Petra Mare - All Inclusive in Ierapetra

Petra Mare is a very good place for a relaxing family holiday. The food quality is above average, and although it’s prepared in small batches (which sometimes means a short wait), everything is fresh and tasty. The dessert bar is a bit limited, but the salad and side dish options are very good.

The restaurant is well organized — there are always available tables, and the staff are friendly, polite, and helpful. The rooms are cozy, comfortable, and cleaned daily with care.

The beach is sandy and perfect for children, with a seabed that gradually deepens — safe and ideal for young swimmers, though the water can be a little cold at times. The children’s pool is also well designed, with many fun attractions and activities that keep kids entertained for hours.

The animation program for kids is excellent — one of the best we’ve seen. The animators are cheerful, energetic, and create a great atmosphere every day.

Overall, Petra Mare is a great choice for families looking for comfort, fun, and relaxation.

Hotel is great, food is amazing, staff is very kind and helpful. Pool is great and sea is clean and many free sunbeds with umbrellas. Drinks at bars are good and strong. Only downside for me are kids. I don’t mind kids, but in dining area was like 30 kids screaming all at once it’s crazy, similar problem is loud rooms.i would make 1 hour eating time only for adults. Otherwise everything about hotel is on the peak.

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Cocktails are so sweet or sour, only drink that taste great was aperol if you wait for ice to get melt. So overall cocktails are not refreshing.

We had a wonderful stay there. Everything was perfect! The beautiful location by the sea offered fantastic swimming pools for both children and adults. The food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was amazing, and the kids' room provided engaging activities every day. The staff was incredibly kind and welcoming. Highly recommend!

A true gem!
Petra Mare is an absolute treasure. Its location is simply breathtaking, right by the sea, making you feel surrounded by the beauty of the water. The rooms are spotless, perfectly maintained, and very comfortable. The buffet is outstanding, offering a wide variety of options to suit every taste.

The pools are wonderful, especially the infinity pool at sunset – it is truly magical. If you prefer peace and quiet away from children’s laughter, you can easily retreat to the nearby adults-only beach for total relaxation. The spa is also fantastic, offering a perfect way to unwind.

Overall, everything exceeded our expectations. We enjoyed a wonderful two-day stay, felt incredibly well taken care of, and left feeling like royalty. Highly recommended!

We really enjoyed our stay at Hotel Petra Mare and the hotel met our expectations. We travelled as a couple without children and appreciated the separate dining area for adults only. We didn’t join the animation programs, but the animators were friendly and not pushy.

Beach & Pool
The beach is right in front of the hotel, sandy with a gradual entrance to the sea. Most of the time sunbeds were available; only twice we didn’t find any (but we got up very late). At the pool there were always enough sunbeds. The pool water was a bit chilly for our taste, but still fine.

Accommodation
The rooms looked just like in the pictures. Cleaning was done daily, towels were changed every day and beach towels every second day. On arrival our toilet was leaking, but maintenance came within half an hour and fixed it. Bottled water was replenished daily.

Food & Drinks
The food selection was sufficient – not as huge as in some 5* hotels, but everything we tried was delicious. There was also a snack bar by the pool with a smaller choice. The only thing we didn’t enjoy was the ice cream.
Drinks at the beach bar were mostly local alcohol and quite sweet, but for example Gordon’s gin & tonic was perfectly fine. In the evening (18:00–24:00) the main bar offered international alcohol, so the quality of basic drinks was better. Premium drinks were available for an extra charge.

Other services & location
There are two small shops in the hotel, open until about 11 pm. The town center is about 10 minutes on foot – lovely, with many shops and bars coming alive in the evening. The only drawback was the long transfer from the airport – we were among the last to be dropped off, so the ride took almost 2.5 hours.

Staff
All staff were very friendly and helpful.

Overall
A great holiday with only a few minor downsides. We definitely recommend Hotel Petra Mare.

