We have waited 3 years to come to this hotel due to covid and it was worth the wait. From start to finish the rooms the layout, it's the Maldives of Crete. The rooms have it all, from the amenities like shampoo etc to pool towels. The TV is limited but we didn't really mind as the hotel offers entertainment nightly, all be it a little repetitive. My thanks to all the staff who seem to love their jobs especially Christof F&B manager Nikos restaurant manager Katherina(Uptopia) Titos barman Vaso & Despina (cabana,) Anastasia (Service manager) Very enjoyable and will definitely be going back.
Pros Lots of restaurants - the Greek (Vedana) and steak restaurants La Parilla) were my favourite but the Mexican had interesting flavours. La Parilla for a long leisurely breakfast. One of the best 5* breakfasts I’ve ever had. Beautiful setting - great photos! Lots of loungers/space/ places to swim - easy to find peace and quiet. The buffet was very comprehensive m, especially for breakfast (echo others that it might get a bit ‘samey’ if you stayed for 2 weeks. Well appointed and comfortable room - easy to make requests such as extra blankets etc. App easy to use and clear Spa is beautiful but mixed experience. I had one wonderful experience (the scalp massage was amazing) but I also had a first experience which I will outline below which was less good. The circular seats The seeds and dried fruits available for breakfast! All inclusive was good value and included room service and mini-bar (note there was a reasonable charge for the delivery part). Lots of drinks available. My welcome was with wonderful, one of the best I have ever had and the ‘travel journal’ was a lovely touch. Makuti Bar was gorgeous for lunch. Good location and easy to visit other places in Crete from if you want to. Nice toiletries Good system for room cleaning and maintenance I felt very welcome and comfortable as a solo female traveller. Cons Service was very very mixed. Felt understaffed in some areas and had to wait ages for service in both Cabana bar and main restaurant throughout the week. I really disliked the piped music. I appreciate that other guests may really like this but I would have liked silence! Lots of discrepancies between rooms. My advice would be to look at resort map and request for a specific one based on your preferences. I was in 302 which I was very happy with but ones up by the main complex are very much ‘on show’ and would not suit everyone. My first experience in the spa was really disappointing. I was rushed through and given a robe which was far too small. While I acknowledge I’m a bigger woman it’s really obvious and good spas I have previously been to, worldwide, have discreetly given me a larger gown or extra towel. I had to go out in just a towel that I had in my bag and sit awkwardly on a lounger which did not make me feel relaxed. I was also not asked if I was okay with the pressure. I was also not clear whether you you then use the pool or not and clearer instructions on this would be appreciated. Overall, it was not what I had expected and my second experience was more as expected. The chef who made crepes and omelettes in La Parilla at breakfast was really surly. After asking once for a crepe I decided not to bother again as he made me feel unwelcome and trouble rather than welcome. I found the taps difficult to use and get a comfortable temperature with. Take care in the shower especially not to burn yourself as the hot cones out very quickly. Noise from resort next door and Mexican bar could be heard from my room. Including nightly fireworks. Was awoken on night one by someone yelling for help. None of these are massive but collectively took a star, especially the staffing and spa experience. Overall, this hotel looks like it does in pictures and delivers as expected for a 5* resort in Europe. I would consider returning and encourage others to try it.…
Have just come back from a week all inclusive at Stella Island and had the most wonderful time. The resort itself is beautiful and we were well taken care of from the second we arrived, being sat down on sofas in reception to check in at our own pace then driven to our room in a golf buggy. We stayed in a luxury swim up room, 323, and loved every second of it but it really doesn't matter what room type you have as all areas were beautiful and if you don't have a swim up room there's plenty of lovely loungers and cabanas where you can get drink service by the pool. Service was great the entire time, every single staff member we met was friendly and took great care of us. Food was also fantastic, we loved all 5 a la carte restaurants and found each meal to be better than the last. The choice of a la carte options for lunch between the various bars or La Parilla was also fabulous and meant we only at lunch at the buffet once during our week's stay. The selection of all inclusive cocktails was the biggest I've experienced on a holiday, and the drinks were freshly made, delicious and strong. Personal favourites included the frozen strawberry daiquiri, pink panther and the penicillin. Special shout out to the team working at Umbra bar who took great care of us every day. If you're looking for a relaxing couples holiday, or even a babymoon or honeymoon (we saw lots of people on theirs) I'd highly recommend Stella Island. We're already desperate to go back.…
If you want a perfect adults only hotel with amazing food, fantastic rooms, relaxing atmosphere and extremely attentive staff this is definitely worth booking. We are on our last few days staying in a Grand overwater bungalow number 56, perfect for the sun, well worth the extra money, you wouldn’t be disappointed with these rooms. The food has been great in my opinion the hotel restaurants are very good especially Umami and Aprrilla I have not had better food for a long time. The hotel app works seamlessly very easy to navigate can be dangerous on the waistline as you can order food and drinks through it and 5 minutes later it turns up at the door! We are all inclusive and again well worth the extra money. You could definitely get through some cash if you wasn’t. I have stayed in many great hotel resorts and this is one of the best in Europe. I would definitely recommend.…
