Stella Island Luxury Resort & Spa

Best resort I have stayed in Europe! Staff were amazing food and drink was delicious!! Highly recommend

One week back after spending 8 nights in Stella Island and I've struggled with this review. Overall there is a lot to like about Stella, it is a stunning property with amazing staff but there were a couple of things we found let the hotel down and could be improved on. Room: Swim up premium room number 409 While I say it is a nice hotel room it does not give a wow factor. Not the largest room in the world and the layout not great. Not a fan of the sink being in the room and the design of the sink and tap coming down from the ceiling has not been thought through, sink is too small and the tap just gets in the way. I would prefer to have a separate bathroom, not a fan of toilet door opening into the room. This might have been just an issue with our room location but the noise levels late at night and early in the morning meant we did not have a single good nights sleep. We were kept awake with the noise of the golf buggies flying past the room, sometimes until 2 am. What made the noise worse for this room is that it is located on the approach to an incline with a drain cover running the width of the path. The buggies had to speed up as they approached the incline and as they hit the drain it made an awful noise. I think the buggies should not be used between 11 pm and 7 am. We were also woken up early most morning with staff speaking loudly as they walked passed the room, one morning it was 5:15am. What did not help either is the door provides no sound proofing, when you lock the door light streams in at the bottom and sides. I would challenge a manager or someone of influence to spend a night in this room to understand the noise issue. I would not recommend the swim up rooms. We realised as soon as the sun came up on our first day that we were never going to get sun on our decking. We were going to ask to be moved but noticed most of this room type would not get the sun for all or large parts of the day. We also got a pool beds each day and were looked after so well by the team in the Umbra bar that we were happy to stay by the pool. Shout out to Maria here who made our lazy days poolside so enjoyable. If like us and your budget can't stretch to the higher end bungalows I would recommend the pool view rooms rather than the swim up rooms as you would need to get very lucky to get swim up decking that got much sun so you don't get the benefit of paying the extra. Room was well presented when we arrived and was well maintained while we were there. Bed is large and very comfortable. Food and Service. We upgraded to all inclusive when we arrived which I recommend. I would have liked to had more beer options included in the AI but apart from that I think the wine and cocktails included was good. Breakfast buffet was very good. Lots of choice with something for everyone. Lunch buffet was just OK so if you are all inclusive I would recommend lunch in La Parrilla. There are less options than the buffet but everything is cooked to order. One of the reasons we upgraded to AI was we were excited to try the different restaurants after reading such positive reviews. Unfortunately, we were a little disappointed. We were looking forward to Nikkei(Asian) and Paraiso(Mexican) as we love big bold flavors but found both to be bland, especially Paraiso. it was like both restaurants were playing it safe on the flavors and spices. In Isla, La Parrilla and Oceania we found to be a little too similar. Some of the dishes across the 3 restaurants had the same garnishes. I also found the meat cuts on the small side. I would not have been happy if I was paying the menu price for the steaks. When a ribeye is priced at €80 I was expecting something more substantial than the cut that was served. Maybe have different menus to AI guests without the prices(to avoid disappointment). Best dishes were the scallop starter in Isla, corn soup with lobster and chorizo in Oceania and all of the desserts, shout out to the dessert team especially the tiramisu in La Parrilla. Staff in the restaurants like all the staff around the hotel were great, friendly and helpful, nothing was ever too much trouble. Overall: It sounds like I am giving a negative review but really we had a great holiday and would return, maybe not to room 409 but we would return. We stayed for 8 nights which for us was too long. I might do 3 or 4 nights at the end of a visit to Crete to get in some R&R before returning home. We visited middle October pools were on the cool side but OK after a couple of minutes and evenings were on the colder side.

