Blue Bay Resort

We recently stayed at the Blue Bay resort and I have to say we were disappointed. The hotel itself is lovely, but it is a very poor value all inclusive. I have stayed at all inclusive hotels for around 15 years and can categorically say this one is the worst value. Here’s why:- * No cocktails. They do claim to have an all inclusive cocktail list, but they are local spirits such as ouzo and Raki. There was only one I recognised which was sangria. To add insult to injury, they are served in a plastic cup (or glass if you are inside) with no presentation, so basically looks like a cup of squash. * Beach/pool towels are not free. A daily charge for each towel and you cannot get them changed unless you pay for a new one. ‘ Poor snack selection. The only thing on offer were pizza slices that did not look fresh, rolls with various fillings snd crisps Oh and the odd piece of cake. They were only availability until 3pm * No proper coffee. Only available out of a machine. Iced coffees were chargeable Other negatives were broken sun-beds that were very uncomfortable, unless you walked to the pool down the road at the Annex where they were much better. Other negatives food was very repetitive, also if you have kids who are fussy eaters, they will probably live on pasta and chips. Positives:- *Attractive and spotlessly clean hotel *Friendly staff *vibrant town about 25 minute walk or short taxi. *Nice beach with comfy sun-beds €5 per day *lovely tavernas and some shops at the beach. This is where we had to buy our coffees. *Fabulous views

Had an excellent week at this hotel with the family, having read a couple of negative reviews before going I was a little apprehensive, it was absolutely amazing , the room was huge, and kept spotless, food was plentiful and for a meat eating family and vegetarian family the choices were great , best food we have had in an all inclusive, ( better chips than English chip shops) , All food clearly labelled, All staff friendly and welcoming with a special mention for Zacharius who was a lovely gentleman. Room location perfect, Location of the hotel although on top of a hill didn’t bother us one bit and was fine, Again prior to going was worried about size of the pools but once there they were fine, ( maybe get a bit busy once more and more people arrive ) . All in all a great week and would consider returning without a second thought,

The hotel was lovely. Staff of all roles were very friendly and helpful. The all inclusive served lots of different types of food and desserts and the food, drink and snack offer was on for most of the day. My only minus would be spirits weren’t included in the ‘all inclusive’ apart from Ouzo and Raki which aren’t to everyone’s taste and don’t go well with mixers. The kids really enjoyed the mocktails. The hotel and guests had a relaxed but polished feel. No one making ‘over use’ of the all inclusive (apart from my son with drinks, desserts and ice creams! Our room was gorgeous and air con was so good. Maid service excellent and balcony really big with table and chairs and loungers. Went to 3 local beaches and all lovely and good for scuba diving snorkelling and other water sports and fun activities. Beach bars at the beaches really good too and not too expensive. Acqua has plus waterpark a good day out and wasn’t too busy when we went.

We visited Blue Bay as a family of 4 for a week in July 2026. The location of this hotel is extremely picturesque; to be able to see both sunrise and sunset from the same grounds was incredible. The nearest town was village Agia Pelagia (25ish min walk) with a lovely beach and souvenir shops, and the main local city was Heraklion. Definitely worth visiting! The hotel has a coach of cheap price that goes to both these destinations several times a day. The hotel runs a shuttle bus to a small local cove beach too with activities available such as snorkelling. Other excursions such as quad biking and safaris are also available but it is a quiet, tourist hotel area with not much to do otherwise. We were okay with this as we came with little intention of leaving the resort. The hotel was extremely clean, cleaners came into the room daily no matter what, and rooms were basic but did the job. There was not an iron or any bathroom accessories provided either e.g shampoo or conditioner so do bring your own. My mum found the AC in our room wasn’t strong or effective enough and did find the bed a bit hard on her back. However, the second we let reception know, they were extremely helpful and provided us a mattress topper. There are 3 main pools, with 2 smaller ones. Spas are available and were spoken extremely highly of. Entertainment was really enjoyable with great variation. As echoed by other reviews, drinks for all inclusive packages are limited. Worth noting depending on how much this means to you. Pools can get a tad busy. What particularly blew us away was the food at the all inclusive buffet. There was great variety, catering for both fussy and non fussy eaters, vegetarian or not. The food choice and quality of choice was very good. The beef and the lamb was especially lovely. Chips to die for!! The younger kids kept raving on about how good they were! Cleanliness in the restaurant and around the hotel generally was extremely impressive. Hospitality provided by the staff was SEVEN stars!! From EVERYBODY!! Some of the best you could ever experience. From reception, to cleaners, to waiters, the team work really hard and you could tell they enjoyed their jobs. There was not one individual we could fault for their politeness and willingness to help. Everything was done with a smile and not once could you see any worker on their mobile phone. OUTSTANDING :) And we went when the last week of the World Cup was on so the bars were very busy! There are so many workers we wish we could name! We bonded with lot of the other guests there (not JUST through the football 😅). But without exception, what made the holiday truly memorable were people like Maria, who was a pure delight, and always smiling, and the legend that is Zacharias! :) (I believe the evening hotel manager) He makes such great effort with all his guests and truly made our holiday special with his humour, attentiveness, knowledge and his ability to leave you in stitches with just a glance. How do you top that? A magnificent asset to the hotel who we won’t forget :) . If you have seen Pretty Woman, he is the real life “Barney” (character played by Hector Elizondo). We would highly recommend the hotel and miss it so much already!

What a beautiful place to stay in our opinion .. we had room 217 in the main building, which was fabulous.. the views breath taking from balcony.. Safe for 7 nights was €20, can’t always say I agree with charge, albeit , if keys don’t get returned and the maintenance on theses are needed I can see the reason to be fair.. Tourist tax was €70 for us.. The staff are a credit to the owners of this Hotel, always polite, smiling and generally helpful … it clearly seems to be a lovely place to work and management are present around hotel too.. Hotel is spotless ..love the fact they make the beds look attractive yet airing them at same time..shows how Hygiene is high up on their agenda.. The food was excellent, very well labelled, which for a dairy intolerant person was massively helpful, Thank you.. Oat milk wasn’t put out, just ask and they get it for you also decaf coffee.. nothing is too much trouble, we found there was plenty of choice, if you like Desserts you will be totally catered for, most with dairy, fruit is on offer too.. Food at poolside looked good ..only had the donuts, which are a must so can’t really comment on that.. Sunbeds were plentiful and the time we stayed there was always ones free anytime of day, people did seem to respect not saving them.. we took our own towels, you can hire them though, don’t know cost sorry.. Drinks weren’t a problem we knew on booking what was available… All the local alcoholic drinks were perfectly acceptable for us.. you can have Pepsi/Pepsi Max etc which is AI too..water filling stations around to fill up your drinks holder..nice touch.. This Beautiful elevated Hotel enjoys both the Sunrises and Sunsets.. now that’s a bonus, it also keeps you fit with the steps in hotel and steep hills one needs to walk if leaving hotel, we didn’t use the free shuttle..chose to walk to “town” which was lovely, not for the faint hearted though.. Entertainment in general was pretty good I have to say, however, for us it’s not a deal breaker.. however, the communication with Hotel before was and during stay is second to none.. just look at how they reply to each comment on here and Google.. I emailed ahead and asked a few queries, one being did we need to bring our travel kettle, they said no they would sort it and on arrival we had one in our room.. now that’s service.. Thank you