Name: Carisa Maleme
Price range: from £0pp (7 nights includes flights and transfers)

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Pool

I visit Crete every year to spend time with my Grandparents who live there, I have stayed in many places around Chania and would absolutely recommend the area to all. This was our first time staying at the Carisa Maleme as a group of 3 women in our 30s. Firstly, there are a lot of positives about the hotel:
- our room was lovely, really good sized and with 2 bathrooms - which made getting ready as 3 women much easier! our room also opened out on to a small, quiet pool which was great
- the location is great, it is situated in close proximity to Maleme and Gerani and a couple of minutes walk to a small, shingle beach
- there is a local bus which stops directly outside the hotel and takes you into the bigger resorts of Platanias and Chania, the bus runs like clockwork and is easy to use 
- all of the staff were lovely, they were pleasant and helped where they could
- breakfast was good, well stocked, lots of choice and fresh - slightly different options each day too which was nice. We also had snacks on a couple of days when they were available and they were nice, although there is only a very small menu (pizza, couple of sandwiches and a greek salad)

However, there were a number of issues we felt let the hotel down, it was really apparent that the hotel was newly opened and it felt that a lot of the practicalities and processes at the hotel had not been fully thought through:

- we arrived on a night flight which had also been delayed, when we arrived, check in was quick but we were not offered any refreshments, no water at all and the fridge to buy water was locked for the night. The night porter did unlock everything for us but as the only member of staff working it meant that check in for others was delayed. It is pretty standard to offer guests at least water after a night flight, especially as we did not arrive until 3am. (we booked bed and breakfast so was not all inclusive and I wouldnt have expected anything more than a glass or small bottle of water each) but to have nothing when no other shops are open was really frustrating.
- The pool bar has very limited opening hours, the drinks fridge was locked at breakfast time and the opening hours stated snack time 12.30 - 3.30pm and happy hour 4-5pm, after that, the bar closed. We are not ones for staying around the hotel all day and night but it was frustrating that we could not get a drink or snack outside of these hours, we couldnt get a drink before our evening out or when we arrived back. There were numerous times when we were waiting for a bus or taxi for our evening when a nice drink around the pool would have been lovely but it just wasnt possible - aside from anything else, the hotel must be missing out on a lot of money by forcing guests to go elsewhere!
- Different staff clearly had very individual roles, if that member of staff was not around, service was very difficult - the lady on reception was great but was not around all the time and if she was out, no one else was able to help - for example, we wanted to pay our lunch tab one day but were unable to because the reception lady was not present, we also wanted to arrange somewhere to shower on our last day - but this was not possible as she was not around. Both of this issues happened at around 10am - If staff are going to have specific roles, with no one else trained they need to be accessible at least during the day - core hours. 
- Finally, we had a late pick up time for our flight home and were not able to pay to keep our room due to the hotel being booked, this is absolutely fine, we had been told that there was a shower room available. In other hotels, this would be a bookable room to ensure everyone was able to access it, we were told this was not needed and that the room would be available. When we came to use the room at 4pm it was occupied and we had to wait around for over an hour before we could access it, this meant that one of our party didnt have time to shower before our flight. It isnt an issue that the room was busy but the process for access just wasnt in place, it is standard to book the room to ensure fair access to all who need it and we had asked numerous times before the day what the process was and how we accessed it to ensure it ran smoothly for us and it just didnt happen.

Overall we had a lovely holiday as we always do, but we wouldnt stay at the Carisa again, despite the positives. It is a real shame as the location is great and the hotel has potential to be fab, it just feels like some of the practicalities need a bit more work and it caused us inconveniences that were just unnecessary!


Potential to be great!

Overall a nice hotel. We stayed in room 101 lovely size balcony not looked over by anyone very generous size, aircon was inclued we had 2 units in our room it was cleaned daily. There was a good selection for breakfast, and plenty of drinks to choose from in the bar, around the pool was kept clean.

They accommodated a shower room on our last day as we were not been collected until 8pm. All the staff were really friendly.

Little niggle which with a 3 year old meant we couldn't relax, the tiles around the pool were not none slip and on a few occasions other guests had accidents slipping and banging there head. This was always water on the floor around the bar/breakfast area was no water was cleaned up just a wet floor sign was placed every day.

Overall we had a nice stay but don't think we would return to the hotel again.



Holiday with a 3 year old

Wonderful hotel and very friendly and professional staff!
 Three pools, nice sea view room, comfortable beds.
The beach is two minutes from the hotel.
The beach has small stones but it's very clean. 



Perfect vacation

Review based on 4 days stay for a couple in Sept 2023.

The hotel is very quiet, with modern furniture, three superb swimming pools, nice pool bar with great cocktails.
The most important thing is the staff who are polite, very friendly and helpful.

Relaxing hotel

The hotel was great and I would definitely recommend it!!
It is right next to the beach, quiet, clean, it is a good place to be!
The staff is very kind and very helpful! Best service ever!
Nice breakfast and cocktails!

Grandes profesionales

Within walking distance from the sea, in a virgin piece of land, with the breathtaking view of Lefka Ori mountain range in the background, Carisa Maleme by the sea hotel is situated. A luxury haven in the area of Maleme Chania, in the region of Pyrgos Psilonerou, has been established to accommodate all visitors willing to indulge in an exceptional vacation experience and bask in a wide range of modern facilities, capable of satisfying the most demanding and sophisticated traveler.

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Carisa Maleme