Stella Blue Seaside Resort

We stayed at the hotel for two weeks to celebrate my fiancé’s 30th birthday, and overall we had a lovely holiday. The hotel and room: Our standard room was modern and nicely presented. However, our balcony overlooked the rooms with private jacuzzis, and unfortunately these jacuzzi areas were not particularly private. We could see guests using their jacuzzis from our balcony, which felt a little awkward at times. Housekeeping was one of the areas that could be improved. The floors in our room weren't cleaned during the entire two weeks we stayed. We also found that cleaners would enter the room without knocking, which was uncomfortable, particularly when we were inside. The staff: The staff were absolutely wonderful. Everyone we encountered was incredibly kind, friendly and couldn't do enough for us. They really made us feel welcome throughout our stay. A particular highlight was the food. The à la carte restaurants were incredible, and we were lucky enough to experience four meals at Ocean and Ble. The food and service were fantastic. We also celebrated two birthdays during our stay. The hotel went above and beyond by arranging a birthday cake and a bottle of sparkling wine in our room for each birthday, which was such a lovely and thoughtful touch. Entertainment: This was probably the biggest downside for us, particularly during the second week. Out of our 14 nights, for around 12 evenings we ended up playing cards because there was either no entertainment or the entertainment was in a very small area with only around 30 seats. By the time guests had finished dinner and wanted to watch the entertainment, the seats were generally already taken, meaning there wasn't really anywhere to sit and watch. We felt this made the second week less enjoyable, as there wasn't much else to do in the evenings. We also found that during the second week, it appeared that there was not enough staff. We would order a drink for our meal in the evening, and it wouldn't arrive until we had finished our meal. This happened a couple times which was disappointing. Location and airport: One thing people booking through a package holiday should definitely be aware of is the airport. Heraklion is the airport you need to fly into, rather than Chania, so double-check this carefully when booking. We actually booked the wrong airport, but thankfully we had hired a car. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because there isn't a huge amount immediately surrounding the hotel. There is a town around a 20-minute walk away, but having a car allowed us to explore more of Crete and visit different places during our two-week stay. Overall: We had a lovely holiday and particularly enjoyed the food, the beautiful modern room and, most importantly, the wonderful staff. The birthday surprises were a really special touch and something we'll remember. If you're staying for a longer period, I would definitely recommend hiring a car, as it gives you the freedom to explore and also provides more options for days and evenings when there isn't much entertainment at the hotel. There are a few areas where the hotel could improve, particularly housekeeping, the privacy of some rooms and the evening entertainment, but overall we enjoyed our stay and made some lovely memories celebrating a special birthday.

The hotel is amazing, very clean, modern and aesthetically pleasing. The rooms were spacious and cleaned daily, and the staff were incredibly attentive and couldn’t do enough for you. Although some people reserved sunbeds very early in the morning, we never had an issue finding one. There are several places to eat, and the food was really nice at all of them, with plenty of choice in the main buffet restaurant. We especially enjoyed the à la carte meals at Ocean and Ble. These are an additional cost if you’re staying for less than 7 days, but as we booked for 10 nights, we were able to eat at both restaurants. They do need to be booked through the hotel’s online app. The only negative for us was the evening entertainment, as there weren’t enough seats to accommodate everyone. The DJ by the pool, however, was brilliant! We didn’t visit the beach as the sea was very choppy, so we spent most of our time around the pool. Analipsi is only about a 10-minute walk away, with a number of restaurants and bars if you fancy a change of scenery. Overall, we really enjoyed our stay and have already booked to return next September! Thanks to all the staff at Stella Blue for making our stay an enjoyable one. Look forward to seeing you all again next year.

A great, spacious hotel with really friendly and helpful staff. The hotel was fully booked during our stay, but it never felt crowded at all. There’s plenty of space, lots of different areas to relax, and several pools to choose from. We really enjoyed our stay!

Wow wow wow, had a lovely week at the hotel, from arrival to leaving the service was really good. Every member of staff were professional, helpful and above all appeared friendly and happy. A special mention to Christian who served us drinks on the terrace. He was brilliant. The food was of a high quality and the Ocean & Ble restaurant made for 2 lovely evenings. The hotel is kept immaculate and the cleaning staff work really hard. The hotel and it’s staff should be very proud of the service they provide and hopefully we will return.

While it’s a beach front location and view is lovely the beach is disappointing not a lot of sand and sea very rocky - need water shoes only used once There isn’t a lot around the hotel and while some shops a few minutes walk the local town is a good 30-40 mins walk and not ideal if not fully mobile Taxi service is available from hotel and we did this to Heraklion This is a great hotel for a chilled relaxing holiday the staff are all lovely and the food is excellent both in the buffet with a different theme every night and 2 al a carte restaurants offered good menus and food was excellent. The hotel is very clean and bright. With a relaxed atmosphere and vibe. We stayed in the luxe swim up rooms which were beautiful and roomy - my only concern was that there didn’t seem to be enough ventilation in the rooms making our clothes damp and our shoes - the large shower was amazing and powerful with towels changed everyday but again not vents in the shower. There was entertainment most evenings and on some days a DJ round the pool which was amazing and gave a real beach club vibe. This is not a hotel for groups who want to party as things tend to close at 11pm and if you want to carry on drinking you have to pay. I would definitely stay here again for a week of RnR - well done to all keep it up.