Ah,memories,memories.
I cant believe that this many years on the Soula Mari hotel is listed on Ciao.Though i stayed there many years ago and appreciate things may have changed i can still give you a general idea of the hotel and where situated.
I remember a 45 minute coach journey from haraklion airport and arriving sometime in the early morning.It was may 25th some 12 years ago.Now i know your going to be thinking,'this place may have been revamped and completely different.Nonetheless,my first impression of that hotel stood out from all the others.Set on the corner of the Malia Beach road and slightly back i remember entering to reception with the tiled floors and typical greek decor.A tiny lizard had situated itself on the wall close to my room,a nice thing to see i thought at the time.The walkthrough to the rooms was arched and open roofed in parts which made a wicked sun trap.The room my friend and i stayed in was spacious and clean with shower,cooking facilities,nice furniture,comfortable beds and a door leading out to a lovely patio with seats and umbrellas.The keys for your room were a great idea as you had to put it in a magnetic slot on the wall to activate the lights,hence when locking the door to go out the lights were not left on.Fire alarms were situated outside the doors and it was very quiet at night considering where the hotel was situated.A small swimming pool was located out the back with a bar for beverages.We were self catering so no food was available.It was only a 20 second walk to the supermarket where you could buy the basics you needed.Ten minutes down Malia beach road was probably the best beach i have ever seen.Hundreds of bars and clubs were left and right of us so all in all the location was excellent.It happened to be over 100 degrees every day so the sanctuary of the hotel room was quite a relief.Though there was no air conditioning(maybe now there is) it was still cool thanks to the stone walls.
My personal conclusion is that if this hotel has not changed much over the years you would be well advised to stay there as some we saw while walking were not a touch on ours.
If you want to be right in the middle of the action and have all the amenities around you then the Soula Mari would be perfect for you.
Oh,by the way,if you do travel to malia then feel free to look in the Newcastle bar on Malia beach road.I hope my tee shirt is still on the wall after all these years.Signed Tim and Peps(The fundamental posse) that was the reps name for our first night out together.tee shirts supplied bt them...lol
Anyway enjoy and have fun x