Welcome aboard this Beers and Bon Voyage adventure as we dive into my travels to and around Crete in August, 2023. I’ve been lucky enough to visit Greece before, but of course I’ve never been everywhere and to every island in this Mediterranean country.
Being the first trip with my partner and his parents, I looked for a simple family getaway, but also somewhere I’d never been. Voila the idea of Crete was born.
Comparatively with other places we’ve been, it must be said that the general level of English in Malia, and in Crete as a whole, seemed to be high and we had no communication issues. All shopkeepers and waiting staff spoke excellent English and any issues were down to policy and attitude, rather than linguistical barriers.
Congruent with the rest of Greece, it’s generally not permitted to flush toilet paper down the toilet. Instead, a bin is provided for your soiled paper. This may seem gross to us, but to them, its perfectly normal. Their drains just can’t handle it. Some places are exception to this rule (such as our hotel), however, and these seem to be larger establishments.
In this Volume, you can expect full details on the overall package holiday itinerary, a review and insight into the hotel Yiannis Manos, how much it cost, my thoughts having travelled with easyJet Holidays for the first time and finally one or useful words and phrases to get you going in Greek!
In the next instalment, Volume Two, you can check out the places we visited within the country and a look at our more local area. After, in Volume Three, we look at the food and drink we encountered (your favourite bit, I know). Join me then for the Volume Beer where we look at the beer scene in Crete and I share my thoughts on the craft brews sampled.
Plans Booked and Pennies Spent
My boyfriend and I booked the following easyJet Holiday around mid-March 2023 to travel mid-August 2023:
10 nights Bed and Breakfast, Standard Studio Room with Balcony or Terrace, Shared Transfer, Small Hand-Luggage and 23kgs Checked Bag per person, return flights to Heraklion.
Seduced by the two pools, we also chose this hotel deal based on its location, perceived facilities, and its price.
We weren’t fussy on the rooms but we did select the option to have breakfast over self-catering option (at an extra £70pp). I, personally, prefer to eat out in local restaurants and enjoy other people’s cooking on my relaxing summer holidays. I cook enough at home!
Armed with some bacon, chorizo and cheese rolls, a banana and some pringles, we were off! I always take my own food for the plane/airport if possible as this saves pennies.
Airport Car Parking
We had booked Plane Parking car parking at Edinburgh Airport at £40 for the duration of our trip. It was well-signposted and simple to find, and a regular shuttle bus deposited you closer to the terminal from the further-away parking area. ATTENTION: It is a wee walk from the bus stop to the airport departures (5-10 minutes). As such, persons with mobility issues should take this into consideration when booking.
Flights and Transfer
Our outbound flight time wasn’t ideal for me, being at 2:20pm -> 8:40pm, Edinburgh to Heraklion. As I’ve mentioned before, I much prefer early outbound flights. You get time on that first day to look about and properly start your trip. On this occasion, however, by the time we arrived at our hotel it was already 23:15pm local time. No looking about for us.
In the airport itself, I noticed for the first time there are free water fountains to the left after exiting the duty-free shop. This is for those savvy individuals who carry empty water bottles through security in order to refill them. I shall certainly bear that in mind for future flights!
There was a delay with the plane and we were sitting on the tarmac for 45 minutes. Booo. When arriving to Heraklion, we were waiting quite a long time for our bags, as well as it being a bit hassly.
After retrieving our belongings, we headed out and over the road to find our transfer bus. There are desks to point you in the right direction. This was reasonably simple. Our transfer bus had air conditioning and left fairly rapidly. We did miss the lack of welcome pack or rep on the bus, however. For a full recount of my first easyJet Holidays experience, check out the below section!
Our return flight was planned at 10:45pm -> 1:25am, Heraklion -> Edinburgh. Being pretty late, we were able to enjoy most of our last day and we spent ours by the pool catching those last few rays. We found Heraklion airport departure terminal to be cramped, expensive and very warm. There were a lot of people in not a lot of space and so most were sprawled on the floors in any available corner. It was rather unpleasant, honestly, and boring. We have heard during our stay that they are planning on building a new airport, to take the strain of a growing tourist demand.
