Elounda Beach Hotel & Villas, a Member of the Leading Hotels of the World

Went on a singles retreat with Compatible Connextions and I must say, I most impressed with Elounda Beach Hotel. Wonderful, accommodating staff, lush accommodation. I had a bungalow and was welcomed with a lovely bottle of wine and a bowl of assorted fruit, sunken whirlpool bath with shower, separate sauna and my own pool. Beautiful beaches alongside breath taking views! Can’t wait to go back next year!

We spent 10 days at this wonderful resort (Jet2 package). The staff were incredible, breakfast buffet amazing. The coffee is out of this world! The facilities are really fantastic and the location excellent - easy to explore local towns/villages. There are ample phenomenal restaurants outside the resort but if you prefer to stay in, your day is as fulfilled - at night there are 4 options of restaurants. We only did this twice as personally we preferred the restaurants and atmosphere outside amongst locals! We’d definitely return - the deals were excellent!! Hotel room was perfectly located for us though there are marvellous even more posh villas etc in the complex. We loved our location in main building! All very quiet, very clean. Rooms serviced daily with top ups all the day long. Thank you to the staff who really were most welcoming, kind and very patient!!!!

Room was classic bungalow with sea view. Positives. Beautiful resort. Large balcony. Staff lovely. Breakfast very good with good gluten free cakes selection. Nice touch having wine and fruit on arrival. Buggy to gate as its quite a way. Small supermarket at gate and lots of lovely restaurants in Elounda Negatives steep and lots of steps. Food & drink very expensive. Sunken bath difficult to climb in to. Shower only hand held.

We have just returned from our latest stay at Elounda Beach Hotel and Villas. The whole experience continues to be 5*. Everything about the resort is perfect and we will certainly be returning in the future. Our excellent accommodation was well maintained by Housekeeping on a twice daily basis, the extensive grounds are beautifully maintained, the private beach and pool with their loungers are impressive, the restaurants and bars are a delight but above all every single member of staff throughout the site is helpful, friendly, professional and a great credit to the Hotel. As in the past, we stayed in a villa overlooking the beach and the sea, near to the main hotel building, and on a half board basis, which represents great value for money against menu individual prices - a perfect combination for us which ensures seamless enjoyment of all the facilities. As regular visitors we used the Guest Loyalty arrangements for our booking – and enjoyed the benefits that brings - and a big thank you goes to Lia Prentza, the Guest Loyalty Manager and her colleague Vassia for ensuring our stay was perfect. The same has to be said about the Reception staff who are only too happy to offer help and advice including making restaurant bookings – and always with a smile on their faces. As with any quality hotel or resort, you would expect to make bookings in advance for the restaurants and that is easily achieved through Reception. We visited each of the four restaurants on more than one occasion during our stay and found them to have great menus, lovely staff and excellent food. Yes, you do have to pay for all drinks, but these do not have to be ridiculously expensive, and you can always take advice from the charming sommelier who is on hand, about choices as far as wine is concerned . The extensive, high quality breakfast buffet arrangements are equally good. The hotel was very busy during our stay and thus lots of visitors were in the breakfast area each morning, but by simply waiting to be seated by the staff, we had no problems in being shown to a table without delay and enjoying the delightful food. So, all in all, a very good stay in an excellent 5* resort and we will return in 2025. Which brings me, finally, to query the few recent quite derogatory reviews about parts of the Elounda Beach experience. They do not represent our opinion nor, I suspect, the views of many others.

We were really looking forward to staying here, could hardly wait if I'm honest. It had been recommended to us. Arrival was abit hit and miss. We were offered an arrival Prosecco but not given enough time to drink it. The young woman with dark slicked back hair (rather aloof) had no patience and told us we needed to go to our room and to leave the drinks. We couldn't even take the glasses with us. Hotel reception is very dated and did not greet us with 5 star elegance, In fact if we had been told we had arrived at the wrong hotel l would have believed them. We were told we had been given a free upgrade. We were taken to a rather large, shady, creaky old room and felt the pangs of disappointment. We had booked a sea view double room and got an overgrown large tree on the basement. That night was like sleeping in an oven as the air conditioning was only working at minimum power. We asked if there were other rooms and after a lot of deliberating and them trying to argue the A/C wasn't broke, we moved to the 3rd floor. This room was the smallest we have ever stayed in. Old and creaky but the views were to die for. First night, had a shower and there was a huge leak which almost flooded us. Maintenance were called and he said he couldn't fix it. New marble needed to be ordered. A maid came and stuffed the hole with towels and it seemed they wanted us to put up and shut up for the duration of the stay. We wanted to see the manager and of course that wasn't possible. But eventually we were offered what they call a suite. A large double room which back in the 70's im sure would have been grand but it's 2024 so l'll say no more. But again, because of the positioning of this Hotel the views were amazing and we had a large terrace. Everything worked in this room so that was a bonus. We just wanted to start enjoying the holiday after 3 days of room swaps. It became obvious however, after a couple of mornings waking up with severe back ache, that the mattress had completely had it ! The maid put us a mattress topper on which helped a little. As you read this, please remember this is a ‘world leading 5 star hotel’. There are various things 'not right' about this Hotel. After only a few hours in we named it 'Fawlty Towers' Firstly the breakfast - where do I start. It is absolutely chaotic. I'd go as far to say that I have never experienced anything like it. There appears to be enough staff but they are all running around like headless chickens and not really achieving much. Trying to get tea with a cup, with milk and with a teabag all in tact was a task in itself. There is table reserving going on which they don’t like to admit to. We sat down at a table once and got asked to move. The whole time we were at breakfast no one sat there ?! We were told to go to the buffet another time and the table would be ready when we returned with our breakfast. We got back and it had been given to someone else. I asked why she had done that and she sa

