TDY Gouge - Greece

Souda Bay NS, Crete, Greece - The Kriti Hotel is okay, but about a 15 minute walk to the waterfront and it is a typical small euro hotel. For your lodging reservations here, they need faxes for ALL personnel staying. Also, you need to arrange for your transportation to and from the base -- "Spa Tours" handles the buses. There is a Holiday Inn right downtown - but book early, it fills quick. Samaria Hotel is a typical european hotel....small rooms and beds. Hotel is about 1/4 mile from the Med, which has some great bars and restaurants. You can book rooms through "SPA tours" or the Navy Base Ops/ATOC. Both numbers are in the IFR Sup. The Best Western Hotel (Ph: 0821-27100; Telefax: 0821-27105) is located right in the Old Venetian Harbor section of Chania, a town close to Souda Bay NAS. Rooms are typical small European. Have a small fridge to keep the extra box lunch cold overnight. Water is good. Kydon Hotel was decent, the location is the best part. Right near the water with small fishing boats right outside the front door. Right next door is an outstanding Restaurant/Cafe where the "Locals" eat--Not tourists! More food than you can eat for about $10-15. The Bus ride from Souda takes about 30 minutes, but it's close to the clubs/pubs/restaurants in town so crew dogs can "walk" back to the hotel (no taxi fees). Great Hotel with large rooms and great beds (unlike most Euro-trash hotels). Located 5 min walk from city harbor. Newly redone. Larger rooms with a great view. Excellent location and accommodations for RON. Billeting on base will make all hotel arrangements for you! If you fax over a crew list with names they will have your room keys waiting and check in will take all of 10-seconds -- more time to hit the bars and eat Gyros! ~Royal Sun Hotel was a nice resort. Spent a few days there waiting on DIP clearance snafu. Very nice hotel, beautiful view of Town of Chania from the surrounding hills. Short taxi cab ride to the waterfront. All rooms nice, half have their only private balcony facing toward the downtown. Rooms small but adequate, with small fridge. Hotel food is good, there's a bar to fill your beverage needs. ~Rodon Hotel was okay. Nice rooms, funky shower set up. Down the hill from the Royal Sun, this Hotel does not compete. Kitchen is for breakfast only, times limited to 8-10 AM. A bar upstairs serves drinks only in the evening. Showers do not have curtains, and showerhead is hand held, awkward. There's a toilet in the shower-room, and its impossible to keep from getting everything in this little room wet with shower water. Barking dogs next door very annoying for those on the eastern side of the hotel. ~Akali hotel was decent. Mattresses are hard but the comp breakfast is great. Some rooms do not have a shower curtain. It is in easy walking distance to all the restaurants down by the water. ~A good bar for clothing optional entertainment is the Moulin Rouge, it is about a 5 minute walk from the harbor.

~If anyone goes to Souda for the first time they HAVE TO go to Elmundos and have themselves a Elmundo's special. All the good bars are down at the harbor. The Clic is ok, and there is a place called The Fun Pub, have to have a Flaming Lamborghini there. Catch a cab to the harbor (or walk if close enough) and have fun. Key note about Souda, as with other places, DO NOT WONDER OUT ALONE. Day or night. Many people have been robbed at gun point at 1300hrs. And some have had there heads kicked in for $20. A good place to eat is The Road House. There are several nice eateries down by the "harbor", Taxi drivers know where everything is. ~Go to Ela restaurant down in the harbor area, just up the street from El Mondo bar. Wonderful food and extensive menu with great prices, way cheaper than anything in the harbor. ~New info on the Aphrodite jewelry shop. They are no longer in business with the exception of their merchandise that is available on base at Souda. . Best food at the best price in town is just up the street from Elmundo's and the FunPub at "Ela". Don't get roped in by one of the street hawkers to eat, they're much more expensive and not nearly as good. Best Western Porto Veneziano 30 28210 27100 was a very nice hotel. I was just in Souda and your current gouge is not correct - Kydon Hotel is a dump and Porto Veneziano is probably the best easily avail (we stayed at both). Best Western Porto Veneziano is a great hotel. On the water, nice full breakfast, and very close to the harbor of pubs and restaurants. Spa Tours will not book this one but there really is no advantage to using Spa Tours. You can book on line via Best Western or call the hotel directly. A great place to eat, especially after the pubs is Rondevous, (in Greek it looks like "Panteboy"). It is across from the back entrance to Click club. Great food for very little money.

~The Santa Marina Plaza ( www.santamarina-plaza.gr ), a 5 star boutique hotel, built on the beach of Aghia Marina Chania. It is located at a mere 8km west of Chania city Centre. As it is under the same ownership with Kriti Hotel, the quality of service and the understanding of the specific needs of the military niche, coupled with 5 star construction and amenities make for an unforgettable stay.

DO NOT STAY ON BASE AT NAS SOUDA. Navy Lodging is worthless there. We showed up in the middle of the night and the temps were in the mid-80s. Not A/C units were running and 1/2 of our rooms didn't even have fans. My loadmaster was trapped in his bathroom for 3 hours because a door handle fell off while he was taking a dump. Uncomfortable beds and thread-bare sheets were not helping with crew rest eaither. Nothing on base is open between ~1900 - 0700 - you can't even get a cup of coffee. Kick, scream, cry, lie . . . do whatever you have to to get off base here. We stayed at the Best Western Porto Venezian and as it says above it's a good deal, just small rooms.

Update August 2009 - C-9 Crew pulled into Souda for a couple days, round robin between the desert. NAS Lodging mostly under construction/remodeling so they put us at the Royal Sun which is now under USG contract to provide overflow and long term TDY rooms. You have to pay and check in at the BQ desk and then a bus takes the crew/pax to the hotel where you get your key. Repeat for checkout. Not too bad of a place. A/C worked okay, mattresses/sheets worn (beats the tents in Al Udied), and food/drinks on the top floor with wireless internet. Breakfast for the crew at anytime with prior arrangement with management. Food's okay and then can do menu stuff for to-go-crew lunches. 7-8 Euro cab ride to town and most cabbies know where the Royal Sun is, but grab a business card before you leave. Visit the open air market and try back alleys for better cafes and shops.