Elounda Bay Palace

"are currently at this hotel, saw all the reviews and thought it would be amazing! Honestly it’s been a nightmare already! Service is terrible by the beach and pool bars and waiting an hour and 40 minutes for drinks and food (which we saw sitting on the side for 40 mins), The staff are so rude, The rooms are nothing like the photos very dated and the balcony is extremely unsafe for my 3 year old who could easily climb over the rails and fall from the 4th floor, mouldy fruit was left in our room and only cleared as I told reception about it on the second day, we have asked to move for 3 days and nothing has happened. There are 6 of us and We have spent thousands on half board and the only places to eat during the day are the bars if your on the beach or pool and is 22 euros for a club sandwich and chips then comes out cold. Not sure what all the hype is about this hotel as at the moment we can’t see anything apart from the private beach."

"It has been our third time in Elounda, and it just gets better every time. We love the relaxed atmosphere, the thoughtful and personal approach. Our group was composed of people from the age of 11 to the age of 70, and we all felt accommodated and perfectly taken care of. The rooms are specious and very clean as well. The best thing is the way the food staff had taken care of my niece, who has celiac — it was clear how seriously they took it, and made sure she has everything she wanted and needed and much more. She truly felt so happy and seen. We will be back, no doubt!"

"### Beautiful resort, but the “sunbed war” completely ruins the beach experience We are currently staying at Elounda Bay Palace, and while the hotel itself is beautiful and the location is lovely, the situation with the sunbeds is extremely disappointing — especially for a five-star resort. There is a very clear sign on the beach stating: “Sunbeds cannot be reserved. If personal items are left unattended for more than 2 hours they will be removed.” Unfortunately, in practice, this rule is not enforced. The so-called “sunbed war” starts the night before. Guests leave towels, bags, children’s toys and personal belongings on the sunbeds in the evening to reserve them for the following day. In the morning, the beach can look completely “full” even though the beach itself is practically empty and most of the people who have supposedly reserved the sunbeds are nowhere to be seen. This morning I woke up at 7:15 am and this was already the situation shown in the photos attached to this review: rows of sunbeds apparently reserved with personal belongings, but very few guests actually using them. I came back at 9:15 am — two hours later — and the situation was exactly the same. The beach was still largely empty, yet almost all the sunbeds were “reserved”. What is even more frustrating is that I spoke to the beach attendant, but he explained that there was nothing he could do about the situation. So the hotel has a clear written policy, but the staff apparently cannot enforce it. This creates an absurd situation where guests who actually want to use the beach are effectively forced to participate in the sunbed war themselves — waking up early and leaving towels on a sunbed simply to have somewhere to sit later. And this is particularly frustrating for families with children. We should not have to wake up at 6 or 7 am every morning to “claim” a sunbed in a five-star hotel. I completely understand that guests want to get a good spot on the beach. What I do not understand is how someone can leave their belongings on a sunbed overnight, disappear for several hours, and still consider that sunbed theirs — especially when the hotel explicitly states that sunbeds cannot be reserved. The problem is therefore not only the behaviour of some guests. The real problem is the lack of enforcement of the hotel's own policy. The hotel should either enforce its existing two-hour rule or introduce a proper system for allocating sunbeds. Other luxury resorts manage to do this, and guests should not have to fight over sunbeds every morning. The Elounda Bay Palace has many wonderful qualities, but unfortunately this issue significantly affects the overall experience. A five-star resort should not have a “sunbed war”, particularly when it already has a clear policy designed to prevent exactly this problem. I sincerely hope management addresses this, because it is completely avoidable."