Hotels near Asterousia Biosphere Reserve, Heraklion Prefecture

We chose Anemos Suites as we were looking for somewhere self-catering at the end of a month in various parts of Greece. We stayed in ”suite” 302 titled ”Sea Horse”. The room was quite spacious but there were very limited kitchen supplies. Only 3 of everything supplied (bowls, glasses etc), one burner that you plug in, kettle, sandwich toaster, one saucepan, milk pan, frypan, no microwave. We never made any meals or even a cup of tea here! They had a restaurant on site and the meal the night we arrived was tasty enough, but my husband got food poisoning from the club sandwich that night. A better dining alternative is down the end of the lane near the beach at the News Seaside Bar Restaurant where I had the best club sandwich and chips in Greece! On the second day (our first morning there, and my birthday) I attempted to have a shower but the water was cold. My husband then realised the bathroom was flooding not in the shower cubicle but bubbling up in the middle of the bathroom behind me where I hadn’t noticed. By the time he warned me and I turned it off, it was flooding out into the living area. We managed to move my suitcase just in time. We reported it but there was no-one around that morning that spoke much English. They understood enough to send the cleaner over to mop up the water and she somehow fixed the blockage, however the water was still cold so we couldn’t shower. We tried to communicate with the staff about when the hot water would be fixed but were instead handed a breakfast menu. When we asked to see the manager we were told only ”later”. After wasting a couple of hours that morning trying to resolve things (including calling our travel agent who also contacted the manager) we ended up having a sponge wash and went out to start our day. By the time we left (around 11am) someone who spoke English had arrived and he was able to tell me that a plumber would be there later that afternoon. He also gave us directions to find a doctor as my husband had developed an infection in his leg and needed antibiotics. So he at least was helpful. After returning late afternoon, I asked if we could have a replacement bathmat and hand towel as they were still soaking wet from the flooding. The elderly Greek owners started arguing with each other in Greek and then the woman argued with me saying “tomorrow” as in they were only due to replace the towels tomorrow. I think she also wanted payment for changing them earlier. I tried to explain about our room flooding but she couldn’t understand. I said they should be compensating us with a free breakfast or drinks not arguing about replacing a couple of towels, and said we would give them a bad review. There was a worker there who spoke good English (we had interacted with him the evening before) but instead of interpreting what we were saying he just went and sat at the check in desk and didn’t want to get involved. I gave up and 5 minutes later the elderly Greek lady came to our room with two towel

From the moment we checked-in to the our check-out, the hotel staff was helpful and accommodating. Mary checked us in and helped us with our air-conditioning since we had an issue turning it on. Mary greeted us with a homemade Greek drink and we had complimentary snacks in our room. The location was perfect for us as we took the ferry into Heraklion and walked about 10 minutes from the ferry dock to the hotel. I chose this hotel due to our transportation needs. Our plan was to stay one night and we needed to take the bus from Heraklion to Chania, and the Central Bus Station is right across from the hotel, which made everything easy and convenient. We also took the local bus to Knossos Palace, and the bus stop happened to be across from the hotel as well. Since we only stayed for one night, the hotel has a luggage room that we used because we wanted to tour Knossos Palace the morning we checked-out. I highly recommend this hotel to others.

The location is very good, just next to the archaeological museum, you can stay in the museum after visiting the museum, and you can go to the Knossos site by bus at the door. The room is quite big and there is a kettle for hot water.

I don’t know who gives hotels in Greece their star ratings, maybe themselves? This hotel is definitely not 4 star! I would give it a 2 at best! It looks nothing like the pictures, it is old and just ugly. The lobby looks like a backpackers lodge, it smells of cigarettes even! The rooms are just old and disgusting. The toilet doesn’t have enough lights and the drain in the shower doesn’t even work properly! How can this be a 4 star hotel honestly??? Will never be coming back!

