Hello Everyone....
Arrived back from Gouves Crete last night, and felt that I had to write up my feedback. We stayed at the Astir Beach Hotel in Gouves for seven nights on an all inclusive basis, and I can honestly say that I thought the standard of the hotel was very good, and excellent value for money!!
Our flights were changed a couple of days before we left from Viking to Monarch, and had an excellent flight from Manchester.
Admittedly, the rooms at the Astir Beach were basic, but kept very clean e.g. sheets and towels changed every day, and the hotel itself was also very clean with good standards. We had a room in the outbuildings, not in the main hotel, and they were nicely situated.
Location wise, outside of the hotel, there were only a few bars and restaurants, but this suited us. We did go into Gouves Town on a couple of nights, which was about a 10-15 minute walk, and there were more bars, restaurants and shops in the town.
The beach was very nice and clean, and located just across the road from the hotel, which was good. You have to pay for the sunbeds and paraols on the beach 6 Euros for the day.
The weather was excellent, and there was a lovely breeze throughout the day due to the close location of the beach.
The food was of a very good standard also. Buffet style for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, with a good variety of food every day - not just chips served with everything!! Also ice-cream available mid morning and mid afternoon.
We also checked out the Marina Hotel, which was just next door to the Astir Beach, which appeared to be a much bigger hotel, with better entertainment in the evening.
The entertainment in the daytime at the Astir Beach, was good, but very repetitive, as the same activities took place, every day, even in the Kids Club, which obviously after a couple of days became very boring for the children and adults alike.
The evening entertainment was not very good. The animation team were really nice, and were obviously trying very hard, but to be honest for the "Shows" that they put on at night, they would have been better off, just having some music and a disco, which would have gone down better with most of the guests, having spoken to a number of people about this.
Also the nature of some of the shows, I felt, were not appropriate for young children.
All in all though I can honestly say I was very pleasantly surprised with the Astir Beach Hotel, and would return to Crete again with Hellenic Voyages.
Regards
Sheila
