El Greco Hotel

Why 5*****? I would like to say up front that I always rate a hotel based on what I booked it for. Knowledge of certain circumstances that I already had before booking is therefore never included in a rating. We already stayed at the Hotel El Grecco for 14 days in 2019 and are therefore "repeat offenders" in a sense. We particularly like the following things about the Hotel El Grecco: direct location on the promenade with beautiful walks into town and to the harbor Rooms facing the sea with a great view including sunrise (we would always book a sea view room) good breakfast with plenty of choice Breakfast area including outdoor area directly on the promenade Parking in a side street about 100 m from the hotel; is subject to a fee, but the search for a parking space in the area is annoying and often tedious or even unsuccessful. There are various restaurants in the immediate vicinity (our absolute tip is the Sti Gonia restaurant "On the corner" by Maria, hidden in a residential area) and last but not least, the very friendly and helpful staff (saved the fifth *). We knew that Ierapetra does not (yet) have a usable city beach. But this is supposed to change for 2023, the work is already underway. With a rental car, however, you can reach the beaches of Koutsounari relatively quickly (tip: the beach tavern Alatsi, free loungers/umbrellas for guests) and Mirtos (tip: the beach tavern Flisvos, as well). I would like to point out, however, that this time it could have only been 4****. The rooms have minor visual defects, there are far too few hooks for towels and other things and there is no way to dry swimwear. On the subject of service: This time we were traveling with friends and had booked two junior suites. When we arrived, we found out that one of the suites was still occupied because the travelers had problems with their return flight. No problem, that can happen from time to time. For 2 days, we simply moved into a double room with a sea view on the same floor. And to "compensate", the hotel provided all 4 of us with a meal in the hotel's own Porfyra ​​restaurant, which turned out to be a stroke of luck (see the separate review).