Hi

We're staying at the Amazones villas in August and can't wait! Has anyone stayed there?

We've booked to stay at the Amazones Villas in Stalis which has excellent reports on holidays uncovered. I was just wondering if anyone had stayed there and had anything to add? Cheers Guys

Hi

We're going to the Amazones Villas in August and were just wondering whether anyone had stayed there recently.

Any advice would be good.

Hi juicy1962

Sames as you, we have only found the holidays uncovered site re Amazones Villas accomodation in Stalis. It sounds good though and thats why we booked it! Bit more expensive than our usual Greek hol each year but i think thats because you can only book through Portland. Bet you we will meet people staying there that got the 2 weeks for some great price!!!

Anyway, we are going out on early July for 2 weeks so i will be able to let you know what it's like.
From hols uncovered site, Demitri the owner sounds a great laugh!

One thing i do know it will be very hot in July & Aug. We have been to Agi Nik in July 5 years ago and it was over 110 degrees. We didn't have air cont in the apts and it was very humid.
Amazones Villas has air cont as per the Portland site!! Phew!!!

Will post again when we get back
Tan x

We are

Cheers - thanks for the reply - I would love to know how you got on - Dimitri does sound a card! I think you may have to pay for the sunbeds (only 1Euro so it wont break the bank but there's 6 of us going!) Make sure you make a note of where you go and eat as its so nice to be recommended.

Have a fab time - can't wait to go!

Hi

Just wanted to know if anyone has stayed here recently - we are going at the beginning of August and have seen the reports on holidays uncovered which are fine but can't find out much info about them.

Cheers

If anyone has stayed here please add your review HERE

Thanks

Hi,
Read your post, we visited the Amazones apartments last year and it was the best overall holiday our famly had had. The apartments, though basic, are clean and tidy. The pool is not large but adequate. Diving board and slide in the deep end, at least 10 feet. Small shallow area on the side for youngsters. Pool bar with hot and cold snacks, highly recommend the bacon and egg rolls. Bar at reception with Travel Cheque exchange and safety deposit hire. Like most Greek resorts, this one charges for the air conditioning. Its a sad thing and a bit expensive, cannot exactly remember the cost but about EURO 90 for 2 weeks in a 2 bed apartment.
Beds by pool were EURO 1 each per day. Mini Market next door and another down by the beach road. SKY TV in bar and Premiership football covered. Most evenings there is something going on in the bar.
Beach is very good, go to the second section to avoid the first where there is a big undercurrent. Two beach beds and umbrella were EURO 4 for the day. Restaurants were very good but Corralis just nips in ahead of the rest. This is the second restaurant on the right along the beach road from the apartments. Then just along and across the road is Joe in the Stalis Bar a great host and a lovely bar to sit and digest.
Further up the road it gets hilly. Far too many Quad bikes but keep to the side. Gift shops, restaurants and bars fill the area. No obvious clubs in Stalis though.

Great - thanks for the reply - Its nice to know someone's been there and its ok! I'm a bit shocked at being charged for the Air Conditioning as it says nothing lilke that in the brochure. How big are the safety deposit boxes? we usually put the camcorder, cameras etc in them and sometimes they can be a bit small. Can you remember how much they were?

Also did they moan if you brought your own food in? We plan to have rolls and that from the supermarket at lunchtime and usually eat these round the poolside (after the men have made them and brought them down in the coolbags!)

Ok, firstly the safety deposit boxes - you are in for a shock. They are smaller/thinner than a letter box, but as wide. A sort of tray. They are all in reception in a column. Cash, travel cheques and docs, passports will be ok. I think we managed to put a couple of mobile phones in as well. Re cameras etc. we took them and were worried with the safety boxes, however we left them in the apartments when not in use and it was ok. Cannot remember the cost, but there is a deposit on the key as well, its not too much over two weeks though. Like the aircon (con) its best to bite the cost on arrival while you are still in the best holiday spirit !!
Eating and drinking around the pool, we were told, was limited strictly to that purchased at the pool bar. Obviously no such restrictions on what you buy and eat in your apartment.
What are your group details, ages male/female ratio etc and I can perhaps add more comments to assist.

Thanks for the info. There are 4 adults an 18 year old and a 14 year old so we should be ok. Can't believe the size of the safety deposit box! We're probably just take the digital camera with us and not bother with the camcorder - we only every take about 10 mins anyway! We have got 2 one bed apartments and we've asked for top floor together. where abouts were you?

