Olive groves, chickens and stuff (Venus Appartements, Kalamaki/ Chania, Crete)

Member Name: kingseany

Product:	Venus Appartements, Kalamaki/ Chania, Crete
Date:	16/07/04 (486 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, Sea view

Disadvantages: Low service

Picture this: A typical Greek apartment, perched half way up a hill in a small Cretan village. You're surrounded by Olive groves and flowers which release the most wonderful scent each evening, as you sit on your balcony taking in the last minutes of sunshine. From one of your balconies you can see the dark blue sea, stretching for as far as you can see. The other balcony also has a sea view, and overlooks endless olive groves, where chickens roam freely from dawn til dusk. Citrus trees are scattererd around the village - oranges, lemons and limes. The air is always warm ,the locals friendly and the atmosphere slow and relaxed. An ideal location for a peaceful and stree-free break from the rest of the world.

My own words, but perhaps I'd only stick strictly to them if I was perhaps a travel agent, eager to sell you a holiday by stretching the truth and omitting all the bad bits.

The location is Kalamaki, not far from Chania, in the month of May. Transport to from the airport was provided, there was some delay before it went anywhere though, and it was really hot. When it did move off, it wasn't long before we got to Kalamaki. ideal. The coach dropped us by the side of a road, which we then had to cross. This was not a quiet road. Our cases were then loaded onto a small truck and disappeared up the road. We all followed the guide, and reached the apartment buildings. We were then allocated our rooms one by one, and a key given out. We got a room in Venus, when we had booked for Eleana - we were vrey confused by this, and questioned the rep who very rudely told us that it didn't matter. Perhaps it turned out better anyway, we had a sea view, the Eleana only had views of the pool if they were lucky.

When we initially arrived in the room, we thought there was some mistake - as it obviously hadn't b
een cleaned too well. We complained straight away and were promised the cleaner would visit soon. Whilst we were sitting by the pool, the cleaner did come, spent 2 minutes there and left her mop and bucket outside the door. We never actually saw the cleaner, but they did exist, as bed sheets were changed once during the week, rubbish was taken away, and floors were swept (badly). The bathroom was never well cleaned. The balconies were never swept during the whole week, which meant a large amount of crumbs had built up, causing the ants to have a feast. There were no facilities to clean ourselves either. All in all, the cleaning was sub-standard.

The apartment was basically furnished, laid out as a seperate double bedroom and lounge / kitchen / diner, plus bathroom with shower. The apartments shared a reception and pool with the Eleana next door, we therefore had a 1 minute walk to get to the pool. Whilst the pool itself was reasonable, with a seperate small childrens section - the surroundings weren't quite so nice. The scrubby garden, electricity cabling and poles, plus the nearby concrete building shell served as the backdrop. It was possible to photograph the pool without seeing any of this, and the holiday brouchure photographer also spotted this.

The kitchen was basic, a hob with two rings, a tiny oven and a sink unit. Cupboards were stocked with the basic crockery and utensils, there were no electrical appliances other than that - so no kettle or toaster. Whilst it wasn't ideal, we did manage to cook breakfasts and some evening meals using what we had, but we ate out a lot anyway. We had to buy our own washing-up liquid and cloth to do the dishes, which we thought very mean.

The living area was badly decorated and laid out, with non-matching art on the walls, slightly shabby units and a sofa which faced the wrong way to see the TV - a tiny one on
a bracket on the wall. Whilst Greek Big Brother, and other shows tempted us, we didn't spend too much time watching it.

In the bedroom, there were two comfortable beds, drawers, a wardrobe and not much else. The wardrobe had 4 hangers, 1 which was broken. The bathroom had just a shower, washbasin and toilet. The shower overflowed onto the floor, and at one time during the stay the water was cold.

So lets go back to the sea view I mentioned earlier. Yes you can see it from both balconies, from one however it is spoilt by the mass tangle of telephone poles, essential perhaps - but ugly. To see the sea from the second balcony, you must stretch your neck a little, being careful not to fall over the balcony, but for some reason you are drawn more to the unsightly concrete shell of a partially finished hotel, and another being demolished.

The occasional noise of the construction/demolition somewhat spoils the peace and tranquility. As does the local dogs barking madly at any passers buy, a fair bit of traffic noise from nearby roads where hoards of coaches of tourists are picking up and dropping off. The man selling tomatoes from his van used a megaphone to make sure the whole village heard - this was of course acceptable! Amazingly the chickens were pretty good on the whole, and didn't wake us at the crack of dawn, and we actually enjoyed the noise of the animals going about their business in our backyard.

In conclusion, whether you'd be happy here depends on what you're used to. If you don't plan to spend too much time indoors, it's ok for a place to sleep and wake up. The service is basic, perhaps below average. Still if you get out and enjoy your surroundings, it all doesn't matter too much.

Price? We paid less than £200 each for a week, including air fare and transfers, so it's definately in the budget ca
tegory.

See my other review on Crete for loads of info about Chania in general.

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