Phāea Blue

The hotel is splendid location is far from everything but it is great

First impression was wow ! The lobby is gorgeous and welcome drink is the best I’ve ever had. Check in was easy, I didn’t have to leave the couch, the check in lady came to me with an iPad and made the process very comfortable. My room was spacious , with a patio and heated pool, which was VERY much appreciated since the sea was on a colder side. I loved all the staff, especially all the ladies at check in who were fun to chat with and who recommended good restaurants. Speaking of food, the breakfast was A-MAZING with all those made from scratch pies and devine Greek yogurt and honey from Crete. Thank you Blue Palace for making my stay so enjoyable. Highly recommend this resort.

Our first trip to Crete and we were fortunate in finding such a special hotel. An amazing location, truly outstanding quality and service with the most attentive, friendly and helpful staff. It is quiet and serene, the pool area is delightful, the private beach is stunning. The rooms are luxurious with excellent amenities. Breakfast each morning was a veritable feast. The beautiful village of Plaka is a three minute walk away with its bars and restaurants. We had a small issue day one but this was quickly and effectively dealt with by the excellent Lina and her team. Cannot recommend more highly.

My husband and I had an absolutely amazing stay at the Phae Blue Palace soon after it's re-opening as a luxury boutique hotel. We didn't know the previous version of this hotel to compare to but we loved the "new" version, with all the thoughtful gestures towards sustainability and efforts to integrate with Cretan culture & foods, etc - whilst still maintaining the quality and personalised service you expect from a 5-star place. Yes, it's a smaller "boutique" property and OK, it hasn't got 18 restaurants and 6 pools and golf course and helipad and watersports centre with giant slide - blah-blah-blah - but that doesn't mean that the experience is any less luxurious. If anything, the smaller size means you feel like the staff really treat you as individuals (even friends!) rather than just another dollar sign with a room number attached. The location is sublime with the views to Spinalonga Island; sunset dinners at the Blue Door Taverna on the beach are just magical and lots of local attractions are within easy driving or boating distance. You can also do daytrips to several other parts of Crete easily. We made a daytrip to the Omalos Plateau & Diktamos (Zeus) cave one day and climbed to the top of the mountains (high enough that everything was covered in a freezing mist!) and were back in time for a lovely dinner in the main restaurant. (Yes, there were roadworks/building work for the sister site going on while we were there but it honestly wasn't that much of a hassle. You just had to look more than once each way before driving out of the hotel property onto the road and we weren't disturbed by the noise at all.) The thing that really set the Phae Blue Palace apart for us was the staff, who were all wonderful. They really embodied the Greek value of "philoxenia" - all the smiles felt genuine and they really seemed delighted to help you enjoy Crete as much as possible. In particular, I need to mention Lina Stratsiou (Front Office Manager) who was INCREDIBLE - even months before we arrived in Crete, the level of effort & attention to detail she showed as we corresponded via email was just unbelievable. She was so patient with my endless questions and itinerary changes, and her messages felt heartfelt and genuine, not just slick, stock responses. When we finally arrived at the hotel, we received such a warm personal welcome from her - it felt like meeting a lovely penpal at last or something! But all the staff were amazing. We have stayed in a lot of luxury hotels in many countries and while they all have perfectly trained staff, this is one of the few places where it felt authentic and not sycophantic. Unfortunately, I can't remember the names of all the lovely people who made us feel so welcome but in addition to Lina, I'd like to say a special thank you to Stavroula, Maria & her team in the main restarant Anthos and the charming Haris (manager of the Blue Door Taverna), who took great pride in providing top service but in a way that felt (a

The hotel has recently been refurbished and the staff are exceptionally welcoming. The quality of the Anthos restaurant is exceptional as is the cheaper Blue Door Taverna down by the beach. The food in both is sensational. The one thing which seems incongruous and out of character with such a high class hotel is the high volume touristic piped music played down by the poolside. It's too loud to concentrate on your book, or anything else for that matter. It changes the ambience from classy five star hotel to cheap package holiday. It has driven us from the pool to the tranquility of our balcony and private plunge pool. It seems to be repelling other guests, resulting in a lovely pool with spectacular views being deserted. The music is so obviously wrong it has driven me to fire up the TripAdvisor app and write my first review in some five years. Please turn down the music, even better turn it off. You come to a hotel like this for the peace and seclusion. There is no peace at the poolside, hence this review.

The location of Blue Palace is unbeatable in my opinion, overlooking Spinalonga island, a 5 minute walk into Plaka, and yet it also has a feeling of isolation which allowed me to immediately relax into my luxurious surrounds. I visited Blue Palace before when it was a much larger hotel. The new boutique hotel has kept all of the best features (dining outlets, private beach, great selection of accommodation types), and now these is an even more personal feeling. You quickly get to know the service staff, and they get to know you, and your preferences. 10/10 hospitality, as only the Cretans can!