Blue Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel Resort & Spa Review

Subtle architecture blended into the landscape, great relaxation and excellent service and cuisine ... A trip full of reflective impressions to the island of Spinalonga, 600 m from the hotel (the last leprosarium in Europe). A visionary place that influences the imagination ...
300 m from the hotel, in the port of Plaka, the delicious tavern at Giovanis ... This is one of the most beautiful places in Europe and the tavern at Giovannis in the port of Plaka (5 min walk from the hotel) is remembered by us as a wonderful complement to a wonderful relaxation and rest ... I recommend even the most demanding .. !!! We have come for the third time, but I have friends, connoisseurs of luxury and delicious cuisine, who have been more than 10 times .. I agree with them and I will be very happy to continue here ... It is one of the places to come back to like home.

It's very good! You just need to be closer to the capital and to Chania

The service there was impeccable. From the moment we walked into the door they graciously took care of us. The property is beautiful and the view of Spinalonga doesn't get any better.

My partner and I stayed at the Blue Palace in early August 2019.

The place is beautiful, probably one of the nicest resorts I have stayed in. It has a private section of the sea which is lovely to swim in as well a few swimming pools dotted around. Never had a problem getting a sun lounger and there are watersports, boat trips and a speedboat taxi to Spinalonga all from the private section.

The resort is a short walk to Plaka (~10 mins) which has lots of restaurants on the sea front.

My partner was pregnant and the staff really looked after her. She had a pregnancy massage in the spa and said it was unbelievable.

There are 5 or so restaurants all serving high quality food. Our favourite was the Blue Door, which had great seafood. The breakfast in the main restaurant was as you expect from a 5* hotel. The cocktail (and mocktails) were well made.

The service from all the staff was exceptional. The housekeepers kept tabs on when we were in and out and cleaned the room twice a day.

All in all a great resort we would visit again.

For those of you who have an AMEX they a partner and if you book through AMEX you get a number of offers/discounts (I didn t sadly :-().

Luxury resort on the eastern side of Crete, an amazing and luxurious place. Private beach, pool, spa and 24-hour gym. Apart from the dining room, there are several restaurants in the hotel for a fee. The spa offers a wide range of paid treatments.
The beach is clean and tidy with courteous waitress services up to the tanning bed, the beach also has a service of sap water sports activities, kayaks, pedal boats, motor boats and even a diving club.
Not far from the resort there is a small village called Plaka, the village a ten minute walk away, in the Super Market Tavern for tourist souvenir shops. From the village there is also a boat trip to Spinlonga Island.
Most hotel rooms overlook the stunning bay and island views,
The service of a very courteous hotel makes the best effort to address any problems that guests encounter.
In the dining room the service is efficient and welcoming and all with a smile and a greeting. The food is excellent, sometimes a bit repetitive but on a good level.
The last night we were both in the resort was a dance folklore dance performance.
It is also highly recommended for those looking for a relaxing holiday, families, freedom to leave packages of walks in towns and villages The area is more relaxed than the main cities.
The hotel also has a Hertz car rental position,
For those who want to travel freely and not rely on bus taxis.
Overall, very enjoyable and very indulgent and highly recommended.

The service is excellent and also the view. The atmosphere... amazing.

Very nice, well-kept complex with a fantastic location and excellent service! Most of the rooms have their own pool at fair overnight rates. All in all, a perfect place for a relaxing vacation!

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Fantastic location, staff went above and beyond to make sure that stay was perfect

This is the most satisfied five-star family at present. The scenery is good everywhere, the beach is beautiful and there are not many people. The overall is very comfortable. If you want to have a relaxing holiday and do n t want to go sightseeing, you can enjoy it here. The sun thinks time flies fast a week

Great Place! Beautiful location and excellent staff!

Excellent attention from Mr. Costas. Wonderful environment A hotel that deserves one more star. A true example of what a 5 * means to me. Facilities of All kinds. Exquisite attention Unsurpassed environment and to return without doubts
Great professionals and highly recommended.