Our flight was moved gates extremely last minute due to other flight disruptions and no information was given until literally the last second. We were delayed approximately 50 minutes in leaving the tarmac. Even a small delay counts at that time of night when you just want to be home and in your bed.
Price Paid
So, the total price we paid for this trip, for those looking to compare or be nosey, was £686pp. I’d never booked with easyJet Holidays before and I found it was pretty simple to book and pay, and we could put a £60pp deposit and pay later, depending on departure date. Up next is my review of the Yiannis Manos hotel and you can decide if it was value-for-money or not.
Accommodation Evaluation
The Yiannis Manos Hotel Resort is a 3-star hotel in Malia, just a 10-minute walk from the bustling Malia strip. Whilst we had a pleasant time, we can describe this hotel as crafty, sneaky and, at times, inconvenient.
Arrival Procedure and Impressions
Arriving at the hotel at approximately 11:15pm, the receptionist greeted us and requested we connect immediately to the Wi-Fi, access our emails and forward the easyJet Payment Acknowledgement to the hotel’s email address. Not really what you want to be faffing around doing at that time after a day of travelling.
Upon arriving to the room, we discover a couple of things in quick succession:
- No Air Con Remote (charged extra at a whopping 8.50€ per night! Crafty…)
- Twin beds, not double (informed we had to have specially requested a double but goodness knows how)
- The ground floor terraces are not private. There are no walls or separators between spaces and the ‘patio’ doors open onto a public space anyone can walk onto.
Naturally, this led to further aggro and visits to reception and we were left feeling quite sour on our first day, albeit it was past midnight at this point. We could not find any mention on either easyJet or the hotel’s website about the extra aircon charge, and the lack of privacy for the ground floor room (parents-in-law’s) was a bit of a shock. We could probably have purchased an air con unit for the same price!
The receptionist in question was, while polite, abrupt and not very friendly. You felt you didn’t want to go to her if there was a problem. Throughout the holiday she earned the name Heinous Helene.
Our Room
A moderate-sized room, it was equipped with self-catering things: a fridge, cupboards with a portable electric hob, plates and cutlery. Despite the one small pillow and a thin sheet each, the beds themselves were alright. The first night we pushed the beds together until the maid added two sheets the next day to make it into a double bed.
The room is generally clean, although there was a large stain on the curtain, some small holes in the sheets and signs of disrepair/wear and tear in the bathroom. Nothing fancy, it did the job.
We spent a couple of days without the air con, but then decided to purchase due to me being eaten alive by marauding mosquitos entering via the door and windows flung wide open to tempt any breeze. We requested a blanket and an extra pillow each, which made things decidedly more comfortable. Take care to not leave ANY crumbs or food out. You will get ants.
The second time we were invaded, there was no attractive morsel. The creatures had made a line under our door and across our room to a hole in the wall. Whatever attracted them was clearly in the room next door. We were just the shortcut. My knight in shining armour, my boyfriend went to Heinous Helene to request tools of combat. Surprisingly, she did make immediate efforts to come assist, but he assured her that he would sort it himself and he came back armed with a brush and bug spray. His efforts were successful and the army were defeated/moved outside and they did not return.
There is no dishcloth to dry your pots, and the hob was in a precariously rusty and old condition. I wouldn’t have liked to use it, honestly. The fridge was excellent. If this author can offer you a bit of advice: purchase some bottled water (2€ for 6 2L bottles) and pop one or two in the freezer compartment. As a result, you have wonderful iced-water which lasts a while, whether it be by the pool, beach or exploring a nearby island.
TV and Wifi
The TV has about 19 channels, with around 4 news channels in English and the remaining channels in Greek and German. The connectivity to Netflix or other streaming services does not work. Categorically and by any means. Our TV stopped working at all one night and we had to wait until the next day for them to fix it.
