We spend a nice vocation in August at the Blue Sea.
The Hotel atmosphere was very calm and friendly. Most of the guests were young families from UK, Italy, Israel, Poland and the Baltic's and some from Russia. Friendship between people was made easy.
Variety of the food was good. Quality is medium-high. service is excellent (we were on "all inclusive" base).
Location is one of the advantages of this hotel. Is situated on a nice small piece of beach just next to the promenade of this small nice village, perfect for afternoon walking and shopping at the tourist shops that populates the pedestrian street along the beach.
Great place to spend vocation with kids.
A problem we had with our room at the first day was handle quickly, like any request we had. Stuff is very helpful and friendly.
I would like to thank Dimitrya at the front desk, Michaelis at the pool bar, Alessandro and his crew from the theater, and all the rest. You made our vocation to be remembered.

good hotel, nice rooms, good food,very good deal, just go there.
take a rentel car (30$/day) to travel in Crate, do not take the orgnized tour.

We stayed here with friends from 16th to 23rd October 2011.
Our room was located on the 2nd floor at the rear of the property - great sea view - size was adequate - bed very comfortable - ensuite with bath spotless & modern.
Hotel grounds & public areas well maintained.
All staff polite efficient and friendly.
We had an "all inclusive" package which included local drinks - good range albeit weaker in strength than non-Greek brands - the latter were chargeable.
Apart from one dinner ( included as no cost option ) in a la carte restaurant all meals were taken in buffet restaurant where the food was bland repititive and often tepid. We suspected that the ingredients were fine but the chefs in the kitchen managed to prepare dishes that had minimal taste.
After 3 days, apart from breakfast ( coffee fruit and toast ) we gave up on eating at the hotel - best meal out was at Muses Taverna 30 yards from the hotel - excellent fish / kalamari at very good prices.
This is not a five star hotel - the food pulls it down to 3 star ( at a pinch )

Having stayed at several Aquis hotels in the past we knew roughly what to expect from this group. Last year we stayed at the Silva Beach and unfortunately this hotel was not as good as we had hoped although we had been told it was 5* I think it was probably more a 3-4*.

The Blue Sea, however, exceeded all our expectations. It was a beautiful hotel set in lovely gardens which were immaculately kept. All the staff were extremely friendly, helpful, polite and efficient - especially the hard working bar and dining room staff. Dimitri the Front of House Manager was especially helpful and although booking an inland view room we were lucky enough to be upgraded to a Junior Suite with a wet room (429) which was heavenly after a sticky day on the beach. The sheets and towels were changed every day and the apartment kept spotless by the cheerful maids. The air condition was a godsend during sticky nights.

The food was excellent although often lukewarm which seems to be the norm in Greece, despite the fact there were hot plates available. The salad bar can be a bit repetitive but there was only one night when I found it slightly difficult to choose something and I ended up with a chip butty and feta cheese salad so all was well with the world! The choice of bread makes me ashamed of the bread we sell in the UK.The vegetables, especially the potatoes done in various sauces, were very hard to resist and although not a vegetarian I hardly ate any meat at all during our two week stay.!

The only problem I had was that in the outside dining area people smoked and I found this very offensive as there were also babies and children around inhaling this smoke. The smokers were very inconsiderate puffing away while people were still eating. My husband smokes but every time he wanted a cigarette he went outside the restaurant as a consideration to myself and others.

The all inclusive drinks were fine, although I only drink wine and beer and never touch spirits. I was surprised to find that Martini was not included at this hotel. This was included at the Silva Beach last year and as this is a fortified wine I would have thought would be much cheaper than spirits. I found that quite bizarre and although charged five euros I had my usual pre-dinner Martini each night!.

We were the only English guests during our stay but this was not a problem for us. There were many Eastern Europeans and a delightful bunch of Dutch severely disabled people who seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. The facilities were excellent for disabled people and also people with prams with ramps etc.

The beach was just opposite the hotel and although people were putting their towels on the sunbeds on the grass outside the apartments there was always space on the beach where the charge was 6 euros for two sunbeds and an umbrella. The soft sandy beach was especially good for children.

Stailis itself is a lovely small town and an oasis between Hersinossos and Malia.

Overall we had a marvelous time.and despite the fact we never return to the same hotel twice are sorely tempted to return next year.