Hara Ilios Village

We spend about 8 days in the hara ilios village and can honestly say, that we had a great time with our friends in the hotel. The hotellobby, bar and dining room are part of the main building. The bedrooms are distributed over 4 seperate buildings with a groundlevel floor and a first level. Every room got a seperate and very large balcony, a bathroom with a toilette and a combinated shower/bathtub. The bedrooms are very basic, but come with an air conditioning system and a fridge. We needed both, because the temperature was around 30°C. If you are looking for a place to cool off, there is a pool right beside the bar or the beach with crystal-clear water just about 200m down the road. And if you want to get out of town there are plenty of sightseeing offers by the locals, but we would recommend a rental car to get around. In summary, we had a great time in the hara ilios village with great food, drinks and a little sunburn. ;)

I stayed at Hara Ilios Village for a week at the end of September and was delighted with my choice! I have stayed in many of the hotel in Gouves (including St Constantine, Marie Kelly and the Blue Agean) and this is by far been my favourite hotel. I was travelling here alone for a family wedding and wanted somewhere I could relax and enjoy this beautiful part of Crete and it did not disappoint. The staff were incredibly welcoming, everyone from the hotel manager to the staff working in the restaurant - this made such a difference to my stay! Friends and family that came to visit me at the hotel were also impressed by the service and by the pool and bar area as the views of the sea from here are lovely. Rooms are well sized and very comfortable and the food at the restaurant was beautiful - a lovely change from the typical taverna food you will find at many of the surrounding food places. As a veggie I loved the Cretan salad and the tomato risotto! The options at the buffet breakfast were also great and most days there are pancakes/crepes, fruit and a range of hot food. I'll definitely be back - thank you so much :)!

We stayed at Hara IIios Village from 4-13th September and found the staff friendly, the hotel clean and modern and the apartment clean and tidy. However we were disappointed to note the backdrop of the pool terrace in the pictures on TripAdvisor, their main website and LoveHolidays has been photoshopped....you cannot view the sea from the pool area as there are several buildings in the way! Despite this, the pool itself and pool area is exceptionally clean and well kept. The food was relatively ok and hot, but there was a lot of fish on the menu every night. We were also disappointed that there was no traditional Greek food on the menu (houmous, pita bread, Stifado, Pasticcio, or olives, despite the hotel boasting their own olive grove!) and on the one night we had Moussaka, it was more like cottage pie with a thick mashed potato topping rather than creamy bechamal sauce and aubergine. When I enquired why there was no traditional food (particularly Saganaki) I was told this was ‘taverna food’! (surely isn’t that what Greek cuisine is synonymous with?!). Also be aware when ordering from the wine menu by the pool - particularly the Grape Distillation section. This is actually Raki (despite being listed as a Chardonnay or Merlot etc) and not wine as we know it. The location is excellent for a quiet and relaxing holiday and bears no resemblance to Malia in anyway! The small shops along the main beach in Kato Gouves are reasonably priced and well stocked. Likewise the bars are slightly cheaper for wine and cocktails (€5) rather than the hotel at €7.50 As a last note, if (like me) you enjoy a spot of duty free shopping whilst on holiday, I would give it a miss in Crete - a 70cl bottle of Gray Goose Vodka was priced between €43-€54 (£42-£53 depending on where you shopped) - whilst Heraklion airport was charging a whopping €65 (£63) a litre!! That said, we had a fantastic holiday exploring sight-seeing and relaxing by the pool in a perfect location!