Blue Bay Resort Hotel

The hotel is a 3 star at the most. The pictures shown on the websites are deceiving. The rooms are VERY basic. We arrived at 3am to cockroaches running around our room. There’s no tea or coffee making facilities in the room, no basics such as an iron and ironing board - As the food finishes at 9pm we were handed a pack lunch on arrival containing a basic ham and cheese sandwich, which personally I wouldn’t feed my dog. We paid the same price as what we paid for a 14 night all inclusive stay in Mexico last year where all inclusive meant all inclusive and to say we’re disappointed is an understatement.

The pools are basic and small, it says there are 6 pools but we’ve only seen 4?? the main pool looks murky ( we think it’s all the suncream but day 3 and it’s no better).

Beware the all inclusive package is NOT all inclusive. The only alcoholic drinks included are local larger, local wine (it puts hairs on your chest!) Raki and Ouzo, then a variety of fizzy drinks - lemonade cola etc. my partner doesn’t drink so paying €4 for a small bottle of non alcoholic larger. We did visit the supermarket to purchase some at €1,30 (much better value) also bottled water is not included in the all inclusive package.

The food is disappointing, we will be eating out for the rest of our stay here. The snack bar at the pool is sandwiches or basic pizza. You can get ice creams but not the best.

Overall if you’ve booked to stay here bring plenty of spending money, be prepared for A LOT of stairs all over the hotel! The walk back up from the beach is a killer! Be prepared for the cockroaches. I’d say the positive is the staff are friendly.

I will start with the positive Room- we had a room in the main building with a stunning view, it was basic with a fridge and safe which costs 10 euros a day, shower room was perfect but could have done with a riser rail so shower height could be adjusted. Cleaner came every day and changed bedding and towels. Plenty of storage ( Big shoutout to the cleaners) Restaurant- Breakfast has everything you could want from continental to a variety of hot food, Tea, Coffee and a selection of juices. Lunch and dinner, offers a wide variety of different options which will satisfy all appetites and fussy eaters and the latter are the ones that will complain about not much choice and food being repetitive. There was beef, lamb, chicken, pork, turkey, veal, rabbit, octopus along with a variety of rice and pasta dishes. With a selection of desserts and ice cream, you had a choice of white, red and rose wine,beer ( and a big shout out to the restaurant staff for there efforts in clearing and resetting the tables) Bars- there are two bars one at the pool and one near reception. Staff at both bars are pleasant and greet guests with a smile and pleasant manner even the rude ones. Drinks are limited but the beer is ok and the cocktails are of good quality, try the raspberry wine cocktail, the pool bar also serves snacks which includes rolls, pizza, crisps, popcorn and ice cream both bars also serve hot drinks Pools- there are five pools, three main pools one below the tennis court which is the quiet pool and one up the road at another complex, the pools are on the smaller side so if you want to get some lengths in they are probably not for you. One is a kids pool there is no dedicated adult pool and they do tend to get quite busy so standing room only at times. No towels are provided for the pools you are not allowed to use the room towels but you can get some from the spa for roughly five euros for two and two euros each time you want fresh ones. There are plenty of sun beds but a limited number of parasols. They say it is forbidden to save beds but this was happening on a daily basis so if you want a parasol near the pool get up early. Life guards seem to sit at a table by the kids pool for most of the day on their phones occasionally getting up and walking around. On one occasions in the main pool a small child got into difficulty’s and a guest had to jump in and rescue them ( Shame on the lifeguards) Location- set on a hillside with great views, small beach with a few shops and bar is a five minute walk away but longer walking back as it’s quiet steep but the hotel does offer a shuttle service not much else nearby but easy to get a taxi if you want to explore. Overall the hotel is kept very clean, all staff are friendly and well presented, great choice of food.

Negative Pools are to small and can get crowded Lack of daytime entertainment

A nice week in the sun. Friendly staff and good food. Views are beautiful. Clean rooms, restaurants and pools. Hotel rooms are slightly dated/basic but clean. We read about the hotel before we came so knew it was on a hill and lots of steps and we booked a family 2 bedroom room in an annex, our room was below the hotel and had 110 steps from room to the restaurant and a further more to reception or you could walk up the road. There were additional annex buildings to the side of the hotel and 2 min walk down the road. We think the nicest pool and bar was down the road good lunchtime snacks and quite chilled out. We got the bus to heraklion 4 euros each each way, worth a trip lots of shops etc, also did the sunset quad bike trip across the road, 170 euros for 4 for 3 hours was good. Walked to the village about 20min walk several times and got a taxi back 10 euros roughly, lots of restaurants on sea front and a few shops. Read hotel details before you come - yes a charge for beach towels and safe, no bottled water but filling stations, spirits not included on all inclusive, no table/waiter service, no kettles in rooms but can ask, a la carte restaurant not included and its on a hill with lots of steps! We paid to keep our room as had a late flight 10 euros an hour, make a request with reception, check the night before if available, check out is 11am, cost us 80 euros to keep until 7pm. One thing that could be improved please lay tables with cutlery as had to ask at most meal times. We had a good time Crete was nice and would return but probably not to this hotel. A few little things could make it a lot better. Be prepared for mosquitoes! All in all a nice week.