Petra Mare

Very Basic Accomadation and Eating Facilities , which let this hotel down.Kids club, swimming pool and beach was fantastic. Nice size hotel everybody mixed well and in the evening everyone joined in with the entertainment. we had a great holiday but feel that the hotel could do with some updating?

The hotel was very clean and the maid changed the towels and sheets everyday. Food was good and plenty to choose from, the only thing that was dissapointing is that there wasnt proper bacon in the mornings and take english tea bags if you want a decent cup of tea. Also there were loads of flys so make sure u take fly squater, my daughter fell as sleep in her buggy and saw two flys trying to go up her nose so id take a insect net if you have babies. The nappies from the local supermaket are expensive and i paid 17.99 euros for a back of 46 nappies. The reps are Fantastic, especially Happy Hannah who my daughter loved and super Sam my eldest also like Luke. They do a great job and made the holiday even better! The kids pool was great perfect for my girls. The adult pool is very deep and not many people could stand in it. Overall we had a fab time rate the hotel at 9/10 food at 9/10 and the reps 10/10!!!

1 reader found this review helpful

This was an extra last minute holiday and our first time in Crete and to the petra mare. We had been away twice this yr already, one being in the UK, the other salou, were we had a wonderful time. Therefore i was a little apprehensive about it, as you can not always compete against good holidays you have already had!!
Journey:
We had a 3hr 40min approx night flight with our 3 yr old which was fine as he slept the journey. We then had a 2 1/2 hr transfer journey to the hotel!! which was a long winding road coach journey, with lots of wonderful mountains and views, although we could not see these as it was at night!! but again our 3yr old slept (phew)! We set off at 7.45pm fri night and arrived at 5.00am sat morning, but as this may seem a real journey the island/hotel/food/reps/acommodation/entertainment were all worth the travelling (honest).5/10
Reception:
The reception greated us on our arrival with a friendly smile, which helped and were very efficient when giving us all we needed to get to our room to catch up on sleep as soon as possible. So much so we missed breakfast that morning and the following morning due to catching up on sleep!! this didn't matter though as the snack bar was sufficient, so no worries at all. Something like would normally worry me especially with a 3yr old and needing to be fed, but really the snack bar served all our needs all day long. 8/10
Accomodation:
Our room was a standard sea view room which we had requested when booking. The room was VERY clean and i fully recommend the sea view, especially if you really don't mind the sounds of the sea first thing in a morning! this helped us feel in holiday mood :-) the room service and laundry care was excellent, clean towels every day, lovely polished floors and bathroom lovely and clean. Our 3yr olds teddie and night clothes were always positioned and folded neatly every day, after us just leaving them on the side ready for that night, which i felt was beyond duty but a nice gesture. The room was very spacious and air conditioning was lovely after a day in the sun!! Our balcony was narrow and long, enough for my husband to sit out and catch extra end of the day sun at about 4.30pm ish!! and to dry wet swim wear.
Overall accomodation is 9/10.
Facilities:
Hotel reception area is spacious and very clean with a lovely large sitting area to relax in. The balcony from reception is great to look out from especially in the evening when the sun is going down very nice for pictures. The bar area is nice and lots of space to sit down in relaxing chairs and have a drink. The all inclusive drinks are of a high standard, and although there is charge for cocktails they are worth it, my 3yr old and myself both sampled the cocktails, yes they do kids ones :-). The resteraunt was very clean and the food and drink was fantastic, different choice every night, and we had no problems finding something our 3yr old liked. dowe? egberts coffee and filtered water machines, along with friut juices, fizzy drinks, beer, and wines. Desserts were fab, my favourite if i am honest. The chef came around towards the end of our holiday to see how every one had enjoyed their food, which i thought was really good. There are cats who are around at meal times but only on the outside dinning area, and again as someone has said before feed them and you will have a friend, don't and they will pass you. There is a little shop in the hotel which has most things you may need but are more expensive than at the local supermarket about 5/10min walk away, but if you don't mind the lady in there is lovely and at the end of the day your on holiday! 9/10
pool:
The pool area is fanstastic our little one loved it, loads for him to do in the pool and in the little play area near the kids club. The area is really really clean and the snack bar and drinks provided are available all day, which is great although i did find we ate more in a day than we would normally do at home !! started my diet already! The infinity pool for adults is great to although i could not stand up, i don't think many people could. Even our little one loved swimming in here which was great as he did do some swimming! The view under the bridge and into the infinity area out to sea is fab and makes great pics to. 9/10
First choice reps:
I really can't say enough about these guys, they are all a fantastic credit to the company and deserve recognition, they all worked great as a team and never stopped smiling. Debbie,wes,luke,sam,kay,sue,hannah,kirsty,leanne,claire,laura,loren,were the team during our stay and we really thought they were fab. Great with all the kids, and always let onto you around and during the day, stopping for a chat was never an issue even though i am sure they had work to do! Debbie,luke and leanne are great singers, but work well with the rest of the team, it was definatly a whole package. A shame this group don't work together all the time. They really do organise their performances and make the entertainment interesting and a holiday to remmember. My little one lacked confidence to go into kids club, although he did go once, got the t-shirt,bag,drink bottle and hat (free) which he was very proud of and latched onto both happy hannah and kool kirsty who he talked about the whole holiday. They always made him feel special when they saw him and encouraged him to join in evening kids disco which he did do! which i thought was lovely as this was something they didn't have to do as he would not go to kids club. I REALLY REALLY can't emphasise enough how good these guys are, so if your reading guys i hope i didn't miss anyone off, if i did i am truly sorry but it goes out to you all, thankyou for a great time xx anyone who holidays with any of these reps in the future are very lucky.20/10!!
Water sports:
There are lots of water sports to do, although we did not participate, lots did and feedback was good, all seem to have a good time, and not too expensive i don't think?6/10
Trips:
The welcome meeting was good, alot of reps were there and very happy to help again, the guide was very knowledgable of crete and there were a few trips on offer one of which was chrissi island, somewhere i would have been interested in if we did not have our 3 yr old with us as they did say it is a very hot island, and my concern was sunburn! as you are out there for a good 4 hrs! also the water park, a few people we spoke to went, but did say the journey on the coach is a long one and another family we spoke to hired a car to go and got lost!! this trip maybe best done if you were staying closer to the park!6/10
Out and about:
As i mentioned earlier there is a super market locally selling most things you would need if you wanted, about 5/10min walk away, left out of hotel entrance straight ahead on your rght. We also had a walk at the back of the hotel, which was nice but a long way to souvenir shops with a 3yr old!! Also there are lots of very nice bars along here, but expensive we heard for drinks! Not very much around the hotel but to be honest the hotel has everything you need, for a relaxing, FAB, FAMILY, FUN, holiday.7/10
Locals:
All the locals seemed very nice, pleasent and helpful which is nice when your away from home.
This holiday is well recommended, we had a great time and would def go back. 10/10

