best 2 weeks ever! (Filoxenia Apartments (Malia, Greece))

Member Name: silk_singer

Product:	Filoxenia Apartments (Malia, Greece)
Date:	11/08/09 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: AMAZING location

Disadvantages: staff can be a little off

I stayed at this hotel just a few weeks ago. There are many things that I loved about it along with a few that weren't so good.

X-Location-X
The hotel is a 10 minute walk from the beach. The sand there is absolutely amazing and is always a good place to spend the day. If you walk in the other direction, you are about a 2 minute walk away from the main strip (all the clubs). On the way to the main clubs, you pass a few bars, two of which are amazing as have really good deals there. The people there are friendly too.
If you walk down the road that the hotel is on, there are about three supermarkets. The nearest one isn't as kitted out as the others, but the other two are only about onother minute away.
Overall, this hotel has THE BEST location out of any of the others we knew about.

X-Staff-X
The first night that we were there, the bar staff were all really friendly, getting us to join in with a couple drinking games and having a laugh. However, I feel that once you have had that first night surrounded by them, they lose interest as new people arrive all the time. As you walk out of the hotel at night to either go to the beach, bars or clubs, the staff there are very persuasive at trying to get you to buy drinks there, even though they are a lot more expensive. You almost feel guilty for not buying any there by the time you leave.
During the day, you don't see much of the staff as you are more than likely going to be out and about. However, although I say these negative points about it, overall they are friendly and if you have a problem, they are more than happy to help.

X-THE ROOMS-X
We stayed in three 2-person rooms. They are quite compact and although it mentions that there is a kitchen in the room as it is self catering, it is a very small one. There is one work surface, a small plug-in hob, a kettle, a small fridge and 2 cupboards with a few plates and cups along with a draw with 2 cutlery sets. It isn't much, but it is all you really need.
We were also lucky enough to have a small balcony. It isn't much but it had a space for a drying rack that was very handy, and it was also nice to be able to stand out on it in the mornings as well as eating on in the evenings.

X-THE POOL-X
The pool is amazing! a really good size and is always clean. There is a separate part that is a little warmer, but the weather is so hot there that most of the pool is warm anyway. There are lots of sunbeds that surround the pool, but put your towel out early if you want to get one, they go fast!
I found the pool a very friendly place. While lying on the side or spending time actually in it I talked to many people and made some friends. It makes the hotel feel more like a family as you share this space and everyone is there to have fun so it has a really good atmosphere.

X-PROBLEMS-X
Of course, we did have a few problems. My friend's fridge leaked, ours didn't work properly the first few days and there were a couple ants the first day. A bit more shocking was that my friend's door fell off! It was quite a shock, but all of these problems were sorted out straight away.
A little bit more annoying was that for about 4 days running, there were 2-minute power cuts around 10pm for some reason and for 2 days, there wansn't any hot water. We were on the top floor and for some reason, the pump wasn't working well enough to reach us, but it was alright after a couple days.

X-OVERALL-X
Altogether, I would rate this hotel very highly. Although we had some small problems, that is to be expected with any accommodation. It wasn't too expensive either. We managed to get a package deal for 2 weeks including flights for just over £500, of course this doesn't include food and I had to save up an awful lot :S haha. The only thing I would warn you about is that there is a 50 Euro deposit to be paid on arrival. If you aren't aware of this, it can dent your holiday money quite a bit, but you do get it back at the end of your stay unless you have done something awful.
If you are interested in going to Malia for nightlife and fun, I really would recommend you stay here.

Summary: really good choice of accommodation if you don't mind it being a little rough around the edges