I stayed I this hotel with my wife, 18 year old daughter and boyfriend. We booked after reading the reviews on Tripadvisor and if anything the hotel was better than expected. The staff are very helpful and professional - anything found in need of attention was entered into the maintenance system and seen to that day. The entire site is beautifully maintained to high standard and I have never seen a hotel with so many swimming pools. The rooms are very well furnished and air-conditioned with bed linen changed daily.
All of the restaurants we sampled were very good if not excellent. In the main restaurant there was something for everyone and all food was to a high standard. The head chef d'cuisine visits all the restaurants during the day, it appears, and is always to be seen in the main one at evening meal times. This pays dividends, especially when you see how many people turn up between 1900 and 2100 to be fed. I got the feeling that there was a well-oiled organisation working behind the scenes. We had a very enjoyable stay and would definitely return again.

THE HOTEL
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If you’ve booked the Vasia Beach Hotel at Sissi then you’re in luck. We had arrived around 5:30am and found the staff very pleasant. Imagine our delight at finding that we had been upgraded to a “suite” – that’s two large bedrooms over two floors, each with a beautiful bathroom. Our balcony had a view out to sea. There was a mini fridge (more like a coolbox) with bottled water, beer and soft drinks – all free. A basket with fruit and tea/coffee making facilities were provided. Each bedroom had air conditioning that worked very well. Each bathroom had a hair dryer. The top bedroom had a flat panel PC monitor that doubled as a TV. The hi-tech shower in the top bedroom was just brilliant.You should budget 30 Euros for hiring the safe. Overall, you’re in for a treat.

We had booked half board and were rather glad we didn’t go for all-inclusive. The buffets at breakfast and dinner were comprehensive, providing several types of meat, fish, breads, salads, fruit and sweets etc etc. We were simply spoiled for choice! After a hefty breakfast, we certainly couldn’t fit in a lunch and then dinner. We were definitely happy with half board. The downside to all-inclusive is that it robs the local businesses of trade and it was sad to see the local tavernas empty and to hear their story. Perhaps it would be better for them in the peak months of July to Sept. Lets hope so.

Just in front of the hotel is a supermarket selling all the usual stuff – water, booze, cold meats, breads, toiletries etc etc. Less than 10 minutes walking brings you into beautiful Sissi village which has more than enough tavernas, bars and other shops.

Crete is a beautiful, mountainous, rugged island and very hot. Sun hats and bottled water should always be to hand. The food is good and the people friendly. We were greeted with smiles wherever we went. If we had one complaint, it was that Crete was an expensive island. Choose your places carefully and check prices before ordering.

We’d like to thank all the staff at Vasia Beach for giving us a great holiday.

BEACHES/SWIMMING
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The hotel has several pools and plenty of sunbeds. Even though the hotel is right by the sea, it is a jagged (and I’d say dangerous) shoreline. Certainly nobody was swimming there. However, less than 5 minutes walk away is a beautiful lagoon of calm, crystal clear water that was just perfect for swimming. On the other side of the lagoon lay Sissi village and children were happily swimming from one side to the other. The lagoon is also rocky but in between the rocks a fine sandy beach has been created. We just loved swimming there. An alternative is Sissi Beach which lies just outside the village. There’s a free shuttle bus from Vasia that runs a few times each day. There’s a taverna, toilets, sun beds and umbrellas (8 Euros for two beds and an umbrella). The beach is really stony by the water’s edge and into the sea too. Not really feasible to go in bare footed, which means you’ll need “aqua shoes” that cost about 8 Euros a pair from the souvenir shops. We much preferred the lagoon.

EATING/DRINKING
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There’s certainly more than enough choice. Here are our favourites (but bear in mind that other places may be equally good):
On the seafront adjacent to the Vasia is BAR ANIXI (if you stand facing the sea, walk left and the bar is actually the next block to the Vasia). On a terrace overlooking the sea, it’s perfectly placed to catch the sea breeze. Comfy sofas/chairs, low background music and more reasonable prices make it just perfect to kill a few hours. Great ice cream too, especially the pistachio. Our favourite place! Helen, Bill and George are perfect bar staff and we’d like to thank them for making our visits so pleasurable.

On the road adjacent to the supermarket near Vasia, is KOKOTAS taverna. Great food! You’ll only know by trying it.

On the way to Sissi village, just by that lagoon I mentioned, is PALM BAY hotel. Set high above the lagoon amidst a dense collection of tall palm trees, shaded by a canopy of bougainvillea and overflowing with flowers, this place is picture postcard pretty and has to be seen to be believed. Take a walk through the grounds to see the colourful apartments. You may just want to stay there on your next trip! Loads of tables, chairs, benches and hammocks (yes) mean you won’t want to leave in a hurry. Their special pizza is just that – special! One little point: take care of very young children as there is a steep drop through the “fence” bordering the terrace.

The tavernas and bars in Sissi village, perched high above the lagoon, provide a beautiful setting for whiling away a few hours over cold beers. Bar AURA is particularly good and has a friendly, chatty English girl from Leeds serving the drinks. Try it. We didn’t eat at any of the fish restaurants.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT/DRIVING
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This is where you’re not spoiled for choice. Just one bus comes by the hotel at about 9:15am each day. We never woke in time! You can get to Malia and I believe there’s just one bus back. The alternative is to walk up to the highway where buses run every 30 mins (so we were told), but the highway is more than 2 kms from the hotel.