I checked with the good lady last night and the aircon was EURO 100 for two weeks in a 2 bed, about EURO 75 for a 1 bed. Sadly we cannot remember the cost of the safety box.
There is one block of apartments with ground and 1st floor. Some have entrance on one side some on the other. We were on the 1st floor before, there is not much of a view but its peaceful on the balcony.
OK Mrs says take plug in mozzie repellant with plug adaptor. Change the tab daily in the evenings. We did not suffer with bites but some families did, these were also families that did not purchase the aircon and had windows open at night. Put 2 and 2 together and there you go. There is a main road around this side of island, you will travel it in coach. Then a "B" road off of it takes you to the Amazon. The site of the Amazon is good because its the beach side of the main road. There is a very short walk to the seafront. at the end of Stalis where Amazon is, the beach is rock. We did not see many people down on it, but some were snorkeling. Walk about 400 yards along the road to the superb beach. The first part as previously mentioned has a very strong undercurrent and we did see 2 rescues last year. Over a small rocky outcrop, there is a fabulous beach, very shallow start, all sand. This was safer although when the wind blows onshore there are some very large waves. Take care in the water then, at other times its like a "mill pond".
Mrs also says, but things might have changed in a year. Towels were provided in apartment, we took some from here for beach and pool. Found two shops though that sold very very cheap, not long lasting, towels so this year she is not packing any for beach she will buy there, about EURO 4 each and bin before we leave. Likewise airbeds were cheaper there than here and they blew them up if purchased. We, like others, left behind football and airbeds beside pool for others to use when we left.
Pool opened at 8 am and closed at 6 pm, pool bar open these times. They ran a daily tab for anyone that wanted it, just settle up before leaving. Full breakfast on offer and chips, burgers bacon rolls etc all day, nice strong coffee. Bar in reception open till 2 in the morning, large beer EURO 4 small EURO 2. Happy hour was 6 pm till 7pm, large beer 1/2 price. Got very hot in bar but lots of tables and seats outside. There were 2 PC's for email and online activity to hire in reception, paid for by the 1/2 hour I think. Car hire could be arranged in reception. Maids 6 out of 7 days, very friendly and helpful.
There is a very nice bakery in town, cakes and "nice things" of all sorts. Well worth a walk down in the morning to pick up cakes and paper. Mini market next door also sells daily papers, I am sad and have to read each day to check weather here.
Generally we found prices much cheaper than Ibiza and Minorca where we went previous 2 years. We used Corralis restaurant
almost every night because food was superb and people so welcoming, but I guess other restaurants were similar, massive choice. Because tourism is down each year due to Balkans coming alive for visitors, there were people outside every restaurant almost pleading for you to go in. We had 2 course meal each evening for 4 with drinks and it was about EURO 45 most nights.
At the end of the day, we really enjoyed ourselves, it was so relaxing, so very hot but everyone was so friendly.
apartments only used by Portland or private hire by family owning it. All Brits but the pool is open to non residents so some French and Dutch turned up on some days.
When do you fly out and for how long ?

Thanks so much for replying. The info you have given us is great! I'm sure we will have a great time. We will have the air con - we take mozzie plugs and use them always so thanks for the advice. Its sounds as though you really had things sussed and enjoyed your holiday there. We are going on Sunday 7 August for 2 weeks. Two families - one with an 18 year old girl and one with a 14 year old 'Kevin'! We will have to give the restaurant you went to a try - it sounds well good.

At the end of the day as long as the apartments are clean thats all that really matters - after all you only sleep there! We'll make our own entertainment but its good to be for-warned about things. Thats a good idea about the towels - they end up stiff by the end of the holiday anyway so they may as well be thrown away!

It sounds as though you are going back?

I suppose because you have to pay for the sunbeds round the pool that you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get them - did you barta with Dimitri and get a family package?!

Can't wait to go now. If you have anymore info it would be great to hear from you again.

