Sandy Maria Hotel

I booked a fortnight at the Sandy Maria Hotel and only stayed eight days, it was awful! It is listed as self-catering but there's no way you could make a meal with what was provided by way of kitchen ware. There was a huge saucepan and filthy scratched frying pan, one mug (we had to buy another) two plates, two forks, two knives, one teaspoon. The owners were civil enough to begin with but when we did not attend the Greek night they became very rude. Our room was crawling with ants, all over the beds, the shower was filthy, there were squashed flies on the wall.

After a few days they stopped emptying the bin in the bathroom (where you have to put the used toilet paper) which stunk after a while. I have never felt so unwelcome anywhere! And yes, I have been to Greece many times before and not expected luxury, but to be made to feel so unwelcome is quite another thing. We moved out to the lovely Dinos Hotel over the road. and given that my room was paid for for another week, the man from the Sandy Maria came up to us on his moped and asked us for the key back. We said we would return the key when we had eaten, but he was insistent. We carried on walking and after a couple of minutes he came after us again, this time really angry demanding his key back and threatening to call the police and report us to the tour company. We decided to give back the keys and my room was let the next day - so he was paid twice for the same room. Take my advice STAY AWAY. You will only be made welcome if you spend loads of money at his bar and attend his over priced Greek evenings. I wonder if he deliberately upsets certain customers so that they leave and then he re-lets the room.

I have been going to Greece for over thirty years and this is the worst place I have ever stayed whole apartment was filthy bedding torn towels stained toilet would not flush there was no kettle in room so could not make drinks in morning reason for this is so that you have to use snack bar if you did not use bar in the evening or go on greek night the owner was very unfriendly

it's 10- 15 mins to the beach stayed there in 2003 was ok, its a nice walk

Hello Can any one tell me how long it takes in mins to walk to Paradise Pub? and how long in mins to the beach? I've been before and stayed in Mavrekos - Is this further away from everything? Thanks in advance :-) I can get a really good deal and want to take by BF for a gift but am just worried about location. Elaine xx

had a fantastic holiday at sandy's hope to be back next year,fantastic views from the balcony's,loads of fun around the pool especially bbq nights, clean and friendly , sandy and yannis are fantastic and very friendly.

Stayed first 2 weeks September. The apartment was good, clean, lovely size, great balcony. You do need to bring your own kettle. Pool was glorious. Sandy and Yiannis were very friendly, we had some great evenings with them. Tsilivi is like a little piece of heaven.

Well What Can We Say;

having read previous comments we were ready for the holes in the sheets and rather skinny towels but the room was fine , large and with a nice balcony (have stayed in much worse). the resort was lovely , best restaurant was the Olive tree reputed to be the oldest there.

all i can say is i had the best 2 week ever at sandy's nice rooms,pool and bar sandy, erikka and nicos made us all feel so welcome and top pool party thanks miss them all.

The apartments were large, clean and plenty of wardrobe, drawer space.  Towels and bedding clean but holey and torn!  What was most disappointing was the snack bar was advertised to be open from 9.00 am one day we were waiting and at 10.30 decided to give up. One ocassion my friends daughter asked for a Greek Salad, only to be told they had no supplies.

Weve just got back at teatime and missing Sandy Maria already -totally agree with Maive ,that everything was as it should be for self catering.. I say go to Spain or somewhere else if you want 4 or 5 star- havent these moaners ever been to Greece before ? All that you need is somewhere to rest your weary head after a day on the beautiful beachI take people as i find them and bonded really well with Sandy,Maria , and the sweetest little girl -will defo be back to the same appartments Weve made some brilliant friends with fellow holidaymakers. Missing Mango Beach bar cocktails already !

Hello Maeve, it wasn't so bad was it?

If you were picky you could find fault, but then again it doesn't pretend to be 4*. Some of the comments about the apartments being crappy are a bit unfair, it is what it is - basic but clean accommodation.
A bit basic in the kitchen, just a big pan a little pan and a 2 ring hotplate. At least the fridge was cold! No toaster, kettle or microwave, no dining table except the plastic balcony furniture. Air con is available in some rooms but you have to pay extra for the remote that operates it. Pool area well maintained and clean.
I have to say though Sandy was a bit hard work, not exactly the life and soul of the party!
It was quiet and relaxing whilst we were there - no fights for the sun loungers. Tsilivi village was lovely and the beach fantastic. We had a great time.

got home on sunday, beautiful holiday Sandy and Maria studios were lovely. clean fresh they are what a studio should be. relaxed atmosphere, no demands or time keeping that you find in all inclusive senarios. easy walk to town and georgeous beach. all staff there but not constantly pestering us. you would have to see the views and as for the pool we all could have stayed all week in it. exactly and more than self catering needs to be. thank you Sandy and Maria, Nicos and the hard working cleaning staff. not forgetting little Magia, who made all so welcome. we will be back as soon as money and time allows .

