I am going to the hotel Marlene on 17th July 2003 with my wife and little girl who is 4. I am hoping that this will be a relaxing holiday where we can just meander around and relax for the week.
I don't like to admit it but the Airtours brochure said something about Karaoke and I do fancy a bit of that!!! Any 1 know if they do that at the hotel or local bars?
I am a bit worried about leaving the little one with the Dolphin club (Run by the reps). Can someone please put my mind at rest.
Any 1 else reading this and is staying at the Marlene between the 17th and the 24th July 03 please say hi. You cant miss us, 1 tall 35 yr old white slim guy with an older woman who I envy for getting such a tan and a little girl who will probably be walking about in her barbie costume!!!
Thanks,
Dave

http://www.zantehotels.gr/marelen/

Above is the web page for the Marelen hotel, it gives email address and contact details. It also has some pictures and information. Thought this might come in handy.
Regards,
Dave

Well just got back and thought I would add my views, please bear in mind that everyone has their own tastes.
Hotel itself was nice and clean with the friendliest staff I have experienced. We went Bed and Breakfast for the 1st and only time we will be doing that! The breakfasts need a lot to be desired if you are like me and like your hot breaky, for 7 days the only hot food was scrambled egg, beans and mini sausages.
The room was clean but not big enough for my wife and little daughter. It had 2 single beds and a bunk bed, 1 wardrobe and then it was just table and chairs. Most of the time the suitcases were used to keep the clothes in.
Our room did not have air conditioning or even a ceiling fan!!! Considering it was over 41 in the day and 31 at night I was amazed that it did not have a fan! We hired one from the reception for about £10 for the week which enabled us to sleep in comfort through the night.
We did not have a fridge but hired one also for the week at a cost of about £15. This was also a must for us as we kept our water in it and also bought some fruit and drinks etc from the mini markets up the road and kept them in there.
The pool was very nice with a clean and friendly family atmosphere as most of the hotel is booked by Airtours/Mytravel. The kiddies pool is situated at the end of the main pool but unfortunately if you have a small child who is in the childrens pool there are no sun loungers or area to put one so you can relax and watch your children. There is however a small bridge over the 2 pools where you can sit and watch but this has no shade. It would have been a lot nicer if the childrens pool could have been located where it is possible to view from the sun loungers area.
There is a poolside bar and food area open from about 10.00 am till about 6.00 pm. This is great as you can get hot snacks, drinks hot and cold, ice creams etc. Beware small cappucino's work out about £2.50 for a small cup but mainly the rest is quite reasonable.
When you go out of the hotel and turn right it leads up to a main road where on the junction is a small mini market, this is a good place to buy your small food items etc to put in your fridge and they do take Debit / Credit card.
The main road itself has quite a few restaurants and gift shops and mini markets on it but they are spread about to a degree.
BEWARE - if you are taking small children wth you the main road in most places has absolutely NO FOOTPATH and you find yourself diving into the gravel with the pushchair as some maniac wheelies past you on his motorbike. I was amazed that these roads had no path, this really put us off walking along with our child and we did not go as often as we would have liked.
Car hire is cheap, I would definately NOT use the Airtours AVIS car hire as they really do overcharge. Example = 1 Day jeep hire with fully comprehensive insurance--- Airtours price = 110 Euros, Elsewhere = 50 Euros!!! Thats a difference of about nearly £40 quid. There are plenty of car hire places up the main road but most of these are open in the late afternoon as the Greeks are usually having a nap in the day.
As the brochure states there may be some aircraft noise - Bit of an understatement!!! The planes take off vitually directly over the hotel, I know this may seem bad but they are not taking off all the time and they stop at night time as they are not allowed to fly after a certain time. It is also quite fun to watch and the kids love watching them.
One final point, the airport at Zakynthos is a nightmare. We arrived along with 2 other flights and there is only one baggage belt going around and we had to wait nearly 2 hours for our bags to come through!!! On your return trip take lots of water as you have to queue outside under canopies which can get quite hot and may take some time as it is a very small airport.
I know it may seem that all the above looks like the holiday was bad but I have only really put in the negative points without going into detail of all the good points of the holiday. It was our 1st time in Greece and 1st time with our little girl who's 4 years old. We did have a really good holiday.

With reference to the airplane noise they start flying over about mid day and finish by 11.00 pm
To be honest they are close but it made no difference to our holiday enjoyment. Our little 4 year old loved watching them.
Don't worry about the noise it is not frequent enough to be annoying.
Dave