“Polluted Beach. Never again.”
We stayed here in July on our honeymoon. We booked through a travel agent. If we had not already prepaid, I would have requested a refund.
Before I go into the details, please note that we had just come back from the best stay in Santorini, and it is hard not to compare. I waited a few months to write this because I was SO angry I wanted to be sure that I was as honest and fair as possible. Also, the owner really, really cares about his property, which I hope means that some improvements will be made. He was really nice and super helpful. There just wasn't much that could be done with some of this. This was just our experience. As you will see, some reviewers loved it, and others agreed with us. This was just not the place for us and our travel agent is also not going to recommend it anymore.
LOCATION. First, the location is not great. Now, in all fairness, the website now reflects this, which is great. We were on day 10 or so of our 16 day honeymoon. If all we wanted to do was to stay in the room, this would have been nice because the view from our room (one of the honeymoon suites) was outstanding. We were grateful because the room was changed. We originally had a regular suite with an "ocean view," but to view the ocean, you had to go outside onto the veranda, and look around a massive pole. The manager kindly moved us into a gorgeous suite with the most beautiful views and the largest semi-private balcony.
You really need to rent a car if you stay here and want to go to town or to the beaches. Honestly, I think this would have made a huge difference. It would be awesome if the hotel had a house car or even a car that you could rent for 1/2 or full day. Everything is so far and if the wind is kicking up at all, you cannot go to the local beach.
We were told that it was a 15-20 minute walk into town. 55 minutes later, I was hot, mad, and had almost been run over about 10 times (no sidewalks or side paths). I don't know what the front desk guy was thinking. We finally hailed a taxi for the rest of the way. We were hoping for a leisurely walk there and taxi back, but don't bother. Get a car or taxi both ways.
ROOMS. We saw two rooms. The first regular suite was just okay. It was an odd layout. The honeymoon suite was pretty amazing. Everything was super clean. The bathrooms were tiny. I am a size 4 and it was awkward having to navigate around the toilet just to close the door. However, I don't mind a small bathroom since they clearly spent the space on the bedroom and living room. The TVs were nice and the rooms were nicely decorated. Beds were very comfortable.
SERVICE. The service was good, but inconsistent. The A/C broke in the middle of our first night. There is no 24 hour staff and there was a number taped to the front desk door, but no one answered. Thank God it wasn't an emergency (although some could consider no A/C in July an emergency!) They fixed it the next day.
BREAKFAST. Just okay. It was a fairly standard European breakfast, but it wasn't replenished, so if you weren't there early, the cheese was oily (beads of oil on it from sitting out), milk lukewarm, and fruit had some fruit flies on it (perhaps a result of serving outside?). Coffee was not great. I was really disappointed.
FOOD. Because you are so far away from everything, you are forced to eat at their restaurant, which is overpriced and just okay. They charge you for bread, like many of the Greek restaurants (although the nicer ones don't typically), but the dips are just delicious. Still, I was irritated that only some of the seafood was fresh and the prices were just way too high. When we finally made it into town, we were so irritated because the food there was so inexpensive, especially compared to Santorini, and was amazing. Also, no room service! What a disappointment!
BEACH. This was the greatest disappointment. On the website, you see these gorgeous grass umbrellas and beautiful sandy beaches. No No NO. The umbrellas are old and tattered, and there is litter and trash, including medical waste, EVERYWHERE. I was so shocked and grossed out. Mostly, I was disappointed because I feel the hotel should have made efforts to keep their beach clean. Because it is mostly private, there was really no excuse. See photos attached. You can see green beer bottles, candy wrappers, syringes, two liter bottles, plastic bags, etc. Shameful.
SERVICE. Service was pretty good. The owner is very present and truly cares about his property. It could really be stunning with a few tweaks and some amenity additions.
POOL. The pool was very small and right next to the restaurant area. Kind of an awkward location and not a good pool for kids. We did not see anyone use it while we were there.
Overall, this was not the place for us. We would have rather stayed at one of the nicer hotels closer to town. There are not many nice hotels on this island, so you have limited choices, but if you stay here for more than 1-2 days, you really need to rent a car. Also, make sure you confirm the view, or you may be disappointed. I would also suggest that you take your rental car to town to pick up water (they do not provide it at this hotel) and other snacks that you can place in the mini fridge, although not all rooms may have them and they didn't keep ours very cold. Honestly, we way overpaid and did not get what we were hoping for or expecting, and as I said before, if this were not our honeymoon, and we had no prepaid through our travel agent, I would have absolutely requested a refund. The air conditioning, lack of evening service, location, and polluted beach just heavily outweigh the pros, the cleanliness and spacious room. The highlight of this location is actually the olive oil they serve, which supposedly comes from the owner's olive trees. It was just spectacular. Overall, this was NOT worth the price paid. Not even close.
Room Tip: Be sure that you get a full ocean view. They have rooms that they call ocean view where you can onl...
