Silva Maris

The hotel was fantastic. The 2 pools were big so it was just great, and the food was just so delicious, and it was never the same. And you could just take soda and ice cream when ever you want it. The beach law right next to one of the 2 bars, so you had a great view from there. The room was also good and big. Go to the hotel, you will love it!

We booked through a romanian agency a 7-night hollyday at Silva Maris in Hersonissos, Crete, in august last summer (2 family and a child). Honestly, we choose Hersonissos based on greek's 'crete island' sites (mainly because of mixture of entertainment and relax oportunities), and this hotel upon surprinsingly good position on Tripadvisor popularity index. Both arguments were accurate, as the holliday was best we had so far. Crete is an excellent tourist destinations : we went to Prevelli, Santorini and Heraklion, all worth paying a visit. Silva Maris is a cretan village-type resort, amenities correspond to hotel presentations (a small private beach, pools, bars etc) We booked a pool-view room (which we got exactly), stuff were friendly, communicative and helpful (I think a feature for cretans). Rooms have a specific cretan design (one might find it out-of-date), a bit small but cosy. Food was excellent, and all-inclusive services that we bought made us a good impressions about the bar also. Recommended !

I know this sounds stupid, but it seriously is the best holiday i have ever had. I'm only young but have travelled alot, this hotel is perfect if u like all day and night entertainment, nice food, and furthermore they don't out ice cubes in all your drinks so you don't get the 'holiday tummy' like you do everywhere else. The entertainment was fantastic with darts, shuffleboard, pool, archery, riffleshooting and best of all the cocktail game that varied from day to day! Overall the hoilday was amazing and the staff are the friendliest people i have ever met, i cried when i had to leave, and i don't cry very often. The trips out were awsome, TAKE A BOAT TRIP!

My husband and I and our friends stayed at this lovely hotel for four days. The staff was so hospitable. We were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary with our best man and his partner and this hotel was the only one that responded to our request to make sure we were all together and that we had a double bed. They greeted us when we checked in by congratulating us on our anniversary. The only hotel that acknowledged our requests. They had a bowl of fruit waiting for us and some wine. The food in the restaurant was very good, we all really enjoyed it - the room was clean and everything functioned well. The front desk staff was always very helpful and always very friendly. The location was the best. We would all go back to Crete and stay at this hotel for two weeks. Loved it.

Stayed at the Silva Maris since our travel agency Air Transat gave us a upgrade from the horrible Venus Melena hotel. the Silva Maris is a 4 star hotel but could easily rate as a 5 star hotel. Spotless, nice pools, nice rooms, great service, nice beach, close to everything in town. A oasis of tranquility, at the front of the hotel a busy district with restaurants, shops and after you go through the reception hall, a heaven of tranquility and good taste, very nice architecture and good food. I would definitely recommend this hotel to friends and family.

Just returned from the hotel. After last year's disastrous holidays in Tunisia we weren't expecting anything outstanding. However, the time spent there, in general, was a positive experience. Being quite a picky guy I could point out a few weak areas but fortunately these couldn't outnumber good ones. LOCATION - one of the best in Hersonissos, within the comfortable walking distance to downtown where all the cafeterias, tavernas and discos are located. Because Silva Maris is situated right on the main and very busy street one can get an instant thought of all this disturbing noise that might affect the guests. Not true! The hotel is built in such a way as to seperate the apartments from any noise. None of the rooms have street view. HOTEL -It resembles a typical Greek village with its own narrow streets and paths. Quite old but well maintained. Rooms all right but nothing outstanding, bathrooms clean although quite a few times we've come across ants, A/C very annoying as it was very loud, may disturb your sleep unless you are tired. Housekeeping lady did a good job. Two pools on the premises, very nice and deep (I loved it). Get a beach chair early! The beach quite disappointing - small and rocky, but still the best in Hersonissos. Water clean. FOOD - good to very good but after some time might get boring. Tables set up neatly, staff very efficient, first time that I saw Maitre d' working like a waiter setting up the tables, good thing - tableclothes were changed after each guest. I would say restaurant staff were the most helpful of all in spite of having a few reasons not to. The tipping is not customary, from what I noticed, but that didn't change their attitude. ENTERTAINMENT - even though I had some sympathy for those guys I can rate the product they deliver as average to below average. Sorry, but most of the jokes and sketches were primitive and pathetic and Bingo is not any sort of animation for me. The MINI CLUB for children was a HUGE disappointment! Unless your kid speaks Dutch or German there's no point in sending your little one there. English is mostly not spoken, girls there have very little idea how to keep the kids busy and entertain them, most of the time they give out blank sheets, pencils and ask kids to draw, then chat between themselves, all of the games they introduce are aimed for older kids so the young ones have hard time to follow. RECEPTION DESK - very helpful and assisting, polite, professional. No wonder - first impression is hard to forget. As said before the overall experience has been a positive one. We were looking for a nice-located hotel with professional service, not being disturbed, quiet and lazy days laying in the sun, decent food and a pool for our daughter. We got most of what we wanted.

