the only nice part was chrissey island the kids loved it.

Because we travelled 1st week in may not everything was open i think so very quiet to cant comment .Beach is not the nicest but clear from rubbish .

This is a very quiet resort so dont be expecting karaoke bars, pubs clubs or loads of shops. It is a Cretan village with local pubs and shops, churches and schools.if you like spain you wont like it, it is very peaceful thank god.
it has a little harbour and a fort.

The beach isn't very good but it depends what you go on holiday for this is a good sightseeing holiday and would recommend it for couples but not in the petra mare this is most definitely a family hotel.

not a tourist resort greek only not many shops or bars very quiet .rubbish realy

The resort was very clean I never saw any rubbish lying around for a whole two weeks I was there.
There is not much entertainment within the resort other than a bars and cafe.
The beach is a shingle beach which was kept clean the sea was clear blue and great for snorkeling in.

Lepetra was a very pleasent place to stay, it is a shame the beach wasnt golden sands but you cant have everything!

For me the hotel location was ideal because it was in walking distance of the town but far enough from the noise, so without a doubt I would return to Lepetra.

This was a place that had something for everyone Dad's - Cafe On The Rocks,/Zorbas had great beer and is the only place with Sky sports showing English footy, rugby and even the Grand Prix and all in English wa-hey!!

The food and the hospitality there is awesome!! Massive thanks to Demetrius, and to April, whose name is really something in Russian which means Spring, so we called her April!!!, (Those Alabama Slammers were second to none!!!!)

Mum's - Clothes and Bag shops in abundance you will find something you like believe me, Teenagers - An Internet cafe like no other the roof folds back so you can MSN your mates to say how wicked it is, Go Karting for the wannabe cool drivers.

For the Little ones, - Cretians love children, Ice cream and lollipops will be bestowed on you wherever you go. The best beach by far is on Chrissie Island, Golden Sand and clearest sea that is not deep so you can go in the sea, even if you cannot swim, with no fear you must must go there, we were lucky as it was near end of season we had the place to ourselves, almost.

Almost everything you could ever need is no more than 10-15 min walk away. As a family holiday, we can honestly say that it was one of our best by far and we would definitely consider going back there again.

The reasort was generally about as clean as you would expect I guess. The hotel had a life guard who did a very good job keeping the beach tidy.

The entertainment in the resort consited mainly of the row of eateries along the sea front, which didn't interest us as our holiday was all inclusive. I didn't hear any Greek music coming from any of them, let alone plate smashing.

There was a trip to Chrissi Island, which is worth doing just to get out in the cool sea breeze for a couple of hours. The sun beds on Chrissi are a rip off at 10 Euros for two plus umbrella; considering you'll only use them for 3 hours. Better off finding the shade of a tree.

The beaches we found were generally not easy to use to get into the sea because of the rocks. On Chrissi I slipped and gashed my wrist. They serve a miserable portion of bread with the tzaziki in the taverna near to the landing. I did an Oliver Twist and got an extra stale roll.

The sun beds around the Petra Mare are still a problem, despite First Choice' claims to have bought another hundred. People still reserve and guard rows of beds by putting a towel on each one and posting a sentry to make sure nobody takes them. I watched this amusing process from my balcony - one man guarding two rows of five beds by the pool; parading along them and adjusting the towels on them like a colour sergeant on a parade ground, whilst the would be users of the beds were probably still snoring away in bed.

I love to snorkel and explore. Having snorkelled the length of the beach several times (avoiding the areas where the water sports pose a danger) and spotted all of the forms of marine life, after a few days I had seen all there was to be seen.Most interesting, a group of half a dozen foot long, spear-like pipe fish. Didn't see a single octopus. Took a bag of bread into the sea with me and fed the fish around the rocks, which was fun. I wish there had been a local scuba club where I could have done a try-dive.

Now I've seen it I wouldn't go back. There must be hundreds of more interesting places. Have been to Savota, Kos and Samos and enjoyed them all.

We hired a car from Hertz for 3 days. Toyota Yariz or something. 180 Euros. We were warned that the cheaper car hire places take a big deposit from you, which they retain if there is as much as a scratch on the car when you return it.

Driving around is not that good. The speed limits often go down to 40 kph for long stretches of road for no apparent reason. If you stick to the speed limits you get irate local drivers pushing up behind you and queues form. Eventually you are forced to pull over to let them by. Either that or you also speed and risk getting nabbed by the Police. The Hertz car rental man took my Visa number so that the speeding fines could be automatically debited from my account, which is very nice and efficient. He did promise that I would receive a photograph of myself speeding in return.

Do the Cretians use this as a means of rooking extra money from tourists just as the UK police use the speed cameras I wonder?

Interestingly the bus and taxi drivers don't seem to have to take any notice of speed limits. The return coach that took us to the airport was doing 80 in a 40 area.

Not a lot to add to the previous comments - a very nice holiday in general. However, I would say that the First Choice staff were the rudest and most ignorant bunch of people I've ever met.

The "entertainment team" were the worst - they were arrogant show offs, assuming that everyone should be grateful for their dire performances, and making nasty comments to children who only wanted to sit near the stage.

Unfortunately their behaviour has completely put me off this sort of holiday again - if you don't like children, don't work in a family hotel! They were a disgrace.

We are returning this year for our third time as we like the hotel. Ierapetra is quiet, but we like that, a bit small but has enough to keep you entertained. Although the main promenade is very clean, if you venture very far down to the castle it gets a bit run down and scruffy but its not necessary to go that far again once you have seen the castle.There are some nice little tavernas serving good trad greek food.