Good food, I’d say 7/10, The room was fine, I’d say 6/10. The hotel overall, 8/10. Location 8/10, staff 9/10 and entertainment 8/10. Luke “future manager” and Super Sam are stuff of legend.
Go to Chrissy Island, 25 euros adults and 20 for kids. GO! Explore the town and eat in places where there are lots of Greeks, we had a meal (Kerri, Jamie Luke and I) and when expecting a 40ish euro bill were presented with a 12 euro one! Do the banana express too, jump off the cliff and get the dvd. We didn’t go but the word was to avoid the “water park” outing. Very expensive, long coach ride and some of the slides and the wave pool on the brochure aren’t there! In fairness, the biggest ones apparently are.
Kerri and I are 32 and Jamie-Luke is six we all loved it, Swim Sue will get even the least buoyant children swimming like fish, 6 euros per half hour lesson. Jamie-Luke was doing children’s activities for hours at a time, I enjoyed killer pool, quick cricket and beach volleyball activities during the day.
The all inclusive beer is nice and 4.9 percent (i saw a barrel) and the all inc spirits were ok too. Get some chocolate yazoo from the shop in the hotel and mix it with all inc brandy! (Lee’s trick). Kerri rated the wine as “OK”, I didn’t try it.
The shallow kids pool and slides meant that Jamie-Luke was often away from us with his friends whist we whiled away our day, it’s perfect for children of this age, he also got his 10 meters badge swimming in deep water in the adults pool (infinity pool) but wasn’t allowed in there unsupervised.
DO NOT LET YOUR CHILD RUN UP THE SLIDES IN THE KIDS POOL. Lots of them do, but make sure yours know better, several kids were injured, some very seriously doing this. Plaster casts, teeth through lips, the lot. It ruined a couple of holidays and is just so avoidable.
If you are reading this and have any questions or if I met you on holiday feel free to email me – jaylaugharne@gmail.com

this is the first holiday abroad we have taken my step children on and thought we would go all inclusive and we have not been disappointed. the food was superb something diff each nite. the entertainment team need a gold medal they neva stopped from am to pm. feddie luke debbie and the rest were amazing something going all day and nite. only one dissapointment there was not aqua park and that was on e of the main reasons for booking and we were neva told it had been pulled down but they had put slides and pirates ship in place so kids were happy. well worth the money. AND WE ARE GOING BACK NEXT YEAR YIPPEE CANT WAIT XX

