Elounda Bay Palace

Friendly, helpful staff, very clean, good breakfast and dinner buffet and comfortable beds. Concierge very helpful. Lovely welcome.

My wife and I have recently returned from our fourth visit to this lovely hotel. We would like to thank the staff for their excellent and friendly service. The hotel remains a beautifully comfortable retreat from the outside world and the hotel management constantly strive to update the facilities available. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a relaxing break in beautiful surroundings

Upon arrival we were ‘upgraded’ to a ground floor garden bungalow or as i have found online they are called Superior Bungalows which is very misleading as are the photos- do not be fooled by the rating of this hotel… We originally booked and wanted a mountain view room, unfortunately we never got this but that is a whole separate issue and one that appears to be quite common upon reading other reviews. The motivation for this particular review is that the garden bungalow rooms (‘Superior Bungalows’) do not meet basic fire safety regulations. The rooms are accessed with a single key you are issued with at check in, this key unlocks the sliding door which is the only entry/exit. There are no windows which could act as an alternative escape route and the rooms are heavily cluttered with unnecessary items of furniture which could cause even more of a hazard in the event of a fire. If a fire were to occur as you slept you would first have to navigate through waves of old heavy furniture and then hope you have remembered to leave the key in the lock to unlock the door (and only escape route) to ensure the safety of your family. Please note* families with young children are primarily allocated these rooms which i find really concerning. I am currently in the lengthy process of complaining to Jet2 about this particular issue amongst other problems we experienced at Elounda Bay Palace and have already left a negative review about this hotel but feel after doing some research of my own that the issue regarding the fire safety desperately needs to be highlighted. Please consider the safety of your family before accepting one of these rooms.

On the plus side having booked a classic sea view room we were upgraded to a deluxe room which was sea facing but not with a good view. Lovely room and balcony with table chairs, and sofas. The service staff were amazing - all credit to our housekeeper Joanna, restaurant staff Evangeline and Maria. And the brilliant pianist Christina. However … the Jet2 description of the amenities are misleading and inaccurate and needs serious attention to save it from trades description - €30 deduction for eating in one of their listed restaurants was a joke, as many of the facilities are either closed or in their ‘sister’ hotel therefore not on site, and extremely expensive. Cheapest wine in the buffet restaurant was $38, Spa was out of action and had been closed for a long period. Infinity pool filthy and not fit for use. Love Elounda but would never return to this hotel. Sorry but very disappointing and not worthy of the 5* that Jet2 rates it.

As many have said lovely location but the dining experience falls short. Hot food is tepid at best, even if you find a hot plate by the time you get back to your table it’s cold. It’s lacking flavour regardless of the choice and more reminiscent of school canteen food. We have been to many 5 star hotels and this was by far the worst for food. Drinks are expensive but we knew that before we came so par for the course. Waiting 10 minutes at least for a cappuccino in the morning is unacceptable. Why not have machines, at least it would be hot, we had several cold coffees. Also it would free up staff and save washing up all those pots. It’s not a very environmental hotel, despite it’s claims, pick up as many beach towels as you like and if you go for late lunch they’ve whipped them away by the time you get back. No need for all the house keeping visits, save money there and produce better food. Being disturbed at 10pm isn’t necessary and there would be no need to put do not disturb on. I’m sure if something was required, you could ask. We had an ok week but won’t be back to this hotel