Elounda Residence Resort & Waterpark

Most spectacular views all over the hotel as hotel is located up in hills. So calm and relaxing, quite and clean. Our family room was super spacious and cleaned perfectly every day, made comfy and amazing stay. Food at every meal was with a huge choices, warm and delicious. All inclusive is super tasty and enjoyable every moment - whether with a cocktail at the bar or snack in between main meals. Very good pool with slides for a kids, my daughter enjoyed truly. It's a bonus that there is salty water in swimming pools. These views are really super fantastic up to the hills and I felt very rested after these holidays :) Will be happy to return once again! ;)

Went here beginning of May, worse holiday ever had by far! How this hotel is a 4 star is beyond me! Food was ‘ok’ not the best it was not hot it was warm, we went out a few times and had gorgeous meals in the town of Elounda. All entertainment is French, we then got shouted out by other guests for winning a music quiz that then carried out throughout the whole holiday whilst said guests was present. To be honest entertainment team did translate to English so we could understand and attempt to join in. Thank you to Esteban (unsure of spelling sorry) from the entertainment team for making us feel included! Pool safety, horrific! One life guard for the whole resort that stood at the top of the slides in a hut with sides on manning the slides. Dirt around the pools where drinks had been spilt on the floors and sun loungers days prior and not cleaned. Rooms are very dated, we had a villa with a private pool and could count on 1 hand how many times we used this pool as it had all sorts of dead insects, cockroaches, worms floating in it reported to reception they cleaned it the night before we left absolutely disgusting!! The maid who cleaned our villa daily was so lovely when we spoke to her and did a really good job cleaning our villa. One of my children had to be taken to hospital with an ear infection doctor advised it was due to being in dirty water. Mouldy cups left in the kitchen for us to use. Air con wasn’t working to find no battery’s in any of the remotes in our room. On our last day we rang reception to pick our cases in the golf cart (they offer as free service to get around the resort) to take suitcases at 10.45am we had to be out our villa 11am. At 11.08am the phone rang it was a lady on reception telling us we needed to be out. My husband explained to the lady we are waiting for the suitcases to be picked up they told us to leave them on the front said no as we didn’t want our luggage left there as was a main road running down the side of our villa. The male who drives the golf cart around arrived at our room to collect suitcases arrived at our room and then took it upon himself to swear at us and called us ‘f ing British’ I have never in my life felt so singled out on any holiday I have ever been on apart from this one for being English. I am not one to complain, however before people spend thousands of pounds to come here for 10 nights for a holiday like we did to enjoy ourselves with our children, I’d rather warn people to think twice before booking here and book elsewhere. Elounda the town itself was lovely and the Greek people couldn’t do enough for us and was very welcoming, quite the opposite to the experience at this hotel.

This place was a huge disappointment. The rooms are modern but tiny for a family of four and the beds were uncomfortably hard. Pools are so salty our kids wouldn’t go in after the second day and the water slides are only really suitable for very small children. The food was poor – nothing to suit Irish or UK tastes – and the dining areas were swarming with flies. We didn’t have these issue at any of the local restaurants. In the end we ate most breakfasts and dinners in the village, which makes a joke of paying for ‘all-inclusive’ . Entertainment is entirely in French, so if you’re not French-speaking you and your kids will be left out. The play area is falling apart and in need of serious maintenance (see photos). We were not given, nor could be find, information about the hotel/resort layout, in-resort restaurants, or shuttle bus, which made finding our way around unnecessarily difficult during the first week of our stay. We also saw unsupervised kids using the gym, which has equipment badly in need of repair. To top it off, we asked about a late check-out or even just somewhere to shower/change before leaving and were told nothing was available – only to overhear a French couple being offered storage and showering facilities freely. One of the few positives were the excellent cleaners, who were always friendly and did a fantastic job, and the helpful lady in the mini-mart. We would highly recommend any of the restaurants in the village where you’ll find good food options with friendly and welcoming staff - the exact opposite to our experience of the hotel. For what it costs, this place is nowhere near good enough. Spend your money elsewhere!

