Madares Hotel

What a lovely small hotel. It was very clean with all amenities you could want. The terrace overlooking looked the little harbour. We all enjoyed the breakfast too.

Bloody awful and expensive. 9euros for a tzatziki and water. No care to give a detail of the bill. No care to provide explanation on the prices and no bother to speak English. While I was waiting someone returned a key because their room was not clean. Bad!

I made a booking in advance, saying that I’d return the following day. A helpful young man took my booking and my money, watched over by an older man I assumed to be the owner, who seemed only interested in the latter. I explained that I’d stay one or two nights and, seeing the hesitancy of the older man, I said to him that I’d pay for two but it might only be one, in which case he could pay me back. The older man’s face lit up. Arriving the next day the promised Wifi didn’t work, the bathroom stank and had no glass in its window, the towels were like a cross between cardboard and sandpaper and the the fridge sounded like a tractor. I mentioned this to the older man and he just shrugged his shoulders and carried on counting his money. The next morning I said that I was only staying for one night and he did the same again, looking away. The younger man asked me if I wanted my money back, to which I said ‘yes’, and he explained this to the older man who just continued staring into space like he hadn’t heard until eventually coming up with the lame excuse that he’d turned two people away because of me. This was quite simply untrue because several rooms were empty and he could have accommodated them in any one of those. He was just being unkind, the money being his only concern. Eventually, he gave me €15, less than half of the money that I’d paid and there was absolutely nothing I could do. I’ve visited South West Crete on multiple occasion over many years and have been overcome by the kindness that I’ve been shown by the people, with this one self-serving, self-interested man being the one and only exception. He’s not to be trusted and if the room that I had is anything like the rest, you’d do well to avoid the Madderes. He and his grubby attitude gives the Cretan people a reputation they don’t deserve. Shame on him.