TUI MAGIC LIFE Candia Maris

Well...Where do we start...Booked this through TUI and was happy with this choice. Arrived at the hotel late on in the evening and check in was a breeze, What we noticed that as an all inclusive, they don't bother with those stupid wrist bands and the tourist tax thing...you can pay on departure. nice touch! another thing was the chap taking our bags to room 387. On dropping the bags off, it was a quick look around and a well earned drink & snack to finish the evening off. Next morning was the quick look around the room...looking a little dated and the view wasn't the greatest, though, me & the wife were not going to dwell on that. Once we got our bearings after a day or so we could see this was a huge complex prodomitly with German holidaymakers, around 90%, Hey..did it bother us..NO they all seemed a happy bunch as we were. We didn't bother with the customary Thomsons meeting in the morning as we went to Crete last year, so decided to get a sunbed around the main pool area...well...so many spare sunbeds.. nice. you do get that old feeling off "Germans have beat us to the sunbeds" but no..it was great for the whole 2 weeks. Papa Gianna was the barman at the pool side bar...what a great bloke with a wicked sense off humour..made my day going for a drinky. Now I bet your thinking, where am I going.....Well here we go again. The hotel itself..Lovely, very,very clean, the grounds were spotless as was our room, meaning that the cleaner changed the towels every day whether you left them hanging up or for collection. Food in the main Dining area was great! Breakfast was a doddle to get a seat and the choice was great. I opted for Fresh Orange Juice, Greek style yogurt with melon and cereal, The wife chose boiled eggs and small turkey slices..both with fresh coffee. .trouble is there was too much choice..honestly Lunch was either in the main restaurant where the food was plentiful and beer or wine on tap..nice one! or down at the open area Evening meal was off great choice, even after a 2 week stay, though do pick your timings carefully, 8-9pm was a good time. The waiting staff...you never see them, they just wisk past you taking away all the plates etc, The management team must give praise to them and the chef/etc on putting out great food day in/day out...they are a credit to this Magic hotel!! Entertaiment was pretty good, Met a lovely bloke called Mitch from the Magic Life entertainment team who was so passionate and was lovely, Wife loved his wicked sense off humour, We went to the night show once and they were very good...And I mean good! We booked a trip through the TUI rep to Spinalonga, long day and a really worthwhile visit. Also booked and went to the Speciality restaurant across from the Wundebar .GREAT, well worth a change and they really do look after you. The Wunderbar is a lovely bar and has the added bonus off cakes from 4pm with coffee/tea/beer/spirits... the list goes on... I could write so much more about this hotel which we believe is that good...All comes to an end and check out was easy, All in all a great 2 week break...would we come here again......a big fat YES

This hotel is good ,The food is good plenty to eat ,The staff are Friendly always taking to you when they walk past you,The hotel activities are good ,They put on shows at the ampitheatre most nights ,There are disco at the party area till midnight ,or sometimes by the Pool bar , There are activities during the day, Darts, Keep fit on gym bikes ,Zumba,Shuffle board , Football, etc,There is food available nearly all day, The Snack station is open 12 till 3,There is a Pizza hut not sure what time that shuts ,Also there is tea & Drinks available all day in the wunder Bar ,they bring out Tea,Coffee & cakes out at 4 by the pool for about 45 mins,And when we left to go home they waved us off they seem to do that for all the tourists,Also there is cycling every day from 40 k to 100k around the hills in Crete ,The hotel really do try hard with the activities,There is music by the main pool from 9 to 12 & 3 to 6 There is a BBQ night which was good & they played Greek music & Greek Singer & Dancers,When you arrive they tell you there is a free 15 min Spa treatment ,For your Face, Body,or Feet,when you go you have to fill in a form ,Its so long we didn't bother .Also the other treatments are dear .These are the good points ,The bad points are that the Hotel is approx. 90 % Germans we only met about six other couples which were English,so there was not much conversation,Also by the pools there is a sign 18 x 12 inches ,all in German no English equivalent as shown in the photo,Also as you goon to the beach there is a big sign telling you about the wildlife around the Beach all in German no English Equivalent as shown,The map we were given at the start of the holiday by reception a lot is in German as shown in the photo,There is also one Pils Lager no other Beers, As I didn't like that I didn't drink any apart from the first day,The cocktails are sugary.The Drinks selection is poor ,There is tea & coffee available allday,.This is not a hotel for English ,If you speak fluent German or you don't like mixing with other people this is your hotel.They Basically only cater for Germans here ,There was three get to gethers by the poolbar at night ,I thing they didn't last to long for Germans only,As there was signs out in German , All the Music is played in English ,There was one night in the party area a band played Spanish music.