TUI BLUE Insula Alba

Our 4th visit to this lovely hotel. First one with all inclusive as that is now the only package available. I’ve reviewed the hotel previously quite carefully and am happy to report nothing has really changed. Food offerings great with daily rotating themed buffet, the piano bar now is a second à la carte restaurant offering a variety of pasta or pizza based meals which come highly recommended along with the existing culinarium also offering à la carte menu. Guests are entitled to one visit to each included in the package. I did hear one guest feeling the hotel was not for them but heard no evidence as to why. We love the hotel and special mention has to go to all the staff they are utterly fantastic. Welcoming and with a proper ‘can do’ attitude. So thankyou to Eva and the customer relations team with Stavroula Youli and Maria. Maria who kept our room so fantastically clean each day. Manos, Costas and the team who work so very hard at the pool bar particularly as the all inclusive has kept more people happily at the bar, Katerina and Fillipos in the piano bar, the Spa staff and the waiting staff working for Nickos !! All excellent. I really want to mention Claire the superb TUI Rep at the hotel. Absolutely lovely lady so knowledgeable and helpful. My poor partner suffers with fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis which, if you’re in the know, can unexpectedly flare up at any time. Sadly she got hit with a flare up 4 days before travelling home. We hoped it would disappear as quickly as it hit her but no. The morning of departure I wasn’t sure how we’d manage to navigate the chaos of Heraklion airport then arriving at Bristol as my poor girl could hardly walk. I approached Claire who immediately organised/booked us for assisted travel at both points. So with the help of wheelchairs and airport staff our journey though a bit slower, was pretty effortless. Thankyou again Claire you’re a superstar. So in conclusion, sorry there’s not much hotel info in this review but, please look at the others where I’ve been more informative. I’m sure some may not be totally happy with their choice of this hotel but, the rating speaks for itself, it is a genuinely superb hotel particularly for those seeking a chilled atmosphere and please, rest assured the facilities are great and the staff just fantastic.

We stayed in a swim-up room. The ones around the large central pool are decent – proper space to actually swim. I wouldn’t want to be in one of the rooms that only have a thin strip of water in front of them; there’s basically no room to swim at all. Our room itself was a good size and had a nice double sunlounger outside, which was a plus. Food is really quite poor compared to other TUI Blue hotels we’ve stayed at. The Culinarium is nice, and the pizza and pasta place is good too, but you only get one meal in each, which feels very limited. Entertainment is terrible. The white party was a joke – half a dozen white balloons and a Spotify playlist. The silent disco was just as disappointing: the host packed away all the spare headsets at 10pm, right when we were starting to think about joining in. It can also be difficult to get served at the bar, and there’s no outside dining apart from the once-a-week pizza place. Overall a bit underwhelming for a TUI Blue.

Truly a lovely hotel which without doubt is the cleanest place I have ever stayed in! It was spotless. The staff were absolutely lovely and nothing was too much as a request. Swim up room was fab, water is kind of cold but you get over that and the food was fine with the Greek Restaurant the highlight. Just one suggestion as constructive criticism, the bar service just needs looking at, we were unfortunate as the lovely Manos took a week off two days after we arrived and from there it went very very slow at being served sometimes 20 minutes! At times we just went back to the room. If this was reviewed I'm sure it would make an even better resort. For anyone coming from Ireland with TUI please make sure you fly into Heraklion Airport as TUI sent us to Chania Airport which was a 3 hours journey!

Marisa found this place on Tui’s website as somewhere chilled to visit, which is adults only. Another great holiday find by the wife. We booked a room with a swim up pool, as a little extra treat to ourselves. We arrived early afternoon, and were checked in by 3.30pm-ish. The reception is big and we were taken to our room 1504 by a friendly staff member on the golf buggy. Our initial room was lovely, but we were concerned that we were in a shaded area which isn’t what you want on a sunny break away. We spoke to the TUI rep (Claire) who had a chat with the hotel manager and we were offered room 911 which was opposite the pool bar area which we accepted. Lovely room, and the sun was out most of the morning up to around 3.00pm. We had the ala carte meal on Marisa’s birthday which is situated in the restaurant at the front by the sea. All the staff were brilliant there, and the food was exceptional, they even treated Marisa to a birthday cake. The pool bar is manned by some friendly characters! Manos, Hamid and the brilliant, Kostas to name a few! They kept the drinks flowing and the smiles cracking! The buffet restaurant - good selection of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Gym - little bit small, but had what I needed, a treadmill. We’ve had a lovely time, and can’t fault the service, the food, the amenities or the location! Thank you Team Insula Alba

Me and my daughter have just returned this morning from staying at the TUI Blue Insula Alba for 7 nights, and I couldn't wait to share my experience of this fantastic hotel. Hotel is beautiful, clean in a quiet location but easy to travel to neighbouring Hersonisis. The staff only add to how fantastic this hotel is and deliver a 5* continuously, whether thats the reception, housekeeping, bar or resteraunt every single one of the staff are fantastic. I want to shout out to our house keeper for room 2207, who kept our room immaculate and provided some beautiful towel art that put a smile on our faces returning to our room. So down to the nitty gritty... Cons.. The only issue was around getting a sun bed on the first day, there are enough but we found some people who had swim up rooms or private pools were reserving sunbeds and weren't even using them. However we approached the reception and they sorted us straight away, so in the end not even an issue. And the rest of rhe week we didnt have a problem even when only going down at after 9am when we thought we would have some issues and have to go to beach...first world problems I know 🤭..but we still found beds. Pros- Literally everything else! The staff, the food, the rooms Everyone is so friendly and nice. The hotel is very relaxed so great if you are just wanting peace and quiet and to get away from it all, its perfect. No issue was too big or small and every request was handled straight away. The room and whole hotel is immaculate! The food, I heard some people complaining there wasn't enough choice..ok so if your looking for burgers and chips then maybe stick to Spain and this isnt the place for you. But honestly the food is amazing..the best I have had in an all inclusive. The ingredients all taste fresh and the food is always warm. Or cold which ever it is supposed to be. Ive eaten in resteraunts where the quality hasn't been as good. The culinarium was ok. Tbh I found it a bit over facing..beware there is a lot of food! 🤣. But again the food was nice and the staff very pleasant. They also do snacks here during the day. The cheese sauce on the gyros is yummy.. and definitely try the red velvet cake. Entertainment is very average and not much of it..but this is an adults only hotel and the over all vibe is classy but low key and relaxing. The pool is lovely..yes it makes you suck ya breath in when you first get to hip level..but thats every pool..and ive been in much colder. Once you are in its lovely and refreshing. Perfect after sitting in the sun for a few hours and sipping on those cocktails. 🍸🍸 There is also a nice beach bar which serves a variety of drinks from 10am till midnight. Again the service is good. As with anywhere the more you tip the better looked after you will be. All in all we have loved our stay here. Its our first time visiting greece/crete and honestly its stolen my heart. I will definitely be returning. Anyone on the fence..book it! You absolutely will not regret it . 10/10 for this hotel. Thankyou to everyone at the Insula Alba that helped to make mine and my daughters holiday so memorable. I am so sad to have had to leave and return to reality.