Just got back from Tsilivi, Zakynthos and had a fantastic time. The resort and Island were lovely and I recommend the area rather than Laganas or Argassi. The only negative to the holiday was the Sandy Maria Apartments (aka Sante Maria and Santy Maria) . I give it a one star only because the pool was nice. The rooms were clean enough but the linen didn't fit the bed and was full of holes as were the towels. One bedside light didn't work and although we reported it to Sandy-it was never fixed-we also found her to be abrupt and miserable. Sprios only speaks to you if you are willing to spend all your money at the bar-but as the food wasn't that great, was over priced and only available till 7 pm we found the resort way way better and cheaper.Sprios also tried to rip us off one night and over charge for 2 drinks and a pizza and didn't like it when my boyfriend argued with him. As a couple we had to sleep in seperate single beds which wasn't ideal and the kitchenette wasn't really suitable for cooking;all you get is 2 dirty, greasy pans, an old 2 pan gas stove(like for camping) and some old plates. Although the pool is nice enough you can't use it after 7pm which we found strange especially as it was so hot. You can't sit by the pool with food and drink unless you buy it at the bar and the walk to the beach was more than 800 meters. We saw the Libra reps only once during our stay and they seemed not to like being there as that was only time they came to the apartment except to pick us up to the airport. The customer service by both reps and staff at the Sandy Maria was pretty rubbish and I would NOT go back there. I love the resort of Tsilivi and will go back there and to a better hotel. Nice resort crappy apartments. 

We have just got back from Santy Maria apartments 21.06.09 and are missing the place already. The apartment was clean and comfortable, Ida the cleaner always had a friendly smile and Nikos who helped out at the bar became a good friend. Sandy who runs the apartments was a great host, always laughing in wonderful way that made us laugh too. she was always plying us with free shots and even agreed to do a Greek night.  I did the barbie it was just great everyone enjoyed it.

 just an update from spiros  if any one is going to tsilivi this year you will find spiros in the mango bar on tsilivi beach next to the jetski place having a coke haha as he owns the sun beds infront of it. if your not in tsilivi but in laganna he has a poolbar called the karras hotel pool bar and he hopes to see you all there i will definatley be giving him a visit so make sure you have enough mythos in spiro yamas see you 28th of june for 2 weeks

Just returned from staying a week at the Sandy Maria apartments and missing it already. From the comments that we had read before we left we were a bit worried about the accomodation but we shouldn't have been. The apartments were clean and looked new. The maid came every day to empty the bins and clean- sheets and towels were also replaced mid week. The apartments were only about 5 minutes from the town and beach. In the bar, Spiro and Nikos were really welcoming and helpful- they were also a great laugh.

We have just returned from Santy Maria apts after a 2 week stay. I cannot complain really. We found the staff very helpful. I must admit we were worried before going after reading all of the reports! I have to agree there is no pleasing some people.

 Bar Staff were friendly opened unitl late always a bonus when you fancy a late drink!

 What a brilliant time we had at santy maria. We visited 22/6/08 to 6/7/08. Thankyou to Spiros, Nicos and Denise (Michelle) for making our holiday the best. The pool was kept nice and clean and the service at the bar was excellent. We will be back as soon as we can.  Thanks for the ouzo spiros, yammas. Love to you all and liza as well. xx

WE HAD AN EXCELLENT TIME AT THE SANDY MARIA!!! ALL OF THE BAD COMMENTS ARE ABSOLUTLY BULLSH*T!!! SPIRO'S IS THE BEST, THE F*CKIN BEST IN THE WORLD!! HE DOESNT RIP PEOPLE OFF IF ANYTHING HE IS MORE THAN HAPPY TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR MONEY, NICKOS AND DENISE ALSO MADE US FEEL VERY WELCOME. SPIROS EVEN MADE US A "LAST SUPER" HOW GENEROUS IS THAT???

HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL SOON - LOOK AFTER YOURSELVES, MISSING YOU XXX

 yasoo spiro, nicos , sandy denise and lizza thanks for a fab two weeks, cant understand why people underated the place, we had one of  the best holidays weve ever had and weve been to tsilivi ninteen times and we are coming back to the sandy maria again in eight weeks the bbq was brill and we had a good laugh at spiros quiz. please make sure you have enough mythos for us when we come back spiro and for all the people that complained about the place i suggest you f**k off to turkey or somthing  see you all in eight weeks your the best love lyn, ogy, lee sarah gary alicia and not forgetting stevie xxx

 We stayed at the Santy Maria apt from 15th June til 29th. We were there the same time as big Tony and became great friends with them and another couple.  We had a great time and as Big Tony said if you don't want basic but clean don't go to Greece or pay more for your holiday. Sandy the owner would try to put right any problems as quickly as she could, and if you get to know her and chat she is ok. Spiros was great he even gave me a lift from the town one day. On the first night my husband asked if he had blue gin but he hadn't. The second night we went to the bar for a drink Spiros had been out especially to get blue gin for us, he also had noticed my husband smoked cigars and he had got a supply of those as well. Nothing was a bother for him. He does a lovely breakfast and his snacks are good too. We had a fab holiday never had a bad meal in any of the restaurants we ate and that was many. The company was great and we would like to say hi to all the people we met.

 Just retuned from Sandy Maria appartments, we read the reviews before we went & were dreading it- I must say i do agree with most of the comments- Sandy (the owner) was very arrogant & unfriendly at all times, Spiros however was great, we loved him, a good laugh & very kind especially when we rescued a dog that was threw from a car at high speed! We expected the appartment to be basic coz you get what you pay for however, it was also filthy & smelly crawling with ants in every cupboard, drawer & beds! hardly any hot water & no loo roll. Tsilivi itself is a lovely place lovely beach & lots of restaurants- we never had a bad meal, be careful when walking back down long dark road- a couple were mugged from our appartment, this is a regular occurance apparently! So to sum things up if your young & dont mind slumming it & getting no sleep then Sandy Maria is ideal, otherwise do yourself a favour & book a different appartment! from JULIE & JEAN room 505- stayed 9/6/08-22/6/08