- Greece Holidays
- Elounda
- Elounda Residence
Elounda Water Park Residence Hotel 4 Stars, is located at the most magical place in the island of Crete. It rises up on the hills of Elounda revealing at the guest the most imposing and breathtaking view of Mirabello's gulf and of the historical fortress island of Spinalonga. It appeals to families and couples seeking a peaceful, relaxing holiday in a total private environment.
The apartments and the villas as well as with the Main Restaurant, Main Bar, Reception area and all the common areas were recently renovated.
Hotel Elounda Residence Water Park is proud to offer its guests a unique Water Park, which is a fun experience for the whole family. It includes a large swimming pool with jacuzzi, a swimming pool with a combination of four slides, a kids pool with a water playground, a kids club, an open theater, Bar – Restaurant Thalassa, an amazing playground and a Snack Bar.
Pamper yourself with a visit to the spa, which offers massages, body treatments and facials. You're sure to appreciate the recreational amenities, which include 4 outdoor swimming pools, a complimentary water park and an outdoor tennis court. Additional features at this aparthotel include complimentary wireless Internet access, concierge services and babysitting (surcharge). Guests can get to nearby shops on the complimentary shuttle.
Due to the surrounding area and the number of steps around the hotel, it may not be suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
We had e great time here. Wonderful place to be. Staff always helpful en friendly. Really excellent kitchen Paul and all the other people here: thanks a lot for this amazing week! Best regards, Hannie
Other things worth knowing: the resort is built on a steep hill with a lot of steps, so it's not ideal if you struggle with mobility. The kids' play area needs attention — a cracked slide and a bouncy castle that was never inflated the whole trip, plus some trip hazards from wrinkled matting near the mini golf. Evening entertainment is limited to a kids' mini disco and occasional Greek dancing nights. The coffee machines are bad (get iced coffee from the pool bar instead), the arcade and air hockey machines took money without working, and the toilets near the pool bar were often dirty and smelly (the ones near the top and bottom were fine). There's also a €10/day Greek tax and €3/day for the safe, and toilet paper can't be flushed — bins provided.
On the plus side: the water slides are great fun for both kids and adults, the gym covers the basics (though the barbell bars are too thick for standard plates), and there's a small basketball/tennis court. Top tip — bring your own towel pegs for the loungers, or grab some from the on-site shop.
Overall: a great location with genuine highlights, but it needs to sort out its older rooms and step up quality control on the little things. Ask for a renovated room and you'll likely have a much better time than we initially did.
A wonderful stay in Elounda. It was the perfect location to visit the surrounding area: traditional landmarks, history, nature, beaches, villages, ... Renting a car was very easy with the information stand right there in the hotel. Our room was very spacious and clean. We loved the atmosphere in the different restaurants of the hotel. We enjoyed the food a lot as well! The staff really cares for their guests. There were a lot of families but that was not an issue, the hotel is very well suited for all kinds of guests. It was the perfect location for a great stay in Elounda, Crete.
Very mixed experience with this hotel & was apprehensive booking it after reading the reviews wish I would’ve paid more attention to them.
We went for 10 days with a 6 year old & 1 year old. After booking our travel agent contacted the hotel to enquire if a travel cot would be provided the response was no & we needed to bring our own, I also contacted the hotel personally 3 days before we arrived to see did I need to bring a travel cot & on the phone the receptionist said no cot would be provided. So we haul a travel cot the whole way & when we get to our room there’s a travel cot already set up. That made me twitch a bit but anyways that wasn’t the end of the world.
The room was at best a 2 star, it was dated. The shower door was at opposite end of the shower head which was bizarre & just caused the bathroom to be flooded everyday after 4 people showering. The drain cover in the bathroom constantly moved out of place which was not suitable for a 1 year old crawling around the apartment. However the balcony was completely safe for children & I had no concerns here.
The pool, waterpark & both baby pools are salt water, As a family this did not dissuade us from booking as we spend a lot of time in the sea however the salt level is very high & after a few days the kids refused to go into the pool - we did mention this to staff but they said it meets requirements.
Because of this we spent the majority of our holiday at elounda bay palace where our friends were staying, they also have sea water pools & one non sea water baby pool & the kids never got out of the water there.
Food - bang average never went all inclusive before probably never will again. Kids ate fruit & chips.
Staff- the staff for the majority are lovely genuine & helpful & Greek people in general are some of the nicest I’ve met. However when I requested a late check out as our flight home is not until 9:30 (this is the only flight time home) I was told no they are too busy & are fully booked, & they needed the room back at 11, this is unheard of for a 4 star hotel & considering we go on 2 holidays a year we’ve came up against this issue a few times but this hotel is the only hotel that was unwilling to accommodate even a smaller room so we could let the baby have a nap or shower after pool etc. So we dropped our bags off at the luggage hold & headed off to elounda bay palace again.
My final review is this hotel is not suitable for family’s with kids younger than 5. A couples getaway is perfect. Elounda town is beautiful & the restaurants & shops are gorgeous again crete people are fabulous the kindest & most helpful people ever. I will be returning to Crete but definitely not to this hotel.
we were a little worried about this hotel after reading some not so positive reviews especially from other english families. However we had a wonderful 10 nights here with our family that consisted of 3 teenagers and an 11 year old, the staff were lovely, they couldn't do enough to help and always stopped for a chat. the cleaners work so hard to keep everything looking spotless, our apartments were really nice and in a great location. the 2 restaurants onsite are a brilliant bonus and the children can literally eat delicious ice cream all day! the cocktails were great as were all the drinks they served.
the views are stunning and it's a lovely walk to elounda and back......although steep on the way back it's not far.
the only things i feel this hotel could improve on is the temperature of the food (although this did improve during our stay) the snack bar by the water park especially needs to look at this and the entertainment guys didn't really interact with the english very much but maybe this is a language barrier!
we loved our stay here and would definitely return.