I am pleased I have not put you off, I was getting worried as this is the first time I have offered details of a resort. At the end of the day a holiday is what you make it. We went to Crete purely based on the reports on the Holidays Uncovered website. Like you we could not find anything else about Stalis.
I dont know if you have been to Crete before but one other thing to point out is the airport. Its small. The baggage reclaim was crowded with only one belt working. We had the impression of just one poor man unloading the entire flights bags. It was very hot and after a 4 hour flight, we just wanted to get the bags and go. But going back we were warned about the following scenario. Because the airport is small, they cannot fit everyone in to check in, so you have to queue outside. Depending on the time of day it can get very very hot, so take bottles of water with you.
Anyway, enough of leaving, our boys were 14 and 16 last year and they really just like to sit by the pool or go to the beach in the day. They were happy enough. The pool has about 20 beds around it. Sadly last year one family arriving after us did go and put towels on about 5 beds then not appear until the afternoon. They did this a couple of times but then we guessed someone might have said something. Generally we never had a problem with the beds at the pool. Most people did not really get up there until about 10 am. Its still a first come first reserved basis, but the beach beds were very cheap and it is (was) a very good beach. A number of people used to morning on the beach then afternoon at the pool. Each to their own. Yes, we enjoyed it so much, we are going back, flying out on Aug 4th for 2 weeks.
To be honest, I am the type to really complain about issues, I cannot help it and annoy the Mrs.!! But I searched and searched and could only compliment the apartments, facilities, people and resort.
If the diving board is still there, just one word of warning, dont swim underneath it. There is a blind spot and someone using it will not see anyone under. It touches the water when used and one poor girl got a face full of board on our last but one day, that did put a dampner on things as you can imagine, but accidents do happen.
As a final point, you cannot put paper down the toilets they get blocked and if you do, you will be liable for the cost of unblocking, which I heard last year was a couple of hundred Euros. There are small pedal bins provided in every toilet. Its something you have to get used to.
I am not going to give my name because I might hear someone is looking for me to complain !!!!!!!!!!!! We will no doubt meet though because everyone was so friendly there, we met and talked to most residents each day and for a London commuter who speaks to noone, my wife was very surprised with me !!
I hope you look forward to your holiday, I am sure you will enjoy it and possibly look to return.

Cheers - thanks for the info.

I'll be the one wearing the red carnation and the financial times under my arm!

Forgot to mention, if anyone in your party smokes, do not buy at airport. Most British brands on offer in all mini markets, about EURO 3 for 20 last year.

Like you we could not find anything else about Stalis.

We have a resort reports section listed at the top of the forums and reports on Stalis are HERE

Hi juicy1962
We've just returned from Hol at Amazones and as promiced before we went here's our review.
Just to add info for you:-
You can't take your own food into the pool or bar area as it is against greek tax law and the owners can be fined if you are seen eating food not brought on the premices. thats why they are pretty strict about not taking shop brought food on the pool or bar area. That law is on the whole of the greek islands and has been inforce for some years now.

And the reasons Dimitris charges for the pool sunbeds is to stop people leaving towels on them all day. We didn't use the pool i must admit. we are very much beach people and the beach was great.

Belive it or not we have already forgotten how much the safety boxes were. I think it was 20 euros for the 2 weeks or may be 10. They are only letter box size so no camcorder will fit. We left ours in the apts with the mp3 players etc and there was no probs at all.You will need the air con. We found it well worth the money. The only thing is it will not work if you go out as the you need to put the key in the slot for the elec plugs to work. But we found the plugs near the fridge work all the time without the key ( don't tell dimitris!!) so we put a mosi plug in one of those, that kept mosi's away while we were out!

You will feel very safe there. Dimitris is really a lovely person nothing is too much trouble. He is 37 yrs old and has got all the modern computers and gadgets and speakes excellent English. He even knows and understands the English sarcasum so be aware of his jokes and "mutley the dog" laugh.
This is his first year of running the apts without his dad George but with his finance Litza who is lovely as well but does not speak fulent English. We made very good friends of these two and had two great evening just the four of us drinking Dimitris's homebrew raki!!! oooooo that was so strong 120 % proof!!!! But as he said you get no bad head in the morning from Raki!!

They do have a web site but it is not very easy to find The address is
http://www.amazoneshotelsgreece.com
They have two apts one here and one in a nearby resort. Me hubby is helping dimitris to advertise it better and revamp the site.

There is a great Stalis site which gives you all the bars and resturants along the main street it's http://www.stalis.info

We found it fairly cheaper than the other Islands we have been to in the last 3 years. Oh and the happy hour at the Amazones is from 6pm to 8pm!!

Def go to the Golden beach resturant in the eve for a meal excellent atmosphere. Costas and Alex are great.

Oh and a hint on the quiz nite questions.. The greek word for good morning is Kalamera. the one for good night is Kalanicta.
And if you say to Litza "Te Tha peest" she will say a barcardi brezzer!!

