Elios Hill

Me and my mum had the best time ever. The hotel was beautiful and clean. The flowers all around the hotel really made it look bright and beautiful and were well maintained. All pools were lovely, the adult only pool providing peace when needed. Food was amazing especially lunches in the buffet, lots of lovely options with roasted meats and fresh salads. The welcome table in the buffet at dinner was a lovely touch and created a nice starter! Out of all the A la carte restaurants we would definitely recommend the asian one ! The bars were really where this hotel shone! Jonathan at the cantina bar worked so hard and dealt with the kids really well he was very chatty and made some good jokes. Ioannis, Vlad, Joana and Themis in the cloud bar were phenomenal, amazing cocktails and really took time to interact with us and get to know us during our stay. Michaelis at the selene bar was incredible every cocktail was amazing and he took alot of time and care making them picture perfect with lovely fresh garnishes, the frozen mango margaritas were our personal favourite. We did a few activities and all the girls who ran the aqua classes were lovely and made sure to say hi to us when we saw them around the hotel. Each one put a different spin on it and it helped it to be fun and enjoyable every time. Lastly it was my 21st birthday during the stay and all staff really made it special!

We booked this Hotel based on Tripadvisor reviews. There’s no doubt the photos look amazing and there are a lot of good points. But our overall experience was very average and we wouldn’t be looking to return. Positives: - What makes this Hotel are the animation staff, they bring life and soul to the whole resort. All of them fantastic with children, their shows a brilliant, their energy throughout the day is fantastic. Dario in particular, is a legend! - It’s a beautiful hotel, the rooms are well done, the pools and lovely and clean, the kids Club is spacious and the waterpark is endless fun! - The activities are great, there is a small football pitch, soft play, waterpark, padel, tennis court, and a lot of organised Events throughout the day. - All the Bhar staff are great, always smiling always interacting and up for a chat, they will help you whenever possible. However, there is a vast difference in drinks depending on which bar you go to. Cloud Bar and adults pool Bar they just take a bit more time and care over preparing your cocktails. Negatives: - The communal facilities Simply aren’t big enough they cannot cope. It’s no surprise this year they have added a new swimming pool by the waterpark. As without this, the other family pool would be too overcrowded. Can’t imagine what it would have been like in previous years. - The buffet restaurant surfers from the same problems, it is absolute carnage breakfast lunch and dinner. People running to tables, staff Simply cannot clear tables quick enough, plates of food left everywhere. - The waterpark although well equipped, it is an absolute free for all, it is not manned, at some point during the week teenagers would completely take over, flying down slides on Lilo’s smashing into people at the bottom very dangerous small children. - General mess, I couldn’t believe the amount of plates, crockery, glasses and leftover food left around the The Hotel, I think a lot of of this was housekeeping collecting plates and leaving them on corners but then it not being collected. There were flies and insects crawling all over some of the drink and drop stops around the The Hotel. One pile had been there three days until I mentioned it to reception. - à la carte restaurants, apart from the food on offer being different the quality is no different to the buffet. Service was so slow at the Mexican restaurant we got up and left. Having asked for a drink three times and not getting one, we called it a day! - The biggest surprise for me, was how self-service the whole Hotel is. There are no staff around any swimming pools only at the bars, no one offers you a drink, a towel, a snack, nothing! You even have to get your own ice cream, scoop it out the tub and everything! At every other five star hotel I’ve stayed at in my life, you have people coming round the pool offering you drinks, someone who hands out towels, even people who seat you in the restaurants, at Elios that is not the case! Thankfully all of the above went over the kids heads, so they still had a fantastic week, which intern meant that we enjoyed ourselves too. It’s just a shame there’s so many points to pick holes in.