We had the opportunity to stay at the Silva Maris for 4 nights from August 20th onwards. We were very pleased with our room, which was neat, and very clean. The hotel staff went out of their way to send a lovely fruit basket for us to celebrate our recent wedding. We booked this hotel through Nolitours in Toronto. The pool was lovely, plenty of beach chairs and the beach, although rocky was a nice retreat from all the kids in the pool. It is very family friendly and the staff are exceptional nice and the service was great. The only downfall was the food. We found that after 2 days being there the food got borning. It was the same buffet food day in and day out. There is plenty to choose from, but the selection never really changed. If you ate dinner one night, you could expect the same menu the next night! My husband and I took to eating out most nights in typical Greek restaurants. The breakfast was very good I might add. The pasta (being from an Italian background) was very bland and needed some salt. The sauce too needed some work. But all in all, I would return and stay there again as the location is ideal and the service excellent.

As a part of a cruise to Greek Island we stayed 4 days at Silva Maris in October 2005. That pretty hotel is very well located in Hersonnissos. All services are nearby. The whole complex is colorful and the gardens are great. Although the beach is small, the location is beautiful and you have a great view on the shore. Two big pools with bars around. Main dining room is spacious and buffet is great for greek food lovers. You can reserve "À la carte" dinning for more elaborated choice. Our room was spacious, quiet and very clean. I recommend that hotel without hesitation to everyone.

We stayed at the Silva Maris for 7 nights from August 31 to September 7. The check in process was completed within 5 minutes and we were on our way. The property itself is very attractive. It is more expansive than one would guess, and very, very clean. There are two pools, both of them are sparkling and well maintained. The guest rooms are quite modest and we were a little disappointed with the bathroom. Our room had only a shower stall and despite our best efforts we found that we continually flooded the bathroom each time we showered. Our friends had a room with a bathtub so that might be worth asking for. Each room has a little balcony and we really enjoyed ours. The beds are comfy and the sheets are fresh and crisp. The air conditioning worked well. There is no inroom safe but you can get a safety deposit box from the front desk. The food was quite good and there are snacks at both bars throughout the day (the one closest to the ocean had better snacks) so you can always find something to eat even when the restaurants are closed. One of the people in our group requires a gluten free diet and the hotel was very accommodating. The bar service was fairly speedy in spite of being understaffed (only one bartender on staff most of the time). The beach itself is nothing special and we didn't spend any time there. Perhaps the largest disappointment was the absence of any "cooking classes" as described on the website, as well as the animation team which had very few offerings compared to other places we've stayed - and what was offered was not of particular interest to us. The staff were extremely friendly and customer oriented. One of the things that we really appreciated is that the hotel will pack you a picnic lunch if you are going to be out for the day. It was excellent and plentiful. One day we were being picked up at 5:20am for an excursion and they even delivered breakfast to our room the night before in addition to having our lunch ready to go at 5am. Wow - that was impressive! One thing that surprised us is that they use real glass instead of plastic cups. We weren't crazy about having glass by the pool so we always made a point of requesting a plastic cup. The hotel is well located and within easy walking distance of anything you might need. In summary, we liked the Silva Maris and we would definitely consider returning if we vacation in Crete in the future. A trip advisor member from Winnipeg, Canada

The Silva Maris has a lovely sea front setting beside a sandy beach, though water shoes are useful as its rocky in the water. But on a calm day so safe that children can snorkel and watch the fish while mum is just a couple of feet away on her sunbed! Food is available all day. In the restaurant there is a wide choice, local dishes to try and hot plates to eat it from. At the cliff edge bar you can have healthy fruit or delicious pastries with a fabulous view, There are lots of activities from aqua gym to boules and darts to water polo run by a sparkling and friendly animation team. Evening entertainment starts with a popular kids disco followed by live song and dance, games and sketches the animation team encourage everyone to join in the fun. When the hotel settles for the night and diligent security staff ensure you have a peaceful night. The friendly staff and clean, beautiful surroundings ensure you have a relaxing holiday. The relaxation could be increased by a few more sun umbrellas, avoiding the need to save one before breakfast, and by a few more seats in the bar/entertainment area (it was standing room only in high season!) It was a shame that the Restaurant dress code was not enforced as dinner was too good to be eaten in beach clothes.