Heraklion, Neptuno Beach Resort

Neptuno Beach Resort, good hotel food very nice but could be hotter, right on beach with free sunbed umbrellas and towels rooms very nice and very clean with hairdryer slippers and dressing gowns provided free

The Neptuno Beach Resort was nice. food nice did not go hungry. staff were very good bar staff worked hard i have no complaints not 4* but still a nice week stayed may 7 to 14th 2009 pays your money take your choice FOOD in the main very breakfast for me good lunch good

The hotel we stayed in is also known as the Neptuno Beach Resort.

Location: It was set in a narrow busy street, leading off the main road. It is situated in a town called Ammoudara, which is located just outside Heraklion around 6 Km away. The Ammoudara Main Street is very busy and does not have pavements in some parts of the road.

There is a local bus service, which takes you into Heraklion for 1.30 Euros. The bus runs every 20 minutes. From Heraklion you are able to catch buses to anywhere.

Room: Was quite big and clean with a fridge provided, dressing gowns and slippers were also provided. Beach Towels are provided on request at reception, deposits are required.

Staff: The staff were very pleasant and helpful but like everywhere, there is the odd one or two. We reported the leaking air-conditioning to reception when going for breakfast, on our return the maintenance person was repairing it.

Some rooms do not have plugs yet they will insist that they will provide them. We only had one pillow each, we requested more and again they delivered them within 30 minutes.

The bar staff work very hard and long hours and don't recognise who is next but I don't think that this is intentional.

Cleanliness: The hotel is very clean, throughout the day and evening there are cleaners around. Although it states the cleaners work 6 days a week, they cleaned the rooms every day whilst we were there.

Restaurant: Clean and plenty of tables to eat on. Selection of food was limited but always warm. Fish, two meats or more, pate, salads were always provided. Breakfasts are continental not the British Full English breakfast although fried eggs and bacon were served. You must try some of their fresh bread, I will miss that.

The snack bar was of a very poor selection compared to other all-inclusive places I have been to.

Swimming pool and beach: Kept clean and no need to get up at the crack of dawn for the towel rush. Although by 10.30am you would struggle to get a lounger in the pool area, the sun loungers on the beach were also free and were plentiful but beware, they also let them out to non-hotel residents for a charge.

Clientele: The hotel clientele is made up mostly of Belgium, French, with the rest German, Polish, Russian, Romania and British. There was about five families from the UK. It was the first time that I have ever stayed in a hotel with so many nations with British being the minority.

So my first thoughts were, what have I let myself in for but I needn't have worried. Unlike myself, the other nations could speak several languages, including some English.

All the nations were friendly, especially the Polish families we met. In the past I have tried to avoid hotels which are full of other nationalities but after this holiday it would not worry me at all.

Entertainment: The entertainers tried very hard and worked very hard to entertain us but due to all the nations there it was difficult. Overall the entertainment in the day was good but entertainment in the night was poor.

Toto stood out for me, with his efforts and love for the job he does. Due to the fact that there was only one bar by the pool and entertainment area, there was not anywhere you could go for a quiet drink.

General: The Airtours rep was like the Scarlet Pimpernel, we were unable to locate him. He was not at the hotel three days of the week and then he was very hard to find. Any person who likes going on excursions, I suggest you go to Heraklion and visit the information centre in the bus station, you could save pounds by booking there. If you are hiring of a car, check the rental places because prices vary.

This the first time that I decided not to hire a car because the driving skills of the locals was nowhere near the skills of the UK.

We visited the Aquarium, which was well worth the cost but beware of local buses are not always reliable.

Although I would not go back to this area again, I would visit Crete again. I would recommend this hotel to people who like a quiet hotel beach holiday.

In my opinion the Neptuno Beach Resort in Heraklion was poor for a 4 star hotel. I think it's a 3 star at best, with some 2 star qualities. The entertainment was very good and they tried very hard to keep everybody entertained.