Guest reviews Porto Elounda Golf & Spa Resort

by MalcolmS1104

Wonderful Hotel

We spent a week at the Porto Elounda Golf Hotel in October, celebrating our wedding anniversary. On arriving in our room, there was a bottle of ice-cold sparkling wine waiting for us, along with a hand-written card wishing us Happy Anniversary which got our holiday off to the best possible start. The room and bathroom were large, spacious and well furnished, the housekeeping staff kept everything spotlessly clean. We had our own swimming pool on the terrace outside the patio doors, it was unheated as you would expect, but lovely once you were in the water. We ate mainly in the Buffet restaurant and we were not disappointed in the variety and quality of the food on offer. We opted to go to the "Fish Night" on Friday which was at the sister hotel Elounda Mare just down the road, the hotel drove us there. We were eating late, at 21:00 and it was dark when we arrived, we found it a little difficult to find our way through the extensive grounds of the Elounda Mare to the restaurant but once there we found live music from a Jazz group and excellent food, particularly the Sushi. We were a little let down by the fact that as we were among the last guests to sit down, as the people around us finished their meal and left, the staff blew out the candles and stripped the tables. During our stay we hired a car from a little car-hire place a couple of hundred yards down the road and visited Spinalonga Island and the Palace of Knossos which were great - a little tip, if you go to Knossos you can pay an extra one euro for a ticket to the museum in Heraklion which holds all the artefacts found at the Knossos site, it is stunning and well worth a visit. On our last day we waited in reception with our bags to be picked up for the airport transfer, when it arrived I got up and left forgetting my jacket which was on the back of my chair. I didn't realise until we were half-way to the airport. I was delighted to find at the airport that I had received an email from the hotel saying that they had found my jacket and asking where they could send it to me. Now, a few days later the jacket has arrived and I am most grateful to the hotel staff for their excellent service.

by DoronH22

Magic place

When approached Porto Elunda, the view from the bus was stunning. The hotel is located on the slopes of the mountain, right on the beach. The staff that greeted us was most welcoming, the room was extremely comfortable, the view from the room to the sea was magical, the food is good and the dining room is beautiful. In short, certainly a place to come back to.

by 921ianH Dorset, United Kingdom

A great hotel Let down by appalling service

Whilst this hotel offers a great spa, with excellent staff, good food and a pretty nice location, it was let down by terrible service. We had an ANT infestation in our room - waking up on the first morning with Ants crawling on our skin! In spite of reporting it immediately to reception and housekeeping getting involved the problem was not solved until our last night! We were never offered an alternative room in spite of the hotel being half empty. The walls are as thin as paper - we thought someone had walked into our room one night because the noise was so loud! We asked for a room with mosquito netting and were given a room with a set of netted doors - however no one showed us how these worked and we only discovered them by accident several days in (not needed thank God - no mossies). The driver bringing us from the airport was fantastic - lots of local knowledge and keen to engage. The driver returning us spent most of his time on his mobile phone and even at one point (on a dual carriageway) was reading his paperwork! The man should be sacked for being so dangerous! Their Spa is amazing, with incredible staff - masseurs were excellent and the Yoga instructress was just the best. Food was good for dinner with a great choice but limited at breakfast with few healthy options. Cappuccino was a chargeable extra which seems stingy! The beach is small but as the hotel was only half full this was fine. Weather in September was sunny but pretty strong winds everyday. The local shops on resort were good but the nearest village was a terrible walk along roads and pretty poor when we got there. The staff were generally excellent (restaurant, bars, spa) with some of the team on reception being quite poor. The hotel offered compensation for the Ant problem but it took them 6 weeks and the offer was pretty limited/poor. The travel agent we used, Health and Fitness Travel were excellent and tried their best throughout our problems (to be commended)

by veroavraham Rishon Lezion, Israel

Outstanding experience

We spent three nights at Porto Elounda and would very happy to recommend this outstanding hotel to every one looking for unforgettable holiday. Everything here was just perfect: spacious room with wonderful sea view, great privet beach with lovely pool, bar and sea sports specially for the guests of the hotel with very nice instructors, awesome spa, delicious!!! food and high level service!!! Hope to have opportunity to be here again!!

by AndyR17 Weybridge, United Kingdom

After 25 years a great revisit.....

From our initial booking through the reservations team headed by the ever helpful Vassilis and throughout our stay we cannot fault the service provided. Our comfortable, and spotlessly clean, room provided the perfect base, overlooking the blue flag beach which was tended/raked daily, and surrounded by sun loungers and parasols sited in several areas. A small childrens pool and a gently shelving beach - along with a great kids club- make for a good family destination. The beach bar staff deserve a mention as Ireni and Richard spent each and every day ensuring the guests were cared for - we do hope to see them on our next visit! Our day started in the Nafiski breakfast area - again our compliments to all the staff for such a well run area - coffee cups filled constantly and a perfect choice for all palates. We also choose to eat in the buffet here at Nafiski as the choice was so good, varied daily. The restaurant at Aglio and Olio was also a perfect position with good food served by charming waiters. The only negative was our visit to The Deck restaurant at Elounda Mare where the food was very poor. The Spa should be visited - a wonderful facial by Anna Marie for me and a massage from Dorothy for my husband - such an absolute pleasure. Although we had planned to play a round of golf we will leave this until our next visit - I shall not leave it another 25 years before revisiting!