Elounda Water Park Residence Hotel

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

Wow, what a fantastic place! From the reception on day one who made sure we all had rooms close to each other. To the 24/7 shuttle bus service in the resort! They couldn't do enough for us! The food was excellent chefs and waiting staff were polite and always looking after our needs! The bar staff again were professional and polite and always made the effort to guide us through the extensive all-inclusive drink selection! Absolutely loved every day at the resort with so much to do for the kids and us adults! Tonight is Friday, and it's Greek night in the main restaurant with dancing, singing, fire, and fun! What a way to end our holiday! Thank you, Elounda Waterpark residence, we will be back!

Excellent hotel. We’ve been coming for several years and standard is always good. Beautiful views and the food is excellent. Our spacious room was extremely comfortable. The staff were lovely as always. Elounda itself is a lovely town with restaurants, cafes shops and a sandy beach.

Lovely family friendly hotel, enjoyed the hotel facilities, my son especially loved the fun park and little pool area. It is a hotel situated hillside which meant our calves definitely had a work out but there is a golf caddy cart that can take you to and from your room to the facilities which was a life saver for our little one. View from our room was amazing and the room was spacious and clean. Food was great, especially enjoyed the Cretan food we had, the lamb was lovely and soft, there’s salt and pepper for people to season to taste. The man that manned reception usually in the evening was super friendly and helpful, especially when it came to gyro’s recommendations! Be warned, even though the hotel food is lovely, when you taste the local gyros, you will make any excuse to eat them! The hotel had a free shuttle to the end of the hill which then meant we had a short walk into Elounda square and beach. We rented bikes with a baby seat for a day, directly from the hotel and had we not pre booked tours prior to our arrival, I would have just organised all at the hotel. Everything you need in a hotel is found here. We even had a late check out which made it easier for us with a toddler, to schedule his naps before our very late flight out of Crete. Evening entertainment seemed good, as it was mainly geared to the French tourists, we were silent observers but didn’t feel unwelcome when we joined the disco night to let our son run off some stream. Lovely gem of a hotel and we plan to be back next year but in summer to celebrate my father in law’s 70 birthday. Btw Elounda is such a lovely and beautiful little village, if you can, despite the hotel having everything you need, it’s well worth a visit into the main area to experience the local Cretan charm and gyros!