Azul Eco Hotel

This is stated as a 4-star hotel. Although I understand that different countries use different criteria to rate their hotels, I would expect any four-star hotel to pay attention to detail; this was lacking in so many areas. Hotel – There is no luggage storage area in the hotel, so if you check out but on a late flight, your luggage will be kept in the reception area, which also served as the changing room. (see photos… not of people changing). The hotel does not have an indoor bar area (apart from when the restaurant was unlocked), nor does it have a comfortable indoor lounge area, so you must sit at the pool or in your room. Food – I can only see one positive aspect of the restaurant, which is that if you have young children, you can all eat together since it was all served lukewarm. Good for people on diets because you won’t want to eat here. Accommodation – Very poor quality, we asked to move rooms 3 times, offering to pay for an upgrade, each time was rejected. I have been told some rooms have been upgraded, but I can only report on the room we were given. In addition to the room not being large enough to have a seating area, it took 3 days of asking to obtain a second patio chair for the tiny balcony. (see photos) Poolside- The pool is very small, approximately 5 meters square, in poor repair and filthy with scum, and not cleaned during my stay of 10 days. (see photos) Drinks - To be avoided, drinks were very limited and very poor quality. Location - cross a busy road to the beach with great care, there is an underpass about 200 meters down the road. Also, you really need a car as the hotel as it is somewhat isolated. Believe me you will want to get out often Staff - saving Grace, can’t complain as they worked very well under the circumstances. Return to the hotel – After 4 days we phoned the travel company who we booked with asking to move hotels. Wild horses couldn’t drag me back! I am struggling to see what some people saw in this hotel giving it such high reviews.

Well i am actually here now and writing this by the pool. It is a lovely hotel and as many have said the staff are fantastic. So attentive. plates are cleared immediately. I personally love the canopies around the pool side, so you can always have shade. There are two shops next door, one with an ATM. As one says ‘All you need from Crete’. A good choice of snacks, drinks, beach stuff and gifts. The sea is across a busy road but thats ok if you can walk and time it well. As people have said the Corali is a good beach bar and you can hire umbrella’s for 3.5 euros per day. The Azul has a decent pool side bar. Being on half board you have to pay for drinks but not a bad choice. The all inclusive choices look fine. The room is quite small but it was a late booking. Arriving at midnight I was pleasantly surprised to have a sandwich apple and water waiting. The bus service to local towns is half hourly. It is cheap and efficient. The stop is outside the hotel or if going the other way on the other side of the road. Plenty of shade while waiting and it has always been on time. Route No. 20 by the way. There is a car hire next door by the shops. I have not bothered. After all if you are staying in an eco hotel isn’t is right to use public transport? And I drive every day so not doing so on holiday is part of the pleasure. Anyway back to the sunbathing and a beer is needed.

We didn't plan to stay here but as our original hotel was overbooked, me and my boyfriend ended up spending 8 nights here and had a lovely time! The best part of this hotel is the staff - the bar and restaurant staff (especially Nico) cannot do enough for you. We were waited on hand and foot and were made to feel so welcome, we cannot thank them enough for their lovely service. We enjoyed all inclusive drinks by the pool served from 10am-11pm, the drinks are varied with beer, wine, cocktails and certain spirits however you have to pay more for premium drinks (we didn't do this as the selection was good enough). There is a live cooking station in the restaurant and the food was great, however it would improve if the dishes were labelled as sometimes it was a guessing game. The room was spacious and very clean, the maids came everyday to clean and change bins etc. The pool is quite small and people left their towels on beds all day so having more sunbeds and parasols would definitely help! Also our room was a bit noisy as we were right next to the reception/restaurant area so would get woken up by people in the corridor, however I'm sure if we raised this with reception they would've been happy to sort this for us! Theres a supermarket right next door (handy as there is no snacks in the all inclusive package - only meal times) and a lovely beach about 500m away however the area is generally quiet so if you're wanting something a bit more lively would suggest staying closer to the old town. There was entertainment on two nights we stayed (greek dancing and a live singer) however apart from this nighttimes can be quiet. We visited the old town a couple of times and bought bus tickets at reception (€1.60), it only takes around 30 mins to get there. All in all, our stay was lovely and we would deffo recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a chilled holiday where you don't have to lift a finger. The staff are some of the most hardworking and friendliest people you will ever meet. Also shoutout to the manager Mr. Zagogiannis who helped us when we were having problems with our original hotel - we were knocking on his office most days I'm sure he was sick of us but he did everything he could to make sure we had an enjoyable stay and really took time out of his day to help us! Thank you again :)

The absolute best thing about this hotel is the staff. Without exception all of them are incredibly hard working, efficient and above all, special folk. So genuinely friendly and helpful. Of all the hotels I've stayed at they are the tops. The hotel itself is clean and welcoming and seems to be in the process of updating (no noise problem though). The food was excellent, plentiful and offered lots of choices. This was our first visit to Crete, the island where everyone seems to be welcoming, so I hope we can return.

