Name: Domes Aulus Elounda
Price range: from £916.80pp (7 nights includes flights and transfers)

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Pool

We have just returned from a lovely week at the Domes Aulus Elounda.  We have stayed here a few times over the years and never been disappointed.

This time we travelled with Jet2 as TUI didn't have the availability we wanted.  As Jet 2 have a lot of hotels in Crete the transfer looked somewhat longer than TUI (2.5hrs+) so we arranged a taxi transfer direct from the airport which took just over an hour and made that part of the trip stress free.
 
We stayed in the main hotel, not too far up the hill so getting to the bar / restuarants / beach was quite easy.   We had a sea view overlooking the island of Spinalonga.  The balcony was quite small and exposed compared to similar rooms, but wasn't a problem as we spent most of our time on the beach or in the bar.  The room was clean and up to date with coffee/tea making facilities and fridge.  The cleaners were really good and towels changed regularly.

The food had improved since last year, we thought there was much more variety and more greek dishes (which is one of the reasons we like coming here).  I was particularly pleased to see lamb chops on the menu one evening, but we also had pastitsio, moussaka, beef stifado, bougatsa, spanakopita etc etc.   We mostly ate in the Island Restaurant and were looked after by the lovely Christina most days.  All the staff in the restaurant and bar worked very hard and were very helpful.

There are other la carte restaurants which are included in the AI package and can be booked giving an alternative to the buffet.  We ate in the Ampitheatro one night which was fine.

Drink selections are brilliant, with branded options (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), a selection of cocktails and some decent wines.  

Compared to last year there was a bit more entertainment - a couple of jazzy/easy listening evenings, a disco and a Cretan Dance night.  There was also a movie night. 

Panos at beach bar was very friendly and remembered us from last year.  There is also a "grab and go" fridge where you can help yourself to a bottle of water, can of soft drink or a beer or light snacks for lunch.  

We spent most of the time on the beach, no problems getting sunbeds and they have have quite thick mattresses on them.  

Generally all the staff we came across were very customer focussed and always happy to help.  

We will definitely return again!

My happy place

Loved it! 
We went to Crete for the second time this summer and chose an all inclusive property for the first time. We live the food in every restaurant, so many options from Greek to Italian to Sushi!!! Beach was nice and staff super friendly, didn’t use the spa and gym was great for a morning workout, also had sessions with Pilates & yoga. 
Will be back for sure.

Great hotel!

Visited with my two daughters for a holiday. Disappointing stay. The hotel is very tired im not sure how old it is but the outside area and pool are very basic for a 5 star hotel. The outside eating areas are no better. The people working there are very nice as to the food. But this is not a 5 star hotel. Beach had lots of sunbeds which was where satayed most of the time with a small bar which saved the visit. Very steep climbs thought from the beach to the hotel. And very step footpaths to the apartments which were ok. Do not mistake this hotel to the more exclusive one at the top of the hill.

Tired old hotel. Steep footpaths to the apartments. Pool and pool side area and sun beds all very old.

We stayed at this hotel for our honeymoon; arrived on 24/05/2024 and departed on 04/06/2024 (11 nights). This hotel is located in a lovely area but I would say that it does not offer a 5* experience. This is a long review but I hope this can give people a clear outline of what to expect.

There are a few things guest should be mindful of when considering booking: 

1. Cool Living 

We booked a Sapphire Zen Suite with a private pool. As this was our honeymoon we decided to go “all out”. Booking this room gave us “cool living” which we understood to be exclusive access to a separate pool area and the restaurant (evening time only) which is located at the top of the hill by the pool (called the Greco Levante) 

This was not the case. I found the “cool living” package to be pretty pointless as there is nothing to identify you as having the “cool living” package (I.e a band or a requirement to scan a card when entering the pool area at the Greco Levante). As a result guests who had not paid for “cool living” were using the pool area and it did get quite busy. 

Further, be aware if you do have “cool living” you are limited to being guaranteed 2 bookings at the Greco Levante restaurant only. Other guests are guaranteed 1 booking. This is not made clear when you book. As we were there for 11 nights this meant that we would have to book elsewhere for the other 9 nights. I thought this should have been at least proportionate to the length of your stay - it seemed unfair that we had paid more for our room to have the cool living but it did not matter if you were staying for a week or 2; you were still limited to 2 guaranteed bookings per stay. I think this needs to be looked at and when I raised this with reception we were told by 1 person it was 2 guaranteed booking and another person that there is 1 guaranteed booking. This caused some confusion which was a little frustrating. 