The Wi-Fi in the rooms is not good. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. Other times it’s so slow that I think smoke signals would be more effective. In the bar area, and by the pool, the Wi-Fi is fine. We did manage to watch a couple of movies on Netflix on a phone, but we started loading it in advance.
The Bathroom
We got a bath towel and hand towel each, along with a bath mat, two small bars of soap and two 30ml bottles of shower gel and shampoo combined. The bathroom itself was small.
The shower was tiny. Extremely uninviting, it consisted of a wonky showerhead with water coming out at different angles, spraying down into small square space. There is a limp curtain which does NOT stretch all the way around, nor reaches the edges of the shower base. Instead, it somehow simultaneously clung to your wet and vulnerable body and flapped beyond the shower edge, drenching the toilet and the floor unavoidably. A relaxing shower, this was not. Shaving? You needed to be a contortionist with excellent balance.
You are provided with a non-slip mat for inside the shower, but the shower already had bumps on the floor, so we used this outside the shower square to try and keep the bathroom a smidgen drier. It did not really work. The material bath mat we put in front of the toilet to try keep that section dry. This also, was half in vain.
The maid removed our bath mat and did not replace it on one of the first days. And so being tired from a day out, smelly, and, by this point, in a state of undress before we noticed, we used one of the bath towels as a bath mat. From the description above, it was clear that we could not go without a bath mat, and so we thought it best to struggle that night as we expected the maid to realise sort it the next day when she came…
The next day came and they did not clean our room, nor provide new towels. I went to see Heinous Helene to request a new bath towel, and please a bath mat. I explained the situation and I was curtly informed that the rooms are only cleaned every two days (although towards the end of the holiday, it went two days without cleaning so no idea…). She also scolded that I should NOT have used a white towel on the floor and should have come to see her for a bath mat. Now, I’m not saying she was wrong, but we had already visited the reception enough times in our book, and again, she’s not the most approachable. Plus, to boot, we were already at the precipice of stepping into the shower. She grumpily agreed to come up with the items in 10 minutes.
We were actually dressed and ready to go out for our evening meal and explore more of the town, but we sat waiting for her to appear. She didn’t. I decided we should head out anyway, and ask her nicely to just pop them on our bed whenever she is ready. Her response to this, however, was: ‘Well, you never came back’. I apologised and explained I thought she had said she was coming up. To this, she replied: ‘Yes, well I got busy!’. She handed me the items and back I had to go to the hotel room to drop them off.
Furthermore, as you can imagine, the toiletries provided did not last the 10-day duration. The maids do not replenish them during the stay and when we enquired about more, Heinous Helene informed us that we do not get more. This author would advise taking a small supply of your own soap/shampoo to supplement the hotels one-off offering.
Bit o’ Brekkie
Despite the easyJet page claiming the hotel has a “restaurant serving continental breakfast”, the breakfast is actually à la carte and served between 9am and 11am. They do, however, offer a menu item called ‘Continental Breakfast’… crafty.
After scanning the QR code menu, we hand over one of the 10 paper vouchers given at check-in when a staff member comes to take our order. We could have one plate of food, and two drinks per person.
With the breakfast not starting until 9am, for any excursions leaving early in the morning, we had to request a packed lunch in the evening the night before. You are provided with baguette ham and cheese sandwiches, some tomato and cucumber slices to insert into said sandwiches, and a bottle of mixed fruit juice and water each person.
Between my boyfriend and I, we tried most of the breakfast options. Not being a buffet and therefore limited to one plate, you may wish to know the most filling/largest plates on offer: Greek breakfast, Continental breakfast, English breakfast (don’t shoot me, I only tried it the once) and the Bloomer Breakfast.
The avocado breakfast and smoked salmon plate, whilst tasty, were pretty small in comparison.
There is an image on the menu showing a stack of pancakes. Don’t be fooled: this is more craftiness. Not only do they not serve pancakes with blueberries as per the image, you also only get two. Two. Not a stack. Disappointed boyfriend.
