Booked a real last minute deal thro an ABTA agent on the phone I wrote down ElIros when I should have written Elyros. We arrived early am at Georgioupolis where the staff were lovely and the facilities were wonderful. Gave us a room til we got the details sorted by our UK agent. Only when they opened in London did I realise my horrorific error. Left early the next day and went to Elyros Hotel Ierapetra, easily 100 miles away.
What a toilet! Butlins 1969 or a rough travel lodge on the A471. this was where my booking was. We stayed two uncomfortable nights and returned to Georgioupolis and the joy of the the Eliros. Breakfast was brilliant, lunch was great and dinner a quality experience. The private beach was breath-taking even allowing for the charge for sun beds. Staff, pool and experience was faultless. Yes, I ended up paying for 2 lots of accommodation, but I was so releaved and relaxed to be back home from the pain of Elyros with a Y. Please ensure you are clear which review and which location you are dealing with before you make a decision on these 2 hotels with similar names!

I booked this through lastminute.com - it was shown as a 4 star and was very cheap - I think about 300 or 350 pounds per person all inclusive.
We checked in - the manger was really rude when I said we had booked a sea view room - he implied I was lying, so I said I would show him the e-mail and asked to use the computer - right in front of us - but he said I could go to the internet cafe down the street (this is while we were standing there with suitcases etc)
After a lot of arguing we were shown to a 'seaview' room - awful! Ground floor, smelly, dirty bathroom with hairs and a huge brown stain in the toilet(!), rotting fridge, cobwebs in corners of room, tiles/wall coming apart in corners of room and 2 small very hard beds. The view was of a children's playground - even though it was facing the direction of the sea, you could not see it.
We rang reception and complained and they moved us to another room on the 1st floor. This was better as it didn't smell and nothing in the toilet(!), but it was still so crap, rundown and awful and a total joke for a 4 star rating. At that point I decided I would rather go home then stay there so we rang the travel rep and told them this and after a lot of pleading/begging/demanding they agreed to move us. We were given 2 options - one of which was the sister hotel Mythos Palace nextdoor - which was a 5 star. We went to see this and whilst I would never rate it as a 5 star it was like a normal nice 4 star hotel, clean and modern with a nice pool and pool area - so we moved here - only had to pay about 50 pounds admin charge for this.
I would not go to the Eliros even if it was totally free.
Just to mention the beach in front of both - is nothing special - not very pretty.

Our family (2adults, children 1+12) spent lovely quiet holiday in Eliros Hotel. We decided for this holiday quite late and it was the hotel which fitted our requirements - all inclusive, buffet, baby cot, children playground and pool, shallow sea and sandy beach.

At the beginning of October the weather was not so hot, so we didn´t need air conditioning at all and water at the pool was quite cold, so we didn´t use it. Sea was fine for swimming some days, some days it was windy with big waves. Generally, the end of season was visible - half empty hotel, a few people at the beach or at the pool. We enjoyed it, as we preferred quiet place. Morning walks with the sleeping baby in a carriage in a small, but nice garden were great. Children playground was OK, with swings and a small merry-go-round, but its metal parts got hot in the sun, so children had to be careful.

Most people in the hotels were German and Russian, we were the only Czech, but had no problem with it. Staff was fine and helpful, didn´t mind small children at all, allways smiled at them, talked to them etc.

We had our own baby food for the 1-year-old, who is allergic to milk, so he only tried some food in the hotel(pasta, meat, etc), but the rest of us could always find something tasty to eat (even 12year old girl who doesn´t eat almost anything didn´t starve). My husband only missed steaks, so we had dinner somewhere else couple of times. The review of people from 5th September 2007describes the meals very well and in details, we had the same experience.

Rooms were clean, simple, not big, but OK with a small balcony. Our room was well positioned so our baby monitor worked in the restaurant, bar, beach bar and even at the beach (there were more families with babies, and we could see a couple whose monitor didn´t work at the restaurant which must have been annoying) and we enjoyed evenings at the bar without worries.