We spent our holiday at Hotel Petra Mare in Ierapetra, Crete, in July 2025, and it exceeded all expectations. ✅ The hotel has truly earned its stars. ✅ Everything from the overall atmosphere to the smallest details is designed for customer satisfaction. ✅ Friendly and helpful staff made us feel welcome throughout our stay. ✅ The restaurant offers a rich and varied selection. ✅ The private beach is clean, well-maintained, and equipped with excellent services. Thank you for the unforgettable experience – we will definitely return!

We spent our all-inclusive vacation at this hotel in Crete, and overall, it left a good impression, though there were a few issues worth mentioning.

First of all, the cleanliness was excellent – both the rooms and the common areas were very well maintained. Housekeeping did a great job every day, which we really appreciated. The food was tasty, but unfortunately quite repetitive – after a few days it felt like we were eating the same dishes with slight variations. On the bright side, the drinks were very good and freshly made, which made relaxing by the bar much more enjoyable.

The pool area with water slides for kids was definitely a highlight – our children loved it and spent most of their time there. However, I have to mention a very concerning incident that occurred during our stay. One of the parasols detached from its base and flew straight into the children's pool area – it was a miracle that no one was hurt. This was extremely alarming and we were shocked that such a safety issue could happen. The hotel absolutely needs to ensure that all equipment around the pool is properly secured to prevent accidents like this.

As for the rooms – they were clean and comfortable, but unfortunately not well soundproofed. We could hear everything from the hallway and the room above us, which made it hard to fully relax, especially at night.

All in all, it’s a hotel with potential, good service, and enjoyable facilities, but it definitely needs to improve some areas, especially in terms of guest safety.

Lovely hotel covering a large area. Food was brilliant with numerous different options for all meals. There was also a large vegan option at all meal times even though I am not vegan myself. So many options. Rooms were adequate and comfortable all with free security boxes and air con. Rooms cleaned daily and cannot complain about cleanliness. Several bars during day and evening and surprisingly many premium drinks were on the all inclusive. They also have several free cocktails if that is your thing, Location is on the edge of town, so it is a walk to amenities, which caused us a problem as the temperature was very high until late evening. However it is well worth the walk along the promenade. The pools were surprisingly good with the main pool being an infinity pool. There was all day entertainment, but the evenings are mainly about children so there is not a lot for adults. We had one fire and LED evening during the two weeks which was good. The entertainment team work hard to keep the clients happy and overall the hotel is one of the better ones we have stayed in.

The hotel and conditions are excellent. Everything was well-kept and clean, and I saw that they regularly tested the pool water.

The rooms were spacious, clean, and had a superb sea view.

The children's pool with slides is suitable for little kids up to around 5–6 years old. For older children, it's boring.

They have lots of staff animating the atmosphere and organizing various activities throughout the day for both kids and adults. All the staff were very friendly.

There were plenty of sunbeds available on the beach and by the pool. You could find a spot at any time.

The adult pool is 1.4 meters deep, and the entrance into the sea is gradual, so you can walk in barefoot without needing water shoes.

The food is delicious with a wide variety. The quality of the food was genuinely high!

The juice/water/coffee dispensers were dirty (specifically in the area where the liquid comes out). In the last few days, after we noticed this, we chose to drink only bottled and purchased juice/water.

That said, everything else was impeccable, so I don’t understand how those dispensers could be so dirty...

In the evenings, there are various programs and live music, but it's calm enough so you can still have a conversation.

The area itself doesn’t offer much. You can reach the town of Ierapetra in 10 minutes from the hotel. There are a few very beautiful souvenir shops, and the locals are extremely friendly.

There are restaurants, cafes, etc., but it’s a small town—not comparable to the northern part of the island. However, we liked it.

Location was far away from the airport and the only con of the room was the airconditioning not working optimal. The rest of the hotel made up for it and it was perfect.

I had most fun at the main bar. Very nice people who are working there, great laughs, nice talks and the drinks where good.

Would probably go back!