We spent one week here and the hotel is the essence of the real greece. The hotel was peaceful,convenient to local sites and beaches( Itanos beach was our favorite.) The owners couldn't have been more helpful, even to the point of changing our flat tire AND dealing with our local car rental company to make sure we didn't have to pay for the old tire which went flat. Now that's service! The garden had wonderful plants and flowers and all in all a nice relaxing experience. If you want a nice realistic experience in this part of Crete, we highly recommend this simple ,straight forward little hotel.

The Rough Guide describes the Hotel Marina Village as a haven amidst olive groves. That's it exactly: so peaceful, surrounded by its own lovely garden and by many acres of olives. The hotel itself consists of several small blocks of extremely well maintained and modern rooms - astonishingly good value (I think we paid something like 45 euros a night). There's a small pool and good breakfast. The staff are very friendly. The area is wonderful: not exactly remote, since Palekastro is about 1km away with many restaurants etc, but (so far) not very touristy. (The tourists there are are mainly German.) The views of mountains and sea are lovely. I don't remember where I last saw the stars so clearly! Lovely, quiet, Chiona beach is very close (with adjacent fish tavernas), and next to it is the important Minoan archaeological site. In a two-week tour around eastern Crete, this was the quietest and loveliest location we found to stay in.