See more room tips
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
6 February 2012
Thank you very much for your feedback and your constructive criticism. We are really sad, that we were not able to provide you, the excellent service and hospitality other guests have experienced and have repeatedly written about, in their numerous reviews of our Villa on Tripadvisor. Maybe this happened because you stayed with us only for one full day and we did not have the chance to make you feel the atmosphere and hospitality of our villa.
We realise that during your stay some unfortunate events occurred. We always respect and analyse the reviews of our guests, both positive and especially negative, because continuous improvement is our main goal. However we feel it is important to publish also our point of view.
The room booked through your travel agent is located on the 1st floor with side sea-view. Since you were not happy with this room , we immediately offered a free of charge upgrade to the Honeymoon Suite, which was available, and as you highlight, had an outstanding view and was to your satisfaction.
Your published picture entitled “Ocean view from the original room” is taken from the ground floor and shows the entrance of the Honeymoon Suite, instead of the real view of the veranda of the originally booked room. Since your original room is at the 1st floor, it offers a completely unobstructed sea-view, which is shown in the picture of another reviewer of tripadvisor, entitled “The balcony of the Junior Suite (published by user AtnalaB, Sep 2009). The same picture shows also what you refer to as “a massive pole”, which is an important architectural element of traditional Cycladic Architecture.
The location of our Villa is described in detail on our web-site, and is clearly marked even on Google Earth Snapshots. The fact that it is out of the hustle and bustle of Naxos Town, but still only 5km away (7 min drive) is considered a major advantage by all our guests.
Indeed a car rental is always advisable because it provides freedom in moving around the island and savouring its beauties. Your travel agent had been repeatedly informed on car rental possibilities during our correspondence. But even on the spot, cars for half a day or for daily rental, are brought to our villa within 30 minutes from calling. We inform all our guests at check-in for this possibility and we are very surprised that you were ignorant of it. Also taxis are available on a 24 hour basis at a very reasonable cost.
It is highly unlikely that our receptionist told you that Naxos Town is a 15-20 min walk, since there is no way someone can cover a distance of 5km in such a short time. It is most probable that our receptionist following to your request for a leisure walk, suggested you to walk to Ag. Prokopios area which is much closer, about 1.5 km away and about 20min walk. So there must have been some kind of misunderstanding.
We really appreciate your very positive comments on the quality of our freshly renovated rooms.
The AC unit that malfunctioned during the night (although brand new), as you mention was fixed right away from our maintenance the same morning. The reception desk is open till 1:30am, and re-opens at 07:00am. During the time it is closed there is a person staying in the villa, always available in case of emergency.
You mention that our breakfast is a standard European Breakfast and that the coffee was not good. The only thing we can think of, is that you came for breakfast after breakfast time was over. Our breakfast buffet comprises of a very big variety which changes daily, and is far beyond the standard European Breakfast. Namely: fresh orange juice made in the presence of the guests, eggs prepared in any style, fresh by our chef to the guests exact preference, a variety of home made marmalades and cakes, fresh fruits, fresh fruit salad, dried fruits, nuts, smoked salmon, variety of hams and cheeses, salads, pies, french croissants of 3 different types, variety of home made sweets and cookies and many more items, there is no point of listing here. Many of our guests have praised in their reviews our breakfast quality.
Our chefs prepare the food we offer with the finest ingredients we can find on the island and in Greece, mostly of organic production. We are very happy that you appreciated the quality of our olive oil, which really comes from our own personal organic production in the area of Peloponnese. Some of the sea food used in certain recipies (namely the shrimps and the mussels) are not available fresh in the summer period, so top quality frozen are used, but this is clearly noted in our menu. Our restaurant operates only for our guests, caters to individual special requests, and has been repeatedly praised for its quality by most of our reviewers. It is a pity we did not manage to satisfy your taste.
You also mention that there is no room service. On the contrary, room service is offered from 7:30am till 00:00 midnight, for breakfast, private lunch or dinner in the room, or at the room’s patio, or for bar orders. This is also clearly mentioned in the “Welcome letter” which is inside the room. We cannot understand how you came to the conclusion that there was no room service!
The beach that you mention as “polluted’, is a beach characterised by its great natural beauty and any mechanised intervention is prohibited by the “Natura” law in Greece.
Unfortunately the previous night high speed winds and very big waves brought in debris that was floating on the sea surface. Although the beach is public and the cleaning of the whole beach stretch is the responsibility of the municipality of Naxos, members of the staff of our Villa, every day clean thoroughly the whole beach.
It is possible that you visited the beach prior to our daily cleaning operation. Also the picture you have published is of the far end of the beach stretch, which is about 400m away from our villa.
Thank you for mentioning that we really care, because we really do!
The personal care given in all the areas of our operation is recognised by the majority of our guests, who honour us by coming back again and again and by posting their memorable experience in Tripadvisor.
Villa Marandi is like our home, welcoming and full of guests that by the end of their stay become good friends. The happiness and content of our guests has always been the epitome of our operation.
Yours sincerely
George Kalogeropoulos / Owner
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
