Three stars, most of them for the hotel's (non-Malia, but on-the-beach) location (Tsalos Beach Complex (Analypsi, Greece))

Member Name: worst_trip

Product:	Tsalos Beach Complex (Analypsi, Greece)
Date:	02/07/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good location, near the airport, easy to get to and away from

Disadvantages: Budget accommodation in Crete, really means 'budget'

The Tsalos Beach Complex provides self-catering holiday accommodation in Analypsis, on the northern coast of Crete. It is a cheap and fairly cheerful place to spend a holiday, though we found that the accommodation itself isn't exactly fantastic. The information and photos given on the complex's internet site are frankly, misleading: having stayed there in June 2009, I can confirm that the family room we were allocated, at least, is nothing like what's shown on the website - it's a lot, lot shabbier and frankly a little depressing. Similarly the photos showing the communal areas were taken using someone else's poolside furniture; clearly the hotel had a temporary makeover just for the shoot. In spite of all that the hotel is in excellent location - literally just across the road from a sandy beach (though the road isn't all that quiet and has occasionally fast-moving traffic) the pool is generally good, and the communal areas are attractively planted and generally well maintained.

If you're staying on the north coast of Crete and you aren't a seventeen year old who wants to embrace what I suppose we'll have to call binge-drinking culture, you'd be well advised to pick a smaller resort that caters for families such as Analypsis, or nearby Gouves, in preference to the party towns of Hersonissos and Malia. Analypsis is about 10km nearer the bigger town of Irakilo, where the airport is, than Hersonissos - this works out just far enough in practice. The whole area seems slightly depressed; a lot of local businesses have closed down as I think the 'boom years' of tourism here are over, but despite being a little down-at-heel and at certain times, defintely a bit cheerless, for a quieter resort Analypsis is stilll a better place to stay. It's about a 10-15 minute walk from the coast up to the main road where you can catch a bus to go somewhere else (there're hourly buses going to the town ofIraklio, and in the other direction, east along Crete's main northern highway).

Given that we got a reasonably-priced deal for our accommodation I wasn't expecting too much from the two star Tsalos Beach Complex, but the room we were allocated didn't even live up to my meagre expectations. One tour operator you'll find by web-searching online suggests that the Tsalos Beach Complex, given its location, should be upgraded to a three-star resort - but don't make me laugh! Some of the rooms are barely scraping two stars as itis.

On the website it's stated that most rooms at the complex have a sea or mountain view and balcony; while some of this is technically true - in that everyone has an outdoor seating area, even though in some cases, as we found in our room, the 'balcony' is actually part of a communal upstairs landing area shared by three rooms - a lot of the rooms (approximately half) look on to nothing more than the apartment blocks (sometimes quite nearby) or vacant lots opposite. Our room didn't have a TV, and the air-conditioning, charged at an extra 40 Euros per week of your stay, didn't work - nor was it fixed when we asked for this to be done. Given that we asked for the air-con to be repaired on the second day of our two-week stay they had loads of time to attend to this but just didn't bother. The hotel didn't have an electric fan we could borrow in the interim either (we purchased one of our own in nearby Iraklio -a bargain at 25 Euros - though later we found that the small supermarket in Analypsis sells them too). Without this it would have been absoultely impossible for any of us to sleep at night given the heat in Crete in June. The locals all complain about the intense heat so the hotelliers must've known we would be uncomfortable without any means of ventillating our room - particularly as we were given an upstairs room that they warned us at the beginning of our stay would get a lot of pretty sunshine on the balcony, but would get very hot.

The kitchen area in our apartment was quite poorly equipped - with only one enormous stock-pot sized pot and a frying pan; there were lots of plates but no bowls. The fridge worked fine but, like all the fittings in the kitchen, it was very, very, old - they obviously haven't refurbished some of the rooms since around the beginning of the 1990s (well before that, I think, in the case of that prehistoric fridge). Cosmetically, the kitchen units and fridge were covered in dents and dings and the hotplate was badly rusty - despite this we managed all right however. The bathroom - while nice and clean - was a disaster - the drains regularly blocked after about two minutes using the shower, which consequently flooded; luckily the bathroom floor incorporated a slight slope or the whole place would've been routinely deluged. As it was we all had to wade through about half an inch of standing water whenever we went in there - waterproof flip-flops, in this environment are a must. There are loads of mosquitoes at night but the hotel doesn't have any anti-insect screening or mosquito nets.

The rooms were, however, cleaned and provided with fresh towels / bed linen every two days (three over the weekend) and the housekeeping staff worked to a very high standard so we had no complaints at all there.

The hotel pool if a bit small for the number of guests was quite nice. There was no lifeguard or supervision and so boisterous youths did on occasion fool about there - jumping in off roofs, etc. - so you need to keep your wits about you in this area, especially if you have small kids. The poolside furniture if generally clean enough was however ancient and worn - what you see in the internet pics is absolutely not what you'll find there - but at least they didn't have the nerve to charge customers for the use of it. Not like the hotel's sunloungers on the beach, equally elderley but which are payable at 6 Euros per pair of sunbeds plus parasol per day.

The sandy beach opposite the hotel is quite narrow and packed with hotel and private, permanently-sited sun-loungers; the beach slopes quite steeply into the sea which often (for 12 out of the 14 days of our stay) has surprisingly large waves and is quite rough - much too rough for little 'uns to swim in. The view from the beach - from which you can catch spectacular sunsets - is very good however.

The hotel restaurant, that serves sub-standard, quasi-Greek favourites, is not much cop but no worse than many of the nearby eateries. A main course will set you back about 7 to 8 Euros which would be fine if the food was good, but it isn't of decent enough quality to justify the price, really. There is however a good, competitively priced shop attached to the complex next door, which sells a good range of - well, booze, beach goods and souviners, as well as a selection of certain groceries. If you're expecting nice fresh fruit and veg, when you go to Crete, you won't be able to get hold of it in Analypsis, however. Even the slightly larger town mini-supermarket only stocks a truly bedgraggled selection of semi-fresh produce.

If you go to the Tsalos Beach Complex not expecting much from it you won't be disappointed in your stay. It's not brilliant but it can be a cheap / budget option. Though I still can't decide, myself, in the case of this particular holiday, whether I wouldn't have been better off spending my fortnight tucked up sitting in my garden safely at home, with 'Big Brother' to watch on telly, normal temperatures, the DVD player, no mosquitoes and decent nosh.

Summary: I recommend the kebab takeaway in Analypsis; you'll eat there every night of your stay