Ibiscus Studios – Malia – Crete

The Ibiscus hotel in Crete was very basic, but thats what we expected from a 2* star Club 18-30 holiday package to be honest. It was no where near as bad as some of the reviews I have read though – yes it was basic & the decor was very old fashioned but it was clean & tidy.

You couldn’t really cook with the facilities as we had very little cutlery or cookware but we didn’t really want to cook. The main downer was that we only got one glass cup but we simply borrowed another from our friend’s room. The beds were fine, basic – sheets & quite a firm mattress. The bathroom was OK, again very basic wth a hand-held shower . You need to get a shower before 7pm or you face getting a cold shower when the hot water runs out.

The air conditioning was 40euros for the week but well worth it as it was very effective. The safe was 15 euros. The best part of the hotel was the pool, it was a decent size with a deep middle and there are plenty of sun-beds, some of which were very new.The food  at the pool bar was very tasty & well priced. You aren’t allowed your own drinks there but a 750ml bottle of water was only 1euro so we didn’t complain.

The hotel has two cute little dogs that run around & are very friendly. The people I met who worked there were really friendly & helpful and it looks as though the place is family run. The only problem we had was a few ants in our apartment but I brought ant-spray with me anyway as I have had this before in Crete. The fact that hot water runs out around 7pm & the noise from other guests is a bit of a pain but thats what we expected from 18-30 – you don’t expect much sleep!

The hotel is a 5-10mins walk from the main Strip, but it’s a nice distance so you can sleep at night away from the noise. There are quite a few restaurants & bars around the hotel and the beach is about a 20 minute walk.