During our 2 week stay on the Greek island of Crete – my husband and I ended our trip with 3 nights at the Elounda Palm Hotel. This small (62 rooms), boutique hotel is family owned and it feels like home from the moment of check in. Even at the end of their busy tourist season – the entire staff is friendly and welcoming! These are the 3 reasons I recommend the Elounda Palm Hotel.
1. Location
The Elounda Palm Hotel is a perfect spot for your stay in this area of Crete! It’s a short 15 minute drive to the village of Agios Nikolai(which you’ll want to visit for their nice shops, bay views, and a drink or dinner on one of their lively terraces).
The sea views from the Elounda Palm Hotel are so picturesque – Mirabella Bay, Elounda Gulf, and Spinalonga Island all in sight.
The hotel is a short 1 kilometer walk to the village of Elounda. In the daylight it’s a pretty stroll on the small roads, but only a small part has sidewalks – so I recommend taking a taxi in the dark.
During your stay – you also have walking access (or short taxi rides) to many nearby beaches, water sports, and boat tours.
2. Rooms/Public Areas
The rooms and grounds are lovely at the Elounda Palm Hotel! We were spoiled with an infinity pool/junior suite room to end our trip. If you’re going to splurge on a room with a pool and view – Greece is the place to do it!
I really enjoyed the grounds of this hotel with the numerous palm trees and lush landscaping. Even though it’s a small hotel – it never feels crowded – there’s plenty of lawn chairs, grassy areas, and little nooks to enjoy your time here. Besides the bar/restaurant – it also has a gym, spa, and outdoor pool. For the size of the hotel – it isn’t lacking amenities!
3. Food
The food at the Elounda Palm Hotel centers around local ingredients and the Cretan style of cooking. Besides trying area restaurants – we also dined at the hotel for quite a few meals. Breakfast is a buffet… but with numerous wonderful choices! It also has a half board option with buffet dinners included (this was a very popular option during our stay, as it was busy each evening we were there).
Besides a buffet area, they have a separate a la carte restaurant for lunch and dinner, which we sampled for lunch one day. The service and food were top notch!
We also tried room service to enjoy by our pool. It arrived fresh, warm, and within 15 minutes. I love getting room service in Europe – it normally doesn’t include the high fees and surcharges that American hotels charge, and it’s such a treat!
As you see in the photo – the hotel bartender made the prettiest mojitos! There’s a full service bar open daily – a great spot to hang out by the pool or have before dinner drinks.
The Elounda Palm Hotel is family friendly – but it seems much better suited to a couples environment. Since we stayed here in September (school was back in most places in Europe) – we didn’t see any children during our stay. I highly recommend this charming little hotel – we’ll be visiting there again!
Until the next adventure – bon voyage
Kris