Cannot fault this resort hotel. Our second time here and it’s been as amazing this time around as it was last year. Staff could not be more helpful and friendly and the food is first class from the buffet which is an option for breakfast, lunch and dinner - to the speciality restaurants. We had one of the best meals ever in Oceania which is right up there with many top London restaurants in terms of quality, skill and presentation. A special shout out to the lovely Anastasia - the service manager - who seems to be everywhere, making sure everything runs smoothly for every guest. Highly recommend 😃👍🏻
Fabulous 👌 attententive staff always smiling willing and respectful. Incredible food in all the restaurants. The perfect 🥰 get-away holiday we came back the second time and it's superb, The service manager Anastasia is so lovely, Plus so many of the staff recognised us from last year making us feel totally at home in the fab Stella Island resort
I’ll start briefly by saying that the location itself, physically, is impressive. The buildings are in good condition, the gardens are well cared for, and the pools are clean and clear. Truly, though, that is all there is good to say about Stella Island. The employees are so unmotivated to assist the guests that it almost seems as though they are there against their will. When you sit for a meal, the server will come over to get you a drink (eventually), but then you will never see them again. At our first meal, the two servers argued right in front of us about who was going to have to serve us! When sitting down at the lounge bar in the main entrance of Stella Island, we spent about 10 minutes before a bartender (who had been about one metre away the whole time) said, “Did you order yet?” When we said that we hadn’t, he rolled his eyes and begrudgingly took our order. Worst of all was eating at the “Cabana” bar, where I ordered a hamburger (pictured). When it arrived and I bit into it, it was cold. Upon looking at where I had bitten, it was obviously completely raw. I notified the staff and asked to speak to the manager, who apologized and offered to get another burger (which I passed on for obvious reasons), but she did not seem at all surprised by the lack of quality. At the best of times, the food here is mediocre and unimaginative. At it’s worst, it’s dangerously inedible. After the burger incident, which happened on our last day there, we had dinner at “La Parilla”, which purports to be a steak restaurant. Ironically, the steak I ordered medium rare was delivered blue - red and cold on the inside. After sending it back, it came back cooked slightly longer, and it was so heavily salted that I couldn’t taste anything else. The one shining exception to this, and the reason for 2 stars instead of 1, was Vasilis, who was the only staff member to introduce himself, ask us our names and where we were from, and make an effort to get to know us. Vasilis was the only person at Stella Island that made us feel welcome at all. Additionally, the rooms have a series of buttons adjacent to the door; one that is a “Do not disturb” and one that indicates you’d like the room to be cleaned. An interesting concept; however, pressing the button to have the room cleaned never seemed to result in the room being cleaned, whereas pressing the do not disturb button resulted in the staff at our door three separate times over the course of an hour. To sum it up, I wouldn’t stay here again for free. For the price they charge to stay here, you have many higher quality options available to you.…
Had an amazing holiday here. Amazing food in all the restaurants. Our pool view room was lovely and was all we needed. A huge shout out to all the staff, never have I experienced such wonderful hard working staff. Huge thanks to Vaso,Katerina & George at the pool bar, they certainly made our holiday the best.
The staff were so friendly and nothing a bother to them , clean relaxing atmosphere, we had a swim up room (105) the sun didn’t come on decking until 12.30 , room service was great too . We had couple of windy days so got a bus one day from Analipsis which is turn right and walk 30 mins from hotel , and visited Hersonnisis a busier place , there’s a supermarket on route there not too far from hotel , temperature was 20/25 degrees middle of May cooler evenings .
We stayed at Stella Island for 10 nights for our honeymoon, only arriving back in the UK recently. Stella Island is absolutely beautiful and our premium double swim up room was pure luxury. Staff are very friendly and helpful and the waitresses remembered what we were drinking even if we didn't see them for a couple of days or so. The hotel is amazing, but I'd say the staff really make it. The restaurants were our favourite part of the trip. We dined in 5 of the restaurants whilst we were there - we couldn't pick our favourite as they were all amazing. However, Vegera was our favourite setting! The reason why I have given 4 stars instead of 5 is due to the noise issues we had. I am not one for complaining, but on this occasion I did due to the noise coming from the room above us - we could hear every word they were saying. We also had another incident where the room next to us had obviously met another couple and were having drinks in their room at 2am - again we could hear everything they were saying. I think the walls are quite thin and for those few days we didn't feel like we were staying in luxury. We would definitely stay again but would probably prefer to be in a bungalow (something for other travellers to think about) with no one based above us. It's very hit and miss with who you have next to you or above you (and I know that is not the hotel's fault) but I feel we were unlucky. With all that said, we did have an amazing time and the hotel is like something out of the movies! I'd highly recommend!…
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