Domes Aulus Elounda

Me & my partner have just returned from a week's stay at Domes of Elounda, and overall we had a lovely holiday.

The hotel has some fantastic qualities, but there are also a few areas that stop it from feeling like a true five-star experience.

The biggest positive is the setting. The views across the bay are absolutely breathtaking, and the beach is stunning with crystal-clear water. The hotel itself is beautifully designed and aesthetically pleasing, with immaculate grounds and clean, well-maintained rooms. The food was always well cooked, and several members of staff were genuinely warm, friendly and a credit to the hotel.

That said, there were a few disappointments. The main pool area is simply too small for the size of the hotel, and finding a sunbed during busy periods could be difficult. Housekeeping was also a little inconsistent, particularly when it came to replenishing the coffee-making facilities in the room.

Although the food was well prepared, there wasn't a great deal of variety throughout the week, and many dishes felt quite repetitive. We were looking forward to the à la carte restaurants, but while the menus sounded appealing, they were very limited.

Unfortunately, the quality didn't quite match our expectations, particularly at the Italian restaurant, which was the biggest disappointment of the week.

While many staff were excellent, others came across as quite miserable and gave the impression they didn't really want to be there. We also found the tipping culture uncomfortable.

At breakfast, lunch and dinner, a receipt was routinely placed on the table even when there was nothing to pay, and it became obvious that one of the first things some staff checked after you left was whether a tip had been added. We always believe in rewarding great service, but this approach made it feel expected rather than earned and took away from what should have been a relaxed dining experience.

One thing we felt was missing was a comfortable, relaxed area to sit with a coffee or drink. The Blu Bar is beautiful and has plenty of comfortable seating, but it felt more like a corporate lounge than somewhere to completely switch off and unwind.

A couple of smaller points: the shower design meant the bathroom flooded almost every time it was used, and we weren't informed that the infinity pool at the top of the resort was reserved exclusively for premium guests, which made for an awkward moment when we discovered it ourselves.

The wasps were everywhere during our stay. We appreciate this is largely outside the hotel's control, but it's worth mentioning as they were a constant presence around the outdoor dining areas.

If you're looking for a relaxing couples' holiday and are happy spending most of your time within the resort, this hotel will suit you well.

However, if you enjoy exploring the local area, it's worth knowing that Elounda is around a 2 km walk away, which feels much longer in the Cretan heat. When we asked reception about travelling to other nearby towns, it was made to sound unnecessarily complicated, with comments about buses being unreliable, which didn't exactly encourage us to venture further.

Overall, we did enjoy our holiday and are grateful for the experience. The setting is undeniably spectacular, with some of the best views we've ever seen. However, for us, this is a solid four-star hotel rather than the five-star luxury experience it is marketed as. Perhaps with the significant additional cost of upgrading to the VIP experience, it may feel closer to a 4.5-star stay, but on the standard package we don't believe it quite reaches that level.

My stay at Domes Aulūs Elounda was truly exceptional. From the moment I arrived until the day I left, every aspect of the experience exceeded my expectations.

The room was spotless, beautifully maintained, and offered everything needed for a comfortable and relaxing stay. The food was outstanding, with an excellent variety of fresh, high-quality dishes that catered to every taste.

What truly sets Domes Aulūs Elounda apart is its incredible team. Every member of the staff was warm, professional, attentive, and genuinely dedicated to making every guest feel welcome. Their kindness, attention to detail, and willingness to help with anything created a truly memorable experience.

It is rare to find a hotel where every detail is executed so perfectly. Domes Aulūs Elounda combines outstanding hospitality, exceptional cuisine, and impeccable service, making it one of the best hotels I have ever stayed at. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Crete and I am already looking forward to returning.

Short version: We stayed for three nights and were fortunate to receive a complimentary upgrade to the Cool Living Selection, which undoubtedly improved our experience. The staff were consistently excellent, our suite was modern with stunning views, and Greco Levante was a standout for both food and service. However, the resort feels too large for its facilities, with limited restaurant availability, overcrowded pools, difficulty finding sunbeds, and several inconsistencies that fall short of five-star expectations. Overall, it’s a good hotel with excellent staff, but not one we’d return to at €400+ per night when there are better-value five-star options in Elounda.

