The Royal Blue Resort

Whilst the hotel and room were excellent. We found that there were several areas which could be improved. |As the hotel is quite remote and an hour front Heraklion car hire is advisable. |On arrival, we were met by reception and were presented with an additional tourist tax bill of £130, and a request for my credit where a 50 euro a day charge would be deducted, which I declined as any credit would take 2 to 3 weeks to clear.|On arriving in our room, which was perfect, I asked if the double bed could be made up into two singles (as advertised on the hotel website) to be told that this was not possible. |On settling in, we went to dinner and ordered a bottle of the house red and were quoted 38 euros, which was we felt a bit expensive. So, I ordered a still water at euros. |The buffet food was good, but every hot dish we tried was cold to eat as the food was left out for some time. |On returning to our room, we decided to watch TV, but the only English speaking channels were Sky News and other news documentaries on China. We did ask if any English entertainment channels were available to be told no.|At least the weather was good and we enjoyed the pool and beach. If the drinks were more reasonable, we would have spent more time in the bars listening to the entertainment. |We found the supermarket next door supplied good quality wine and snacks, which makes me wonder why the hotel has to be so greedy. |I've no doubt the person who replies to this honest review will come out and say that the drinks prices are typical of the hotels in the area. But customers will go elsewhere if they know of a better deal.

From the moment we checked in at the reception we were met with smiling faces and were warmly welcomed. Dimitris who drove us to the room was kind and so helpful giving us a few tips about our stay. His friendliness and kindness made the long trip worth it. ||Waking up was like we were in a dream. The location was just beautiful, the cleansiness, the beach (world class). We were there for 2 weeks and never ran out of things to do. ||| The whole team at the hotel really reminded me of a South African culture/spirit called Ubuntu. The team truly lived this and every interaction with them they made a deliberate effort to make this holiday special. A special mention to a few from Evangelia and Michalis from the retsurant, Dimitris Stratidakis (my brother from another mother), Theo the ever smiling Chef, DJ Giorgo for the great tunes and dancing in the evening entertainment and Vassilis Koukias, beach manager, who really made sure we were enjoying our time on the beach. ||Buffet never really my thing as I find that it becomes the same especially if staying in one place for 13 nights. But put it this way in 13 nights spent we only had dinner elsewhere 2 nights. The variety and freshness of the meals was just incredible. | |FINAL CONCLUSION: Best beach holiday I have had in Europe and would do it again in a heartbeat. ||Thank you to all

Just got back from this fantastic hotel . went half board food excellent & plenty to choose from. Staff couldn't do enough for you , the Royals got its own private beech & there are two pools plenty of sun loungers,i would like to make a point another plus for this hotel they actually stop the greedy sun bed oggers, there is a notice to say towels & belongings will be removed if left unattended for a long period of time, so if you like getting up at 5 in the morning to get your sun loungers & your favourite spot (& you know who you are😅) this hotel wouldn't be for you .|Location is good .|Entertainment bearing in mind our stay was end of sept/oct was low key suited us anyway , most nights we spent at the bar near the beech good variety of music to suit all ages.|Loved our stay at the Royal |Big Thank you to all the staff .|Neil & Carol

My stay at the Royal Blue started with the words we have upgraded your room from the receptionist and champagne and cocktails in reception. Perfect. The hotel staff were lovely and couldn't do enough to make my stay perfect. The food was lovely with a choice of restaurants. I had a villa with a private pool overlooking the beach. It was wonderful and I will definitely be back.

We had a wonderful stay at The Royal Blue Hotel in Crete. From the moment we arrived, the staff made us feel so welcome – everyone was incredibly friendly, professional, and always happy to help with anything we needed. The hotel itself is beautifully maintained and spotlessly clean, creating a really relaxing atmosphere. The food was a highlight of our trip – absolutely delicious with plenty of choice at every meal. Whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner, everything was fresh and full of flavour. The service in the restaurant was excellent too, which made dining even more enjoyable. Overall, this is a perfect place for a relaxing holiday in Crete. Friendly staff, immaculate rooms, and fantastic food – we couldn’t have asked for more. We would definitely recommend The Royal Blue Hotel to anyone visiting the island and look forward to returning again soon!

We had a wonderful stay at this beautiful resort. The variety and quality of the dinner options were excellent, and the beach and surrounding areas were impressively clean. The atmosphere was quiet and very relaxing, perfect for a couple’s getaway, especially since there were no teenagers after the school break in mid-September. While more evening activities and better use of the beach for events or parties would have been a nice addition, overall it was a truly peaceful and enjoyable week. Highly recommended for anyone looking to relax and unwind.

We just came back from The Royal Blue and I would like to say we really enjoyed our stay. It is a very beautiful hotel. The rooms are very spacious, with balcony. |The staff is extremly friendly, hemofilia, always smiling snd willing to help.|We also liked the beach, is perfect for children.|5 minutes distance by car to the closest village, where you can find restaurants and shops.

Good experience overall. The resort has some aspect that could make it a luxury resort. But some things need to be updated. There are 2 pools. One is adult only and is not very attractive. Located close to the main build. The atmosphere feels dry, no much vegetation, plants or flowers. The other pool has an incredible view, nice loungers. But it is a salted pool. Very very salty. Could not swim without googles. My kids were not fond of it.|There is a man made beach down by the sea, accessible by a 3 minute walk down. The beach is protected by fake big rocks. It's okay, and it's great to have a beach at the resort, since many other resorts are further away from the sea up the hill with no beach access.|They have a sister resort, just 2 minutes away up the hill. This resort has a kids Splash Aqua Park, good for kids all ages. Guests from the Royal Blue can go to the sister resort any time. That's a plus if you have kids!||Rooms : the room we had was fully renovated. It was very nice, but no luxury finitions. |If you can ask for a sea view. The rooms have a nice balcony with table and chairs and the view is amazing.|Cons: the mattress!!!! Our mattress was HORRIBLE!! Instead of having a king bed as advertised, we had 2 small beds together. So I asked for the bed to be made as a king. We were lucky and when they brought the sheets, they also brought a king mattress topper, which helped a lot. ||Food : we chose this resort because of the access to the beach and because people were saying the buffet food was very good. We booked a half board and had breakfast and dinner included. We found the food was not good at all!! There is a large variety for sure. But dishes are not tasty at all.... Only the grilling area had decent food. The desert buffet was the worst I ever had!!! |On a positive note, the dining area has 2 large terraces with amazing views, sunset and night sky.||The Resort has a spa and gym. We got a massage and it was just average. And it lacks atmosphere... ||Now our favorite : the Sunset bar! Wonderful little bar, very good drinks and service. We would go most night to watch the beautiful sunset!||Overall we had an ok vacation but I felt like this resort lacked in charm and atmosphere. |The location is pretty good. 5 mn from Panormos which was my favorite little village. 15 mn from Rethymno, 1 hour from Heraklyon and 1.5 hour from Chania.