I am going to do my best to be fair and accurate in this review, although the truth is that I left the Adrakos Apartments feeling disappointed and victimised.
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I travelled to the Adrakos Apartments at the end of July 2020, with a friend. We booked through Expedia and paid £557 for our “classic studio” twin room, for 10 nights. It seems this was our first mistake; if you go for the lowest priced room, you will be treated as second class citizens.
We arrived late in the evening (between 11.30-midnight). There was no one there to greet us, but a note was left and the door to our room was open. This was fine and we settled ourselves in, however without being greeted we did struggle on that first night to sort out the air con. At that point, we just believed it to be standard that reception is closed at that time; however, as the week progressed, it became clear that this was not the case. Every night we were there, the restaurant was open til gone midnight (with the exception of Monday/Tuesday when it is closed), and on these days we still saw the management working til late. If this were an isolated occurrence, I would think nothing of it, however I believe it all forms part of a bigger picture....
Our room was fine and what we expected for what we paid. The sheets and towels are changed every 4 days. They claim this is due to Covid, but if you look through trip advisor you will see that this irregularity is not new. That said, when the room was cleaned, it was cleaned well, and the cleaner was very friendly and polite.
The room we were in was 22 - probably better known as the peasants poke. It is next to the kitchen and you can hear the kitchen staff at work until 1am most mornings. The bathroom is small but functional, although there is inadequate sealant around the shower meaning that the room is flooded every time the shower is used. Aircon is fine, wifi okay, and there is a small kitchen which has everything you need - except a light.
As promised, we had a sea view. Unfortunately though, this was obstructed by an unnecessarily large flower pot. That said, if you were standing, this did not matter, and the beautiful view is undeniable. It really is the selling point.
The grounds of the hotel are nice, but aided by the view. The swimming pool itself isn’t anything special, but the view that sits in front of it is exceptional. Due to Covid, the gym, pool bar and jacuzzi were closed during our visit.
We did eat in the Terrassa restaurant on one occasion, but were underwhelmed. The food was bland and did not match up to the rave reviews we’d read online. We did book a second time to try a different dish - but I’ll come to that shortly... We did find that better food could be found for the same price (or cheaper) in Elounda, and we ate in the town every other night. However, in order to access the town it is imperative that you have a car. The hotel is on top of a hill and is not a walkable distance from the town. It is very isolated with no shops or eateries near-by. There is one bus that stops a few times a day at the end of the drive, but I believe the latest bus is around 6pm. The taxi fare into the town was €8 each way.
At times, the staff were very friendly and helpful - especially ‘support’ staff, for want of a better word. We had an incident which meant that we needed to visit a garage, and the management were helpful and liaised with a very polite and helpful young man who worked on the grounds and in the bar, Spiro, to help us find the garage that our car hire company had told us to use. Spiro lead me directly to the garage in his car, before then speaking to the garage staff for me so that they understood my problem. This is obviously service above and beyond expectation. The staff greeted me whenever they saw me, and the manager always used my name. At times he seemed more dismissive of us, but we initially just put that down to him being busy.
The first incident that left me a little disgruntled occurred when I tried to book a table for dinner for our final evening. As mentioned, we had been underwhelmed by the food previously, but thought that it deserved another chance, and as we had a very early start the following morning, staying on site seemed logical. The restaurant has - again - a fantastic view, but of course some tables benefit from this more than others. Due to this, we asked if there was any way that we could reserve a specific table. It was a standard sized table (the smallest in the restaurant) and was in a corner, with a lovely view. We attempted to book this 4 days ahead of time. However, we were told that we could not have this table as it was being saved for ‘executive’ clients, or a group of 4 who would spend more money (as stated - it was the smallest table so we weren’t being unreasonable). I was speechless, which must have shown, as he then negotiated with me that we could have the table if we booked for 7 and didn’t spend too much time there so that he could rebook it for later. This was not ideal, but I agreed as I looked for the positives: we’d have more time to get ready for the morning and be able to have an earlier night ahead of our early wake up.
The straw that really broke the camel’s back occurred on our final day. We had made plans for the day, and so I was up early. Whilst my friend finished getting ready, I had popped out, and upon returning (at 10.30), the manager, Kostas, called me to reception. There he confronted me, publicly, with a bag of laundry from our room which he said had been rejected by his laundry company as it was heavily stained. He then began pulling the laundry from the bag (in reception, in full view of other guests) to demonstrate why. There were two sheets with fake tan marks on and a towel that was marked with make up, so I agreed to pay for those 3 items. However, he proceeded to insist that we paid for ALL items removed from our room. I stately clearly that I would not pay for anything that showed signs of reasonable use (considering that the laundry hadn’t been changed for 4/5 days) and that I was only willing to pay for 2 sheets and one towel as I accepted that they were more stained than may be deemed acceptable. At this point the manager became very aggressive and was shouting and not listening to a word I had to say. I pointed out that no attempt had been made to wash any of the laundry (even though it had been removed from the room 5 days previously) and as such he had no proof that any of the laundry was stained. What’s more, the fact that it had sat around so long would in fact have led any marks to embed - something which could have been avoided if he had a more efficient system. At this, he ranted at me that if I believed that the marks would come out, I should pay him immediately and then take the laundry back to England with me to wash it. If it came out clean, he would reimburse me. At this, I took the bag of laundry and walked out of reception and back to my room.
