TUI MAGIC LIFE Candia Maris

Spent 2 weeks at this Adult-only resort in September. We had a very nice holiday and all staff were very friendly and welcoming. The food and drinks were very good and the overall facilities are excellent. There is something for everyone be it rest and relaxation or more physical pursuits. The breakdown of nationalities can be directly associated with the type of TV channels available, ie 1 French, I Italian, 2 mainly English and 14 German! A special mention for Giannis working at the pool bar who is one of the best barman I have met. You will enjoy this Hotel and do not forget to visit Spinalonga Island.

We stayed 8th-15th.October. The weather was good but for the persistant high winds The hotel is very good but there seemed to be a nationalty bias.This hotel is German owned I believe ? food was good but trying to get a table in the evening was so bad we went out a couple of evenings.House maid ,reception excellent.Used the local bus service to make our own way around and found it very easy and reasonable. We paid for the VIP lounge on return and until we used the toilets for the lounge it was a disgrace.Greece isn't a third world country and for this to be a VIP treatment at an International airport I should ask for a partial refund on the 80 euro I paid. This is the forth visit to Crete but the airport on all four times was awful both on arrival and departure ,that's why I tried the VIP lounge. I feel weve given Crete a good go but there are many more places to go and see. I love Crete and Greek islands , and its not as if theres a shortage

I'll try to keep it brief...(but may not succeed!) Arrived late, nice welcome, buffet was kept open for us, hot food to choose from, big plate of meze & a glass of chilled white wine served to us - most welcome. Room - ours was on the ground floor, kingsize bed as requested, but covered with 2 separate duvets - bizarre! All clean & functional, quiet. Bathroom spacious with hot water at all times - no complaints here. Free safe. Free wi-fi which worked well everywhere. You can download the Magic Life app to see what's in store that day. Pools ( x3) - the most amazing pool beds we've ever encountered. Fab mattresses & pillows which didn't absorb water, so even when it rained they never stayed wet. Had a lovely post lunch pool nap most days! Plenty of beds, never had to worry about getting a space, whatever the time of day. Beach - didn't look very appealing, much poorer beds, so never stayed down there, although plenty did. Entertainment staff - (I may rant a bit here) We always, always, gel with the entertainment crew wherever we go, but bizarrely not here. Apart from the lovely English dancing girls, and Colin, the spinning instructor (more on him later) we felt they were little distant. We were never encouraged to participate in any activities, and had to find out for ourselves what was on offer. My worst gripe however was with the large, loud, dark haired German woman who was often screaming down a microphone. She was, in my opinion, just downright rude, usually found on her phone, or chatting to one particular (male) guest. I saw her nudging, pointing and giggling at one of the (disabled) guests. She'd bound into the Wunderbar, grab cakes out of the beautiful display there - no serving tongs, no plate, no serviette, just cake straight to mouth, and bound out again. This woman does not belong here....anyway... Sports - the best bit - here this hotel excels - and Tui do not promote this! They have proper spinning bikes - classes twice a day with the lovely Colin - excellent at his job, a polite young German, always happy to chat. We also did aqua spinning in the pool - a real laugh! Also on offer, step classes, aerobic type classes, zumba, professional archery, boxing & loads more. There were a lot of serious cyclists there when we were, as the hotel offers daily road & mountain biking. And of course the usual hotel fare of aqua aerobics, darts etc. Oh, and the gym was fabulously equipped, and well utilised. Night time entertainment - we were pleasantly surprised. Very varied. We never made it to the amphitheatre shows, but did see some good live music in the Wunderbar, also an 80s/90s disco where everyone was dancing, a fab neon party in the party area, and there is a disco 3 nights a week - still all inclusive. Food & drinks - mmmm....a bit of a let down for a hotel that classes itself as 5*. Local brand spirits. Luckily we found the wine quaffable. But having to serve yourself wine at dinner? We're not keen on buffet food at the best of times, but it wasn't a particularly romantic experience when we're both up & down fetching drinks & food. Also - particularly disappointed with the fish on offer. Taverna: One visit allowed. Greek restaurant was good fun. Great waiter (Michael - or the Greek equivalent). You have no choices to make, you get 5 starters to share, 5 mains, 5 desserts, then honey raki - delicious. Flavour - the other restaurant was beautiful (also one visit) Harris (?) also great waiter. Here you get 5 starters each - no choice - 1 main that you can choose from 5 - and 5 desires - and more raki. We had a personal issue, that was professionally dealt with by our lovely Tui rep Aristoula with the help of the Magic Life guest services manager Chryssa - thank you both ladies xx All in all, we had a great holiday - the fabulous weather helped. And Heraklion airport is not that bad - I've been in worse! Loved the over 16 concept, made the holiday peaceful, all the guests were respectful and all nationalities got on.