I had very high expectations of the Blue Palace, given the price tag, and it did not disappoint. Fantastic facilities, beautiful scenery, attentive and friendly staff. We had an amazing time, can t wait to visit again!

Wonderful hotel with breathtaking views. What makes the hotel head and shoulders above any other is their staff. The hospitality shown was phenomenal and much appreciated!!! You feel like royalty here!

Beautiful hotel with all conceivable facilities in a beautiful location.

Just a magnificent hotel, you couldn't ask for more.

We had a fantastic stay at the Blue Palace hotel. The rooms were clean and spacious and the pool area was great. My only complaint was the amount of time you had to wait for the elevator between the areas of the hotel. It was very slow. I would still highly recommend it.

Spent our honeymoon here and what a fabulous place it really is. I would advise to just book bed and breakfast but that's your choice. Staff are so friendly, it was all a dream to be honest!

The ultimate view, the ultimate blue, the ultimate luxury, the ultimate pleasure.

I booked the hotel 6 months ago, and booked a fully refundable rate. I did so, since i had a family member that was travelling with me that is suffering from Dementia, and I couldn't commit to the vacation. The hotel charged 50% as a refundable advance payment, and it was clearly stated that i will get a full refund if i cancel 2 weeks prior to the hotel stay. I cancelled 3 month prior to the hotel stay, but the hotel isn't willing to refund the money. they hid behind a local law that was created after the COVID19 and they are willing to provide a voucher instead.
They cannot be trusted. Please be aware when you book, that this hotel doesnt respect the terms of booking, and they do whatever they want. I can assure you that i will never book with them again!!!

As an SPG member, we often resort to their properties first when traveling to exquisite corners of the world. We know they have a high standard when it comes to service, cleanliness and amenities. That's how we first ended up at The Blue Palace, in Elounda, Crete.

However, what keeps us going back to this hotel is the property and staff.

If you are going to Crete, then make sure to stay here. Even if for a night. You won't regret it.

Ask for a room away from the 'tram that goes down from the lobby to the beach. It can get sqeeky at night. Over the years, we have stayed in a room with a private pool ( which is heated and cleaned daily), a deluxe room with a balcony and a suite. If you can splurge for the suite, do so. It comes with many hidden benefits, such a special seating area at breakfast, a private area on the beach, where you are greeted with baskets filled with amenities from suntan lotion to magazines. If not, that's ok, because all of the rooms here are gorgeous and due to spectacular architecture, they all have a romantic view of the bay and Spinalonga island.

The lobby area leads out to the pool area with overwhelming arches. You will spend lots of time in this area - especially at sunset - for exceptional views and delicious cocktails. If you're lucky, you may be there on the day the hotel manager, Sotiris, hosts a champagne welcome reception. There is live music and always drink specials at the bar. Sublime.

From the lobby area, you take a 'tram' down to the restaurants/spa and beach area.

The hotel beach is not typical sand, but no worries, it's spectacular. There are plenty of wood/plank walkways across the pebbles of the beach, and the water is crystal clear. One of the most beautiful, therapeutic and healing waters of the world is here. If you wake up early, head down to the pier before breakfast and you'll see an array of fish. They disappear during the day when everyone's swimming, so it's fun to get a glimpse of them early in the morning. As if the natural sea water isn't enough, the hotel has an extensive spa/indoor salt pool. Sign up for the various spa classes, and space is limited. It is well worth investing some time into pampering yourself at this spa. You'll thank me later.
The hotel has wonderful restaurants to choose from. Make sure to have Greek coffee on the beach every day. it's an acquired taste, but you will end up craving it by day three. They serve it especially nice at the Blue Resort, with a side of 'mastica' flavored water. Try it, and the scent of mastica will be with you for the rest of your life. There is a Greek taverna on the beach. If you want a change of scenery, head out to Elounda for a 'typical' Cretan style dinner. We have been going to 'Ferryman' for years ( look for my review) and it's a treat every time. There are other Tavernas, and often the hotel concierge will recommend the 'latest and greatest' restaurants.

