Marelen Hotel Zakynthos

Variety of breakfast, very helpful good location

Nothing

This is a fantastic hotel. Very welcoming, helpful staff. The breakfast buffet was amazing - the best I have seen in any hotel . The location is perfect , only a few hundred metres from the beach and restaurants. What gives this hotel the edge over other hotels in the region, is the fact that some of the apartments have a small kitchen with a fridge, hob, kettle and toastie machine, meaning that you are able to prepare lunch time snacks and keep a stock of water. There are plenty of sun loungers for everyone - so no 6am fight for a sunbed!

Bathroom showing some wear - large chip on shower tile and grout could have been cleaner. The metal shower shelf was also loose, so it couldn't be used.

Our main goal was to find a great hotel for us and our 2-year-old, with good food and comfortable conditions for the whole stay. Hotel Marelen turned out to be exactly that kind of place. The crowd here consists mainly of families and older guests, which sets a very pleasant, calm atmosphere from the moment you arrive. This is genuinely the right place if you're after a quiet, relaxing holiday rather than a lively party scene — don't expect the latter here, and honestly that's a good thing. The food was truly delicious and varied. Due to a booking mix-up we ended up with two separate rooms, but the staff merged them into one without any fuss, saving us the hassle of moving luggage around — that kind of flexibility really stood out. Rooms were clean and tidy throughout. There's a sandy beach with sun loungers just nearby, plus plenty of restaurants and bars to suit any taste. The hotel has its own parking, and we'd recommend renting a car to explore the island — Navagio Beach and the Blue Caves are well worth it. A special mention goes to receptionist Maria, who was always ready to help with whatever we needed. Worth noting separately: the hotel sits about 5 minutes from the airport, which is handy, but you will hear planes throughout the day until around 11 PM. It didn't really bother us, but it's something to keep in mind.

Mosquito screens on the bathroom vents would be a welcome addition — at night a few mosquitoes made their way into the room, which was a minor but noticeable inconvenience. One other thing worth mentioning: island quiet hours start at 11 PM, so all live music wraps up then. Given how family-oriented the hotel is, finishing entertainment around 10 PM would make more sense — little ones are usually already asleep by that point.

pretty poolbar in the evening

The breakfast was not very rich in variety, the matress in the room was very hard, the walls were very thin, it wasn‘t even the airplanes rather die persons in die room besides which you unfortunately hear, we had ants in the room in the second floor, it was not allowed to eat/drink things you bought from outside in the pool area