We arrived at the apartments at 6am and were greeted by Vangelis (him and Lida are a couple and own the apartments). He was really nice gave us our key showed us to our apartment. We had a room between four of us so when you walked in to the apartment you were in the first bedroom which had a double bed, then there was a small bathroom and then bedroom two which had two single beds and was open plan with a small kitchen area and table which led out to the balcony. There is a wardrobe to put all of your clothes as well which is good so all your going out outfits don't get creased.

In the morning we walked to the strip which is about a 5/10 minute walk depending on which way you go, there is a few routes. As you are a small walk away you can't hear the noise from the strip at night which is good. The pool area is clean and shuts at 7 which is enough time to get your tan on, there is loads of sun beds and everyone shares lilo's. You aren't allowed to bring your own water or food down to the pool and they will take it off you and keep it behind the bar if they see you with it. They want you to buy everything at the bar there. The food there is reasonably priced, we had a fry up there most mornings. They have all english food then some pasta and greek salads and stuff like that as well. Theres a computer and a pay phone downstairs as well.

The room itself was basic but i doubt anyone would be spending a lot of time in there anyway. Another major point is you do not get air con, not even if you don't pay for it there literally is none there. If you want a fan you have to pay 35 euro a week. We done this but it doesn't make much of a difference. The room gets really hot at night and a few nights we had to sleep on lilo's on the balcony.

Some bad points about the hotel are that it is quite strict. When you get in from the strip vangelis or lida will be out waiting to make sure everyone gets in safe and to make sure no one brings anyone back to the apartments, they will literally kick the person out if you try to bring them back so i wouldnt advise it. They are also strict about everyone going in and out of eachothers room at night. They live in the building next door and have a young daughter that gets woken up by the noise so they are funny about it. I also wouldn't advise you to walk back from the strip on your own especially girls, one girl actually got split up from her friends one night and claimed she got raped on the way back home. A group of lads also got jumped by greek men in the middle of the day walking to the shop so you have to be careful and make sure you are polite to the locals.

The room also had a few things wrong with it, for our first week our front door didn't lock properly. One night i was ill and had to stay in on my own, the door wouldn't lock so i literally had to wait for the others to come in with the door unlocked so i didnt feel very safe. Another night our bathroom door broke while it was locked and I was in there for about an hour. In the end they had to kick it down! The tap fell off in the kitchen as well. The shower isn't very good either it leaks all over the floor and isn't powerfull at all.

You have to be careful with the linen and towels you get given by the maid. She is quite good and comes every couple of days. You will get fined if you get them dirty. We got UV Paint and Henna ink on one and got fined 8 euro per towel. If you ruin a sheet it costs between 6 and 8 euro as well. If you are sick on a mattress you will be paying a 90 euro fine so be careful of that!

Other than that you feel safe around the apartments at night because you know theres someone downstairs at all times, the pool is really nice and clean, you get free shots if you buy drinks at the bar and the people that own the hotel are really nice and helpful. I got glass in my foot and they gave me loads of plasters and anti bacterial creams and stuff like that. They play music by the pool all day which is good as well.

All in all i had a good trip but it would be 10x better if they had air con it makes such a big difference when you cant sleep at all. I would say this hotel is good for young groups of people going for the nightlife only because it was literally full of 18-21 year olds and no one older than that, no families either!

Please beware. Today my 19yr old brother + 2 of his friends woke up to find the hotel owner had let himself into their room + brought several large gentleman with him. They then proceeded to beat + rob 3 puny 19yr old boys of under their money.

This was done under the guise of 'damages'. Basically, these charlatans pick out vulnerable youths + check their rooms every day for 'damages'. For one group of lads in these apartments this was a stain on the bed - 100 euro charge. in this case they pointed at an empty vodka bottle + refused to let 3 boys out without paying 200 euros.

Since they had no way of getting out of the room without letting these men rob them, they took out their money + then had all of it stolen. And got beaten for their trouble.

Please beware tourists have a bad reputation in Malia + everyone is quite happy to believe that if young men get robbed/beaten that they are acting or are drunk. But this really was not the case. The local men are awful, the police totally disinterested + the British consolate as been closed.

If you really want to go to Malia book into a big chain hotel. In the end it will be cheaper + less painful than getting robbed in a 'cheap' hotel.

Great atmosphere, handy for nightlife, close to beach, nice pool, lovely food, lots of young couples and groups :) however, had 2 warm showers all week, when water was cold it was freezing, cleaners very rude on occasions! And security! 1 clean towel given all week and it was a tiny one, the size of a hair towel! Hehe, beds changed once! However great week had by all who stayed, great nightlife, idea for young groups!

6 of us recently stayed at the Stelios Apartments in the old town of Malia. This being our first holiday together, and having read some of the reviews beforehand, we were slightly worried about what to expect. However, it seems to me that a lot of people have confused this Stelios, which was just fantastic, with another closer to the beach.

Lida, the manager, is just lovely. Some of the reviews here have criticised her as intrusive, but I genuinely felt that she was interested and involved in our stay. Her English is perfect and if you're nice to her, then she will be nice back - but isn't that the case with most people?

All the food is freshly-prepared by Lida's husband, Van and is really nice. Although it's quite expensive, you can always go to the shop and buy food or even eat out - there are loads of local restaurants. You aren't allowed to eat your own food around the pool, but this isn't ever a problem because you can just run to your room as it's not a massive place.

The rooms themselves are really basic - we had two single beds, a sink, a fridge and two electric hobs. There was plently of wardrobe and drawer space for clothes and a small balcony. The bathroom was even more basic! The shower didn't have a drain and so water leaked all over the floor, so you should be prepared to bring extra towels. Because it's self-catered, you will need to supply yourself with all the essentials (including toilet roll!) which are generally all available from a small shop about 100 yards away.

Overall, we were completely satisfied with our holiday at Stelios, having gone out expecting the worst and getting so much more that we'd expected. I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to have a good time in Malia!