My wife and I stayed in a double room on All Inclusive basis. The mattress was superb and the room was clean and serviced every day. Nicos and his fantastic bar and restaurant team couldn't do enough to help us, we found it perfect to try lots of different Greek dishes (who knew I really did like courgette and aubergine after all !) The drinks were absolutely fine ... Mynos beer, a choice of 5 or 6 cocktails, spirits etc. Everyone was really friendly and it has a relaxed atmosphere about the place. There were some rooms being renovated and some noise and paint smell but it was no issue to us at all. Mr Zagogiannis the CEO was very kind in allowing my wife and I to retain our room until our transfer bus came. The hotel (as with most we saw) isn't in a lively location so if nightclubs are your thing maybe Crete isn't the place for you.

Skaleta Not the best holiday 922100106 We stayed at this 4* AI hotel which had good reviews - until a week or so before we went, when the reviews changed from mostly good to not so good. By then there was nothing we could do about it. The hotel is definitely not a 4* in our opinion- no more than a 3*. It was clean but we werent in the main hotel - which I understand the rooms had been renovated. We were in a room round the back of the hotel which was dated and needed renovating . Although it was clean and maids came in every day so no complaints there. The food was ok but quite basic and very repetitive - eg if they had pork in sauce they would have it on at lunch and evening for days in the same sauce. They only had chips on once or twice - which wasn’t great for people with children- though they had pizza every lunch and evening - so this was often the only ‘children’s-type food’ on - and chicken nuggets a couple of times. The AI drinks were from a pump - everything!!!! And so watered down or inferior - even whisky had no smell or taste ! I got a pina colada one evening in a little tumbler and it was vile - couldn’t drink it. Another lady who wasn’t AI got one in a proper glass - so we tasted each others and they were totally different. I get not giving premium brands but actually giving all inclusive drinks from a pump- that can only be likened to what I imagine drain fluid tastes like, is out of order !!! You pay extra for AI so should receive something half decent. Nearly Everyone we spoke to felt the same. On an evening you could only sit out round the pool - end everyone was covered in mosquito bites / so take insect repellent with you if you decide to brave this hotel ! When it rained one evening there was nowhere inside to sit so unless you were under an umbrella you got wet ! There wasn’t a lot of sun beds for the amount of people staying at the hotel so you needed to be up early to grab one if you were staying round the pool For us the hotel was too far out, you had to cross a busy road to catch a bus to go anywhere. Rethymno was a half hours bus ride away and chania was 2 bus rides away, taking one and a half hours on the buses. Both beautiful places and well worth a visit but we would have liked to be nearer to either of these places . Also we like to walk in an evening but there was nowhere to walk to! There was no entertainment on apart from a couple of dancers on Sunday evening. Another night a group set their equipment up but was told the hotel couldn’t pay them so they took their equipment and left. There was also a girl doing Zumba twice through the day for half hour but nothing else. We didn’t like the tall girl who worked behind the bar. I’ve seen one or two good reviews about her but we felt she either took a liking to you or she didn’t ! She was rude to us more than once And kept telling us off for taking the wrong glass in the dining room - even though her colleague had served us from the dining room side

We stayed here for 2 weeks and had a great time. Spotlessly clean (fresh towels everyday, room swept, bathroom cleaned, linen changed regularly). The food was good -breakfast had plenty of choice. Eggs, beans, sausages, cheeses, hams, yoghurt, fruit, great choice of hot drinks, breads, gorgeous apple cakes, cereal. Dinner was usually 2 x pasta dishes, potato dishes, salads, meats, breads, amazing pizzas, soup, desserts were cake, melon and ice cream. Heard some people moaning about the food (usually the lack of chips!) but we were happy as were most others I spoke to. Staff work incredibly hard and don't seem to have a day off! Marina was especially to be mentioned for her kindness to my mum "The Duchess"! The beach was a 10 min walk away and beautifully quiet. Sun beds could be rented on the beach for 3.5 euros I think, or free with a drink from the Corali. For what we paid we were very happy here and would definitely come here again.

My room is 609. the hotel is not interesting, maximum 3 stars. access from the hotel to the beach.. fear of being under the highway. it is very easy to get to the hotel. there is no fence. there are thefts. I do not recommend it.

I arrived on Sunday 15th October was greeted by nice reception lady , gave me key to my room number 205. I was very pleased. A lovely large room, very comfortable mattress on the bed, lovely quality pillows. Bathroom basic but had everything i needed , a toilet a sink and a shower. Perfect. Nice towels provided. A proper duvet instead of just a bed sheet can be found in the wardrobe. I've really enjoyed the company of the other guests and the staff who have been fantastic. Marina in particular who has been brilliant from day one, really lovely, kind friendly welcoming , an absolute gem she is , as with Andreas the young lad on the bar, as well as the young girl who's name I couldn't rremember.food was nice, all homemade , some weird things I wouldn't normally eat at home but then I came to a foreign country and eat what they eat, it was nice. Something different every day , fresh pizza oven , freshly made infront of your eyes, omelette for breakfast freshly made. I honestly can't fault this place, I will definitely return next year and can't wait to see you all again, may even have 2 weeks next time! Thank you. Would recommend. Xx