Petra Mare

this is the best holiday we have ever had. we have been coming here for the past 3 years running all the time bringing different friends each time. this time there were 35 of us and not one of those people didnt enjoy it. the staff were amazing from entertainment to kids club to bar/restaurant staff and even the cleaners. i keep reading all the negative reports from people and i am wondering what they want from their holidays. we are your average working class family that saves all year round and we enjoy the best in life and i can assure you this is one of the best. we will definately be coming back year after year as there is nothing wrong here. we have already booked for this year and all 35 of us are coming again. well done to you all and look forward to seeing you again soon.

A load of rubbish, not the holiday, some of the previous bad comments. Hotel fantastic, clean. Pools great, food excellent (especially desserts), cats in dining area (cats clean and friendly, do these people who complain not own pets) only on outside area, they will not come into indoor dining room.
Go with confidence to this hotel it is fab. I read all the reviews and was a bit nervous. Go on boat trip to Spinalonga.
Only problem was 18 hour delay when aircraft broke down on return trip, however we were put into a good hotel by Thomas Cook overnight, meals drinks and treated the delay as an extra day to the holiday.

This was the best holiday we've ever had. There were 9 of us in total and none of us wanted to come home.
The rooms were spacious and clean (well worth the extra for a sea view), with fresh towels everyday and the beds changed every other day.
The food was pretty much the same every day but with such a huge choice of hot meats, veg and potatoes, or something off the salad bar it never felt repetitive.
You get used to drinking out of plastic cups, far better than someone getting hurt but the mixers were a bit rubbish so we just bought a bottle of coke each night.
The entertainment in the main area was embarrassingly awful (avoid adult pantomime nights at all costs!) but El Paso bar at the top end was great fun; more relaxed with fun quizzes and karaoke.
The beach is beautiful but the rocks are very sharp so wear sandals especially in the water. The snorkelling was one of our highlights.
We didn't go on any trips, as we were happy just chilling round the pool all day.
We will definitely return here again.

Just returned from 10 days at Petra Mare and was pleasantly surprised. Reading the reviews before we went, I wondered what I'd let us in for!!
Yes the transfer to the hotel is tiresome and Heraklion airport some what of an adventure to say the least, this was only a small part of the holiday.
Hotel was clean, rooms cleaned daily with clean towels daily and bed linen changed 3 times a week. Rooms need bit of updating and re decoration but more that suitable for sleeping and showering in.
Appreciate the comments about the food, this did get bit repetitive towards the end of the holiday, and guess the speciality became a good game, but there was plenty of food to cater for ever one. My 9 year old is a very fussy eater but she loved the food!!
The fact the drinks in the snack bar are served from plastic cups is bit of inconvenience, but it’s better than children or adults slicing their feet open on smashed glasses.
Hotel staff very friendly except man in hotel shop, miserable and rude and would probably give Victor Meldrew a run for his money!! We tended to avoid going in there if he was serving.
First choice reps great - wavelength rep Chris was fantastic. At one point he had only 2 kids in the club but he still kept them occupied and entertained. Bonnie & Andy were fantastic (Lexi left half way through our stay) and although the shows weren't west end quality, they done really well and kept us entertained every night.
I do think some of the people that have left negative comments need to remember that have booked a 3+ * hotel/accommodation. If they want a different varied menu every night with crystal glasses to drink from and West End style musical productions to keep every one entertained then maybe they should look more at 5* hotels in the future!!
All in all we had an excellent holiday, which was great value for money and would definitely return again.

Well what can I say? Food and drinks were rubbish, pool full of dirt. My son & husband didn’t eat for 5 days; well, what little boy of 9 can eat snails - he normally squashes them not eat them. But hey we found a supermarket & spent another £400.00 on food, after all the hols only cost us £3400 of hard savings.
The entertainment, well what can I say? Rubbish! Excrement in the pool at least 5 times in our 10 day stay. The drinks were cheap and nasty, even had to buy coke. Rooms were clean, but if you go to the hotel don’t let them put you in room 104, it has a generator right outside. Sleep? I don’t think so!
There is nothing near the hotel. I forgot there are building sites with half finished hotels every where. There were very limited drinks available for adults and even had to use plastic cups. The food was just disgusting; we never saw bacon - it was fried, cold meat from the night before. Dinner time every day was pasta, then at night it was put in a sauce, fatty under cooked turkey, or so the sign said, pork for dinner time & in a sauce for evening meal. Good old chips every day & night. There was never any decent fruit, butter & jam for breakfast was just slopped on a plate for the kids to draw pictures in!
They are big animal lovers at the Petra Mare and there were cats in the dinning room and a poor dog round the pool area at night, or was the dog the entertainment for the kids. If you’re going to this hotel the supermarket is over the road and just up the street - there are fridges in the rooms to keep your shopping in.
Would we go back? Not on your life! Forgot to say, the airport ! Never in all the times I’ve been away have I seen an airport like it ! You even have to check your own baggage in, put it through the scanner while the women checking it chats to her mate!

