Lotus Hotel Apartments

We stayed in August of this year. These apartments are fantastic, kitchen was very well equipped (toastie maker is a genius idea), spotlessly clean. The pool area is great - lots of loungers. Would stay here again but the surrounding area is a bit strange - it is on main road which is very busy but once inside the apartments, you'd never know. Staff friendly and helpful - bar closed early, which is good considering its a family place but there are not many bars around for evening drinks. Supermarkets around the corner are great. Beaches nearby and Chania town is a lovely place to visit.

As a first-time traveller to the Chania area, the TUI write-up sounded most appealing and in most respects this was confirmed by our first hand experience - except that it masked one factor of great importance to my wife and myself. If you (like us) prefer on holiday to tour around by day but value a peaceful night's sleep at the end of it, then I'd say there are certain things one should be aware of before considering staying here. The Lotus is located in the midst of a commercial district fronting a busy main road. We found background traffic noise ever present during the day punctuated at regular intervals by a motorised generator operating in the vicinity. But this was nothing compared to the incessant loud revving of passing motor bikes and scooters at night. Our first night proved to be an extreme exception and this activity abated considerably on subsequent nights, helping to persuade us to persevere after consulting TUI. That is not to say that this problem went away but it did not overly deprive us of sleep during the rest of the stay. The tragedy of this is that we could not find fault with any other aspects of the accommodation and, but for the noise issue, would not have hesitated in staying there again

Spent two weeks at the Lotus September 17th until 1st October. Had some worries with it being on a very busy road, surrounded by car showrooms etc on the main road leading into Chania, however, after a fast check in and being taken through the side gate and around the back to the area containing the second larger pool and our room my fears floated away.... that evening we never heard a single thing all night and had all windows open. Only I think twice in 2 weeks did we her some idiot on a motorbike roaring up the road about 4am....you can get those anywhere I suppose!! (rooms front road facing would get noise though). Our room had everything we needed for a self catering holiday, however we only tend to do breakfast and a sandwich to take to the beach occasionally so not actually 'cooking'. Maybe that would be a challenge with one pan one frying pan and a large cooking pan. kettle and toaster and two ring hob. No microwave. The beds we found very comfortable but the pillows were firm (we have very soft pillows at home so we always vac pack two cheapies from Asda and take those with us and leave them behind ---- always do this now after several ruined sleepless nights holidays over the years - works for us!!!!!) The rooms were kept clean to a high standard and serviced everyday except Sunday. We hired a scooter for the duration of our holiday as very experienced riders so the busy road was not an issue, we parked outside the reception, however, please be aware there is no carpark at the Lotus so a hire car would need to be parked up one of the side roads....however without transport the Hotel is approx 10/15 minutes walk to the first of several nearby beaches, we tended to use Amnos (part of Chrisi Akti) which was further round and the beds were just 6 euros on here (compared to 10 on other beaches) and the water lovely... to find it I would go past Lidl and walk for about 7 or 8 minutes when you get the the bottom of the road with the beach facing you and the football pitch to your right ...turn right and follow that road all the way to the end,.. maybe another 5 minutes walk or less.. don't turn off... there is a small car park and a little cafe for drinks ice creams etc located there. Also very close to the Hotel are two good supermarkets. personally be found Synka to be the best over Lidl, much more choice and things seemed better laid out and more choice. Around the Hotel are many good tavernas some set on the main road although some set back in courtyards, but there are lots to be found up the side roads heading to the beaches or across the road and up to Dimitris and Sakis...... 3 minutes tops walk away. We found all the staff pleasant & helpful but a special shout out should go to Yiannis the evening receptionist who was so very helpful with everything we asked drawing up maps for us and giving recommendations of things to see and do, he is a credit to the Hotel. We didn't use the pool as prefer beaches or heading out sightseeing but it did seem to get a lot busier and 'noisier' in our last four or five days when a large group checked in and seemed to 'take over' somewhat, as said didn't bother us but the peacefulness seemed to have deserted the area.. nothing the Hotel can do about this as you can get this anywhere. The only negative I have here and it is only a small niggle was that two evenings when we came back from dining out and fancied a nightcap we were left sitting in the dark as although the bar closes at 11 which is fine, and I appreciate they cannot stay open all night!!... when you still have a full drink but the barmaid turns off the lights on her way out leaving you sat there in the dark it is a bit off putting to say the least. I feel that it would be a better idea to have the lights on a timer so they go out maybe 30 minutes later giving people time to finish their drinks. As said only a small niggle but maybe something the management could look into? Would recommend in a heartbeat and would return if we are in Chania again.