Porto Elounda Golf & Spa Resort

We stayed at the Porto Elounda Golf & Spa Resort as a family of 4 (kids aged 8 and 11), and really enjoying their Premium Junior Suite with Shared Pool. The suite was brand new, with a spacious layout, luxury bathroom, and a terrace that opened directly to a serene semi-private pool, overlooking the beautiful bay Included breakfast each morning was great, freshly squeezed juices, hot/cold selections, pastries and fruits Dinner brought loads choices across the resort’s restaurants, but we selected the half-board buffet: delicious, new choice each evening, and convenient with kids. Staff were incredibly attentive, and the sunset ambiance was magical. Highly recommend for families seeking luxury in Elounda, Crete.

Excellent service, excellent accommodation,excellent food. Wonderfull views, spacious room large pool and private beach with all the water sports required. Full English breakfast, continental, fruits and cheese and meats, not forgetting pastries. Evening buffet even better, changed everyday with multiple choices plus multiple exceptional a la carte restaurants Italian il Borro, Japanese Sumosan, and the yacht club . No crowds, no queuing, no hassle polite friendly ‘family’ team , no worries only a chilled out paradise.

Absolutely the most wonderful property- beautiful beach, well-maintained and beautifully renovated rooms, excellent food and excellent, personal service. I’ve returned multiple times and will keep going back.

The Porto Elounda is part of the Elounda Collection, which consists of three hotels (the others are Elounda Mare and Elounda Peninsula) and the hotels share some facilities as well as the restaurants. We stayed here with two little kids (2.5 years old) in a Junior Suite with half board. The Good: - The private beach has crystal-clear water and because of the location being in a bay, despite wind, there are no waves at all, which is ideal for toddlers - The kids pool is perfect for toddlers - The kids club is very moden and offers great activities for little kids (toddlers can be dropped off for a charge) - Nice choice of good restaurants. We enjoyed the Italian Il Borro for its great food (Ferragamo Family-owned brand) as well as the beautiful location of the Japanese fusion-inspired Sumonsan restaurant. - The staff is very friendly and tries to accommodate you as much as they can - Great treatment in the Six Senses Spa The Bad: - While there are nice restaurants in the resort, the buffest restaurant (Nafsika) that serves the breakfast and dinner does not deserve the 5 star rating of the hotel. The choice as well as the taste & quality of the food is underwhelming. The gap to the other restaurants is huge and many hotel guests tend to have dinners in the other restaurants, but obviously this becomes very costly (in three restaurants adults get deducted 24 EUR and kids 12 EUR, if they have the half-board option) - While having Golf & Spa Resort in the hotel name, the golf course is very mediocre. It is nice for practicing short game. But due to the short land area, the course built on a hill only offers very short holes and most of them are very narrow. For this short 9 holes, the charge of 30 EUR is okay, but taking an additional 20 EUR for a rental club set seems to be overpriced (even though 3 lake balls are included) - In our room for a few days we had a lot of ants. We had to specifically request that something is done so that not every morning there would be new ones. - The staff tries to be attentive, but misses experience, e.g. cleaning service or other service people would ring the bell in the room, even while shouting 'wait a second', they would just open the door super quickly after the ring. When making an appointment at the Six Senses Spa, which was already mostly booked when we arrived (many people seem to make appointments months in advance), the staff did not apologize at first when calling me back that she did a mistake with the slot time, which was not available anymore. These many small lack of details unfortunately create a bit of a negative impression, especially comparing with similar priced hotels in hospitaly friendly South-East Asia. Things to Consider: - The location of the hotel is a bit remote, if one wants to go to the neighboring villages. An own rental car or a taxi is required. - The walk from the Porto Elounda down to the beach and pool takes around 5-10 minutes for an adult, but is longer with little kids and a bit steep if you have strollers. Therefore mostly transport via hotel buggy is required.

Look no further! Let me give you some background - we've been coming to the island for over 10 years. I speak Greek and I'm familiar with every corner of Northern Crete. This hotel is one of the very best. It's certainly unsurpassed in the area of Elounda and the only hotel with an excellent private beach. Yes, there are plenty of 5 star resorts along the Elounda - Plaka road but none has the idyllic beach of Porto nor it's privileged location. It's a bit remote but this is a small trade off for the sprawling golf course, kids club and other excellent facilities. We had booked a renovated Junior Suite which was just fabulous with a bathroom to die for and amazing views. Subsequently, we were relocated to a villa in Peninsula which was amazing too. I was very pleasantly surprised by the breakfast. I'm used to mediocre breakfast in Greek hotels but not here - fresh fruits, excellent cappuccino, omelette to order, it leaves you wanting for nothing. Most guests were British and a lovely bunch. Even though the hotel was full of children it was never loud and had an air of serenity. Service and food at the beach bar are areas with room for improvement. I think the beach bar is understaffed and the waiters seem stressed. Last but not least - a shout-out to the people who made our stay truly unforgettable: Michalis from reception - what a gem! The manager of the buffet restaurant - so sorry I didn't catch his name but he does amazing work. And finally - Aspa from the kids club. Aspa is an angel, she's amazing with kids and my daughter adores her! You can bring your kid here and still enjoy a few hours of peace thanks to her. Pro tip: visit Giovanni's in Plaka - it might be the best taverna in Crete.