After trying the orange juice on the first day and deeming it pretty rubbish, I got pineapple juice each day (x2) and it was lovely.
Check out the menu for yourself here. You could order anything from the ‘Breakfast’, ‘Pancakes’, ‘Juices’ or ‘Teas and Coffees’.
I was sincerely disappointed when I learnt it was not a buffet continental breakfast as thought. The service can be quite slow some mornings, leaving up to half an hour before you get the food. Depending on what you order, you may or may not be hungry a few hours later and we felt our whole day was somehow slowed by this process. Early risers would need to wait until 9am for their breakfast, in comparison with other hotels who I know serve breakfast starting a lot earlier. I did notice my Greek Breakfast jacket potato steadily decreased in size over the holiday – this was my preferred breakfast, being in Greece.
The Pool Areas
Firstly, the sunbeds are all on grass. I used my flip flops to get to the poolside and back to avoid trailing dirt and grass into the water and onto my sunbed. They are comfy though, especially the ones close to the non-bridge pool.
You have the choice of two adult pools and a teeny, tiny baby pool (the size of two showers). Aesthetically charming, the pool with the bridge is the smaller, yet deeper, one and the bridge is closed off. The other pool, in this author’s opinion, was the better as there is a larger shallower area and steps leading into it; not just a ladder. According to the Yiannis Manos website, the resort boasts “Two Huge Pools”. I would say this is another crafty misdirection. The larger pool is a good size but the smaller is fairly small, especially when it is so deep. And it is deep.
Pool One (Non-bridge): 1.15m – 2.10m – I can stand until about halfway across the pool (I’m 1.58m)
The pool water is pleasant. It’s cool but not freezing and its freshwater. You are not permitted to bring your own food or drink to the pool or bar area. They claim for tax reasons: for everything consumed, they must have a receipt to show the correct tax was paid. We brought our own water (frozen), however, and this was fine.
To Note: Before purchasing any inflatables or balls for the pool, please check what is already there. The pool has its own inflatables and balls left by previous guests that are fair game to anyone.
The Bar
A fully-stocked bar, it was 4€ for a 500ml of Mythos draught (common Greek beer) and around 6.50€-10€ for a cocktail depending on size. The Mythos comes frozen in a plastic glass for around the pool and although this is refreshing, I did not appreciate the lumps of ice falling into my beer. Not so good. Ice in beer is just wrong.
Between the hours of 9pm and 1pm there was happy hour at the bar. So, two spirit and mixers for 8€ and two cocktails for 10€ (limited list). The rule was the drinks must be two identical. We tried a couple of cocktails and they were alright.
My partner having a great affinity for Malibu and coke, ordered two of these on the first night (to try and chill out after our stressful checking in ordeal). He enjoyed them fine until the barman Yiannis (not the namesake/owner) came to offer us a free surprisingly-smooth tequila shot each before closing up.
Yiannis informed us that actually, when purchasing a drink from the offer, the hotel serves you a cheaper alternative and not the branded spirit. Crafty. Malibu being a brand name and not an alcohol type like vodka, I believe you should get a Malibu if you order one, or should be informed previous to purchase it is in fact the local alternative. But that’s Crafty Crete.
Stefanos the bartender was funny and a good laugh, definitely the nicest of them all. We knew we could ask him things and have some banter and he would actually crack a smile. We found the Cretan folk to be generally abrupt and almost abrasive. They have a way of doing things and that’s that. They meant well, mostly, but it was their nature to be to the point and get on with things. That’s not to say we didn’t meet some super friendly and nice people though!
We ordered once some non-breakfast food and it was alright. According to other reviews, many people praised and enjoyed the food. I thought my Tzatziki was mediocre, if I’m honest, but there seemed some other cool stuff on the menu.
General Comments
Overall, the hotel was on the cheap side, not on the cheerful side overall, and did the bare minimum. They didn’t offer the BBQ night they advertise everywhere due to insufficient numbers, though they claimed to be fully booked. They could offer/be so much more. Or at least foster a happier, more relaxed and holiday-spirited environment.
