony was to die for, the huge sweep of the bay with the mountains towering above. There was fantastic snorkeling. We were out of season for many of the water sports especially as the weather had been so bad the previous week.
Everyone was very friendly and we ate mostly at the restaurants on the hill to the beach and a couple of times at the port which was a ten minute stroll and very pretty.
One thing to mention which was brilliant was that you could buy breakfast for 4 euros per adult and 2 for children and eat as much as you like and there was loads and also make your sandwiches for lunch!
We hired a Jimny from the car rental next to the apartments and we were very pleased with it and did not have to give it back until 8pm on the day we left and we could park it right outside the apartments. We were also allowed to keep the apartment for the extra day probably because it was basically the last week of the season but it was very helpful not to have to be out by 12 when our flight wasn't til 5 in the morning.
I would definitely recommend The Troulis unless you ended up with the top apartments on the back street.

Before you read these comments let me first say, Bali is a lovely resort with super people and I would definitely recommend going. Having read the comments from previous visitors we did expect a bit better accommodation than we ended up with.
We arrived unfortunately in a power cut at 4 in the morning having been kept on the bus at the airport for an hour. We were told by Trevor the greeter that we would be dropped at the Troulis apartments and he would be along ASAP. After a 40 minute wait at the top of the hill in the pitch black he arrived, ushered us to our apartment, opened the door and announced "I'll leave you to feel your way around" and departed, never to be seen again. The next day we were given the "welcome" by Sarah the rep which consisted of her telling us that she had not visited half the places on the map and asking us to "turn around, I don't like talking to the back of your heads". Luckily we didn't see her again until nearly the end of our holiday.
The apartment was very basic but clean. We probably had the worst view of any of the apartments as we looked out onto the car park one side and faced directly into the restaurant, about 5 yards away on the other. The pots, cutlery etc were a mixed bunch and grubby so I would not recommend you expect to cater for yourself if you go there although the fridge was very handy for a nice cool drink on an evening and with the wonderful cheap tavernas you really don't want to do any cooking anyway. I do honestly think all the other apartments had nice views and that we were unlucky.
However, you will find Bali a lovely place with the usual friendly Greek people. We liked to walk over towards the harbour on a night for a drink and meal as the tavernas there are small and cozy but if you like a more lively night then take a walk down the hill to the larger bars and restaurants.
All the beaches are clean with plenty of loungers and parasols at a cost of 3 euros each. If you do go a bit further past the harbour you will find Evita beach which is tiny and pretty, and also has a couple of small tavernas.
If you can hire a car or get a bus to Elounda to take the ferry to Spinalonga the old leper colony we would highly recommend it. This island is featured in the book The Island and is also the setting for an old TV serial Who Pays the Ferryman. If you pay the 5 euros for the guided tour it is well worth it as you find out lots of interesting information from the helpful guides who speak good English.
Rethymnon is an excellent shopping town. If you take the boat from the harbour to the caves you don't get much time there and the caves are not what I would call impressive but it's a nice tranquil outing and they stop at a small beach on the way back for you to dive off the boat. If you want to get some decent shopping time take a car or bus there instead. The best buys are local honey, olive oil and raki (local alcohol).
The shops in Bali itself are small but really do have all you need the owners are friendly and welcoming like everyone else in Bali.
All in all I would return to this lovely little resort but would just hope that I got a better sited apartment the next time.

To anyone thinking of going to Troulis in Bali all i can say is JUST DO IT! You won’t be disappointed. The apartments are excellent with comfortable bed, fridge, plenty of drawers and cupboards and all come with balcony or terrace. The TV and Air conditioning are payable locally, Air Con is worth the money 65 Euros per fortnight but if you're English don’t bother with the TV as there is only one English channel ( BBC News 24 ).
Troulis is very very clean and tidy mostly marble which keeps it cool and the rooms are cleaned every day we had three lots of bedding and towel changes in the two weeks. The family who run Troulis are very friendly and helpful and a supermarket which sells most of what you want is right opposite the entrance.
The nearest beach is about 50 metres down "Cardiac Hill" yeah its steep but worth the walk to a beautiful sandy beach with 3 or 4 tavernas. No-one bothers you trying to drag you in. The best Taverna by far is KYMA, the second on the right at the bottom of the hill right opposite where the beach starts it is literally 20 feet from the beach and the food and Rose wine are first class ( Try Beef Fillet Garlic YUM! ) Complimentary Raki or Metaxa at the end of all meals, prices are very reasonable. Also watch out for the doughnut seller on the beach who sells a flavour of doughnut that he invented called " Bomboloni " even the locals don’t know what it means , I’ll say no more about him but lets just say you will find yourself mimicking him after a few days.
About a 10 minute walk the other way is the harbour which is very picturesque, this contains about 10 to 12 further Tavernas and a few bars with a few souvenir shops and supermarkets on the way. Bali is not really for teenagers as there is nothing for them to do, it is more a coupley resort, someone asked me at Heraklion Airport what we found to do for the fortnight and I replied " ABSOLUTELY NOTHING " cause that’s how it is, if you just want a relaxing holiday of sun beach food and a few beers then this is for you as Bali is 30 miles per hour slower than you’ll be used to.
Having said that if you do want the odd day out there are bus and boat trips available, The sunset cruise on the catamaran is highly romantic and recommended unless your wife is seasick on a flat calm sea like mine was!!!!!!!!!
We stayed in the same apartments in 2004 and did look at other places for this year but nothing compared so we went back, the place just gets you hooked, once will not be enough and you will fall in love with this beautiful ( if small ) resort.
Roy & Claire

About 45 minutes from Heraklion airport (which took ages to get our bags through from the plane) we arrived in Bali at about 8.00am. Having been travelling since 10pm the night before we were quite weary but as the coach dropped down into Bali town we immediately knew we had made the right choice of holiday.
The very nice Kosmar rep (Lotti) showed us to our room, which overlooked the main pool. In fact, if you look on the troulis website our room was to the right of the big tree and on the ground floor on the picture next to where it says facilities.
The rooms, although basic were comfy and clean with a fridge and cooker (which we never used). Air Conditioning was an option at 35 euros for the week. It’s highly recommended as it stays very warm at night.
We found that the nicest place to eat was Psarapoulis, which is on the way down to the beach on the very steep hill. They are really friendly and the food is great - in fact, all the places were very good but this seemed to have that little edge.
The beach nearest the main hotel is down a steep hill. It has plenty of sunloungers for everyone, which cost about 3 euros for the day each. Jet Skis, Pedalos and canoeing is also available from here.
The harbour is beautiful and very sleepy. Some more excellent food and drink and also a fair few boat trips are available from here. I would highly recommend that you try the Sunset Cruise on a catamaran with Captain Lefeteris. It’s a beautiful way to spend the evening watching the sun go down and seeing the stars come out. The Captain is a top bloke who kept us topped up with wine and fruit on the whole journey. He’ll also give out sea sickness tablets just in case anyone needs them.
The other cruise we took was the Lazy Day cruise also on the Catamaran. Again, the Captain keeps you well topped up with drink and snacks until you get to the amazing sea caves, which he’ll take you inside on a smaller boat. Swimming for about an hour in the fantastically clear water and then a beautiful lunch at a restaurant about 30 minutes down the coast.
I believe that they call Bali the Undiscovered Resort. I can wholeheartedly agree with this as the whole place really does have a very relaxed atmosphere about the place. My wife and I will definitely be back there and I would highly recommend it to anybody who wants to chill out for a couple of weeks. As it says in the other review though, it’s not the place to go if you have trouble walking up steep hills.