Possible the best holiday we have ever had.
Hotel was superb, very high standard of cleanliness, food was great even for my very fussy 4 year old! Staff fantastic, reps/ents outstanding and really made the holiday.
I will be booking to go back next year and for 2 weeks instead of 1.

the hotel was very clean and the staff were pleasant the surrounding beautiful....the meals needed to be hotter.....excellent entertainment for the young.....adult entertainment needed improving (no saterlite tv)....reps need more experiance in health and saftey warning due to the hot weather over 90dec.....pool and suroundings good life guard needs to been on guard at all times not going of chatting to his friends on beach

Have just had what I can only describe as fantastic RELAXING 10 days at the Petra Mare.
The hotel is very clean - there is always someone sweeping or moping something and rooms have fresh towels daily and beds are also made daily. Staff were friendly and the receptionists were very helpful.
The food in our opinion is very good, my partners teenage daughter is quite 'particular' about food but there was always something there that she could enjoy albeit fish fingers/chips/beans/pizza which are always on the kids menu. She did venture into the daily themed menus, fried chicken one day and Souvlaki another. Desserts are fantasy land for those with a sweet tooth. Fruit syrup sponges aplenty along with choc sponge vanilla slices and different flavoured mousses. And of course various self scoop ice creams and cakes , biscuits etc. The salad bar is creaking under the weight of greenery and with various options to compliment this with sauces and dips Tzatziki (superb!), cucumber yogurt, etc and help yourself olive oil. There is always a fruit bar with sliced melon, orange etc. Other themes include fish nights, mediterranean, Greek and pasta dishes are always on. Veggies wont be dissapointed - stuffed peppers/ vine leaves and the stuffed tomatoes are superb! Breakfast choose from fruit, continental, English or be German and have everything! A few cats will join you during your meal but ignore them and they take the hint - feed them and you will become their God! And DONT say Ch Ch Ch 'cos they come out of the woodwork!
Our room was facing the sea and if you fancy that you had better like the sound of the sea cos its on your doorstep! Nothing unusual to report apart from that, the beds and pillows a tad firm perhaps but not uncomfortable.
The bar area is very pleasant, the bar man is very friendly at first until you keep asking for the local drinks - buy a cocktail and hes your best mate! You can help yourself anyway at the snack bar outside.
The pool area is the main feature with a large pool for swimmers, slides for a laugh which open for a couple hours at a time, and a kiddies pool with various amusements to keep them occupied.
When we were there the hotel was probably 2 thirds full so there was never a problem with beds.
As far as the beach goes it would have been better if the hotel had been built about 500 yards further back to give MORE beach and also reduce the noise. You will need something on your feet to go in the sea as the 1st 20 feet or so is rocky, something again they should have thought about. There are showers there and a few sun beds.
Ierapetra is a small simple village with a small array of shops and bars so don't plan on doing much there. Shopping is limited to snide tshirts/watches/belts/smellies etc.. And pics of places around Greece. A trip to Chrissi Island an hour a way is a welcome break with a proper beach and not as rocky.Google it and you will see what I mean.
All in all 10 days was enough, any longer and car hire or a few trips would be needed. (We also did Aqua Plus water park - fantastic and no ques at this time of year!)
I would recommend Petra Mare to families and not for anyone looking for great night life!
I would definitely consider going back some day.

Stayed at this hotel last week of june first week of July two weeks all inclusive. Very long drive from airport to hotel 2 hour journey.
Disappointed with hotel room very basic.
Food was OK very repetitive and poor kids menu snails one night. Ice cream was only available for 2 hours a day once gone that's it.
Had our money stolen from room the second week and also five other rooms on the same floor as us (first floor) had there money taken as well English and euro. Reported to hotel didn't want to know nor did the first choice reps really want to help.
Found out on our last day other families had cameras and camcorders stolen from around sunbeds.
We would never return to this hotel or recommend it

hi there we went to petra mare hotel in 2006 for 1 week we thought the hotel and staff were exellant and very friendly our room was cleaned every day it was the first time we had ever gone abroad and we enjoyed every minute the food was plentifull and the rooms are quite spacious we have booked to go again on the 3rd oct for two weeks nice one hotel petra mare