Hotel Framissima Bella Beach

The Bella Maris is located on the northern coast of Crete, 15 miles east of Heraklion, and 14 miles from Kazantzakis international airport. This part of Crete has been spoiled by ongoing or completed construction. Only olive tree fields manage to reduce, in certain areas, the impression of desolation caused by destructive, uncontrolled tourism. A wide alley lined with olive tree fields leads to the Bella Maris, built along the seashore, a few miles from the small city of Hersonissos.

It is open from the end of March to early November. The absence of quietness is notable.

Built in 1994 on fifty hectares of flat ground, and renovated in 2000, the Bella Maris includes seven two-storey blocks, each with an elevator. Fine brick buildings, blue-green shutters, roof-terraces, and façades covered with ivy, form straight shapes which are rare in this area. The swimming pool area, tiled with orange hexagonal tiles, and the dark wood deckchairs, give the place a certain warmth contrary to the coolness of this quasi-Nordic architecture. Gardens are spacious and airy, although vegetation is not abundant.

The hotel includes 147 standard rooms. All rooms have a balcony or a terrace with wicker chairs, offering a view of the sea, the swimming pool, or the garden. They have air conditioning, satellite television, a direct international access telephone, and a refrigerator. The bathroom features a tub or a shower and a hair dryer. There is a safe at the front desk.

Meals are served according to three options. The main restaurant offers all types of dishes (including Cretan specialities), buffet-style, in a pleasant, friendly environment. There is a snack bar for people in a hurry. You can also order room service. The hotel includes three bars: the beach bar, the pool bar, and the main bar, that also offers quick meals.

Just a few steps from the hotel, there is a nice beach, which is not the case for most hotels of the island's northern coast. Wide and relatively long, this beach is cleaned three times a week. The hotel has provided deckchairs, parasols (in braided straw) and showers for the comfort of its guests; the sea is crystal-clear. However, the sand is not fine, the wind sometimes strong, and scooters too numerous in the small alley along the sand.