After spending a week at the Blue Palace, we often drive all the way across the island to Chania, and spend a couple of days there before leaving Crete. Along the way, make sure to stop in on some of the wineries en route. Most of them are close to Heraklion ( see reviews Lyrarakis WInery) The special Plyto grapes are indigenous to Crete, and the wine tasting is world class. There are two or three wineries along the same dirt road - pop in a couple of them. Have a cheese platter with the wine, bring a picnic basket from the Blue Palace ( they will prepare one for you if you order a day in advance) , enjoy the scenery before getting back into your car. Obviously, you can do this as a day trip - but we never want to leave the premises of the Blue Palace when we're staying there. It's too beautiful.

Plaka is literally a two minute walk from the hotel. You can walk along the beach to this quaint village which is the home to some beautiful art/jewelry shops.

Keep an open mind, as everything you experience on Crete will be magical.

It is a very nice hotel. All rooms have sea view and are cleaned several times a day. The beach is very well maintained and at the umbrellas there is a bell for orders. The staff is super friendly and helpful. The pool areas are quite large and also very well maintained. All in all a great hotel.

Great hotel, spacious rooms, courteous staff and always ready to help and serve. We really loved the treatments at the spa. It is highly recommended!!

One of the best resorts in Elunda beach to my opinion.
Bear in mind, that in order to go to the beach from your room, you need to take a special elevator that it's kind of slow.

The concierge services are excellent with great recommendation for places to see and dine in.
It was a little bit windy and cold for us during our visit in late September, So try maybe to come earlier in July & August (Hoping it would not be too hot).

Excellent customer service with friendly welcoming staff all over the resort. The breakfast is the best I have ever seen and even has free flowing champagne. The bars and restaurants in plaka really nice and reasonably priced - only 5 mins walk away.

Calm, beauty, rest, enjoyment .... holidays !!!!! 1

Looking for luxury on Crete? The Blue Palace is it. This hotel is by far the most gorgeous resort on Greece's largest island. Be prepared to encounter the very best in hospitality, most gorgeous views of The Mediterranean and Spinalonga, and taken care of. I couldn't recommend this hotel any more.

The best resort in the area, with the best views and great staff

Very large, upset resort. Great service. Full buffet breakfast daily. Breakfast can be delivered to your room for 4 per person.

I can understand a hotel try to maximise its room numbers by having duplex buildings, but it should make sure the construction quality is good enough. The current situation is that you can easily hear your neighbours or people walking upstairs if you are on the ground floor.

It has a stunning view of a small island, however, after you found out it used to be a leper colony, the feeling might be tilted a bit.

There should be more other factors to count a holiday a good one, though. So please don t take the above information too seriously

Plush hotel, high standard of service and cleanliness. Staff very helpful. Only complaint is that everything unnecessarily expensive. 5 minute walk into Plaka, a small village with lots of restaurants/need and 2 mini supermarkets. Eat and drink here you will save a fortune.

Highly recommend the Room service at The Blue Palace A Luxury Collection Resort And Spa in Crete.
The room service 24 H is amazing!!!
The food taste great and portions are huge(2 people can share most dishes)and there is really nothing you can t ask for from the kitchen and cook if they have it when you place your order.
The room service staff is friendly and go out of their way to make you happy!
Three items on the well filled menu do stand out in a league for themselves that we tried during our stay.
1.Linguini cooked with prawns tomatoes chili s and garlic
A must have if you are a pasta lover and the best I have ever had in my life!
2.Bougatsa-traditional custard cream and cinnamon dessert that is pure heaven and with Nr 3 on the list to go with it it s just so good! Try it!
3.Kayak Greek ice cream that comes in many great flavors that you can order.
The strawberry sorbet,Madagascar Vanilla and Chocolate pure Belgian Choco chip are wonderful!

Just an incredible resort! The service is amazing, the restaurants are delicious, and the beach is a bar and club is a blast.

