Many Hotels claim to be 4 star and "on the beach" but this one really is, the beach is sandy but there is a lot of pebbles at the waters edge and a steep slope and a few rocks in the shallows, Rock shoes are a good idea. They have a board walk down to the parasols and sunbeds by the sea. (charged at 2 euros 50 per bed per day). See Hugh Laurie (well he looks like a younger version) for payment. Transfers from Heraklion took us 1.5 hours depending on number of drop offs, but gives you fabulous views along the coast, dual carriageways are good but in town very potholed and in places we drove along rough gravel tracks to some hotels. The the Minos Mare staff all seem to speak English and are very friendly especially Menelaos on reception, who will go out of his way to help, Izabella in the restaurant and the lady who restocks the buffet, who seemed to be there at every mealtime. My only gripe is that there were no included drinks with the evening meal, you have to buy water, wine, coffee or whatever, at breakfast, drinks were served. The food is good quality,fresh and plenty of choice, it is buffet and you can take all you want. Although full, there was no fighting for seats or sunbeds, plenty for all, no queue for drinks or food, Beach towels are provided with a refundable deposit but you can change them as often as you like, rooms are made up every day with a change of linen alternate days, the shower was over the bath and was basic and a bit shabby, worked fine but not up to the standard of the rest of the room . A kettle and tea/ coffee making facilites a fridge, satelite TV DVD CD and radio alarm bathrobes and slippers all provided, our room had a balcony overlooking the pool and had a glass sliding door a sliding shutter and an insect screen, all individually lockable. The rooms and corridors are carpetted and seem well insulated from each other we had no disturbances at all in our week, a first for us! Free WiFi available in the reception/ Pool area was very patchy and mostly unuseable. The hotel is kept very clean and the trees and grass areas take away the glare of the sun round the pools, and while we were there we saw very few bugs or creepy crawlies only a couple of moths.On the site round in the "Royal" area, there is a small souvenir shop that sells water, batteries inflateables and almost anything else you might need and is very well priced, NOT a rip off!
One problem with flying to Heraklion is that the clubbing centres of Malia etc share the same planes so you do get the rowdy teenagers on the plane, but if you can ignore them for the 3.5 - 4 hour flight the destination is worth it!
I recommend taking a leisurely 5 mile walk to Rethymnon one day, stopping at various Tavernas on the way it will take a couple of hours each way depending on how much coffee/mataxa you drink, follow the seafront along so you dont get lost, head for the Fortress (You can see this building from the beach at Minos Mare) lots of steep steps up to it but for 4 euros you can spend all afternoon exploring the 16th century buildings ramparts and Mosque and learning the history, looking out over the turquoise sea and the terracotta rooftops. Look out for the replica Galleon in the harbour below, that sails around the bay, makes an amazing photo opportunity. Overall an excellent holiday and I would like to return.