Long version: As we approached arrival date we became increasingly concerned at the recent negative reviews of the property since we booked it several months ago. Upon arrival we were relieved and grateful that we had been upgraded from a Queen Sapphire Nest Sea View Room to a Queen Sapphire Zen Sea View Suite with Whirlpool with access to the Cool Living Selection, the more exclusive all-inclusive part of the resort possibly thanks to Hilton loyalty membership, but this did undoubtedly improve our stay and I suspect many of the other guests seen there were also subject to complimentary upgrades too. It appears many of the 3/4 star reviews are written from stays that were not in this section of the resort and we would have been really disappointed if we had similar experiences given the price of this hotel even without Cool Living. Regardless, echoing many of the reviews, I don’t believe the overall experience consistently met the standards expected of a five star resort.

The best thing about the hotel is the staff. Customer service is generally great and everyone we interacted with was pleasant and seemed invested in making your stay as good as possible.

The hotel, however, is just too big for the facilities it offers. The restaurants (buffet and à la carte restaurants - for which advance booking is required) and pools cannot accommodate all the guests.

We were only staying for 3 nights and could only reserve one restaurant (in the Cool Living section) for our final night. We were gratefully squeezed in by the brilliant concierge to the amphitheatre roof terrace restaurant serving Italian and Greek food on our first night. The Italian was disappointing and unauthentic, unfortunately.

On the second night we went to the Island buffet. There were no tables available when we arrived around 8.30 and were advised by the hostess to “maybe keep your eye out for people leaving”. Once seated we had to find someone to ask for drinks after 10 minutes as there didn’t seem to be a clear system for allocating tables and taking drink orders. The food was average. It was replenished quickly and regularly and the Greek gyros and souvlaki were the tastiest of what was available.

The lunch buffet in Greco Levante in the Cool Living section was better than other food options available by far however there are again inconsistencies with staff processes and the level of service. One lunch we were asked at the table if we wanted anything to drink like wine etc. This never happened again.

The breakfast buffet in Greco Levante was okay but the sheer number of wasps present in the restaurant is really difficult to ignore. There are dozens alone in the honey and jams which is very off putting. A difficult issue to resolve but one we didn’t face in the other two 5 star hotels we stayed in during our trip in Crete.

This leads on to the pool. Given the reviews, we didn’t attempt visiting the main pool and only went to the Cool Living pools outside Greco Levante as this is supposedly more exclusive. Good luck getting a sunbed after 9.30am. Many overlooking the Spinalonga peninsula are already taken by around 8.30 and are being reserved by those having breakfast in the restaurant. There are around 70/80 loungers up here compared to what we counted to be around 50-60 loungers in the main pool when dining at the amphitheatre. There are more at the beach but we didn’t venture down there. The hotel has 200 rooms meaning up to 400 guests at peak season. The pool was 24 degrees during our visit (the weather forecast was over 30 degrees) so it felt pretty chilly. The audible gasps and comments from guests when getting in was quite entertaining.

We had dinner on the final night at Greco Levante and this was the highlight of meals we had here. The service was noticeably better and we very much felt looked after, and that the staff were knowledgable. The food was tasty and of high quality and I’d definitely recommend booking here if you have Cool Living access.

We didn’t have any trouble with buggies/cars or the shuttle bus to get up/down the mountain. It seemed fairly reliable and the drivers were all friendly.

The Zen Suite was well appointed and modern. There was a stunning view of Nisida Spinalonga Island as well as the Spinalonga Peninsula. It has good air conditioning and a ceiling fan above the bed. There was a separate shower room from the main bathroom which had the sink and toilet. The rainfall shower was absolutely dire in terms of water pressure so we used the handheld shower head. The body moisturiser is also located in the shower rather than in the bathroom where you’d normally find this next to the hand soap. One day the floor mat was taken by housekeeping and was not replaced so had to use a hand towel instead. These little things are individually only slightly inconvenient but cumulatively are frustrating and shouldn’t occur at a 5 star resort charging €400+ per night.

You get the feel that they are trying, which is encouraging to see, however no single aspect of the experience stood out as exceptional in the way you would expect from a genuine five star resort. The overall impression is that many aspects of the stay felt designed to control costs rather than deliver the premium experience the hotel advertises which is sad. If you’re marketing yourself as a resort, simply having access to enough loungers is a priority if there’s nothing else on offer. Having just come from two other 5 star hotels on the island immediately beforehand, this was a let down. Given this was supposed to be the luxury wind-down at the end of our trip, the difference in quality and attention to detail was noticeable. We would unlikely book to stay here again especially at the current price point. Better and less expensive 5 star resorts are available in Elounda and we wished we had booked one of those to end our trip to Crete instead.