I have just arrived home today and thought I would have to set a few things straight. I booked this hotel without reading any reviews and when I finally got round to reading some I was a little worried as some people really disliked this hotel.
Well we didn’t, I am 28 my husband 32, children 2 and 10 and my mum and dad in their 40's. We have a great time.
Hotel was very clean, pools were lovely and cool for those very hot days. (A shame they are all salt water). Slides great fun.
Take you own plastic beaker, you can’t get enough beer in there cups they supplied. The food was ok, we tried most things people that say it was the same every day probably piled their plates with everything on the first days, spread the food out, didn’t have a bad meal.
Some of the locally drinks are a little strange tasting, Rum was sometimes bearing a resemblance to TCP. Vodka and Sprite is lovely. Meals at the pool side bar were always the same, pizza, chips, sausage and pasta, but you can make mean chip butties and you can always go in the main hotel for a large selection, salad and coleslaws are nice.
The beach and water sports are great fun and the trip to Chrissi Island well worth it, go to Long Island beautiful beach and bath warm sea.
As for Lerapetra, a week probably enough as not much in the town, but at least they don’t bother you too much to eat in the Taverna's when you are wearing your Petra Mare Red Wrist Band, which by the way is deadly if you catch you skin to it.
All in all 9/10. It loses 1 point on the smell you get now and again from the drains(not their fault) and please if you go there help them out they work so hard to keep it clean, use the bins, I witnessed so many people throwing rubbish on the floor.
Watch your towels Germans out at 5 and steal yours if left out.
Have a good holiday.

Overall the rooms and hotel were clean and tidy; our room was cleaned every day. The room did have air conditioning and a fridge. The food supplied was nice but not a great deal of choice, the self serve for drinks was very handy.

The reps were very helpful and at times couldn’t do enough if we had any problems. The evening entertainment wasn’t the best and we usually found ourselves going else were for a bit more excitement.

The pools there are of a good standard with several water slides, there was life guards on duty at all times which is reassuring, beach right next to you, so not far too walk.
Would we go back there? Probably, but not our first choice.

Having read reviews I was a little anxious before we went. Do not believe everything you read, we had a great 10 days.
Fantastic weather, great location, pool, or beach. The food was good with plenty of choice and the snack bar by the big pool keeps everyone going.
Plastic cups are needed around a pool area! Staff friendly and polite.
Didn't have a sea view but no time spent in room apart from sleep.
Twins of 11 who did the disco in the evening but did not do any day time clubs. Water slides great, operating 2 hours morning and afternoon (fully supervised) did a couple of day trips.
A relaxing holiday.

Just returned from a week at this fantastic hotel. There were 8 of us in total and it was the best holiday we had ever been on. There is nothing we could complain about.
The sea view room was breath taking, the entertainment excellent and the children's clubs were brilliant, the reps worked really hard at ensuring the children had a magnificent time. There was plenty of nice food to eat all day long, only downfall being the children's selection being fairly limited.
Bonnie, Alexia, Andy and Antonia worked really hard in the evenings to ensure there was plenty of entertainment happening and that everyone was getting involved.
The children's club provided different parties (which we didn’t mind paying for) for the children which were great and the children really enjoyed going to them, especially going to bugs bunny’s party.
The brochure doesn’t give this hotel justice, it is a magnificent place to go with lots to do which I would recommend highly to anyone looking for a fun holiday!
Only regret we have is not going for two weeks and only being there for one!

After reading all the reviews we went with an open mind. The hotel itself was kept very clean with the rooms being cleaned daily.
All rooms have aircon; leave the electronic tag in the wall when you’re out in the day to keep the aircon and fridge working.
The maid even insisted on cleaning up after my young daughter had been sick in the room one night, and wouldn’t accept any money for her trouble so can’t fault their helpfulness.
The food was repetitive and lacked imagination because nothing went together as such, but hey we didn’t starve, it was all eatable. (It was lovely eating your dinner on the open terrace watching the sea come in).
The snack bar was handy during the day but the food didn’t vary much. It was handy serving yourself to wine and beer throughout the day, plastic cups are a must around the pool as from previous holidays I have seen the damage broken glass can do to numerous feet.
The reps... Did find out that they had only been there a few months and their inexperience showed, didn’t help that none of them had a suntan which might explain why in the two weeks we was there nobody bothered to arrange any pool games/entertainment (apparently when one was asked why nothing was happening she replied that the hotel wasn’t busy enough).
Must admit we didn’t sit around for the "night entertainment" we spent our nights at the El Paso bar at the far end of the hotel which was quieter and less rowdy.
The pools were great there was three in total plus the water slides. There was lifeguards on duty all the time they was open and all three pools was emptied and cleaned in the two weeks we was there.
The beach was right on the doorstep so even when you was in the pool or lying on the sunbed you could look out to sea.
It is a place I would consider going back to once I’ve viewed the rest of the world and we did enjoy our time there, but hey we wouldn’t be British if we didn’t have something to complain about!