To begin with the hotel from the outside is great, that puts you into a very good mood. The hotel has the most helpful and charming staff. They kill themselves to serve you. But the rooms are another story. We reserved superior rooms ( four rooms ) at the rate of 390 Euros a night, although on their web site those rooms were described as with sitting area and large bathroom with bathtub and sea view, what we got was not that at all. None of our rooms mathced this description. Most were without sea view and sitting area, and ours had a very small toilet and a shower at the opposite end of the room. When we complained they tried to sell us the junior suites for 560 Euros a night when we refused they told us that the was full. The hotel was practically empty.So they wanted to push us to get the suites. The pool side restaurant has a very limited menu but the food is very tasty.
The main restaurant has fantastic service and food. It is expensive, but in a resort you expect that. The beach in front of the hotel, although has sufficient private sun area, is a public beach in very sorry condition and the sea is usually choppy with clean waters. The breakfast is incredible, it includes even Moet champagne and every sort of eggs and beverages. I would recomend this hotel conditionally.

Elies is a very special place and we felt lucky to be there! The whole property is beautifully done and carefully maintained. So much thought has been put into making Elies perfect, and the owners should feel very proud of what they have achieved here. It is located on a stunning bay, but set back from the beach so that is does not at all detract from the peaceful vibe of the area. Our room was very well designed and had excellent furniture, lighting, and art. It was immaculate, and was serviced twice a day by very kind and cheerful ladies. In fact, all the members of staff that we met were very cheerful and clearly proud of the resort. Everyone wanted to be sure that we were enjoying ourselves (we were!), and we could tell that they were enjoying/taking pride in their jobs. It is so much easier to relax when one knows that the staff is not planning a rebellion! Breakfast (included) is fantastic - anything you could ever want, and more! Champagne! And a view that will never disappoint! We ate all of our other meals at Manolis, just down the beach, because it is great and we adore the owners. We love Greece so much and have never found an island hotel that made us feel so relaxed, comfortable, and welcome. Can't wait to get back to Elies!

I was just looking to see if there were any new comments on Elies and I am dismayed to see that my review never went through. I had to pop in and boost this rating and hopefully help someone.

I stayed at Elies in June. It was amazing. I was so impressed. The room was super clean, large, cozy. Had a nice casual style. Big bathroom with large (full size?) Korres toiletries. Big deck with amazing view, we had breakfast out here most days.

We spent everyday at the beach. We had just come from Santorini where we did a lot, so we enjoyed the change with relaxing days by the water. The water is nice and shallow and extremely calm. It was also very quiet when we were there. My husband took out a kayak but I don't know what else was available. One thing that was annoying was these little spiky things in the sand all around the chairs. They hurt so we had to wear our flip flops to the water and then back.

As for food, we had complimentary breakfast in our room most days. We did go to the restaurant a couple times but it was pretty much the same as room service. Food was simple but tasty. The worst part of the whole resort was the really rude guy that answers the phone for room service. I hated him. I mean, really despised. I used to make my husband call for breakfast because he was so horrible. He didn't like him either, but I refused to call anymore.

Dinner was usually at the restaurant on the beach next door to the hotel so I can't comment on Elies dinner. I forget the name of that place but it was cute and authentic. I loved the cheese on the horiatiki salad and asked the owner about it, since it wasn't feta. She said she makes it herself every day and she pointed out that my husbands meat was pork she raised herself. I recommend it if you stay at the hotel.

I try and stay at the best hotels I can possibly find. During this trip we stayed at the Grande Bretagne in Athens, and Mystique in Santorini, and Elies was definitely up there with these.

A lot to say about this place....

My wife and I made this the first stop on our honeymoon because we wanted a lux hotel to relax in for a few days before heading out to other islands. The hotel's setting is beautiful. Vathi Bay is a sleepy little bayside village, and resort fits in nicely. The pool is absolutely amazing - probably the best part of the place. Our room was very nice - not super lux, but we just had the basic ocean view suite. It was very clean and new although furniture looked like it might be from IKEA.

The view from our room was a little bit obscured by the restaurant. When we asked to move to a different room, the front desk told us they couldn't even though the resort was basically empty. We were there in the middle of the week (Mon. thru Fri.). The hotel started to fill up towards the weekend, but during the week there weren't many people around. It was nice because we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves, but also a little weird. Like being the only people eating in a restaurant. I don't think many international travelers have found this place yet, and it seemed its clientele was other Greeks who came in for long weekends.

The beach is nice, not super amazing. It's small but nice and the water is calm and great for swimming. The bay is very nice. Sailboats and yachts come in during the days to anchor and swim. There isn't much to do in Vathi so don't expect a wild time. There a few beach-side tavernas that were good, and a couple mini-marts and that's about it. We would walk to the tavernas to eat lunch rather than the resort which was pretty pricey. You can walk the whole bay in probably ten minutes. We ate dinner at the resort restaurant one night which was very good, but it wasn't very Grecian. The breakfast buffet was huge and very good at the resort. It felt like the menu was purposely more international. We ate the rest of the nights at the local tavernas in Vathi. The tavernas feel very authentic (because they are) and are literally right on the bay - it’s a pretty awesome setting. One night we caught a cab to Appollonia and had dinner there and went out for drinks afterwards. The cab ride cost about 14 euros. If you plan on exploring the rest of the island, I would recommend renting a car because the resort is pretty isolated.

The service at the hotel was spotty. The front desk was kind of snotty and didn't make any effort to make us feel special about the honeymoon. The restaurant staff was very nice. The people at the pool bar were also a little snotty - although one of the bartenders was really nice and gave us great advice on places to go on the island.

The hotel had sea kayaks which we used in the bay. We were the first people in two years to use them and they didn't seem like they knew what do when we asked to use them. The bay is small and you can paddle around the whole thing in a half hour.

Overall summary: We had a great time. If you are looking for somewhere quiet, luxurious, in a beautiful surrounding to just relax and enjoy your time - this is your place. Just don't expect super warm service and be aware that the hotel still feels like its working out its growing pains. If you dropped the staff from a Four Seasons at this place, it would be the total package.