Location stunning ,the atmosphere relaxed and welcoming . The rooms are designed beautifully and have lovely wooden furniture with a great view to the pool and beautiful landscaped water . The hotel is 5 star value

Stella Island – An Honest Review Firstly, the good. I cannot praise the staff and their training highly enough. From the lovely lady on the concierge desk, whose name escapes me, but who went out of her way to help us change rooms, to Lefty (or Leftis) at the poolside bar, Dalia at the Isola restaurant, and everyone else we came into contact with, the staff were consistently friendly, helpful and welcoming. They really were a credit to the resort. Now for the not-so-good. Our flight was delayed, and on arrival there was no car waiting for us as arranged. The driver did contact us by text, but somehow it didn’t work out, so we simply jumped into a taxi. To be fair, the hotel resolved the issue by arranging a car for our return journey. We were shown to our overwater bungalow, which initially looked acceptable, although rather small. Storage was very limited, and with two suitcases, you could realistically unpack only one. On closer inspection, however, we found the bathroom was not particularly hygienic. The bidet was filthy, and we had to cover it with a towel and ask the hotel to change the grille. Unfortunately, this made little difference. Our first evening was spent in the buffet restaurant, and frankly, the food was very disappointing. The overall quality was poor, which surprised me given how busy the restaurant was. Another disappointment was the so-called all-inclusive arrangement. Wine beyond what was included came at a premium, meaning you could find yourself paying extra for drinks you might reasonably expect to be covered. I have to say, I felt rather misled by this. Compare it with somewhere like Ikos, where the all-inclusive concept genuinely feels inclusive, and the difference is noticeable. Needless to say, we decided not to return to the buffet. Our favourite restaurant was Isola, at the rear of the property, which we particularly enjoyed for breakfast. We also liked the fish restaurant, which was very good. The Greek restaurant was pleasant enough at lunchtime, but our evening experience was quite the opposite. On one occasion, we had to ask for a glass of rosé four times. When the waiter finally came back after the fourth request, he asked if I would like another glass. My response was that I would quite have liked the first one! After that first day, we were so disappointed that we seriously considered our options. We looked at moving to another hotel, including a Virtuoso Select property, but that would have meant spending considerably more money. We even looked at flights home, as we were genuinely unhappy with the experience. Fortunately, the lady on the concierge desk came to our rescue. She explained that another type of room was available, although it would involve an additional £200, with the usual upgrade cost apparently being around £300 per night. At that point, we simply wanted to make the best of our stay, so we agreed to the change. The weather, incidentally, was dreadful, with one of the worst storms in years. That certainly wasn’t the resort’s fault, and we made the best of the situation. The replacement room was much better overall, although it was rather close to the Mexican restaurant, where music was played at considerable volume until midnight. If you wanted an early night, that was probably not the place to be! Fortunately, we were generally out and about, so it wasn’t a major issue for us, but it is worth bearing in mind. Outside the resort, the surrounding town also felt rather tired and lifeless. There were numerous disused cafés, bars and shops, and the area seemed to have lost much of its character. I appreciate that this isn’t something the hotel can be held responsible for, and perhaps the local businesses simply need to find new ways to attract visitors. Nevertheless, it did affect our overall impression of the destination. So, what is the final verdict? There is no doubt that Stella Island has some excellent staff, and a few of its restaurants provided genuinely enjoyable experiences. The people we encountered were, for the most part, wonderful, and I would like that to be recognised. However, the shortcomings were too significant to overlook. The initial room and its hygiene issues, the disappointing buffet, the limitations of the all-inclusive offering, and inconsistent service in some of the restaurants all detracted from what should have been a relaxing and enjoyable holiday. We went with high expectations, but unfortunately, the experience simply didn’t live up to them. Would we return? No, we wouldn’t. For the price paid, I just don’t feel Stella Island represents good value for money. There are other resorts where, in my opinion, the overall experience and inclusiveness justify the cost far better. A final word of praise, though, for the staff. They did their best to help us, and that deserves to be acknowledged. Sadly, excellent staff alone were not enough to make this the holiday we had hoped for.

Stella Island is an amazing wonderful hotel I have had the privilege of travelling far and wide and can definitely say this is up there from food to accommodation to staff The lovely staff treat you as a member of their family they really helped make our stay truly memorable and so welcoming If you are thinking of staying here don’t think about it just do it you won’t regret it