Elounda Bay Palace

Our third visit to this resort. Setting, rooms ( we had an upgrade to sea view suite)excellent, very clean, staff hardworking, friendly and helpful. But…..the dining options are not good. Their a la carte never seems open to guests, seems primarily for weddings etc. The beach bar is pleasant but any food is prepared in the Greek tavern across the beach so any hot meals come tepid. The K restaurant is a modern addition next to the beach bar but is a cafe with no one dining and no food preparation. The Greek tavern is mainly for lunch but a beef burger will cost €22. The main dining area we used to be met at the door room number taken and shown to a table. On the first night two large groups, people just wandered in tried to find any table, at best if someone had just left sit on it before being cleared and wait for the hard working waitress to clean the table ,reset it and take your drinks order. The buffet is huge,lots of choice, varies most days but hot food is tepid, some cold.There was no control apparently staff shortages everyone was just tipping in. Having spoken to reception to say things have deteriorated since our last visit there was an effort to hold people until a table was available. Come breakfast back to sort it out yourself no room numbers so book room only and just turn up ? Smart casual in the evening is good for us but again no control baseball hats ok won either way, dress as you please. Far from a 5 star experience at best 3. After dinner a lady plays the piano in the bar next to the restaurant at best 4/6 people there , visited beach bar again hardly anyone there. So the “full” hotel guests have all gone to bed around 9pm or gone to Elounda because no effort is made to attract people to stay. This review is written more in frustration as so much more could be done to improve the guest experience until then sadly we must look elsewhere.

Elounda Bay is an idyllic oasis near Agios Nikolaos and Elounda. The sea is visible from everywhere, and the view is phenomenal. There are countless beautiful spots where you can relax with a book. In addition to the stunning sandy beach, we used the tennis courts, the gym, and the indoor pool. We had lunch at the Ariadne restaurant and dinner once at Thassos. We were very impressed with all the facilities. We also received a wonderful upgrade. But the best part is the staff, who are genuinely friendly – from the housekeeping team to the reception, the waiters, and the manager. We will be back.

Despite reading all the negative views before we came we have had a wonderful holiday . The hotel is so lovely with very pretty grounds and a fabulous location. All the staff were outstanding in terms of looking after you, so very helpful, kind and friendly. We found the breakfast and evening meal in the buffet restaurant to be very nice indeed. The location is good as you can walk down to the resort where there are lovely restaurants and views. It's easy to visit Agios Nikolais by bus or taxi too so there is plenty to do. Taxi service is really good. The only negative we had was the price of drinks so we tended to go out of the hotel more - this would be the only thing I would change. It would keep more people in the hotel in the evening and create a nicer atmosphere in the hotel. Other than that it really is a lovely place to stay and would recommend it.

There are some positives about this place but the negatives far outweigh them, hence the 2 stars. On the plus side the beach area is lovely with plenty of trees for shade, crystal clear sea which is warmer than the unexpectedly cold swimming pools, efficient beach staff who would always find you a sunbed and lots of trees for shade. The big problem with this hotel is the rip off prices for drinks, 11 euros for a tiny glass of wine, 8 for a beer and 5 for a bottle of water. That was the first and last time we bought drinks there, preferring the 15 minute walk down to the harbour where drinks were half the price and even cheaper in the supermarkets. We were not the only ones as unfortunately the rip off prices led to the hotel being completely dead at night. There was no entertainment, barely anyone in the bars and absolutely no atmosphere. The impression at 8pm was lights out, everyone to bed which sometimes we resorted to as we did have TV in our room. However Sky news on a loop which seemed to be the only English speaking channel was not quite how we expected our holiday to be. One guest commented that he had seen more life in a graveyard than the Elounda Bay at night! One night as we left for the harbour, there was one person at the bar and the barman on his phone. Surely the hotel cannot generate enough profit from bar receipts to pay the staff wages for the night! I am not business trained but I could tell you that you might make more money charging fair prices which would encourage people to stay and generate some atmosphere. I think the hotel is missing a trick here as the bar areas look pleasant places to enjoy a drink but it trots out the same excuse for extorting its guests, that the prices are in line with other 5 star establishments in the area. I suspect it markets itself as 5* to justify its rip off prices however 5* it certainly isn't. The food in the buffet whilst adequate in quality was lacking in choice and rarely hot. Lukewarm was the order of the day. At both breakfast and dinner it was not unusual to fetch your own cutlery, napkins and salt and pepper as the tables would remain dirty and uncleared probably due to a chronic lack of staff. The staff did seem to work very hard and were rushing about trying to do their best but there didn't seem to be enough of them. Trying to order coffee in the morning often took 3 attempts and then another struggle to get some milk for it. One morning I resorted to searching the huge array of dirty tables to find left over milk. 5* service.....I don't think so! Then there are the rooms that don't quite deliver. I had emailed well ahead to request a nice view as it was my birthday during the holiday. I think the hotel may have been playing a spiteful joke however when I pulled back the curtains to see a wall of empty beer barrels, crates of empty bottles and a grubby concrete area with a broken air conditioning unit.....not quite the 5* mountain view I was expecting! We asked to move which happened the following afternoon and the room was better but had a peculiar set up in the bathroom. It had 2 sinks but we could only use one of them due to a huge pillar blocking access to the other. The view was better: a small pool which would have been improved if it wasn't surrounded by scrubby yellowing grass, broken bricks and the presence of an abandoned football amongst the weeds which was there for the duration. This is obviously the standard of maintenance at this ' 5* ' hotel! A complimentary bottle of wine was left in the room - nice touch we thought but on tasting it battery acid may have been more palatable so we tipped it down the sink. Probably would have been better to leave nothing at all Elounda Bay as this cheap plonk is an insult to your guests. The hotel seems to be part of a chain called Leading hotels of the world. Leading in what exactly...........? One guest summed it up by saying ' this is at best a 3* pretending to be 5* ' We won't be back!

The hotel itself is gorgeous – I loved the retro 70’s décor and all the greenery, it felt really welcoming and stylish. But honestly, the food was awful and completely dragged the whole place down. Breakfast was the same bland stuff you’d get in a budget 2/3 star hotel. Long queues for omelettes, stone-cold pancakes, and waffles so tough they could break a fork. I ended up living on yogurt and fruit. Dinner? Even worse. Everything was cold – pasta, potatoes, the lot. One night I literally just had two bowls of soup because it was the only thing warm. The service was no better. You walk in, wander around cluelessly looking for a table, and maybe – if you’re lucky – you’ll bump into a staff member who can be bothered to help. And don’t get me started on the bottled water. You can’t buy it in the shop, so you’re forced to pay the hotel’s ridiculous prices. And they don’t even include it with dinner on half-board! This place needs to stop calling itself 5-star just because it has nice décor and facilities. It’s not. Stay here for the look and vibe, but seriously – don’t eat here.