Anissaras, Lida Maria Apartments Review

Overall Rating

1. Very scenic and quite location (away from the busy town Hersonnisos). Still only 10 min by taxi 7 euros.
2. Very friendly staff that try very hard to make your stay as nice as possible and are very good with children.
3. The food is extremely nice at the bar and also Penguinos (2 min walk from apartments).
4. No pressure with holiday reps to go for all the excursions, you can do as much or as little as you want.
5. The rooms are cleaned every other day and fresh sheets etc.
6. The beach front is 20 min walk through creatian countryside, with a few taverners and minimarkets, and water sports etc.
7. A well equipped apartment with your own balcony.
8. The pool is nice with ample sunlougers for everyone.

There was only one bad point about our stay at the Lida Maria, and that was a very narrow minded guest and her friend, who thought that she should get a 5 Star holiday apartment and 5 Star Package holiday deal for a 2/3 star price. These people in question moaned from the minute they arrived over the most trivial of things to such an extent my daughter named her "Moaning Myrtle". The unfortunate thing is these type of holiday makers often have an impact on young couples and their families that may not have done as much travelling. Every Country is different in its own right and that is what makes travelling abroad exciting. So if you recognise a bit of yourself in "Moaning Mertile" then our advice is don't force your view points down everyones throat and opt for a holiday in the U.K, where its not as hot, the swimming pools are bigger and do get cleaned every couple of hours. The accommodation has a full fitted kitchen were you can rustle up a three course dinner as an when you want it, and the showers are wall to ceiling in expensive tile that probably cost the same as the flight to Crete.

On arrival at Crete we were given our welcome pack with a sketch map of Lida Maria and our room number, which meant once we got to the apartments we did not have the hassle of booking in at 05.30hrs in the morning with young children, we just let our selves into the room and went to sleep.

We have travelled to many places around the world and this was a last minute deal for some quality time as a family. We found all the other guests very friendly and in some cases an extension of our own family.

On the Beach front there are some small restaurants and bars with mini markets and water sport facilities and a ATM cash point.. These go on for approx 1km then you come to a large restaurant called the Captain which is a good reference point, from there if you carry on walking approx 700m past all the large hotels the sea front opens up again to a lot more very good restaurants that is definitely worth the walk. The food is exceptionally good and very reasonable in price.

The sea is very good for all types of water sports and very clear for snorkeling with lots of fish clearly visable once you enter deep enough from the jetty.

Hersonisos is approx 10 min by taxi from Lida Maria resort and cost 7 Euro. A good tip is to negotiate a price before getting into the taxi, as they like most countries will chance their arm if they think they will get away with it. After the 10 min drive you think you are in a completly different part of Crete, very lively Lots of Bars, Night clubs, shops, medical facilities very commercialised and built up.

If you fancy a day out further afield then we can strongly recommend Spinalonga the former Lepar Island. This works out quite expensive if you go on the organised trip but if you hire a car and drive to Plaka it only costs 7euro to cross on Giorgio boat.

If you want a relaxing, peaceful holiday then we highly recommend Lida Maria.

Members' Comments onstevewendy's Review

• anderson1234 on 29th Aug 2007

  I found this review helpful because... they tell it like they saw it.. We too had a 'moaning Myrtle', and yes they do express their opinions and can be quite obnoxious so we tried to avoid her.
  Not sure what staff you saw but we only met one in our entire stay and had our room cleaned every third day so I guess you had it good all around!