Great vacation!
Nice staff, so clean and new!
View is wonderful and the location is great!

I only visited the Asian restaurant. the staff very kind and the food quality very high !! The Asian restaurant is incredibly!

If this is a Starwood luxury collection, so is the Howard Johnson on the Jersey Turnpike

Paradise place of breathtaking beauty perched on a hill in front of the sea. gastronomy menu of good quality. I recommend

It is the best hotel! ! That's where my mom works! ! ! !

The place itself is amazing. The insane arrangement of sunbathing beds on the beach in fixed places on thin floors that are really far apart from each other. The food is really good
The only thing that bothered me and possibly because of the Corona, that I did not feel service to the hotel at this level, which is a pity, was a staff that was too small, but we are in the Corona period
Have fun

Very polite and helpful staff, clean and comfortable, beautiful beach and pools. However, the maid/cleaning staff starts cleaning at 8am and is VERY loud, banging things around for over an hour. I sleep with ear plugs and was still woken up at 8am. This was the only hotel on our two week holiday that had an inconsiderate cleaning staff.

Wonderful hotel with a beautiful view from the room!

Outstanding location, great rooms (we had a wonderful junior suite with sea view), perfect service and very professional staff. Amazing restaurants and a peaceful & wonderful beach with transparent sea. Great experience.

Great hotel. Although it is very expensive it is worth it.

Great staff, good rooms, good foor and amazing chocolate shakes. Very nice place to stay and relax.

- Amazing location, top class facilities, excellent service and one of the friendliest and most professional staff we have ever experienced
- We would give 6 stars if we could!

Hotel is among the best if not the best in Crete and Banluda

Excellent staff and service around a beautifully appointed hotel with excellent spa, swimming pools and beech.
Rooms spacious well appointed and beds v high quality and comfortable.
Clean well maintained throughout.
Off piste (half board) Restaurants pricey but Excellent quality.
Service exceptional throughout.

Amazing resort in the beautiful island of Crete! Amazing view on the little golf with stunning beaches and boats

We were celebrating our 20 year wedding anniversary just recently August 2013. This is truly a 5 star resort ! The staff was very professional, friendly, and helpful. The hotel is beautiful and very clean. The pool and beach area is amazing ! Our room was fantastic. The maid service outstanding ! The view from our room was breathtaking !! We visited 3 other islands and resorts but Crete and the Blue Palace was our favorite and made our anniversary very special. We would like to give our special thanks to the General Manger Sotirios Kremastiotis. At night we took a taxi to the town and had dinner at Chrisofyllis a Cretan traditional cuisine that was delicious. Must go there ! Good location by the lake. Great drinks and food without breaking the bank. Room # 227 had a stunning view of the sea !!!

Blue palace resort!
Beautiful!

Incredible luxury property, food, service all of the highest quality. I never want to leave!!

Beautiful resort, beautiful views and surroundings. The meals are fantastic and the staff very professional. However had a nasty experiznce and got stuck in the elevator for 20minutes and they couldnt figure out what happened. Apologized afterwards but the experience wasn't a good one..

Excellent hotel .. Highly recommended .. Kosher and knowledgeable. You can go in and cook in their kitchen. Also order a kosher meal.

Great spot for pool and beach getaway! Overall service was fantastic and the Blue Door restaurant on the property was so good we went back multiple times!

We booked a room with a private pool "ocean view" and were extremely disappointed by the lack of view and underwhelmed by the pool - we didn't even use in the 3 night stay. The main hotel pool/beach area is so lovely no need to splurge on the private one.

Hotel is quite a drive to and from airport/ports so be sure to factor in about 1 hour transit time along with about 100 each way transfer.

Views, amenities, service experience, etc. This is a special place in a very special setting. Great pools, great beach (don't expect sand however), we love Crete and the Blue Palace.