The hotel is strategically located within walls of old city between the beach of Ammoudara and the main attractions, not so far from them. Hotel is re-innovated 7 floor building. Rooms are not large, but but enough for the convenient accommodation. The room has the safe, TV, several chairs, table and the wardrobe, electric kettle, air conditioner. There is quite large balcony with two beach chairs and the small table and also drying hanger for the clothes. Unfortunately there is quite a lot of dust in the air from street, so everything gets dusty very quickly. The room has electric sockets next to the beds and two other sockets, one of them with USB port. The personnel speaks English and very friendly and helpful. The avenue Kalokerinou named after the discoverer of the Knossos Palace is quite busy road so it is nicer to live on higher floors. There is a restaurant serving good continental breakfast. There is omelette, ham, cheese, Greek yogurt, flakes, fruits, on the menu. Just 70 meters from the hotel there is Bazaar and in 200 m is Chalkiadakis supermarket, Lidl in 800 m outside of the city walls. All closed on Sundays. The avenue Kalokerinou has several street food places, and if you walk 400 m to Morosini Lions Fountain you can find even more restaurants there. Heraklion has a problem with great beaches, but in 500 m from the hotel there is a Dermatos Bay, where is a wild beach where one can deep into the sea. The proper beach is in Ammoudara in 2.2 km from the hotel. There is another beach in 1 km in front of Talos Plaza shopping mall, but it is rocky and no sunbeds or lifeguard. Another place to swim is the port mole starting from the Kules fortress in 1.2 km. The mole protects from high waves when it is windy and other places are not suitable for swimming.

WE' LL COME BACK! Fantastic joy& pleasure we have had at Aquila Hotel at our stay there at Heraklion, it was our first time. Enjoyed it at breakfast, our room was so clean& with enough space with terrace& great view...Pool on 6th floor was pleasurable..All Hotel is interesting with exterior as well as interior...This hotel have so much to offer&most important to give you touch of happines at your stay! Lots of smiles from Belgrade:)) J&K

Crete is probably our favourite Greek destination and frequently visit Heraklion for a few days before venturing to other parts of this vast beautiful island! Previously, we had always selected to stay in a hotel but due to the current pandemic we felt reticent due to the various restrictions imposed, hence losing the overall hotel ambience! It was for this reason I decided to search for an alternative and fortunate to come across the City Lion Apartments! The brand new apartments, completed 2020, are located metres away from the famous Morisini Fountain! The building has been restored and extended to feature one/two bedroom apartments! Although only two of us, we chose the two bedroom loft apartment featuring a mezzanine floor! The apartment is fully fitted with all the mod cons, fully fitted kitchen, dining area, bathrooms second to none, air con, international tv stations etc! The apartment also had a balcony so we could view the everyday life of this vibrant city! Christos, our host was most welcoming and, along with Michael, went to great lengths to make sure our stay lived up to expectations! City Lion Apartments, Heraklion, is without doubt a 5* accommodation amidst this wonderful historic city!

It is only one block away from the shopping and pedestrian street, only a 5-minute walk from the beach, and only 4 kilometers from the airport. The suite is great, with a balcony. The hotel is clean and tidy. The original check-in at 2 pm was very intimate and informed that you can check in at 10 am. If you still go to Crete, you will definitely choose this hotel. The only thing missing is that there is no gym.

Great location close to the harbor. Helpful staff always willing to step in. Excellent breakfast with many delicious cold and hot options.The rooms themselves were clean, modern and contained useful amenities such as electric kettle. All in all, no complaints and would not hesitate to stay again.

We came to Crete for a wedding and stayed for a week at Irida. It's a great venue if you like being on the mountain overlooking the sea whilst you also have the nearest beach within walking distance along with all shops, restaurants and all kinds of services at Agia Pelagia. The hotel was clean, staff extremely friendly and helpful and the restaurant and pool bar also had plenty of options available any time of the day. The free yoga was also fantastic according to my partner.