2. Pools 

Please be aware that the main pools and the shared suite pools / private pools are all freshwater pools. They were freezing despite having really lovely weather during our stay. Once you get in the pool you get used to it but it is really really cold. There is a heated indoor pool in the spa but we did not use this; it’s not that big but gives you an option. 

The main pool area near reception has a pool and a jacuzzi which does not work. The floor of these is black in colour so I don’t know how you can tell if it is clean or not. 

The pool at the Greco Levante was cleaned daily. Our private pool was not cleaned during our stay but there is a net provided as you will get bugs in the pool especially overnight. 

3. Restaurant bookings 

Please please please book your restaurants as soon as you arrive! Do not leave the concierge until you have done this as you will not get a booking !! 

We arrived late on the Friday night and there was not availability for the Yellow Sea sushi restaurant, the amphitheatre or the Greco Levante restaurant until the following Monday.  

The restaurants available to all guests are: 

Yellow Sea - sushi restaurant 
Amphitheatre  - this is “street food” style (2 trucks) serving pizzas and traditional Greek gyros / souvlaki. 
Greco Levante - as stated above cool living guests are guaranteed 2 visits and non cool living guaranteed 1 visit. Tuesday is a Cretan night, Saturday is a fish night and Sunday is an Asian night. 

There is also a buffet restaurant located above reception. 

4. Food 

We were lucky enough to arrive when the hotel was not at full capacity. We knew someone who had visited the week prior and they told us to book the restaurants as soon as we arrived. We managed to try all the restaurants but I am aware that there are guests which did not manage to book which is disappointing. My honest review is as follows: 

A) Yellow Sea sushi restaurant - the best. Really enjoyed. Great service and lovely food. Yes the service is quick but they are serving sushi which doesn’t take a long time to make once the preparation work is done. A must try if you visit even if you are not a huge fan (I am not but my husband is and I really enjoyed). 

B) Amphitheatre - we visited once. I ordered the pizza and my husband ordered the chicken gyros. The food is served as and when it is cooked so expect food to arrive at different times if you are in a group. Staff told us this when you arrive which was not an issue. Pizza was really lovely. My husband was provided with the wrong meal and staff apologised and he was provided with the correct meal. 

Please note there is no bar in the amphitheater area. It is there but was not open during our stay. Therefore the only drinks offered during the evening are soft drinks, wine or beer. I did not realise this and when asked for a drink I asked for a Malibu and Coke to be told the bar was closed. As a 5* hotel this was a little disappointing.  

C) Greco Levante - table service. Bar in full use and service great. Would recommend the Asian night this was really excellent food - the duck was exceptional. 

D) the island buffet restaurant- this is really really awful. As we could not get a reservation for our first two evenings we ate here and it was awful. FLIES EVERYWHERE!! Lukewarm food, not much choice and just generally really underwhelming for a 5* hotel. Don’t bother eating here. 

5. Transfers 

The bus transfer from the airport takes over 2 hours (2 hours 20 when we arrived and 2 hours 35 when we went home). If you can book a private transfer / taxi as it will take around 55/60 mins. A local taxi driver informed us that it is around €90 for a taxi to and from the airport. Save your sanity and pay for the private transfer as the bus is AWFUL !!! 

6. Location 

The hotel is located in Elounda and is sort of built into the hill. The views are unbelievable. The area is really lovely, safe and quiet.

The hotel is on a hill as mentioned in other reviews. It’s a killer to walk up but there are golf buggies which the porters will take you to your room (and pick you up if you call down to reception). There is also a shuttle bus that runs from the top to the bottom on a 30 minute rotation. You are given a timetable on arrival so I would suggest taking a photograph of this to keep on your phone so you don’t have to stand around waiting. 

When we first arrived it was quieter in the hotel so we could get to and from our room quite quickly but we did have to wait sometimes 15/20 minutes towards the end of our stay. 

A taxi to Elounda is €7 each way. It’s about a 25 minute walk. Lovely little town with some nice gift shops and some restaurants. Highly recommend Oilo for great food. A taxi to Plaka is €10 euros each way; highly recommend the ocean restaurant for superb sea food and service. 

Agio Nikolaos is €16 each way in a taxi (about 10/15 mins). Great town lots of lovely shops and places to eat. There is an archeology museum which is only €6 each entry (concessions available) which is really interesting. We only found out as we were leaving that the hotel does a trip on a Thursday to this area so could be an option if you were thinking about visiting. 
  
