we have stayed at the maria rousse for the last 14 years. barbara george and george are so friendly and can't do enough for you. everywhere is so clean food is very good and very reasonable. looking forward to going again this year. eileen and john

The Maria Rousse is an oasis of calm in the midst of the craziness that is Malia. Arranged around very well-kept, green lawns with palm trees & a pool, the rooms are in two-storey blocks; no hectic high-rise buildings here. Our room was pleasant & clean, & we were fortunate enough to have a ground-floor room with a verandah & our own "front yard", within easy reach of the pool & the comfortable outdoor bar, which also serves food all day. There is very little need to leave the grounds at all if you are feeling lazy! George & his staff are very welcoming & friendly. The main gate is locked at 1.00 am, & there is a security guard patrolling the grounds at night, which made us feel very secure, & they are strict about not allowing outside guests in the rooms. We stayed in September, & there were plenty of more "mature" people staying there, many of whom had been several times before. For us the only drawback is that in order to get to the beach & to some of our favourite tavernas, we had to walk quite a long way down a busy street. At night this meant running the gauntlet of the guys who stand outside the bars persuading people to go in; funny at first but it got very tiresome. Highly recommended is the Alexis taverna next to the church at the top of the main street. Diana the waitress is delightful, the kleftiko delicious & the atmosphere peaceful. You should also try the Sirtaki restaurant near the beach for more high-quality Greek food, & Angelos the waiter who sings as he works. The beach is long & sandy, but you have to walk a long way to get away from the crowds. On the plus side, there are plenty of places to eat & drink, & as long as you don't position yourself between two competing sources of music, it is quite a comfortable place to be. In all, a nice place to spend a week relaxing, & from what I saw, I would say the Maria Rousse is the best place in Malia to do it.