When in my room, myself and my friend went through every item in the bag to check for signs of use. The other bedsheets and pillow cases were immaculate, and the towels were lightly (and not unreasonably) used. We decided to once again offer the management the money for the 2 marked sheets and 1 towel, and decided that if he continued to refuse our offer, that we would take the sheets to the local laundrette ourselves.
When we arrived back at reception, the manager was even more aggressive and wouldn’t let me get a word in edge ways. This confrontation went on for far longer than necessary due to this. Eventually, he paused long enough for me to propose that we launder the sheets for him at the local laundrette. He liked his idea and his demeanour changed. He said that if the laundry came back unmarked, he would reimburse us. We shook on it, before I cancelled our reservation for dinner. By now, it was 1pm and enough of our final day was wasted. I told him we would be back with the laundry at 7.30pm. My friend recorded the entire encounter on her phone.
We took the laundry to a launderette in Elounda and they said they were fairly confident that ALL the laundry would come up clean (including the sheets and towel that we had previously agreed to pay for). We left the bag with him and agreed to collect at 7pm. By this time, it was nearly 2pm - meaning we had just 5 hours left of our final day. What’s more, having been shouted at all morning, our mood was low. We were also worried about the confrontation which would inevitably follow later than day and in all our final day was completely ruined by this incident.
At 7pm, we picked up the laundry. Every single item had come up perfectly. We took the bag to reception and handed it over with the receipt. By now, the restaurant (which is joined to reception) was full. Kostas then proceeded to (again) remove every sheet from the bag for inspection in front of everyone. He commented that it was very embarrassing for him - at which point we reminded him that he had been less concerned about embarrassing us by pulling out our dirty sheets in reception earlier than day. He was becoming visibly infuriated with every clean sheet and towel that emerged. He then tried to accuse of stealing a hand towel which we absolutely had not, but for the sake of avoiding an argument I said that if he really believed we’d taken one, to deduct the price from the money he owed us for laundering the sheets etc. At this point, he really lost his temper, saying that we’d been over charged (we probably had been a bit as we pushed for it to be ready in 5 hours when they had originally said it would take til midday the following day). He refused to give us any money then claimed it was because the towels had been destroyed by the launderette. This was ridiculous - they were perfect, and we refused to accept his argument. At this point, he started getting other towels out from storage to compare - and we couldn’t tell the difference. A lady (his wife I think) was trying to calm the situation and be reasonable (I actually think that it would benefit the hotel if she took a more active role in customer service), but nonetheless they refused to reimburse us. My friend then reminded him that he shook on the deal and revealed that she had recorded it. She was also recording that exchange. At this point, they started speaking in Greek before storming off.
Later than evening, as we were packing to leave, we could hear the manager making jokes about us with his customers in the restaurant. (Our room was besides the restaurant and the seating is outdoors. From our balcony, we were practically in it.) He then offered everyone free coffee as they’d had to “put up with those two”, which we found wholly unprofessional.
On reflection, we feel that we were the victims of agism and sexism. We were the youngest residents in the hotel by several years. The majority of residents were of around retirement age whilst we are only 30. What’s more, we were the only two women travelling together. I do not believe that he would have spoken to a man in the way he spoke to us. Equally, we weren’t spending as much money in the hotel as other guests as we were happy to go into the local town in the evenings. I don’t think this went down well as it is clear that the restaurant is prioritised over the hotel. I believe that he tried to exploit the situation, believing that we would be intimidated when he started shouting at us and making demands for money - which we were not. He would have had a fair argument if he’d just asked for us to pay for the sheets and towel which were genuinely heavily marked, and I would have paid without hesitation or grievance. However, the way that he persisted to insist that all the laundry was paid for felt like a scam. He clearly saw us as naive - and didn’t care if we never came back as we weren’t spending big money. His disdain for guests leaving the hotel to eat had also been made apparent when on our third day we asked for recommendations of bars in Elounda (the hotel offers no entertainment and the bar was noisy, but filled with older couples and just not our scene). Despite living in Elounda, he said he didn’t know of any. When we did find a bar, they asked us where we were staying and the reaction was “oh”. I questioned this, and they replied, “I know the manager”.
So, ultimately, a horrible experience. We were very relieved to leave and would never return. If you’re happy to eat in their restaurant every night and are in a position to spend, you’ll likely get good service. But if you’re looking at the studio room and enjoying getting out and about, literally go anywhere else. The view isn’t worth it and can be found elsewhere.
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Nice apartment, amazing view, friendly owners and staff and delicious food!Lisanne Traas
Mands Clark
Marianna K.
Nuno Salgado
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Charming staff, spotless apartment had all you need – glorious views and lovely atmosphere. Would certainly stay again if in the area.
Paul Clarke
