Alai Crete

We have just returned from a lovely 12 night stay at this hotel. The hotel is in the best location by the beach. Lovely,comfortable sunbeds by the pool and beach. No trouble getting a sunbed on the beach,but a little harder on the front row, especially when we were there as some were blocked by groups of people who spread out,taking up half of the beach.

Friendly staff,especially Irini who had me in stitches,but everyone in the restaurant was lovely, I just didn't spot their names. Sports on the front desk always shouted out a greeting each morning,but the guy in a blue stripped shirt,who apparently was the manager never spoke,greeted or acknowledged us. Our room ( 726) was lovely and spacious with an amazingly spacious and comfortable bed had everything we could possibly need. Cleaned every day to the highest of standards, and complimentary water left every day. We were bed and breakfast, and I feel that there could be some improvement here. They frequently ran out of things such as low fat yoghurts. I asked for an egg white omlet one day and was told they didn't have any. You have eggs I asked? Yes, they replied, but cannot make you an egg white omlet as we don't know what to do with the egg yolks!!! The chefs were making scrambled eggs by the bucket load,so surely the yolksould be used for this. They did make me one in the end and it was delicious, much better than the powdered stuff. Hardly any choice for non meat eaters. They ran out of smoked salmon as well during the week. Dry cake and pastries which is unusual for a Marriote Hotel as they usually excellent in breakfasts. The grumpy manager should take himself up to Piskopiano to the Amazone hotel to see how to do breakfasts! Basic accommodation, but the br3akfasts are sublime!! One issue I had after arriving in the very early hours of Monday morning after a long flight and nearly two hour transfer ( really jet2) !! the guy that checked us in who was a real sweetheart, insisted that we had to pay the tourist tax now and not in the morning. We had to fill out a form with all our personal details at nearly 3am!ond We were really tired and just wanted to get to bed, but he said he would be in trouble if we didn't do this, He took our cases to the room and showed us round. We were given a courtesy room on our last day to shower as we had a late flight. All in all a beautiful hotel,just needs a few tweaks. A book shelf for instance, were guests can leave their holiday reads for other guests Would make the hotel less corporate.Stallis is a beautiful resort, with lots of lovely restaurants. I would highly recommend Kostos ( on the beach,not the village one) as the food is amazing and he brews his own beer ,blonde and dark, and if you are a real ale fan you will love it!

We have just returned from a lovely week at the Alai. It's a beautiful hotel in a beautiful setting right on the beach in Stalis. Our room seemed a bit smaller than expected at first but it was well appointed and furnished with style so we soon got used to it. We had a sea view from the balcony which was a nice touch overlooking the pool and hotel gardens. Had some trouble adjusting the air con system but settled to using the ceiling fan and left the balcony door open which was refreshing with a cool breeze coming from the beach. All the staff work very hard to make sure you enjoy your stay. They are friendly and helpful at all times especially in the dining room where we had breakfast. And I would like to mention Nadja a lovely helpful person, I think she is a customer services manager, who made sure everyone was enjoying their stay. The breakfast system is a bit confusing at first . It's mainly self service but you are greeted by the staff and asked about drinks and how you would like eggs. The food is beautifully presented and there is ample choice to suit all. There are plenty of sunbeds around the pools and on the beach , going in June this was ok , don't know if sufficient in high season though. All in all we had a really enjoyable stay.

Just one tip if you are getting a private Transfer to airport...keep a lookout for drivers arriving while you are waiting in reception. A driver arrived at the hotel but didn't approach us he went to reception, then went in and out of hotel looking at his phone. Even when my husband told him our name he seemed to ignore this. The reception staff knew we were sitting there waiting for a tranfer . After about 15 minutes the manager of reception asked us what we were waiting for and told us that the driver was waiting outside for us, ...such a stupid waste of time!! Very annoying and could have been avoided if only the driver was carrying a sign with our name on, like you see at airports etc. avoids language problems etc. We were told by the driver that it's hotel policy that drivers Do not approach the hotel customers waiting in reception themselves..bonkers!! Of course, don't know if this is true but if it is somthing should change.