I would rate this hotel 8 out of 10. The resort itself is breathtaking but there are definitely room for improvements.... description for each section below :-)
Sunbeds
Always sunbeds available, however if you want the ones on the pool, they are usually all reserved by about 10am, so you may want to reserve one. Sunbeds are really comfortable. Every 2 sunbeds have a umbrella too. Drinks are available all day from the pool bar and waiters sometimes come and ask for your drink order, so you don’t even have to get up :-)
Food
The buffet food is basic. On offer is what you would expect for breakfast, plus some additional nice fruit and cakes.
Lunch and dinner is basic and difficult for vegetarians. I am a fussy eater, so seemed to live off pasta and salad, but my partner always found a variety of food he enjoyed. The pool bar food is ok, but again nothing special.
We ate at the Oceana restaurant which you get to visit once every 7 days you stay, within the all inclusive package. The presentation of the food was wonderful, but the taste wasn’t as good. The Vegara restaurant is Cretan food only. We went for the Cretan night which was an additional €20 euros per person. It was fun, but expected better. The best dish was the fresh pasta which was delicious... so good, we asked if we could have it 2 days later as room service and the chef made it especially for us :-)
The ‘meze’ lunch was very boring, it included some tomatoes, potatoes and lamb and an omelette. Not what I would class as a ‘meze’.
The service for food and drink throughout the resort couldn’t be better. The waiters and waitresses are attentive and always smiling.
Spa
What a disappointment!! I wouldn’t waste your money! Such a shame as we were really looking forward to this treat. We opted for a couples 90 minute massage. The massage was not good enough for €100 each!!! I chose the tension massage as I had a lot of tension in my shoulders and neck and sadly left feeling no better. The spa facilities were nothing special, I have been to much cheaper but more impressive ones in London. There was even a dead bird inside by the pool and considering how quiet the spa was, I would expect the staff to have noticed it before I had. For the price we paid we expected a lot more than what we got! I informed guest relations of our experience and we received some fruit and a couple of sweets to our room. In our opinion that wasn’t good enough at all and we should have received a partial refund at the least. The resort shouldn’t include ‘spa’ in the title!
Pool area
Outstanding! I can’t explain how beautiful and relaxing the pool areas are. You literally feel like you are in paradise. There is nice music played softly in the background from about 11am and food and drink on offer throughout the day.
Room
We had a pool view room and I was slightly worried leading up to the holiday that I’d made the wrong decision with not getting a swim up room, however our room was fine. We were not happy with our first Room (124) as it was tucked away in the corner looking directly into the busy restaurant and out of direct sunlight. I explained I wanted to move and the next day they were happy to move us (without fuss) to a much better room with a nice view. The rooms are nice but toilets smell bad of drainage and sheets are not changed all week.
Service
Highlight of this resort!!!!
I can honestly say that it seemed all guests were treated equally, regardless of what room or price they payed, (apart from a wedding party who they bent over backwards for, for 2 days!) All of the staff work really long hours and really hard. They are all welcoming and polite each time they see you and nothing is ever too much. I’ve never stayed anywhere where all of the staff are like this constantly. Stella Island is very lucky to have such wonderful staff, I really hope they are appreciated by the managers the way they should be. Their level of English is very impressive too. The Managers were always present around the resort and welcoming also.
A special shout out to Stella- the room service lady, who was extra amazing. So helpful, friendly and informative. Always so happy.
On the last day I wasn’t feeling well and Voula in the main restaurant noticed I wasn’t eating, she was so worried and attentive, asking if i needed anything or what she could do to make me feel better. Such a sweet and caring person.
Entertainment.
On the Friday afternoon they had a really good DJ but he was only there from 4ish until 7pm which I didn’t understand as then there was no other entertainment for the rest of the night. There was a saxophone player at breakfast one morning who was very good and a nice pianist one evening, but the other evening entertainment was average at best.
The local beach is horrible, don’t even bother wasting your time going to see it. The town Hersonnisos is dyer! We went hoping for a nice afternoon of shopping and Greek food and got the opposite. Infact we left after an hour, having purchased our presents and went back to the hotel for dinner. €25 euros wasted in taxis. Stay in the resort, it’s not worth leaving. You can buy presents and souvenirs from the shop at either Stella Island or Stella Palace.
We were sad to leave as a week wasn’t long enough and may return in the future.
