Read a lot of the reviews on here, and they seem to be more about the manager (Manos) rather than the place itself.

I'm off work today, and lordy me am I bored, so I'll do a three part review of the location, the hotel and the man himself.

Maleme is a quiet spot, so it is perfect f you want somewhere away from nightlife, etc. A few years ago it was supposed to be the next place along the coast to be developed, but it never quite happened. There are 2 or 3 larger package hotels and quite a few smaller guest houses. The actual village is pretty small and neither here nor there, really. What is strange is that there are a couple of very developed hotels there and even some beach front homes and apartments, which remain unsold 3 years after completion, and then between this are famers fields and vacant lots, some pretty cottages with people growing their own veg, etc. So it's a funny mix. My personal belief is that the beach is the main problem, it is stony and difficult to walk along, and at that particular bit of the coast, when the wind is up, the waves POUND the shore, really not kid friendly. A few stops up the road, (I forget the name of the resort, about 10/15 mins on the bus) the beach is a long sandy shallow shelf: Here it drops 4 ft in a couple of steps.

This may sound a bit negative, but it's not, it's just to give you an idea of what to expect. I found it a good location to take day trips out, close enough to the nearby resorts if you wanted to spend the day on a nice beach, and with some really nice and reasonably priced restaurants. There's a place called the Seahorse down on the waterfront that is really nice, and Mike's hotel (which is related to Sunny Suites) which has a great balcony and free watermelon and grapes from their field just behind the hotel. However, if it is a great beach you want, you'll have to look elsewhere.

The local supermarket i found incredibly expensive, over £1 for a packet of spaghetti, and my Mrs managed to spend 9 euros on a tub of ice cream. It was nice though, but, i mean, NINE euros. I know it's not Asda, and is servinga local population in the thousands, rather than tens of thousands, but it is something to consider.

The next town along had a bigger chain supermarket, and this was tons cheaper. I belive there is an Aldi in Hania, if you have a car. The positive side is that the local supermarket had very reasonably priced fruit and veg, including god's own tomatoes. I could have lived on these alone (and sometimes we did) with some local bread and olive oil

The hotel is very reasonably priced, and the rooms are well equipped, with air con and safety box included (I've heard of these charged extra in other hotels) and a nice small kitchen. There are three apartments on each side of the floor (so 6 per floor in all) and we had one of the centre ones . I think the centre ones have a slightly bigger kitchen, and the one son the edge have a sightly bigger balcony, so it's swings and roundabouts.
The 3rd floor sea view is the one I'd pick if you are booking in advance and get a choice...2nd floor sea view is mostly of trees and the pool (still a nice enough view) and 1st floor is straight on to the pool. We had a rear view of the mountains/hills and this was quite nice also. The first floor rear rooms have no view at all, so I wouldn't recommend them.

Nice kitchen, pots, pans, everything you need to cook brekky and lunch, bit more of stress to cook a full evening meal, although I managed things like spag bol and pan fried chicken with chips and salad.

The beds are twins, and I found them really pretty hard. So I wouldn't recommend this for a romantic break.....not very condusive to snuggling.

Bathroom was good with tons of hot water (solar heated, I think) although the bath was a bit small.

EVERYTHING was spotlessly clean and your room was done every day by a really nice maid, she was really friendly with our son, and left his scruffy toy dog in a different location each day (e.g. tucked up in bed or reading a book). This was one of the biggest plus points of the hotel, and we left her a good tip.

the best thing for me was the pool, which is really deep, warm, clean, and has a shallow area for the kids. My son learned to swim here and the next week was snorkelling off a boat moored 30 feet from the shore. If there are a couple of other kids stayi ng at the hotel, your babysitting is done, as they will play all day in the pool, while you read, relax and rack up the cocktail bill.

The nearby Imperial hotel is owned by the same family, so you are welcome there to use the pool right next to the beach and they have a gym and kids room too, which is a real bonus.

Manos the manager has been running the place for years, and from talking to guests (lots of people come back year after year) I think he used to be a lot more of an outgoing party animal than he is now.....they used to get big groups of tourists all from the same company, so he was more like a club rep than he is now (read early reviews of him bombing the pool and suchlike). He runs everything in the hotel, usually 12-15 hours per day, so we found he wasn't always in the best of moods....you get the feeling that by the end of a long season, he would really not rather have to run through the list of Maleme's things to do again, which is only natural.

That said, the day we arrived he greeted us with a big smile and welcomed me by name (he remembered all the bookings for that day) which was really nice, and he was great with the kids that were staying there, often dishing out a free ice lolly or coke. He makes absolutely fantastic cocktails too, although at 5 euros each, they played havoc with my budget, as we often needed two or three. The draft beer was very reasonably priced, and we developed a taste for this, served in frosty, frosty glasses.

and there you have it. We had a great holiday there, and the staff and the hotel were great, particularly the pool and the cocktails. The weather at the end of august/beginning of september was flawless, except for the last day, and we really enjoyed ourselves. Giving the pound a year or two to pick itself up, we'd definitely go again and stay there again.

We stumbled across the Sunny Suites as we had booked a last minute package & we were booked to stay at the Ledra Maleme (which is down the road). We swiftly checked out of the Ledra as it was FILTHY & we were happy to find a room free here .... We checked all the local hotels and this place was by far the nicest.
The place is run by Manos who has run the places for years & years. He is a real character & has a very dry sense of humour - he kept us amused anyway!!
The room has a large kitchen, dining area & the bedroom had two single beds pushed together (would have preferred a double though!). The room was cleaned daily by a lovely smiling greek lady. The beds & linen were made daily and changed every 2 days.
The bar is open till v late & over looks the pool which is mega clean. Incidentally the toilets downstairs by the bar are very clean!!!

Would highly recommend ... Maleme is a lovely area - try the local bakery for morning coffee!!

Before I went on my summer break I read all the reviews on this holiday and they were all glowing, what I should have read was that they were all pretty old! While we did indeed have a lovely holiday and had no problems with the hotel what so ever please read pass all the people who say this is the greatest place on earth and Manos is amazing.

While Manos was a very pleasant host and personally greeted and spoke to everyone, I was very disappointed after reading so many glowing reports. He could be a littel short when he spoke to staff and he is very sexist towards women and constanty called them "Beeatch" and "woman" althought I know he meant this as a joke I personally was very offended.

The hotel is basic but very clean thanks totally to their lovely cleaner who was always smiling and could not help you enough. The rooms are basic but perfectly suufiecient for our needs.

Location wise this was a very quiet resort with a few restuarants within walking distance, overall unless you literally want to sit by the pool you will need to rent a car!

As I say overall this is a value budget hotel, clean, quet and had good transport links for us.

I am sure Manos is a truelly lovely man, however we were there with a couple who were there in their 10th year and they stated how much Manos has changed and how he is not a bubbly as he used to be - Manos if you read this, you are so liked please don't ruin yourself beyonf repair as reading your reviews previously I think you were reason people came back time after time.

Whatever you're looking for - whoever you're going with - you'll never find better. Families, Groups, Couples - you'll all have a wonderful time - The Paraskakis family will ensure your holiday is unforgettable.
We're going back in June '07 - we can't believe we've been going out there for 10 years!!!!!!!
Couldn't make it last year but we'll be there with bells on this year!
Yes - we too were dancing in the streets in Aug. '05.

Sunny suites has spoiled other destinations - went to Africa last year & had a great time - but we have to go back for our "fix".

Nowhere else have we found such a haven - we relax as soon as we arrive. Of course - we stay relaxed only as long as we know EXACTLY where Manos is and what he's doing!

See you in June, Puppy!!!!