Elia Zampeliou Hotel

Excellent little hotel in the heart of Chania Old Town. The rooms have a unique rustic charm and are clean + well decorated. Some of the problems other reviews mentioned didn’t occur for us: even though our room faced the busy alleyway, we never heard much noise in the night and we personally had no issues with the reception staff as they were almost always there and willing to offer advice, recommendations, or assistance at a moment’s notice. Definitely would recommend this or other Elia guesthouses in the future!

We took a taxi transfer from Heraklion to Hania, the cab driver was unable to get too close as most of the old town is pedestrian traffic only, he just pointed in the general direction. We eventually found the hotel by asking directions, the entrance is in a narrow laneway that is parallel to the seafront. We had booked the Seaview room with balcony - the room was very comfortable with a fabulous view overlooking the harbour (room 7). Functional and clean bathroom. Other reviewers have mentioned noise disturbing their sleep, we heard some muffled noise early hours of a Saturday, arising from the waterfront, nothing of consequence. WiFi signal strong. As other reviewers have pointed out there is no elevator - steep steps -without hand rails is a bit of a challenge when suffering from a recent knee injury and relatively heavy luggage. All staff encountered friendly and helpful - including the breakfast staff - breakfast is served at a sister hotel about 100m down a narrow laneway. Reception even organised a day trip. honey, olive and wine tasting experience when a previously organised trip did not eventuate. Housekeeping please note:- we had to ask for additional toilet paper on three occasions !! - (room for improvement) The hotel is surrounded by restaurants of varying qualities - we tried to eat at the restaurants away from the main seafront after a disappointing dining experience. Sitting on the balcony overlooking the harbour in the afternoons - very pleasant experience.

Very nice stay with a gorgeous view of the Old Venetian Harbour (we had the room woth the balcony) Close to a lot of shops, bars & restaurants. Friendly & helpful staff. Only problem was the place is very noisy when you are trying to sleep. Noises coming from the lobby/ reception early morning & stomping on wooden floors in the room above us. We had to use earplugs to sleep peacefully. Also parking is far away & could use some assistance from the hotel with the luggage (ie golf- cart pick up, I saw other places had). We were tired and drenched in sweat from carrying our bags that far in the heat.

Literally the only reason I did not give five stars is because of my room. I was in Room 2. It is impossible to sleep in this room (and I suspect the same is true of Rooms 1 and 3) because of the noise coming from the lobby. No one has to even be speaking loudly for it to sound like they’re screaming because of the acoustics. You also hear the phone ring, the printer print, etc. And, for some unknown reason, some alarm beeps for 5 seconds at a time every few minutes beginning at 3am for about a half hour. There is also noise from the harbor, but that didn’t bother me because I felt the windows did a decent job of blocking that out, and it almost became more like white noise. The internal noise was the problem. It meant I was going on 2-3 hours sleep tops my whole trip. I’d try to nap in the day, but things were even louder then (as you would expect). It really put a damper on my trip, sadly. Now, with that out of the way, let me tell you about the many, many great things about this place. First, the location is amazing. You are right on the harbor, which, yes, comes with some outside noise, but it also means you have a beautiful view of the Aegean Sea and can get anywhere you want in minutes. The street out front is lovely, too. I also always felt safe. The room was a great size, and the bed was insanely comfortable (which made not being able to sleep while in it even more frustrating). I like a firm bed, so if you don’t, you might feel differently, but I thought it was superb. The bathroom was large and well stocked with supplies. I could also lay my suitcase down and still have plenty of room to maneuver. The staff are fabulous. They’re all very friendly and extremely helpful. At one point, my charging cable for my phone stopped working the night before an important presentation I had to give, and the gentleman working the front desk lent me his until I could sort something out the next day. That was a huge help! The breakfast is also very good. Even as a vegan, I was able to find plenty to eat, and I was given coconut milk upon request. If you’re not vegan, you’ll be spoiled for choice. So, in short, if you can avoid a room on the first floor, I think you will be very happy here!

A wonderful hotel in a great location. The rooms are beautiful and the staff are welcoming and very friendly indeed. Breakfast was included, and caters to the tastes of pretty much all nationalities. Our stay really could not have been any better, and we will definitely stay here again.