Elounda Bay Palace

"We chose this hotel for our babies first holiday (she is 5 months) and we are so thrilled we did. The hotel is spacious and perfectly laid out for ease of facilities. We were upgraded to a poolside villa which meant we could walk to the beach and main pool in steps which was so handy with the baby. All the staff are wonderfully friendly especially Sophia in the restaurant team, she really made us feel welcome and fussed over our daughter at every opportunity which was so heartwarming. The location is excellent, the hotel is based around 10 - 15 minutes walk to the main town and it felt safe at night to walk there and back. The only reason I have awarded 4 rather than 5 is because the hotel drinks and food is so so overpriced for example in town a litre of water is 80 cents in the hotel its 4 euros, a litre of local wine on 10 euro in town a glass is 11 euro in the hotel…we expect some kind of mark up but thought this was too extreme. We wouldn’t let that stop us returning though at all, we had a fantastic stay."

"This hotel is very traditional, very Greek feel. Very open, airy and spacious. We had 2 different room types. 1 Mountain View (my parents) and one pool view room. (Mine which was 2adults and 2 kids) The mountain room was very modern, standard size hotel room. The pool view room was on the pool level and right next to the pool which was great however the room was quite old fashioned and cold feeling. It was like an apt/villa room. The furnishing was very old fashioned and wasn’t modern at all to say this room was quite a lot more in price than the hotel room. It was very spacious which was great. The kids beds where a roll away bed that they bought in and a sofa which they made into a bed. (Not a pull out sofa bed) Both comfortable. The main bed was very comfortable and a good size. I feel with the space, they could have utilised it by having an actual pull out sofa bed which would have fitted both boys as a double bed instead of 2 single beds. There was a little kitchen, 2 big bathrooms which was handy. The shower and taps didn’t work great and the A/c only blew out cold even when I put the temp upto 28 degrees just to test it to warm the room up but it didn’t work. We had a large garden space which was great but the grass wasn’t looked after which isn’t a big deal but when it says luxury 5* you expect these things to be in prestige conditions. The main pool was a very good size and then another pool higher up which is is quieter and stunning views. Both beaches were right on the doorstep with amazing Mountain View’s. Always enough beds no matter what time you went down. The guys where so helpful with the beds and umbrellas. The sea was AMAZING. Clear blue and the sand was really soft not 1 pebble or dark sand in sight. The hotel grounds are lovely and gives a proper Greek feel with the taverna/restaurant and pathways to the restaurants. The staff are absolutely amazing so friendly and helpful. The bar staff Maria was outstanding. She needs a medal running around and serving everyone. The restaurant on the beach ariadne had Great food and the views from high up were stunning. If you didn’t want to go there in the day they did offer toasties on the beach. The shop was great to buy snacks and sweets for the kids to keep them going as the F restaurant wasn’t serving snacks at the time of our visit. (We were aware of this before we travelled) The breakfast was good had everything you needed however the buffet in the evening was poor. They had such a large space and it looked empty. They only had a few dishes out and unfortunately the guy in the meat section was definitely not a chef. He mixed the cooked meat with the raw meat and used the same utensil to touch the raw and cooked meat. The food they served was nice but not much option. The fruit was ok not a great massive selection. The desserts where great. A large selection. The entertainment was 1 lady on the piano. Lovely music but that was it. Again maybe because it was low season but it was very boring in the hotel in the evening. We did go out most nights as Crete is great to go out and explore but maybe they should put abit of entertainment. No entertainment by the pool for kids. I do like nice classy hotels I’m not asking for club 18-30 reps but a little bit of group activities would have been fun for the kids. We walked to the other hotel to play golf and it was a lovely short walk. The grounds of the other hotel were stunning and quite grand and larger than ours but very hilly. Not good for my dad with a bad knee however they do offer buggies to and from each hotel and again staff were lovely. The kids enjoyed the football and tennis courts. They also loved the table tennis, snooker and games that were available all day. The hotel is close to Plaka, elounda and ayios Nikolaos which is great. Close to spinaloga island which is a must. Overall the hotel is beautiful, stunning location, just these little niggly bits made it a 4* not a luxury 5* for me."

"We have just returned from a 7 night stay at Elounda Bay Palace. We went with our 3 children aged 9, 8 and 3. We all absolutely loved it. The hotel is very clean and staff are so friendly. We had a double apartment which was 2 conjoining rooms. They we both very nice and were made up every day, sometimes twice a day with fresh towels. The two private beaches were lovely and relaxing, clear water with fish swimming around your feet. We never had any issues finding a bed and parasol, no matter what time we went to the beach or pool. We spoke to a few people who said that this is not their first visit, one couple told us they don't usually return to the same place but have been there 3 times because they like it so much. We will definitely be returning. The drinks are expensive but what you would expect at a hotel. The cocktails are very nice, especially at the bar near the beach. We went there most nights for a cocktail. The barman was very nice and he made the nicest strawberry daiquiri. Thank you so much for such a beautiful holiday. We will see you soon."