Travis Silberstorf
Hello, first and foremost I would like to say the hotel has a beautiful location where one of the best beaches in all of Greece. No doubt about it..... But one thing that was unacceptable to me and totally unbelievable and outrageous was how many people smoked at that hotel cigarettes and vape. Every time I ate breakfast, lunch or dinner. I was breathing in secondhand smoke which is unbelievable and even when I was laying on my bed in the room I have people second hand cigarette or vape smoke coming into my room while I'm sleeping or watching TV and there's no way we could ever use the balcony with all the cigarette smoke... That is a total downfall of this hotel. You should have designated areas where people can smoke at not all over wherever they want to pick... Also, there should have been more fresh fruit. The canned fruit and the sugar syrup was not good. Watermelon was rare. Pretty much only fresh fruit was honeydew the green melon and that was over and over and over. No grapes, no berries, no pineapple, no orange melon cantaloupe. But overall everything was okay besides those two points I made above. I just can't believe this hotel was cigarette City
D
We booked our holiday from London to Crete and stayed at Mistral Mare. Our experience was truly unforgettable. The hotel has everything needed for a relaxing stay, and its location offers stunning sea views and beautiful sunsets. There is a wonderful beach just below the hotel. Having visited other beaches in Crete, I can confidently say that it is by far the best. Before visiting, I had read that people described it as the "Maldives of Crete," and now I completely understand why. The hotel was very clean, with fresh towels and essential amenities always available. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, making our stay even more enjoyable. The hotel is also conveniently located near Agios Nikolaos and Ierapetra, with frequent bus connections. We would definitely return and highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for relaxation, beautiful scenery, and excellent service.
Bruna F
The hotel is wonderful. I spent 7 days there for my honeymoon and everything was incredible. The staff are friendly, and the food was varied and tasty. Unfortunately, the wines and beer seemed like they were half product and half water, but I don’t drink much alcohol so it didn’t make much of a difference to me. For those who complain about the same food every day, it’s simple: each day focus on a different type of food to eat. For those who complain about having to pay for cocktails, at the price of the daily rate, if cocktails were included they would make no profit at all. You get what you pay for :). For those who complain about the stairs to the beach, they are not going to rebuild the hotel because you are lazy, and renting another hotel is also an option. The Wi-Fi is paid, but we didn’t pay for it; we used our 5G and everything worked out fine. Take the opportunity to disconnect and relax. I would definitely come back!
Szabolcs Szabó
The only normal department was Housekeeping. They made the rooms incredibly clean, the nighty recetionist felt burnt out (reasonable, they work 7days a week due to this busy season). We read about the staircase that leads down to the beach which is not a huge downside, but it is not shown anywhere on the hotel’s website. We booked as all inclusive, here it does not seem you are all inclusive, the guy at the Bar is a slow men (old lad), in other hotels as All Inclusive you can ask for xy amount of drinks at once, even if you already have some poured out already at your table, but here 20minutes before closure (22:45 all inclusive bar closes) the guy refused to serve 7 drinks, because someone from our group had 2-3 drinks in front of him. On the day of our arrival we had to pay 10 eur / room / night for Tourism Tax, (we arrived by 23:00) we drank some drinks (paid extra for all drinks after bar closed) and at 01:00 am without any warnings the bar guy simply shut down all lights, left us without any word.
Tldr, if you are used to all inclusive package, this will not be the place you want to visit.
mark
Just back from a short week staying at Mistral Mare.
Firstly, the hotel is fairly remote. The nearest proper town is around half an hour away by bus, so be prepared to travel if you want to experience any local culture or get beyond the immediate area.
The hotel itself is in a beautiful position, a short walk from the beach. Our room had a magnificent view across the bay, and watching the sunrise from the balcony was one of the highlights of the stay.
There are two small pools, with adequate space around both for sunbathing. The reception staff were friendly and helpful, and were happy to accommodate our requests. Rooms were cleaned daily by a seemingly tireless housekeeping team who never appeared to stop working.
Unfortunately, the all inclusive offering was less impressive. The food was essentially the same every day, with only minor variations on a fairly standard hotel buffet. Nothing was particularly bad, but nothing was especially memorable either.
The drinks were more disappointing. The beer tasted heavily watered down and the wine was, frankly, undrinkable. Spirits and cocktails also came at an additional cost, which made the all inclusive package feel somewhat limited.
The pool bars are old and basic, while the main bar felt tired and understaffed. More generally, the staff seemed overworked and exhausted. My daughter described them as zombies, which perhaps sounds harsh, but it captured the atmosphere rather well. There was little of the warmth or energy you would normally hope for from a holiday resort.
Our biggest gripe, however, was the behaviour of a significant number of other guests. This has been mentioned in several other reviews, and unfortunately we experienced exactly the same thing. Chain smoking was widespread, while people regularly took loud video calls or sat watching TikTok videos at full volume, seemingly oblivious to everyone around them.
This was particularly unpleasant around mealtimes and the pool. One evening I walked through the dining area and saw people covering their noses and faces because of the amount of cigarette smoke in the air. It was honestly disgusting.
On our final night, we left the balcony doors open while we went out. When we returned, the smell of tobacco smoke in the room was so strong that it genuinely smelled as though someone had lit a fire inside.
The entertainment was another low point. It essentially consisted of two DJs who, despite very little apparent interest from anyone attending, played the same Europop at a volume that reverberated throughout the hotel.
Finally, WiFi costs extra, which would be frustrating enough in itself, but unfortunately it also seemed to stop working regularly. So that was another additional cost for a service that often simply did not work when you needed it.
There are certainly positives to Mistral Mare. The views are excellent, the beach is close, the rooms are clean and the reception team were helpful. But the overall experience was let down by the limited all inclusive offering, tired facilities, overworked staff and, above all, the behaviour of other guests.