We stayed at the end of May and the hotel was quite empty. We had a junior suite with a pool. The room was big but definitely not worth it as we spent most of our time on the beach. Those rooms don't have a sea view apparently but ours did. Overall, it was a nice holiday but definitely not going to come back as hotel didn't wow us. There was nothing that stood out for me except the views. The decor is very minimal, and the service was lacking the five star mark. Usually, staff would want you to enjoy your stay the way they want. We were asked several times at dinner if the food was ok, that can be a bit of an overkill. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to know you are looked after, but this hotel's service was very hit and miss. Beach towels, for example, were only sometimes given to us in the room. They'd take the dirty ones and not put clean ones in our bathroom. Same for shampoo bottles. The food was also extremely poor for the price we paid. Very little fresh fish at the buffet restaurant for dinner. There was also very poor variety of mains to choose from. No cocktails at dinner either, only wine. Again, this isn't what I'd expect from a five star hotel. The Italian and the beach bar food were amazing though!

Beautiful location. Excellent staff. Good spacious rooms. Great service on beach. Food good but not all restaurants open in October. Lots of good tavernas in Plaka itself just a 10 minute walk away

Luxurious and Comfortable - And this island is very beautiful

Great view to spinalonga, the service is excellent. The only 2 things which aren't perfect are:
The half board dinner isn't bad but not as you expect from luxury hotel.
There are no free activities in the hotel, therefore it's better to haves car.

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Beautiful hotel and the staff are incredible. Would definitely go back and highly recommend!

Privacy + Tranquility + Attention to every detail + Excellent service

Amazing hotel ... courteous service. Dedicated and professional staff. A wide variety of quality food
Upgraded experience in Crete

A very nicely located hotel, which is traded as "elite class", ie a higher standard, within the Marriott chain. However, it cannot nearly hold a candle to the service of others in the same category. If you pay a lot of money to relax, you will be very disappointed with the service. The breakfast is super slimmed down, which you may have to admit because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It's well organized when it comes to hygiene rules. One can calm down in this regard. E.g. Baked goods packed in bags before being brought to the table. Unfortunately for two you should be satisfied with 4 half slices of bread. I took the liberty of ordering rolls once because I no longer wanted to eat this very soft white bread.
We also had to e.g. Ask for water in the room, as there was actually none, except on the first day upon arrival 2 times 1/2 liter of still water for both of us. We didn't know that before from Marriott's around the globe and it was new to us. Especially when you get a chilled bottle of water free of charge and unsolicited when you order an iced coffee in small cafes on the harbor. You are astonished when, as a PlantinElite member, you have to be told by the Consierge that you can drink the water from the tap with ease. (However, I don't want to drink water that smells strongly of Clorus.) Unfortunately, it doesn't help that there are few very nice employees to feel comfortable there, so that you can relax and enjoy your vacation with a beautiful view. Only have a nice view with a decent room ... that is a little too little luxury for us at luxury prices! Because of these facts, we no longer wanted anything else, such as Try the hotel bar. Unfortunately there is no lounge there either! We won't go on vacation there anymore. Marriott has far more attractive hotels than this.

Extraordinary place for a resort holiday, food is good & you have tons of things to do: swimming, spa, sauna -> , tanning .

Chara, the concierge, was amazing. The staff here was incredible. The hotel was STUNNING. We ve traveled a lot, but this was by far the most incredible place ever. The staff at the breakfast buffet was five star. You won t regret!!!

Amazing resort. Friendly staff and amazing view from the beachfront room.

This hotel is simply marvelous. The location, the services, the food, the spa, the comfort the cleanliness, the rooms everything was perfect! The huge difference though its in their staff and the level of care and constant efforts that they make so you will spend the most incredible holiday ever. From the person that welcomes you and takes your car, to the managers everyone is there to make it happen, and serve you with a smile. Thank you all so much for an unforgettable experience and a fantastic holiday that will stay with us for many many years. We will come back!

Well kept and extremely comfortable.

Our room was spacious with an excellent view. The beach and restaurants never felt crowded and were always staffed so we hardly lifted a finger.