i dont know if you have looked at theresort reports yet but we have a couple from a year or so back

wizard

edit.. this is a fairly new development some photos here

May i ask who you booked with or did you go direct?

Hello Richard 1! We booked our holiday through a Scandinavian travel agency. Are there holidays to Agia Marina sold in Britain? Just wondering if there will be any English spoken at the poolside or just Swedish?

not been to this property but have been to many around Greece apart from the obvious [Greek] the main languages spoken are English [used on roadsigns in most regions] and German, Turkish on some islands, some establishments will employ speakers of the predominant visitor languige..eg.. Italian/Russian etc

you will be appreciated if you learn a few words and phrases of Greek

wizard

my main concern is that our scandinavian friends have taken over this most beautiful part of the island. There are so few Brit tour operators in what was once a thriving mixed tourist community. I'm more than happy to share with other nationalities as long as i can get accommodation. I had to book direct with Mastorakis Village last year - it was very nice mind you. On the languistic front my basic Greek, good german and french usually get me by but I must admit that it now helps to know Skol and kippis!

To Richard 1. Sorry to hear that you have to arrange holidays to this area of Crete without the help of a tour operator. It makes me wonder though, why British tour operators have abandoned this area? Are they (tour operators) just catering for the party crowd in places like Malia and Stalis?
To Wizard. We aren't worried about being understood in Greece (we've been many times to Greece). It would be nice however for our children to be able to practice their English with a few native speakers since we are a bilingual family.

hi Sommar,
The reason is that we British have historically paid much less than other Europeans for our holidays, around 50% less! This dates back to the opening up of the package tour concept in Spain, which was originally pioneered by the British. The local hotel owners were offered much more by Scandinavian tour operators and so up went the prices and the British withdrew from the region west of Chania....the best part of Crete. In fact some of the locals are beginning to realise that up front cash isn't everything. The bar receipts have dropped dramatically! Mind you they are happy that the drunken Brit yobs now disgrace themselves in the east of the island!
In fact when I first started visiting the area back in the 1970's it was like a region of Germany. The signs and menus were mainly in German and occasionally English although there was very little of note on the menus. The Germans came to visit their fathers who were buried at Maleme but this stopped with the third generation. You rarely see a German now. In those days Platanias was only up on the hill and the beach was grassy! Even Agia Marina was very quiet.....but the White Mountains were as wonderful as ever. Nobody went to Falasarna etc.
Nice to make contact with you.

Hi Richard1! The first time we went on holiday to Crete we flew from Britain on a "flight only" about 18 years ago. We flew to Heraklion and took a local bus to Chania where we were immediately "picked up" by a hotel owner that offered us accomodation at an extremely reasonable rate. We ended up staying 2 weeks in Chania, explored the area on motorcycle etc and had a brilliant time. We found Chania to be a lively, but very genuine Greek town. In those days there were many Americans from the local NATO base in Souda Bay, I wonder if the base is still there? I can remember that there were a lot of Germans, as well. This time we are going with children and hoping that we will have just as much fun.
ps. Thanks for your explanation about the Chania region and the Brits!