Extremely Disappointed – Not Worth the Money We recently stayed at Elounda Residence Waterpark Hotel in a private villa with a pool, and I can honestly say it was one of the most disappointing holidays we’ve had — especially considering the amount of money we spent (thousands). From the beginning, the experience was poor. After checking in, we were told to wait for someone to take us to our villa. When the staff member arrived, he clearly wasn’t happy to help. He dropped us off without offering any assistance with our bags to the villa — only helped get them onto the golf buggy. Not what you expect from a supposedly high-end resort. The villa was a huge letdown. It looked nothing like the advertised photos. Outdated interior, a plug hanging off the wall, and an overall tired feel. The only modern part was the bathroom. We were given pots and pans for cooking — but no cooker or facilities to actually use them, which made no sense. Our private pool got dirty quickly due to the wind. While the pool cleaner did an excellent job, you have to request cleaning yourself, which should be automatic — especially for a premium-priced private pool. The housekeepers, however, were brilliant. They kept the villa clean and did a great job throughout our stay. One of the few positives. The views are absolutely breathtaking — the location offers stunning scenery over Elounda and the bay. It’s just a shame the service and facilities didn’t live up to the surroundings. The entertainment was not in English at all — everything catered mainly to French guests. If you speak English, you’ll feel completely left out. We spoke to several other guests who felt the same way and said they wouldn’t return. The hotel advertises a 24-hour lift service around the resort, which is built on a very steep hill. In reality, there was one man and he was extremely bad-tempered — made us feel like a burden every time we asked for help. Most other drivers were friendly, but he really let the experience down. On our last day, it got even worse. We woke up at 8am to find our electricity had been cut off. When we phoned reception, we were told “you’re leaving anyway,” so that’s what happens. Absolutely unacceptable when check-out is at 11am. We couldn’t shower (the bathroom has only a small window, so it was pitch black), and we couldn’t charge our phones before travelling. They also offer a “lift” into Elounda town, but you’re only dropped part of the way and left to walk 5–10 minutes downhill to the centre — not made clear anywhere. Everyone we were with was shocked, especially a pregnant woman who struggled to manage the steep walk. Taxis are recommended but cost €8 each way — not ideal if you were expecting full transport from the hotel. Lastly, if you’re a young couple or looking for entertainment, there’s not much to do in the area. The resort is quiet, and there’s very little nightlife or external activities nearby. Overall, this hotel did not live up to expectations. While

Wonderful holidays in Elounda Residence! First time but for sure we would like to return for the excellent service, delicious food, swimming pools and above all the best view of Crete! The fishermen village of Elounda is so charming as well. I recommend the for all generations of guests.

Please note, the holiday was great, but not because of the hotel but in spite of it. It starts with check in, an A4 piece of paper given to you with the usual, breakfast and pool opening times, reception lady went through very fast and gave us the key to our room. She told us it was up the hill and left, what she didn't tell us is there was a golf cart that runs 24 hours a day to save you hiking up Kilamanjaro, except at one point I saw it wheels off sat on pieces of wood? Get to our room after going up the 3 peaks challenge we got a lift in a mini bus with our luggage, but when one of the first people you see is seriously grumpy, it doesn't set a positive tone. Likewise if I'd have known about the hills I'd have brought my walking sticks, bobble hat, oxygen tank, climbing boots and Regatta coat, but I thought this was a Crete pool holiday not camping in the hills and valleys of Wales. The door opens, you see your room for the first time, a put me up single bed from WW2, so hard a drill sergeant would sign it off, no actual proper couch or chair to sit on, apart from 2 wooden chairs round a tiny table that barely had any space to sit down on and certainly not comfortably anyway. Nice touch - 3 small bottles of water in the fridge on arrival. The room is quite small, tiny TV on the wall with only one music station tuned in, just about tuned in as well. Bedroom, 2 adults plus cases and clothes, you've got no chance There's 6 hangers and a few shelves but due to the layout of the room only one of you can realistically be anywhere near the wardrobe at any time. If you've got a child's clothes to throw in as well, one of you is living out your suitcase on the living room area floor till you go home. The balcony had a great view, of mainly cactus plants that had seen better days, but in the distance to be fair was quite a stunning backdrop of the sea and hills far away and beyond. First thing in the morning it was stunning, apart from the noise disruption which I'll get to shortly. The balcony itself was quite small for 3 to sit on, table took up most of the room, metal chairs the rest, they get quite hot as you can imagine, if you used the washing line extension type thing it again took up what little space there was free. We head down to get something to eat, we've gone all inclusive. I'm not a fussy eater, but I won't eat anything I wouldn't eat at home, which takes away, quite a few things straight away, salad bar is vast, but that's about it in terms of choices. The Mediterranean buffet, chicken legs that had that air of been there a while about them, pork cut into almost half a burger size slices sat in some sort of fat/juice, rice, pasta, and honestly very little else. Oh, wait, I forgot the spring rolls, apologies Chef. We sit wondering what the entertainment will be like, there's a sign hidden away in the corner on a plastic board that's barely legible and written only in French. I did GCSE French so glad I got the days