Elounda Bay Palace, a Member of the Leading Hotels of the World

Just returned from 12 days at this hotel. We had 2 Bedroom Family Garden View .... The Hotel rooms we stayed in were not 5 star by any stretch of the imagination. There are 5 star aspects of the resort and some disappointing areas as well. The sister hotel next door (Elounda Beach) and some its the pool villas did look more upmarket and newer The hard working staff try very hard to do their best for you and make the holiday special. But it is expensive for what you get. (Relative to the Caribbean, Portugal , Turkey , France, Italy etc) Lunch and all drinks are over priced €4 for a small 200ml of water in the room, with NO other option for water in the hotel is a bit pricy. Rooms - These were disappointing in size and amenities. They are two rooms with an inter-leading door between the rooms. They are by no means 5 star, much smaller than marketing material makes out and fixtures and fittings very dated. Walls very thin and Sliding doors did not seal so the wind was very noisy and so were the crying babies !!! . Bathrooms were the biggest disappointment as you had to shower in a bath with a plastic curtain sticking to you trying to soap yourself..5 Star..no way Staff - were lovely 10/10 Food - Great food ..Breakfast and dinner had something for everyone local and international food. We enjoyed eating there with VERY friendly service. Pools and beaches are lovely (careful of beach loungers under trees next to the sea..There live hungry Mosquitoes..... Swimming in the sea is easy and protected At breakfast the staff try hard to bring expressos / latte etc but they are way way under machined and at busy times you will do well to eat and enjoy your hot drink (assuming not std pot coffee which is ready immediately). Lunch and Drink Prices are expensive ( Burger €29, Latte €7, Small coke €5.5, 750ml sparkling water €6) but food and service is very good. Elounda is a short walk away, which has loads of LOVELY waterside restaurants and cocktail places that are very reasonably priced. Locals are lovely , no pressure to buy to eat. Pick up water at the local supermkt €0.80 for 1.5 litres....eases the in-room pain of the cost of water at €4 for 200ml...

Amazing Hotel and view Great service by the team Great food Rooms very clean Amazing restaurants A lot of pools and options

I had a fantastic experience at the hotel. The food was delicious, fresh, and offered a great variety. The service throughout my stay was highly professional, and the entire staff was friendly, attentive, and efficient – especially Maria from the Alunda Bay Bar, who stood out for her warmth and excellent service. Highly recommended – I’d gladly come back

Mixed feelings really. While I’m sure it was once an extremely luxurious hotel when built in the 80s, the hotel is resting on its LHW accreditation and charging accordingly for a pretty mediocre delivery. Yes the setting is beautiful and you can’t deny the premium location BUT that’s where, for us, the 5 star tag ends. The rooms are tired and old fashioned although admittedly the beds are very comfortable. Dark pine finishings, tired decor and old fashioned bathrooms. Gardens on the ground floor rooms are a little unkempt. The seawater pool is large but there is a mixed bag of premium loungers and metal/folding ones which seems a little untidy. There is a permanent bad smell in some areas of stagnant water and worse. Today by the pool it was extremely strong and in the indoor pool almost umbearable. I feel for the pool staff. One of the senior staff members mentioned it happens from time to time and would get maintenance to look at the plumbing - it’s not improved. The buffet is ok but the same food is offered time and again and the tables not always turned around quickly. We had a conference here for 2 days which made access to the buffet at breakfast a little chaotic. We are a family of 5 and there were no large tables but a single traveller placed on a table of 6 and many tables uncleared of dirty dishes. The other restaurants are extortionately expensive - we have an allowance as half board guests of €30 per adult and €15 per child. This doesn’t even cover a starter. Tonight we ate at the Japanese fusion restaurant and had some sushi followed by a main course and some wine. With our allowance included we paid €253 on top. 2 courses. One child meal. The food was mediocre at best. Similarly we ate at the seafood restaurant and €202 covered us for 1 course each with our allowance already taken off. I understand this is classified as 5 star so prices reflect that but the delivery is not meeting the mark. I urge management and LHW to review this.

As outlined in other reviews there are undoubtedly areas of the hotel which could be improved to make it perfect but our overall experience was very good. The location is idyllic. Also all the staff in every area of the hotel and in particular Nikos who arranged a room change for us and Kostas in the restaurant made a difference with their friendly helpful customer orientated service. Thank you.

We have just returned from our holiday at Elounda Bay Hotel, we had a lovely De luxe Sea View room, with fantastic views. This is our third time at this Hotel, I have to say that last year the food was not that great, but this year with a new chef the food was so much better, and there was a good choice of food as well. I don’t eat Pork or red meat, so last year this was a problem for me, so we had to eat out most of the time, but this year there was plenty of lovely fresh fish, including sea bass and choice of chicken dishes. My only crititsim being, it is a buffet restaurant, parents where allowing children to handle food on the buffet table, if they changed their minds or starting creating a scene the food was put back on the table. This is not hygenic at all, and really puts you off eating certain foods, plus the children were dropping food on the floor which is dangerous for older people, for a 5* Hotel this is not acceptable. The other point is that I have to take medication with my meal, I don’t drink alchohol, so I had to pay 6 Euros every night for a large bottle of water to take my mediation, as you were not allowed to take water into the restaurant. The majority of Hotels around the world offer free water with your meal, but it seems that in Greek Hotels they charge you for everything. We were also very surprised that the Climate Resilience tax has gone up from 10 Euros last year to 15 Euros this year per room per night, we were there for 12 nights, so we had to pay a further 180 euros, this is much higher that other European countries. The Hotel is lovely, although it is very quiet in the evenings, no entertainment at all, except a lady playing the piano in the restaurant every evening, although she is quite good,its not very stimilating. The two beaches are beautiful, lovely for swimming, the toilets by the beach are spotless all through the day, the Sale Bar is great for drinks, but there was no where to get a light snack at lunchtime while we were there. The staff as always were superb, with special thank you to the lovely lady who cleaned our room every day Joanna, Maria and George who served us at the Sale Bar, Frangisco our lovely beach man who looked after us so well every day putting our sun beds out, nothing was too much trouble for him and not forgetting Victoria on the Customer Relations desk, what we would have done without her, always so friendly and vey helpful. We went at the end of June, and it was very full, I think if we go again we will pick a slightly later time, plus this is very much a family hotel.