Ok so i have written loads!! Only because it was such a great hol i am reaaly jelouous that you're going!!! We wish we were back there!!!! I guarentee you all will have a fantastic time. If you want to know anything please ask

Back to our review:-
We chose these apts purely from the great comments on the Hols uncovered site. It was our most expensive Greek hol yet as the only travel co you can book them through is Portland. However the flight times through Portland were very good as normally Crete flight times are very early morning and when you have to be out of the apts by 10am (as all greek apts) the long wait for a 2am coach pickup can be very tiring!

Our first impression of Amazones Villas was the nice layout of the pool area and bar area down the slope.
The apts were better than the usual greek apts! They were very very clean, spacious and the brand spanking new bathroom had just been fully refurbished to an excellent standard.
The kitchen (not that we used it) had all you would need for self catering i.e Kettle, toaster, microwave, hobs, big fridge freezer and a good supply of kitchenware.
The wardrobes in the bedroom were basic (no draws) but these are to be refurbished this winter in all the apts.(also the pool area is to be expanded)
The beds were comfortable. The bedroom even had a hairdryer!!
The loo rolls were replaced when ran out and the sheets and towels were changed twice a week. The room was cleaned excellently 6 days a week except Sundays and the beds were made etc. We were very impressed with the friendly, efficient cleaning staff.

The only very slight downside (if you can even call it that!!) was the view, the apts were behind another apt which blocked the lovely sea view.
One thing you must be aware of is you will need mosi protection from the first nite!! We got bitten over 30 times in the first nite as we forgot to put the mosi plugin's in. Once the plugin's were on, we didn't get bitten at all. You will also need mosi protection for the evenings for your skin!

Amazones is in a good area, a five minute stroll to the start of Stalis's main strip and the start of the beach. Quiet at night.
Onsite there is a great bar and seating area, Internet cafe, pool with snack bar and reception manned all day and night where you can change money and hire safety boxes etc.
We got to know most of the guests staying and all were friendly. We met a great family Steve, Nicki, Aidan, Lewis and Crystal who were got on with straight way. Spent many great afternoons for after beach drinkies at the bar!! Only two rounds though or was it 3??!!!

But the absolute best thing about these apts is the owner Dimitris, his family and all of his staff. They were all fantastic! They were all so welcoming and friendly and treated you as old friends. We felt at home straight away.
Dimitris and his fiance Litza (sorry if spelt wrong!) are great . We were really delighted to experience two "real" greek evenings with them which in the 9 years we have been visiting the Greek Islands, we have never experienced before. Watch out for Dimitris's homebrew Raki though!!! (It's only meant to be sipped!!!!ooops :)!!)
Excellent service from the snack bar( Dragon), reception (Christine) and especially the barmaid Emma. You would never go without a drink or be lonely with Em around! Can you guess where we spent most of our evenings after dinner!!!!!! And not forgetting the gorgeous Max (the family dog) He's very intelligent as even though there are a lot of strangers staying at the apts, Max would only bark at any reps or delivery people but loved the residents!

Dimitris hosts entertainment evenings on various nites, Singing bingo, Pool competitions, Quiz nites and BBQ with greek dancing lessons. Not to be missed as they all are a great laugh esp the Quiz nite and the BBQ. Dimitris and Litza were fantastic to watch when they did the greek dancing on their own. Made us all look as if we have two left feet!!!

There is a supermarket next door to the apts but the ones in Stalis high street are cheaper!

Stalis is a long road that leads into Malia. It would take about an hours stroll to reach the end of Stalis.
There are a lot of restaurants at the Amazones end and al the meals we had were great. Our best restaurant was the Golden beach. We went there every day for a lovely breakfast and there is a fantastic atmosphere in the evening where they smash plates, excellent food and fun etc. Alex and Costas two of the waiters have worked together for years and are a great laugh.
Other restaurants we liked are Roma, and the nearest one to Amazones, the romantic corner. There weren't a lot of music bars in the strip nearest Amazones but we only managed to walk down about half of the road so there could be more further on.
There were some English young lad and lasses groups in Stalis due to Malia being overrun in the peek season and they all took cabs into Malia for the evening. It's a shame as some groups were pretty rude on the beach and revving up quad bikes in the day.

The beach is a nice sandy strip. The sun beds vary in cost from 3 Euros to 6 euros for two beds and a brolly.

Overall a fantastic holiday and staying at the Amazones Villas made it perfect. No question - you will not be disappointed staying there. It's the fist place we will be going back to (next year hopefully)

oh forgot to say we have lots of photos if you would like to see some