Elios Hill is a stunning hotel probably one of the nicest looking hotels in the area looks great on Instagram compared to the tired worn out hotel on the beach front that look like something from the 1980s. Elios is rated a 5 star, and based on the amenities then it’s definitely meets that criteria. However, having holidayed in Turkey for the last 3 years the 5 stars are quite different in terms of service and quality. The buffet at breakfast time is absolute carnage I have never experienced anything like it. Usually at any buffet style arrangement you’re greeted and taken to your table and then served as a minimum coffee /tea. Same at evening times you are as a minimum served drinks. The buffet is entirely self service and does create an element of chaos. The food is good wouldn’t class it outstanding but it is very decent and fresh. There are 3 à la carte restaurants which you have to book. The Mexican and Greek one were the best the Sushi one was average, we reserved as advised and on arrival a group of guests had turned up straight from the pool and were seated without a reservation. We then asked to sit by the window and were advised we couldn’t unless we reserved a window seat, we had no idea you had to do this! Only then to observe a couple come in sit next to us and then be moved to the window on a table for 4 when it was 2 people. The rooms are very nice, very clean and spacious for a family of four but our balcony you couldn’t swing a cat on which was ironic when we are in a junior suite. I’ve also found in 5 star accommodation the rooms have bath robes, and little care packages like cotton wool or ear buds there isn’t anything just hand soap so feels a bit basic. Staff are friendly the bar staff espcially at the adult bar and the main pool bar were lovely. The highlight were the entertainment staff they are absolutely brilliant and very engaging with children and families. At first we were used to entertainment from Turkey that contract in specialist groups which are very impressive but the entertainment team at Elios do everything from water polo, kids football to a whole lion king production which was brilliant. They deserve the biggest shout out of all. If you’re used to places like Turkey you will notice a step change on average there are more international guests which have very different etiquette to English guests. Some guests here were so awful the management asked them to leave. Overall it is a wonderful spot with lots going for it and what it has to offer, good value for money but some considerable differences to other locations like Turkey. Would definitely recommend it as a hotel to visit in Crete.

This is one of the best hotels we’ve stayed in It was lovely the staff are very friendly and welcoming the hotel was very clean very high standards.

We recently stayed at Elios Hill Hotel as a family of four from the UK. Ultimately we booked having read some glowing reviews from last year, but we came away feeling quite disappointed overall, despite some genuine positives. To start with the good points, we were very grateful to receive a room upgrade on arrival, which was a lovely gesture and set a positive tone for the start of our holiday. The staff throughout the hotel were friendly and the infinity pool and water slides were a real hit with our children. The standout feature of the hotel was undoubtedly the Cloud Bar. The cocktails were of a noticeably higher quality than elsewhere in the resort, and the staff there were exceptional. They went out of their way to engage with guests and genuinely seemed invested in making people's holidays enjoyable. They are a real credit to the hotel. The evening entertainment was also very good Unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives for us. One of the biggest issues, which appears to have become a common complaint judging by other recent reviews, was the behaviour of a significant number of non-European guests staying at the hotel during our visit. They walked around the hotel acting as if they owned the place. We frequently witnessed them leaving food and plates on the floor, failing to clean up after themselves and behaving in a way that many other guests found inconsiderate. The worst experience for us happened at dinner one evening when one adult guest barged into the front of the queue for pizza, taking tongs out of my son's hands (he's 8), and proceeded to take the whole pizza for himself and his family leaving none for the rest. Ultimately, they way they acted created an uncomfortable atmosphere around the resort. While guest behaviour is ultimately beyond the hotel's control, it often felt as though there were insufficient staff available to manage the resulting mess and maintain standards in communal areas. Although the hotel looks attractive from a distance and photographs well, it felt somewhat tired in places. Cleanliness also appeared to deteriorate as the week went on, particularly in busy public areas. The dining experience was another significant disappointment. There simply seemed to be too many guests for the size of the main restaurant, resulting in a chaotic atmosphere at peak times. Finding a clean table could be difficult, and it was common to see tables piled high with dirty plates waiting to be cleared. That said there are plenty of food options at the buffet, even for the fussiest of eater. The à la carte restaurants also fell short of expectations. The Mexican restaurant was particularly disappointing, with very slow service and overcooked food. The Japanese restaurant was marginally better, but the quality of the food still did not meet the standard we expected. Overall, Elios Hill has some strong points, particularly its staff, family-friendly pools and the excellent Cloud Bar. However, for a hotel marketed as a five-star resort, the overall experience fell well below what we expected. Better crowd management, improved cleanliness, more dining capacity and higher-quality food would make a significant difference. Sadly, we would not currently consider it a true five-star experience and would urge other guests to look elsewhere when booking somewhere to stay in Crete.