Malia

Malia

Malia is an all round party resort that has been compared to Ibiza and Ayia Napa. Not having been to either of these places, I can’t comment on this save for to say that the nightlife certainly was manic. I went for a ‘girly’ holiday with 3 of my best mates to treat ourselves after we finished out A-levels. This opinion is really based on a lads/girls holiday as we didn’t do much apart from sun bathe, eat, party and last (an possible least) sleep.

***Accommodation***
We stayed at the ‘Odyssey Apartments’ just outside the centre of Malia. It took about 10mins to walk into town and 15mins to get to the Beach – although a bit longer on the way back after a night out. The location is perfect – near enough to walk/stagger/crawl yet far enough way to avoid all the noise/commotion of the main street.
The staff were not very helpful here – reception was the hotel bar and the owners did not speak good English. Whilst we were there, the security guard beat someone up and was fired so we spent 3 days without a security guard. Despite this, nothing was stolen from our room (despite us leaving the Patio door open several times) and we always felt safe. The room itself was basic- 1 bedroom, with 2 beds and 2 ‘camper’ beds in the kitchen/living room area. Although advertised as self-catering, there was no way any cooking could be done as there were no pans, no knives and only a few plates. Ah well – at least we had a fridge for our chocolate and cosmetics. The bathroom was very small and the shower prone to schizophrenic hot/cold episodes. After talking to people at other apartments, we found that this was better than most and that the lack of an effective shower curtain had caused nearly everybody’s rooms to get a bit wet.
There are hotels and apartment blocks all over Malia – some in the centre (on Beach Road) with the nicer apartments and hotels further out.

***Eating***
There are many places to eat for all tastes and budgets in Malia. Few seem to get up in time for breakfast in Malia but the vast majority of bars along the Beach Rd offer fry ups and continental bread/jam affairs. We moved straight on to lunch, usually ‘pub grub’ from a bar again along the Beach Rd. There is something for everyone, ranging from salads to restaurant meals take away chips.
‘La Grande Trattoria’, an Italian Restaurant on the edge of the Beach Rd area is a must for anyone visiting Malia. We paid £40 for 4 main meals (all really big and delicious), 2 bottles of wine and 4 cocktails (all really strong and delicious!) on out first night and went back twice. We also ate at ‘Cordon Bleu’ in the ‘old town’ i.e. where the locals live. This was a traditional Greek restaurant, slightly more formal than the other places we went with live music from a guitarist. The food was good here as well. We went to another place in the old town but it seemed very basic – they had only one vegetarian dish and a dog ran about between the tables. 2 places to avoid are ‘Verona Pizza’- ot may be cheap but you can’t bring yourself to eat the stuff (its not food!) and ‘Petrino’s’ (one of the 24hr bars). Again, the vegetarian choices were limited, it took ages for the food to arrive and it wasn’t anything special when it did.
All the restaurants seem to offer complimentary bread – others more stylishly than others (‘La Grande Trattoria’ provide a selection of warm bread rolls with dips) and free shots after the bill has been paid. Again the quality of these vary – some give a shot of Raki (the local tipple) strong enough to fell a trooper whereas others give only peach juice.
There are loads of fast food places open at night to stave off the munchies/fill that inevitable post drink feeling of acute starvation. You can choose between pizza/burgers/chips/kebabs/corn on the cob (?!?!) what ever takes your fancy/you come across first.

There over 40 bars (open till 4am) in Malia and 20 clubs (open till 6am) as well as 2 24hour bars ‘Safari’ and ‘Petrino’s’ although we never had the energy to make it to either of these. The bars are open all day (from about 9am) although things only get busy after 11pm to midnight. It is quite difficult to remember exactly which bars/clubs were the most kicking- not only does everything get a bit blurry after a couple of drinks but also the PR people rush you in so fast you will have no idea whats going on. All the bars have dance floors and not enough seating. I would recommend Malibu club, Exodus music bar, the Roadhouse (excellent ‘fishbowls’ i.e. small buckets or drinks to share with your mates) and Camelot.

So, Malia is a definite recommendation as a groups holiday. Less expensive and clichéd than Ayia Napa/Ibiza yet seemingly just as much fun if dancing till dawn/sleeping past mid day floats your boat. There is plenty to do during the day both independently and through the package holiday deals for the laziest sunbathers to the more culturally aware.