Hiring a car is an alternative and there are several places from which to choose. We didn’t hire one but MALIA CARS in Sissi village has a lovely English lady who gave us good advice and quoted good rates: about £130 for a small manual with a/c, but double that for an automatic. Take your Driving Licence. They also handle excursions. We were told that driving in Crete is fairly easy but not all signs are in English.

EXCURSIONS
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Malia Cars in Sissi village and MEVIS Cars just by the hotel both handle excursions. All prices quoted were as at June 2008.

If you want to see the PALACE OF KNOSSOS (highly recommended) there are two options: one trip takes in Knossos and the museum at Heraklion; the other takes in Knossos and a drive through the mountains to the Lassithi plateau. They go on different days and we did the latter. Sit on the coach facing the driver and take bottled water and comfy walking shoes. It is very hot in Crete and you will be standing in full sun at times. The drive through the mountains is very scenic around hairpin bends – that’s why it’s best to face the driver as some folk got queasy from being caught out by each bend. Our excursion stopped at a pleasant taverna in the plateau where they did the speciality called Citon (not sure of spelling). It is pork with potatoes cooked in a wood-fired oven. My son said it was delicious and all the food is grown naturally on the plateau. We also stopped at a pottery and the Diktian Cave, mythological birthplace of Zeus. It’s a full day out, starting 8am returning 5:30pm. Cost including entrance fees to the sites was about 80 Euros for two.

Another excursion took us to the island of SPINALONGA. This is also well worth seeing but sun hats and water are going to be essential as there’s precious little shade as you walk around the island. The island is reached by boat from the beautiful town of Aghios Nikolaos. The excursion normally costs 35 Euros but you can do it more cheaply. On the road by the side of the supermarket near Vasia is a taverna called Stefanos. One of his relatives (Babis) runs excursions to Spinalonga. He charges 20 Euros. In our case, Babis picked us up in his car at 8:30am and dropped us in town for a few hours sightseeing before we caught the boat at 12:30. The m/v Venus is large and comfy, especially the restaurant deck. En route they stop at a bay for swimming. The only downside is that you don’t get a personal guide around the island, but they do give commentary as you approach the island. Other folk seemed to have printed info about the island. You may be able to get to Aghios Nikolaos by bus and then only pay the boat fare. The town is beautiful with a “lake with no bottom”. At one corner of the lake are steps taking you to the road high above the town. There’s one café set right by the cliff’s edge with fantastic open views out over the town/lake/sea. Stroll along this road to see other restaurants if you’re going to eat. We’d like to thank Stefanos and Babis for a great day out and such friendly service. Do check them out.

HERAKLION AIRPORT
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On the way in there’s no problem as you will whisk through passport control. It’s a different story on the way out. Massive queues running from outside the terminal, but luckily for us it was at night and not in blazing sunshine. Keep this in mind. There’s a decent Duty Free shop but you may not have enough time!

just returned from a weeks all inclusive stay . Have to agree that overall this is NOT a 5 star hotel. Some aspects fo the hotel are very impressive such as cleanliness, its spotless and staff are always cleaning , staff attitude and helpfulness and facilites on offier are of a high standard. Main buffet restaurant was of a good quality with plenty of choice on offer at all times. other restaurants that you have to book for are a total disappointment and although its a change of scene dont get excited about them espcially the Pelagos meditaranean which was the worst of the 3 on offer to all inclusive guests. Drink was of a ususal all inclusive standard, you dont expect to get top brands but if you did want them the hotel whacked the prices right up to an unrealistic level for a 40ml measure and mxer 8 euro, cocktails 10 euro and glass of wine 5 euro. extras in the hotel are also very expensive, safe 30 euro per week, internet 100 euro per week, and late checkouts till 4pm 30 euro, 6pm 60 euro and midnight and purse busting 100 euro!!!!! spa is also very expensive to use and although packages are on offer it ranges from 65 - 130 euro per person. Entertainment team are nice friendly people but they earn their money very easily, same events timetable daily, no variation at all. At night the entertainment if you want to call it that was sadly lacking, quizes, casino nights and some nights we couldnt even find any on even though it was adviertised. Overall had an ok week but wont be rushing back or recommending it to anyone unless they get a bargain price for it. If you want a true 5 star all inclusive in greece the atlantica imperial in Kolymbia Rhodes is the place to go its magnificent and deserves all the positive reviews it gets on this site.

Vasia has a wonderfully relaxed environment – and, considering the size, it is extremely well run. Our suite was very comfortable, quiet and kept spotlessly clean every day – however, we were quite far away from the main building and any of the bars, which no doubt helped. The key complaint is the “Beach” in the title is rather misleading – the adjacent shoreline is very rocky and there is only a tiny (and grotty) strip of sand looking into the little harbour in Sissi. Of course, the hotel pools make up for this and there is a wonderful beach 5 mins drive away at Malia. The downside is that you will need to rent a car. This can be more of a minefield than you might expect – we finally rented one from Budget (at the desk in the main lobby) – who were extremely helpful.

My one MAJOR TIP is avoid “Mevis car rentals” at all costs!! We rented a Suzuki Jimney from them which broke down in the first hour – leaving us absolutely stranded for 5 hours on the side of a busy, dangerous main road in blazing heat. Incredibly, we received no apology or refund from Mevis, and lost a day of our holiday in the most miserable fashion. Sadly, we came across several similar cases – so be warned!