Chc Marirena Hotel

Recent Reviews: 332

• User:Brian H

  Trip type: Family

  NOT ALL INCLUSIVE: by any stretch of the imagination !

  17 Aug 2024

  This IS NOT an ALL INCLUSIVE experience: far from it. Breakfast is monotonous and having been on over twenty Greek holidays, the first to include sandwiches. Cold meats, processed cheese, part-boiled eggs, but if you're very quick, baked beans and scrambled eggs (some days). Lunch was slightly better catering for most tastes and dinner was confined to a one hour slot 7.00-8.00. The inclusive bar was open from 11.00 until 10.00, but only served beer, cask wine and water. Cocktails, of a sort, were served from 6.30-10.00 but were not what most people would recognise (most containing Raki) and if it wasn't on the list you couldn't have it ! No Gin & Tonic, No Rum & Coke AND in GREECE, no Ouzo ! Children were particularly poorly catered for, no Milk (unless a milk shake was purchased), no fruit, ice cream, or genuine fruit juice until we complained vociferously. If you required water before 11.00, or after 10.00 you bought it. The pool area was in shadow most of the day, yet the hotel boasted a grassed pool area with sunbeds adjacent, but reachable only upon PURCHASE of drinks. The restaurant and Jewellers shown in photos do belong to the owner, but the Restaurant (Dionysus) is NOT part of the all inclusive package. By the pool there is a cover (for a filter mechanism, I presume) that was wedged open an inch by a piece of wood: I personally tripped and saw several others do the same. The staff were friendly enough, but working to a very strict regime. My advice do not book all inclusive.The Hotel itself was adequate, but the bathrooms were very "tired"

  Read more

• User:Eoghan M

  Trip type: Family

  50/50 Please read! Don't fall for the "all inclusive" trap.

  14 Aug 2024

  Firstly, don't go "all inclusive" at the Marirena, particularly if you are bringing children... but otherwise, it was fine.I'd like to say that the staff were nearly all great, lovely people, very helpful and nice. Particularly Rena, Soula, Nikos and all the young staff working the bar. We really liked the staff!BUT the rules and the old guy owner here make it very difficult to fully enjoy. Others comment on this, too.The "all inclusive" is a bit of a joke:- Breakfast is 8-9 only, I beleive and it's "continental" with breads, condiments, package croissants (not fresh), sometimes pastries, orange slices/water melon, a cheese, some processed meats, beans and scrambled eggs. There's a coffee machine and a "juice" and water dispenser. The apple juice was fine but the orange tasted like cordial.- The "all inclusive program" starts at 11 whereby a medium-sized fridge in a cupboard has some madiera and cholocate cake, little ham sandwiches, sometimes some nice little waps were in there, crisps and either an apple or cheese pastry.- There were no yoghurts or fruit or ANYTHING healthy for the children otherwise. We had to complain and - again the staff themselves were nice about this - were granted fruit and yoghurts when we wanted them (I didn't see other families being told about this and we felt quite guilty about it but needs must). Anything off menu comes at a cost.- Long gap between 9 to 11am - The "all inclusive" "bar" opens at 11am and closes at 10pm but has a strict menu (see pic). There's NO flat drinks or fruit juices for children. The beer was fine, a refreshing 4% "Cretan Beer" which I didn't mind. The wine is from a dispenser - it's listed as "house wine" or "in a glass, but you gotta pour it yourself. The cocktails are just a minimum amount of the spirit listed + mixer and about 2 cubes of ice - no offence to the guys serving, this is clearly what they're only "allowed" to serve. Some vodka, rum and raki options (but I dunno who's taking that). - There are other spirits on the shelf in the "bar" but of course, they're off-menu and come at a cost.- Regretfully, guest's tables around the hotel were rarely cleared (more on this below).- Dinner is 7-8pm only and food does run out without replenishment in some of the nicer things. The food was fine, though. Lots of delicious salads (same every day) and some nice options, some not so nice, 5 hot options I believe. Had a nice moussaka, once. There is ONLY water or coffee available in the dining room at this time. There is ONE person who MIGHT offer to get you a drink from the bar. Again, no healthy options for children other than waterOn arrival, when you come into the hotel, there is a bar, but that's not the all inclusive bar. It's the first bar you get to though and when you ask for a beer you're asked to pay. The staff are nice about it but you still have to pay at that bar. Essentially.. if you're "all inclusive"... you're hearded away like sheep to your own crappy little bar/restaurant drooling at the food and drinks that their more valued customers pay for.The pool area is nice (sun in the morning and shaded in the evening), but don't be fooled by the nextdoor connected pool area. This is apparently a "different" hotel/company/or something... but it's clearly run by the same people. To use it you need to BUY drinks. The food served to people in there looks delicious by comparison to the all-inclusive offering. It comes from the hotel's connected restaurant. It's a nicer pool area but those are the rules.Now... the grumpy old guy... I know it's not OK to call him this, but that's what he is. He appears to be the owner. he prowls around and basically bosses the staff AND the guests about. Others complain about this also... EG. Where can you have drinks, where can you sit. There are cordoned off areas and he will basically heard people around as if they are sheep etc etc etc. When checking in/out they have no luggage store but allow you to store your luggage in the reception. But if he sees you doing anything with your luggage in the reception he'll chase you out of there. Honestly, it felt like a boarding school sometimes.Again... staff: lovely. Rules and owner: not so much.I think we'd have been happy here if we were younger, had no kids, and went with B&B option only. So I'd actually recommend this place on that basis if you think the price is right.Location-wise, it's quite good! There are plenty of touristy shops down the street with a grocery store only 2 mins away and regular buses into Heraklion centre (be sure to buy your tickets at a shop rather than on a bus! it's half the price!). It's right by the beach and a couple of nice beach bars like 'Havana', 'Franks', and the snazzy insta-bar Kooba' down the beach.

