Our family went to Petra mare on 8th September and it was our first all inclusive holiday.

The transfer time from the airport was 2.5 hours but we transferred during the day and got to see a lot of the island and the rep gave us some very interesting information on the way.

The hotels cleanliness is excellent, clean linen and towels daily and replenishment of shower gels and shampoos.

There is an excellent choice of different foods, cold salads, meats, hot food, fish, meats and the desserts are to die for.

The location is lovely, hotel is right on the beach the sand is quite gritty so good for applying tanning lotions as it doesn't stick as much as fine sand and can be brushed off easily. Sometimes the waves were quite big and when the sun goes in can be quite windy which is a welcome break from the hot sun. The shoreline can be a bit rocky and a bit uneven so you have to watch your footing coming in and out of the sea. The water is lovely and clear and a nice cool down when the sun gets too hot.

The staff are friendly and professional and are always willing to help and assist you.

We didn't really get involved with the entertainment but from what we saw was quite popular with holiday makers. We spent most nights playing pool and cards.

I would definitely visit this hotel again enjoyed my visit immensely and wished we could have stayed longer.

We paid for an upgrade to double room with sea view and would not recommend this. The view was part sea view and full childrens pool(not what you want when you are a couple travelling without children) and the room was also a lot smaller than the ones advertised. We had to pay another suppliment of 35 euors for what we thought we had already paid for. Apart from that we had a great time and the rep Mark was very helpful.

The hotel was only partly full and therefore we had no waiting time for food or service at the bars.

The swimming pool was great and as it was for adults only because it was very deep most of the children didn't use it. The views from it were spectacular.

We were only there for 1 week and we found this was just right.

Had a great weeks holiday at the Petra Mare
Was abit worried after reading some of the reports other people had posted!
Main negative I have to say is the transfer from the airport.... 4hrs on the plane then 3.5hrs on the coach... crazy.. there should not be just 1 coach dropping everyone off, so it goes all the way in the opposite direction to this hotel to drop people off then you are the last ones getting dropped off and taking nearly as long to get to the hotel as it did to fly from Wales to Crete! That does need to be sorted.. and not the hotels fault! Going home we had a taxi to Agios Nikolaos then joined the coach for some more pick ups then to the airport, still a long time 45mins in taxi and over 2hrs on the coach but still better than 3.5hrs on the coach coming.
Once there (gone midnight) when checking in I said to the man on reception is there anywhere we can get food, as we had had nothing to eat, and he said 'yes we have put up cold plates of food for you in the resturant, go have it now' and he said to my husband 'go to the bar and get drinks as they charge after 12', I went to the resturant while my husband and son went and got drinks, the bar man said to my husband ' I can see you have only just got here so I won't charge you' and gave him 2x pints and a coke... so I can honestly say the staff at the hotel were great, very friendly, very polite and spoke good English. And yes in the resturant they had put up 3 plates of cooked chicken and salad covered in cling film and left in a cold section.
Then we went to our rooms, everything very clean there, plenty of storage also.
The whole hotel, rooms, resturant, bars, pools etc are very clean and constantly being cleaned. You can see the whole place has had a face lift and nothing was dirty or tatty.
The reps/entertainment staff were great... Leanne, Debs, Freddy & Luke, they always talked to you (by name) even if they were'nt working.
We joined in with the daytime and evening entertainment and had a great laugh.
The beach is close but not great, again nowt to do with the hotel, you can go on the jet ski's and other water stuff which is fun.
The only other negative things I would say is; the adult pool is too deep so not many people use that, they do need to look at this and change it, I did book this hotel because it showed lazy river and flumes, I had a letter then saying the flumes were going, didn't say the lazy river was, so I ws very disapointed, you can not play in the pool as it is too deep and no water polo too because of this, which my son and husband were very disappointed about. The kids pool is fantastic and they should have an adult version of that which would be much more fun.
The other neg thing is not enough 'kids' choice of food in the resturant so my son hardly ate anything.
Apart from that .. All in all a fab holiday
Would we go again.... YES
Did we think the hotel, staff and reps brill ..... YES YES YES
Reccomended to families deffo :-)

We arrived at this hotel on sat morning, 14 days later we didn't want to leave. Hotel staff, reps and all were fantastic, would recommend it to everyone.

Well done Petramare and thanks.

Got back from the Petra Mare last week, we were there from 29th July to 12th August and had a pretty good time.
It was very hot but there was a good strong wind most of the time to take the edge off the heat.
During the first week, the wind was a bit of nuisance in the evening, blowing the drinks away in the flimsy plastic cups, but in the second week the wind dropped for a few days and it was a bit too hot!
On a bonus point, there were no mosquitoes; I think the wind blew them all away!
The hotel was lovely and clean, our bathroom needed a bit of TLC but the sea-view made up for it! There were just three of us and we had one king-size bed, one double bed and one single bed, all very well spaced-out (not all in a row, like in some hotels). The air-conditioning was good but didn

Whilst away, I intended to do a big write up on this place, but to be honest, I can

Our party arrived in the early hours like many more and recieved prompt and polite service at the check in. The rooms were fantastic some of the party with sea views and others with mountain view 'fantastic'.

As the oldest couple in the group 60 plus my wife and i were not expecting much of the supposedly family hotel. I know that it is hard to please everyone, but we found everything to be great, yes if like me you couldn't make up your mind what to eat because of the variety it could get boring because I probably tried to get 3 or 4 meals on one plate.

The outside areas were great and the bars were perfectly run. We found the first choice holiday reps although not proffessionals gave their all in trying to entertain both children and adults.

We have been to crete many times but this was the best, all our party have booked for next year.

We arrived at this hotel after travel in the bus for 3 hours which made us mad (due to bus operator using only one bus to get everyone to their hotels around the island) but on arrival to the hotel we were met by a friendly smile and our room key.

We had a quick look around the hotel after dropping off our suitcases and then went for evening meal which was lovely with plenty of choices and friendly staff -when acknowledged that they were infact human beings and not servants! (they were very quick to smile and help with any problems eg beer tank needing replaced, glasses being required etc)

The room was clean and air con wonderful the maid service was there everyday very helpful.

The location was brill as my son went snorkaling a few times and commented on how interesting it was around the rock area.

The walk along the sea front was lovely (although the griffiti spoilt it)locals also used this walkway,well lit, up with bars half way along and shops where you could buy your gifts but also shoes, t-shirts,bikinis,etc.

There is a car hire company straight across from the hotel (where we hired a car and travel around the island)also another about 3 door along from the hotel.The go-karts are nearby the hotel calls them and they pick you up and drop you off great laugh!.

Supermarket nearby for water,suncreams etc they even had Iron Bru!

The entertainment was mad the girls were game for a laugh they kept the kids entertained morning noon and night At night they entertainted the adults with bingo, quizs, head to head comps and shows.

The only prob I had was the shop owner whom made your child feel as if they were shop lifing, he wasn't one of the friendliest people i have met.

We have no complaints about this hotel or area and would go back again afterall your holiday is only as good as you make it.

what can i say, great hotel, great food and excellent booze, didn't see our 2 kids (aged 12 & 14) we had the best holiday

Extremely nice hotel. We had a sea view, opening our balcony doors on to the sea. Because we went in May it was not overly busy. It was pleasant but not over crowded. Plenty of sun beds each day. Did not have to get up at 6am to put your towel out. Food was fine. We even encountered a chef who praised the food at the hotel.
Great evening entertainment for the kids.
The resort is not the prettiest.
Would definitely recommend and go back especially at the end of May.