We had a couple of boisterous youths excited for the party life making noise at night but this was also quite minimal and we had no real complaints about this. It’s far enough from the strip to not hear it, and to not be inundated with all the party people.
The reception is open until 12am, although often there is a sign advising people to go ask at the bar for help. Who then sometimes tell you to wait for X to arrive or come back later.
IMPORTANT: This hotel does not have any lifts. For wheelchair/reduced mobility needs, ask for a ground floor room, on the right-hand side.
easyJet Holidays Thoughts
Disclaimer: I am not endorsed, encouraged or employed by any of the companies discussed.
Both easyJet Holidays and Jet2 Holidays off £60pp deposits. I’ve travelled with Jet2 a few times but never with easyJet. We could not get the app to work before our travel for boarding passes etc. The app kept insisting I had used a different account to book with, yet I have only one and the mobile website accepted it just fine so we had to use that.
The bag drop at Edinburgh airport was fairly simple, although I did note the service was not as friendly as Jet2. The baggage label ends stick to each other without having to peel (pretty cool). The staff advised us not to put our bags too close to each other on the conveyor belt so as not to jam the system.
Something I always admire and look forward to with Jet2 is their trademark red polo shirt-clad staff waiting on arrival to point you towards your transfer. With easyJet, there was nobody waiting. No signs and no indication of where to go until you left the airport. From here, you can spy the easyJet desk amongst all the other companies across the road. It was a simple case of giving them your name and they tell you which bus you are. There was no easyJet rep with us on the bus, and no welcome pack provided. We usually like to peruse the excursions on offer in this pack provided by Jet2 and others. Someone did come on the bus to welcome us to Crete and give us a small explanation but he was no sooner on the bus than off it again.
No easyJet reps at the hotel. A small sign I noticed a few days in with a QR code invited us to look at trips and such, but this took us to generalised Crete tours/experiences and not specifically from our area/hotel.
For our transfer home, I received a text from a ‘GemTravel’ informing me of the bus time and pick-up location. 19:40 from Eros Bar – Beach Road. The problem was, Eros Bar didn’t exist and hadn’t for at least eight years. Asking Heinous Helene, she confirmed it was just the same place we had been dropped off at. My parents-in-law didn’t even get the text. Absolutely lacking service.
Both flights were delayed once inside the craft, and the return flight even before entering the craft. There was no inflight magazine, just the shop/café one although they did also offer sandwiches at half price to avoid food wastage.
It really did make me miss the Jet2 service. It isn’t always perfect, but at least it’s been mostly reliable and you know you’re not alone. With easyJet you’re left to fend for yourself.
Now, easyJet was cheaper than Jet2 on this occasion, and cheaper than other companies too, so I was expecting a cheaper service. Nevertheless, I don’t think I shall hurry back to travel with easyJet holidays as bar the simple booking of the packing including everything, there’s no additional benefit or service provided. The bare minimum. Echoed in its hotel choice.
Wise Words
Yasou = Hello/Hi
Kalimera = Good Morning (Pronounced Kah-Lee-Meh-Rah)
Kalispera = Good Afternoon/Evening (Pronounced Kah-Lee-Spe-Rah)
Kalinikta = Goodnight (Pronounced Kah-Lee-Neek-Tah)
Parakalo = Please/You’re Welcome (Pronounced Pa-Rah-Kah-Lor)
Efcharisto* = Thank you (Pronounced Eff-Kah-Reest-Oh)
*+ Poli =Thank You Very Much
Yamas = Cheers
Sygnomi = Sorry (Pronounced Sig-Noh-Mi)
Byra = Beer (Pronounced Bee-Rah)
1 = Ena
2= Thio
3= Tria
Join me shortly for Volume Two, where I tell you about my voyaging around Crete and what we got up to on the island. Additionally, if you have any comments or questions about what I’ve told you so far, let me know below! Have you met Heinous Helene or have you also been to this hotel?