7. Staff

One thing I can say about this hotel is that the staff work so so hard. They do not stop. There were a number of people complaining about various issues and you can see that the staff (waiters / waitresses and porters) are aware of this and really are trying everything that they can to give everyone a great experience. There was simply not enough staff to number of guests and the management are aware of this when we raised it. It appears that there were some new faces as we were leaving but the hotel had become so so busy I am not sure that the staffing ratio was proportionate to the guest numbers to allow for a 5* experience. 

A special thank you to George (Porter), Greg, Christina and the lady who served us at the Greco Levante (really sorry I did not take her name she had dark curly hair). They all made us feel super welcome and really all work so so hard. 

8. Spa 

The spa is okay; clean and small. The sauna was not in use. 

9. Gym

The gym is 24 hour; just scan your card to get in. Great facilities, air conditioned and water available. 

10. Entertainment 

If you are looking for entertainment this hotel is not the place for it. During our stay, there was a DJ two nights a week which plays in the main bar / reception area. The timetable referred to a live singer between 7pm- 9pm on Wednesday in the amphitheatre so we booked dinner here so we could listen. There was no live singer. Atmosphere generally quite flat in the evenings. 

11. Beach 

Lovely beach area just across the main road from the hotel. Lots of loungers and parasols which are fixed. shingle style beach. Small horse box style bar serving all drinks from I think 10:30 (from recollection; I might be wrong). Beach really clean and toilet facilities there are also clean. There is a handy “grab and go” fridge with soft drinks and cans of beers which you can access. There is also a fridge with snacks including baguettes, salads, panini s and fruit salad. 

Be aware that whilst this is an adult only hotel, there were people with children using the loungers (not sure if they paid or not). 

12. Our experience 

We arrived late on Friday night (around 11pm). We were greeted immediately by a porter and a golf buggy which took our luggage up to reception. We were impressed by how efficient this was. Check in was simple and you are provided a pack with all the times of food service and the entertainment timetable which the  lady from concierge went through with us. 

As we were on our honeymoon we were told our room would be decorated with rose petals and we would be provided with a fruit bowl and a bottle of sparkling on arrival. There were no flowers and a chopped up bowl of strawberries which were soggy were provided. 

Our agent had specially asked for us not to be placed in a ground floor room. We were taken to our room which was ground floor with absolutely 0 privacy. Please note room 601 has a private pool which is completely shaded and is right next to the hill which people are taken up and down on the golf carts. You literally have to close all the curtains and blinds to have a shower without someone looking in and if you are sat on the balcony be prepared for everyone to look in; you end up saying “hello” or “morning” to every person walking past they are that close to you. We raised this with concierge who asked if we minded staying in the room for the night as it was late so that reservations could deal with this the following day. We did so as we were both shattered from a day of travelling. The following day we were told that we could not be moved until the Sunday so we ended up staying 2 nights in a room which was not private and the pool had no sun so it was like an ice bath and not usable. 

We were moved on the Sunday to a different room which had more privacy and a pool which actually had some sun on it. The pool was cold but usable after the sun had been on it for a few hours. The pool was not cleaned during the 9 nights we were in this room and we had to clean it ourselves. Housekeeping on the whole very good. 

There was an issue where we had breakfast in our room (part of the honeymoon) and housekeeping removed the tray and left this outside on the floor for a whole day. when we returned there were so many ants as it had been sitting in the sun. We told reception and it was moved immediately. 

Overall

On the whole the hotel is very clean. The staff work really really hard but it does not offer a 5* experience overall. We visited in late May / early June so perhaps slightly out of peak season, but there are things which let down the overall guest 5* experience as noted above.

The holiday was not cheap but this is more of a 4* hotel in my opinion. There are better 5* hotels (with the full 5* experience) elsewhere and for the same/less cost. 

The hotel has the potential to be fantastic. The area is beautiful and staff really try their best. We discussed our concerns with the manager before we left and he is aware that there are issues with the hotel. I understand they are trying to iron the issues out and hopefully they have made some positive changes.

Beautiful area but more like a 4* guest experience

It has been a wonderful place to visit last summer and I will also be back this summer, 2025! Don’t miss the chance to stay in this hotel! The beach, the view, the food and drink make it all a must try! The rooms have a beautiful and very tasteful design, are very comfortable, not to mention the professional and kind staff.

A wonderful visit!

Ideally set in Mirabello Bay, our central location offers a tranquil escape near all the city's top attractions. The beautiful coastline, shaded beaches and crystal clear seas is mere steps from our front door. Our peaceful retreat offers onsite dining, spa, two pools and breathtaking views of the Aegean Sea and Cretan landscape.

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Domes Aulus Elounda