Istron Bay Hotel

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We have taken an early season two week holiday to a 4 or 5 star hotel somewhere in Greece in each of the last 4 years, and I would rate this as the best.
Key plus features about the hotel are:
The food, which is the best of the 4 Greek hotels we have visited: it is more Greek than most tourist hotels (which not everybody will like, but we do), and dinners are not entirely buffet (most days have buffet only for starters and desserts; not everybody will like that, but we do, as we feel that the best food does not come from buffets!)
The location: views are the best I have known for any hotel, and there is a private sandy beach.
Key minus points are:
The location: those who like to walk out of their hotel for evening entertainment will find they can't, as the location is somewhat isolated (15 mins walk to Istron village, where you can eat well enough, but it is not a lively resort). We knew that before we went and were happy with that, but for some people, this would not do at all.
The hotel is family-owned, not part of a chain, built 1980 (and an annex with suites in 1995), approx 140 rooms. They seem to have had a very skilled architect, who made a design such that the hotel is built into the cliff so the beautiful bay was not spoiled. The main entrance to the hotel with reception is on the top floor, with rooms below, all of which have sea views. The architect's skill shows even in the design of the two restaurants, where the tables further from the window are a couple of steps higher, so that customers at tables furthest from the window still have excellent sea views.
There are two restaurants: the main restaurant, high in the hotel (the floor below reception) and the Meltemi beach restaurant, where guest in the superior rooms and suites take dinner. This was the first time we had opted to pay extra for a superior room, and in this hotel, you get your money's worth. In most hotels, a superior room will just be a little larger, perhaps a better view, perhaps wine and a fruit basket on arrival, but at this hotel it is all of those things plus use of the superior Meltemi restaurant. The menu is the same, but the benefit of a superior location to eat, uncrowded access to the buffet, and being served by the more experienced staff, is well worth having.
The hotel prides itself for its food, and even small details are better: for example, fruit was always fresh, not over-ripe; the Greek desserts, although they looked like the same as other hotels, they tasted better (not excessively sweet as is sometimes the case). Some guests had a minor gripe at breakfast time about not having tea made (hot water is served and there are tea bags on tables), but remember this is not England and less than half the guests are English! Normal pattern for dinner is soup served to your table, starters from the buffet, choice of 3 main courses from the menu (1 meat, 1 fish, 1 vegetarian), and desserts/fruit/cheese from the buffet. About twice a week, there is barbecue evening or grand buffet where all guests eat at one location.
The mix of guests is 40% British, 40% German/Austrian, 20% French/Italian/Other. British tour operators using this hotel are Simply Travel and Simpson's. We were with Thomas Cook from Düsseldorf.
Apart from being a beautiful location, it is a handy location to explore all of Eastern Crete with a rental car. We rented from a small company in Agios Nikolaos where we assumed there would be more price competition than Istron village which only has one car rental company, although we still paid a bit more than would have been the case in a large resort like Malia. For those who don't want to drive, there is a bus stop right outside the hotel (1.20 euros one way to Agios Nikolaos in comfortable new buses).