We chose the Elounda Mare even though we have a 1 year old baby because it is a Relais et Chateaux, although we were told that this company has a sister hotel next door which is much more child friendly. This is a chain we trust and we always like to visit their hotels. And we are so glad we stayed here. It was great! beautiful gardens, great pool, and even a kiddy pool. The restaurants all had child seat and kiddy food. Everyone is so polite as well. They were all trying to accommodate us and the baby, either in the restaurants, the housekeeping even the room service guys. Definitely a hotel to stay at!

The service was great, the staff was incredible polite, the food fantastic, the views:unreal! We went with my husband for a week and just got back. It was quiet, peaceful and so relaxing! The bungalow we were staying at was also great. The decoration was inspired by Crete, which made you feel that this was a unique place. It couldn't have been better.

this is a lovely hotel in a beautiful setting;it feels more as if you are entering a large villa surrounded by a cretan village due to the gardens, bungalows and the few shops surrounding the lovely orthodox church within the grounds.Although the hotel was busy it was always very quiet -no rowdy quests here[is this what a previous reviewer thought snobbish?].We preferred the peace and quiet; generally the staff were excellent, friendly and helpful.We were on a dine around package but the penisuls gulf hotel was already closed so could not try there; we ate in the yacht club for the fish night which was very good but the old mill was excellent - we have stayed at relais and chateaux hotels with 1 and 2 michelin stars and food at the old mill was as good if not better.My only complaint is that the pool was not heated - advantage was very few people using pool so it felt like aprivate pool but I was shivering in pool at first.We had a look around some of the other 5 star hotels around elounda and plaka but thought this was the most beautiful as it was smaller, had beautiful gardens and small .beach area

For true luxury on Crete, Elounda Mare is the perfect hotel. Perched on the edge of a beautiful, desolate peninsula at the most Eastern point of Crete, the Elounda Mare literally has its toes dipped right into the bright blue Mediterranean sea. There’s a pool which you would expect, but there is also beautiful sandy beach front and the room options include individual villas with their own private pool. The villa I stayed in has all the standard hotel features that I love so much and then a lot more. There were deep, beautiful baths with air jets, huge flat screen televisions, wifi, antique furniture, local art and lashings of high end toiletries.

Elounda Mare is a Relais and Chateaux property and so of course the food is sensational. So good in fact that we did not venture anywhere else on Crete for our three nights there. Shameful I know. I have popped some photos and a fuller review up on my blog: http://www.gourmet-chick.com/2011/10/elounda-mare-gourmet-chick-in-greece.html