  Read more

• User:marianaz721

  Trip type: Family

  It was a pleasure to stay in the hotel Marirena

  25 May 2024

  It a clean, friendly place and staf. Very near to the beach. Good WiFi. The breakfast was delicious. The room was clean and the staff was cleaning it every day. There is a lift. A good and clean pool. No far from the beach and from the agreements also. Thanks 🙏🏼

• User:brianabri

  Trip type:

  Great hotel

  17 Sept 2022

  Everything is fine. Clean rooms, cleaned every day. Hotel territory is neat and beautiful. There is enough food both in the morning and in the evening. For breakfast, sandwiches, boiled eggs, toast, pastries, yogurt with many different condiments. Dinner is delicious, different every day. Close to the beach with beautiful sunrises. There are many cafes and shops in the city.Breakfast 8-9.30hDinner 19-20h"I would like a longer dinner time and an earlier breakfast"

  Read more

• User:Mvladi87

  Trip type:

  Worst of the worst,

  04 Aug 2022

  I arrive with my wife at about 9 AM, were told we have to wait for about 2h or more for room to be ready. Not a big deal. Left to eat and got back. Upon entering the room, we noticed it had a funny smell. The century old looking AC also was not working and was not fixed even after we complained about it. When turning on the light to the bathroom, the fan started to make a loud noise. That fan hasn’t been changed in many, many years. The noise was so bad, we had to turn off the light when entering the bathroom, especially at night when you’re tired and don’t want to hear noise. Speaking of noise, every single day, there was music from a hotel nearby up until 12 AM. From that same hotel, during daytime, you could hear continuous, non-stop LOUD music. The music was the worse, filthy mainstream music you can imagine. It’s like they purposefully gathered the worst radio “hits” from present day and several years ago and played them to drive people crazy.Now, breakfast starts at 8 AM and ends at 9 AM. But when you’re forced to go to sleep at 12 AM because of the bad and continuous music being played every day, it’s safe to say you can’t wake up at 8 AM. However, we did wake up at 8 AM a few times, to see what the included breakfast is all about. The breakfast is poor, but passable. It’s important to mention that if you don’t arrive on time for breakfast, an old guy, which I assume is the owner, will tell you off. Yes, that’s right. He won’t let you go have breakfast if you’re late. One situation that shocked me was the following: Wife went for breakfast at about 8:30, I went there at 8:52. I wanted to go inside to my wife, but the old man would not let me. He said I can wait for her on the other side. I was shocked. How can an old man tell me where and if I am allowed to check on my wife? This is crazy. Later I found out that many people were actually complaining about the old guy and how early the breakfast starts and how soon it ends.Let me tell you more about the room: It looks like crap. Tiles on the floor are old, look ugly, and all in all make you feel dirty. The room looks and feels dirty. The furniture is also very old and again, looks dirty. Our sheets have also never been changed, but on the last day. Only the sheet that we cover ourselves with was changed, like a few times. But not the sheets on which we slept on or the pillow covers. So we slept for a week on dirty sheets and pillows. Outside, at ground level, the green bushes/vegetation was sprinkled on with some kind of chemical that smelled bad. This means that you could not open your window for fresh air, because the smell of this chemical would get all inside the room. Also, at ground floor, where we stayed at, there was a whiff that would come from somewhere, and that whiff smelled like bad cheese. I was like wtf is this. Also, colonies of ants can be found on the property and next to our door. The pool they have is dirty, found a lot of hair in it which got in my mouth as well. Honestly, this is the worst vacation we’ve had. Prices in the area are high, food quality is questionable, depending on where you eat and to be honest, I can’t understand why the food is a lot more expensive than where I live, Romania. We used to spend at least 60 EUR a day (sometimes even 100 EUR) for food. That’s a lot. And please don’t tell me we eat a lot or whatever else.. I work out regularly and am very careful on what and how much I eat. Same goes for my wife. Summing it up, we won’t go back to Crete and especially not at this location. Also, DO NOT go on any of the advertised day visits to whatever places they may be advertising (Knossos, etc). It’s boring, tiresome, and not worth it, in my opinion. Also, Wi-Fi in this location, in our room, was crap. Consistently lost connection and we both have new iPhones. Hoping I didn’t forget to add anything here, do not come to this hotel. It’s not worth it.

  Read more