Phaea Blue, Elounda, Crete

This was our first time to this part of Crete and therefore Phaea Blue and we were not disappointed. We were greeted at the door and led into the lobby area where we were checked in and given a complimentary drink before being taken to our room by buggy. We absolutely loved our room (723) from which we could see the island of Spinalonga. The room included a huge bathroom, walk in closet and a good sized balcony. The rooms have been well laid out within the grounds and we had total privacy. Breakfast was excellent, lots of choice at the buffet and on the menu. Staff were very welcoming and attentive. We didn't eat lunch or dinner at the hotel. It's true that the hotel is set into the hillside and for some people this may be an issue, but the buggy service is readily available if needed. We didn't really use the beach, but there looked to be plenty of sun loungers. The beach is big pebbles so would recommend taking rubber shoes for getting in and out of the water. Think there is a pier too with steps for easier access for swimming. I did note the sunshades are fixed and quite small, but I guess most people wouldn't be bothered by this. We took the speedboat from the hotel to Spinalonga and back (€40 for up to 4 people). Takes about 90 seconds each way and is absolutely brilliant! Totally flexible from a timing aspect too. (The boat from Plaka or Elounda to Spinalonga is €12pp each way so the speedboat is a cheaper option as well as far more fun.) From 2026 there will be a new 140ish room hotel next door so I don't know whether this will impact the Phaea Blue at all. Plaka is a 5 minute walk away with a good selection of restaurants (we particularly enjoyed Porta. Fabulous team and the food was delicious.) and Elounda about a 40 minute walk - fine during the day, but probably not to be recommended in the dark as pavement missing in places. We wouldn't hesitate to stay at Phaea Blue again if we returned to the area.

It was our second visit this year, and once again we enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing and peaceful holiday. We were pleasantly surprised that the hotel staff recognized us and made us feel as if we were returning to our second home. The restaurants were excellent, very good quality, offering delicious breakfasts with a small buffet and à la carte options , you must try the poached eggs with avocado and toasted bread. Room service was fast with very taste mediterannean dishes. We had also body treatments in the wellnes area that was so relaxed. Thank you to everyone for your hospitality and special mention to Maria. We’ll definitely be back!

The original hotel on the larger plot has been separated into two parts - Phea Blue, designated a boutique hotel and a much larger hotel currently in development which I’m led to believe will be a Rosewood when completed. First impressions were not good. When we arrived in our taxi it felt like we were being delivered to the tradesman’s entrance. The entrance was an unassuming door which opened onto an unassuming corridor, which you then had to navigate past a bar area to get to a reception desk tucked away in the corner of the room. The room was very nice with a fantastic view of Spinalonga island over the bay. Each morning we were woken to the delightful sound of building work next door, which started at 7.30am most days. It was disappointing to not be told by the hotel that this was going on beforehand as a general courtesy to its guests. Breakfast was one of the worst I’ve ever seen at a 5 star hotel. Extremely limited options on cereals, fruit and pastries (no croissants), hot food limited to eggs and avocados (which my wife likes but I don’t). I tried an omelette first day which was dry and spoilt by the use of feta which gave it a very bitter aftertaste. They don’t provide milk and juice options - orange juice was delivered to the table and each day I had to request milk for the muesli, and then wait 5 minutes for it to be delivered. My wife ordered scrambled eggs, sliced avocado and grilled tomatoes this morning, with all 3 parts delivered separately with 5-10 minutes in between. We tried dinner at the Blue Door restaurant which was okay but unexceptional. We didn’t try the other restaurant as it had limited food options for my wife and just about every main course was a “sharing plate” which we dislike. The hotel is set into a steep hillside and walking down to the beach area is challenging, and walking back up to our room doubly so. The beach set up is fine - beds, bar and attentive staff. It was notable that in its previous incarnation as a single hotel there was a large pool area and loungers next to the beach, but this was all closed off for redevelopment of the new hotel. On a positive note the staff were all friendly and helpful - particularly the buggy drivers, who were excellent. I think this hotel is clearly compromised by being part of something much bigger when it was hived off to create Phea Blue. The entrance/reception area is just underwhelming. The breakfast set up is compromised by clearly not being designed as such. The beach and pool areas are good, but it is clear that some facilities have been lost in the split. In summary we won’t be back.

Although we had a lovely holiday, Phaea blue was not what we expected when we booked a ‘boutique hotel’. It has the feel of a 200 room hotel and upon further research this was the case up until about 12 months ago when it went through a rebrand. The style of the website and awards for small hotel etc in our opinion are very misleading. In general there are many things on site that feel a bit dated and tired, a prime example would be the pool and surrounding area, some of the gates could do with a coat of paint, speakers on beach not usually found in boutique hotel along with campsite style bins. Some areas definitely need a refresh. The room is spacious with all the amenities however again some aspects feel 20 years old and need a refurb. We felt like the hotel wasn’t what we wanted or would have booked if we had seen more truthful marketing about the size and condition I would put this at max 4 stars definitely not 5 star. On a positive note the best thing about this Hotel are the staff from start to finish they could not do enough for us top marks to them all round. Other positive things would be the restaurant all looks the part, breakfast options and dessert very good. Nice atmosphere. With again top class service. The welcome and the lobby is lovely too. Thankfully we got a deal and a reasonable price if we had paid £500 a night we would have felt severely disappointed compared to other options available in Europe.

We stayed at this beautiful resort for a week in late September. The hotel's guest rooms are spread over a large area, some of which is uphill, which requires some physical fitness or assistance with golf carts (they call it "club carts") driven by staff members and provided at short notice. The resort has its own swimming pool and a lovely private beach. The rooms are beautiful and comfortable. They are cleaned daily, and the towels are constantly changed (too often to my liking). It turns out that they actually do have an environmental friendly plan, but for some reason it wasn't brought to our attention clearly, so we didn't know how to avoid changing towels after every shower. The resort has 3 good restaurants and a delicious breakfast. One of the restaurants is not really a proper restaurant but rather a “Pop Up" farm-to-table kind of dining experience, in an orchard on their grounds. It operates 3 times weekly, and it is not only delicious but also a good opportunity to meet and mingle with one's fellow guests, as the seating is at a long wooden table, and with the chefs. We enjoyed this experience. The most remarkable characteristic of Phāea Blue is the attitude of the staff. Every staff member we met was extremely good willed, accommodating and generous. One service that was a bit disappointing was the spa. This place is known for its spa that offers services beyond massages (we tried a deep tissue massage, and it was very good) the spa offers services such as jacuzzi etc. but apparently, the actual spa is being renovated and is temporarily closed, so we had no access to these amenities.. However, on the whole we very much enjoyed our stay at Phāea Blue.