Sol Marina Beach Crete

We had a fantastic stay at Sol Marina Beach in Crete! Everything was excellent: the food was delicious with plenty of variety, the rooms were comfortable and spotless, the private beach was beautiful, and the entertainment team made every day enjoyable.

A special mention to the spa, which was a wonderful experience, and especially to Eva, who worked absolute magic with her treatments. Thank you to the whole team for making our holiday so memorable. We would definitely come back!

We are just home from our stay at Marina Beach and we had the best time! Definitely a hotel suited for families. First of all the hotel is a 20 min drive from airport, next time we would get a taxi instead of the easyJet transfer just so we can get there faster as it is so close. We received a lovely welcome from the reception staff. There is free wifi and all the hotel info is on the QR code on the room key which is easy to access. We were in a bunglow room which was opposite the bar pool and had the splash pad to the left, for us this was an ideal location. At these two pools there was always sunbeds available at 10am when we went back to the room after breakfast and a few still dotted around during the day. Can’t comment on main pool as we didn’t really spend much time there at all apart from when we were at the snack bar but it did look quite busy! It is a big hotel but everything easy to find and the beach directly outside the hotel is ideal. Food was great, lots of variety and everything was so tasty. Snack bar is also perfect. Ice cream, chips, pizza, gyros and salad always available and restocked. We only went to restaurant for lunch twice due to children’s nap times but were more than satisfied with what was at the snack bar. There was also an option to attend a barbecue evening and Isla the al carte restaurant on the beach but we did not take advantage of these. The main hub of restaurants, bars and shops are around a 15 minute walk away, turn right once outside the hotel and right again when at Aphrodite hotel. You can hire beach towels at €15 per towel. This hotel is so clean, i was up at 7am with my youngest for a walk and the amount of cleaners was crazy, hotel was constantly spotless. Staff were great and so friendly from reception staff, charlitos who greeted us every night at dinner and the staff in the restaurant. The entertainment staff always had a smile on their face. Our 4 year old attended the mini kids club a few times and really enjoyed it, there was plenty to keep him occupied but they also took them for ice cream and to the beach one afternoon. He loved Laura and Aidan! I had a massage from Selina and it was perfect. Everyone in the spa was so friendly and welcoming and the massage just topped off a great experience. The entertainment at night was good, there was always a mini disco for kids at 8pm which was always busy, not a lot of songs were sang in English but my 2 are young enough to not care and don’t think it would bother them if they were older. We are still currently singing songs that we don’t know what the words are, ha! Adult entertainment included a cabaret show, karaoke, a disco in the main bar and a couple of acrobatic shows. One of these was amazing and the other one was quite boring so we left quite early into it. Next to the splash park are tennis courts where they had football tournaments a few nights a week. There was a few World Cup games on that were shown too. They showed games in the indoor theatre and the Amphitheater outside and there is a small tv near the main bar where games were shown too. There is a small play park, mini golf and a smaller green patch were kids played a bit of football at night. There is also ping pong tables, pétanque and archery but we didn’t take part in these. I also believe there is a teens club. There is a small arcade section with a pool table and air hockey just off reception. For the mini golf you can collect the clubs and balls from reception. The only negative I can find is to possibly have some more golf clubs and balls. On an evening it can get quite busy and one night we went back 3 times to play but there wasn’t any clubs or balls left. For our first family holiday aboard, we had the best time and will definitely be back in the future, we miss it already!