We rented a car and went on afternoon trips every day, so we had a lot of fun. If we stayed only in the hotel, it would be probably boring - nothing much happened there(one greek night, one international music night, once magician), probably due to the end of the season and colder weather - 25-27°C.

At the end of the season I would recommend this hotel to families with children or people who like to use it as a base for trips or spend quiet holiday there.

Overall I would say it is a good hotel with friendly staff and good food.

Have been looking on line to book Eliros Hotel again next year as enjoyed our 10 day stay late August/September this year (2007). If you are looking for loud music and disco nights go elsewhere and don't ruin this hotel's ambience. We were the only other English people at the hotel during our time there which is mainly frequented by Russians, Germans and Polish guests - a fact which we found refreshing as we didn't have to do a lot of chatting! First thing we noticed was that everyone's behaviour was exemplary - bearing in mind alcohol was available from 10 till midnight and whilst we were told the hotel was full it certainly didn't feel that way, always spare tables at meal times and never problems finding one to sit down to and didn't have a "crowded" feel to it.
Eliros had a number of families with small children present whilst the vast majority were couples with teenagers (11 to 16 or so). The hotel has its own beach too with sand and not shingle.
Older children took the time to play with my 6 year old daughter and, in fact, 2 older girls taught her how to dive and do handstands in the pool. There was no raucous behaviour in the pool although there were balls and lilos about which quite often people shared amenably. We spent the majority of our time lounging at the pool side and were never disappointed - no rowdy behaviour and the sunshine was pleasing (32 degrees). However, one had to walk a short distance to the snack bar near the beach to grab a drink - a small price to pay.
We noticed a wasp nest in one of the arches next to the pool and pointed this out to the poolman that evening and it was dealt with and gone the next morning alleviating a great majority of wasps that had used the pool as their drinking station.
Food is served at set times but if you wish to go out for the day you can arrange the day before for a "picnic basket". Ours consisted of water and sandwich (ham and/or cheese) each along with fruit, tomotoes and cut cucumbers wrapped in cling film.
We never went hungry and there was always something one could chose to have to eat. In fact we ate too much and came back with healthy waistlines! Pasta in different shapes was presented every meal with a red and white (ocasionally a meat) sauce, together with a fish and meat option. There was the occasional chicken nuggets to keep those inclined happy and chips were often available. Cooked vegetables was also there for the taking. Fish, red and white meat (lamb, pork, turkey, chicken) were also frequently on the buffet tables and the salad bar was extensive - make your own up (grated carrot, onions, diced cucumber and tomatoes, feta, black & calamata olives) or chose from a variety on offer already created for you (pasta, egg, sausage usually with mayo) . Desserts were a delight and a number of offer to chose from. Cake and croissants at breakfast (kept my daughter very happy) along with breakfast cereals, the occasional bacon, hot-dog typed sausages, various eggs in the form of boiled, "omlette", fried and scrambled. Always available was fresh bread (brown and white) and bread rolls at breakfast. A great plus was the fact that there were no flies in the food presentation area although it was not air conditioned. Sitting on the balcony overlooking a very quiet pool (no swimming at meal times) was an added bonus along with efficient waiting staff.
The staff were very congenial and friendly. We approached the cleaning lady on our first morning (having arrived under our own steam via a taxi in the early hours of a Friday morning) to ask for another pillow and it was immediately attended to and placed in our room. Bog standard room with balcony in the main block with 2 twins and a child's stretcher bed. The aircon worked 100% of the time and the room cleaned spotlessly daily (bathroom and sleeping area) - we were more than happy as we only used the room to sleep in having spent the majority of our time in and around the pool area, visiting Chania (45 mins by coach), Rethymno (15 mins by coach), local shops (5 min walk from hotel across a fairly busy mainroad however) which included tavernas, internet cafe and a chemist.
Whilst the resort was probably winding down (closes in October) we did have a Greek dancing evening and a magician one night too. Animation was open certain days of the week but my daughter decided she had come on a "family" holiday and wanted to spend time with her family. She loved the pool and enjoyed the children's play area which was by the snack bar and one could play cards and have a sundowner drink whilst keeping an eye on the little ones playing.
Hope to get a booking for 2008.