We have just come back from a week’s holiday at the Elounda Beach Hotel celebrating our 40th Wedding Anniversary. The hotel is set in beautiful gardens with a sandy private beach and lovely clear water to swim in. The breakfast choice was outstanding and we enjoyed all of the 4 restaurants at the hotel. We spent a couple of evenings at the local town which is easy to walk too and got a taxi back. A highlight of the holiday was the staff and in particular Anna at the Veghera bar, she was always welcoming and friendly and a real credit to the hotel. Overall we had a fantastic relaxing holiday and hope to go back one day.

We booked this hotel as it had a private pool. A luxury bungalow with a private pool, sea views, sun beds and the ability to book half board. We arrived in the evening and were taken to our accommodation by Laura. It was dark by then but looked very nice, fruit and wine as a welcome - shame they didn’t give us any glasses. Breakfast was a buffet in the main building. There were plenty of options available it was just a shame it was chaotic even before 9am in the morning. Tables were allocated in a rather haphazard way. Neither of us thought it was a pleasant experience. Staff were efficient clearing away dirty dishes though. On the following day we went out to explore. We did not book a restaurant for dinner so we were then told the only option was the buffet at the Elounda Bay. Really not our style and we hated the bear garden it was. Ever after we booked in the mornings. The four restaurants on site are extremely good and we did not have any issues with quality or service. After a couple of days we discovered we should have had a second key which was not given to us by Laura so the bungalow was not secure. It was around the middle of the week the pool decided to start emptying and the light was hanging out into the water. A man came and put it back but when we got up the next morning it was half empty. It was eventually repaired by late afternoon and no further problems. Beware that the pool is not heated and to have them have them heat it to 24 degrees the cost is nearly €300 per day!! Things went more smoothly from then on, fruit was replaced as were the coffee pods for the Nespresso and plenty of water. We had a late check out at no extra charge which was appreciated - until 3pm - we were leaving at 4.30pm. We pointed out on check out that the pool we had paid extra for was out of use for nearly two days. They said they had upgraded the bungalow to one with more square footage so it cancelled out the unusable pool. We were not told that on check in nor did we realise. We were told by the guy on reception if we had wanted a heated one we should have booked a better bungalow. We paid nearly £5000 for a week as it was. All that was eventually was an evenings drinks bill, only about €38. Our interaction with the reception staff was a case of the customer is never right. One particular lady was aggressive in the extreme - I didn’t get her name but she was not the blonde lady there who was pleasant. To sum up - if you like big hotels it will suit you. Golf buggies will take you around the site of both hotels. Handy if you want to then walk in to Elounda, about 20 minutes away. Always go for half board - we think with wine and dinner for two it would have cost around €200 per night. Don’t bother with a pool, can’t see it will really ever be warm enough.

Firstly, this is nowhere near a 5* hotel. It’s overpriced and poorly managed. The staff try their best, some are excellent some are very false. If you only read this far, don’t stay here. Upon arrival, it seemed like a dream booking. This unraveled quickly. We were told the room we had booked wasn’t available so we’d been upgraded. The view was the best part, the room lacked style and attention to detail. The mini bar fridge was warm, as the door didn’t close properly. Reported, twice, had to chase and gave up. Not sufficient or fixed during our stay. Rooms are lightly cleaned and not actually cleaned, I feel for the staff as the housekeeping team seem short staffed. We returned one day at 6:30pm to find the room had not been cleaned that day. The restaurants are good but not worth the price, go into either town. You’ll have a much better time and save a fortune. At dinner one night, the staff kept ignoring or missing topping up the wine. Other tables were being over asked. When my partner went to do it ourselves, the manager of the restaurant made a poor joke that breakfast would start at 7:30am, implying to work there. Very poor. The drinks are ridiculous pricing, €6 for a can of soft drink. €1 euro in the local shops. Beer ok price, spirits and wines are a joke. The beach is beautiful and the reserving of sun beds is a nice touch. The pool was beautiful until they let (poor management) a group from the conference take over, upsetting other guests with noise from music on phones, spitting and blowing noses in the pool, drinking in the pool, diving in the pool. Every one of their own pool rules broken and ignored by management. The poor pool guys tried so hard to keep the other guests happy, credit to them. But let down by management. The final straw, upon leaving the hotel, they allowed another guest with the a similar name take our airport transfer. No apology or help provided, it was down to us to speak to our transfer company and explain what had happened. Without the view, some great staff and the location. This hotel lacks a lot of things you’d expect for the price and reputation. Also as others have mentioned, some staff, reserve breakfast tables for their favourite guests. While others have to wait. We witnessed a book from a waiter placed on a table with some juice, so other guests who were waiting couldn’t sit there. Extremely poor.