Europa Beach Hotel

What a hotel, we have just got back from Stella blue where we stayed for a week in a whirlpool room. We visited for my 40th to the warmest of welcomes and little birthday wishes, cake and fizz and some food as we arrived really late at night ready for us in our room. The staff couldn’t of done anymore for you, happy welcomes everywhere you went, was told to go and sit down and they would bring your drinks to you with top ups when your finished. I became ill on my stay and the staff couldn’t of done anymore and the receptionist asked me every single day after I came back from the medical centre making sure I was getting better and genuinely cared about my recovery, the minor issue we had sorted within no more than 10 minutes of raising. It’s such a relaxed hotel, we have come back home refreshed and relaxed.

I will recommend this hotel to people over and over. Also will be looking to book this hotel again because I couldn’t fault anything.

Thank you Stella blue and all of your team for an amazing holiday.

Firstly........ Hotel itself looks amazing well laid out 2 lovely clean pools. 1 we arrived at 3am on a Sunday morning to be greeted by the receptionist to check in. We was both very tired and could of done without filling in forms and downloading a hotel app which could of been done later on in the morning. 2 It was me and my wife's 1st wedding anniversary so unbeknown to us our daughter organised a bottle of wine to be delivered to our room on arrival but unfortunately it wasn't. After asking the reception twice about it they said it was delivered to the room. The wine was delivered later on the Sunday afternoon but we was deflated by then and didn't enjoy it.
3 The room was clean but wasps seems to put us off sitting on the balcony and not allowed to smoke out there either. The shower gel soon ran out and wasn't refilled by the cleaners..... The maids came in everyday to clean the room but at around 5pm just when we get back to room to chill out and get ready for the evening ahead we gets a knock or a walk in WITHOUT KNOCKING to give us bottle water and coffee milk etc. 4 SUNBEDS!!! well what can I say apart from don't expect a lay in!! We come on holiday to relax and chill out not set our alarms for 6am to get a flipping sunbed . It seemed especially people was holding sunbeds for the friends and family but half the time didn't go to the pool until midday. So be warned get up early if u want a sunbed.
5 FOOD erm bit hit and miss standard all inclusive food. But I would seriously recommend the steak in the ocean restaurant. Beer is bit weak and can't pull a decent pint between them.

6 staff are pleasant but not much of a sense of humour 1 nice lady in the restaurant we happily gave a tip too. Nice little shop bit pricey though.
Not much in the local area either. Also be bit cautious of cockroaches in the evening near the pool bar as the little sods appear out from the bed of the palm tree and run around your feet.

Our stay here was fantastic, couple of small issues to start but the staff couldn't do enough to rectify our issues and help us enjoy our wonderful stay, we were initially assigned rooms 449 and 451 Luxe swim up, we weren't happy with these rooms as we felt we were stuck up in the corner and not alot of pool space infront for the kids and also didn't get alot of sun ( FYI we stupidly requested this part of the pool due to recommendations and we definitely regret that ) we went to reception and spoke to Manos who is the kindest most genuine guy! He was able to get us moved to rooms 421 and 423, these rooms are fantastic and I highly recommend requesting these. We got the sun around 1230 for the rest of the day.

Rooms Luxe swim up is plenty big enough for 3 people, 2 adults and 15 year old boy. Only issue would be space for clothes, there could be more hangers or drawer space but we made do and it wasn't all that bad. The large mirror is a plus, as is the other 3 mirrors available, showers are fantastic and powerful, Shampoo, conditioner and shower gel supplied and all smelt and felt amazing. Hairdryer is powerful and worked great on my thick hair. With 3 of us in the room we also got a large beanbag on our balcony. Our room was cleaned daily and up to a very high standard, our maid was Katarina who was lovely and always had a hello and a smile on her face. We had a small issue with handle to the bathroom door and she got in fixed within 10 mins. Our mini fridge was stocked daily with beers, water and soft drinks. Bedding was changed muiltpy times during our stay. It would have been nice to have been asked by the bar staff walking around if we would like drinks, they came round often to the other side of the swim up and served those guests but very very rarely offered to us, we had to ask for drink and get there attention, we felt this is something that would make the Luxe swim ups just top notch.

Pools We only went to each pool once during our stay as we had Luxe swim up, I'd say both pools are pretty full by 8am and all beds taken. I wasn't so keen on non-swim up guests accessing the swim up pool and beds across from swim up rooms, this I feel should be reserved for those in the rooms above Luxe swim up who have paid a premium price to have those rooms. Therefore access to those beds should be reserved for them. The days we did attend the pools I would say the pool by Anima restaurant is more relaxed and quiet, the main pool is alot louder and busier. Both had great vibes. Plenty of bar staff going around offering drinks.

Food We stayed 11 nights so got access to both A la carte restaurants Blē and Ocean, we would say Blē was better but only slightly and that's due to the menu options, food and service at both was 10/10, Ocean was upstairs and had wonderful views over the main pool, beach and sea. Having a Luxe swim up you get access to the Ocean restaurant for breakfast, so much quieter in the mornings and a more relaxed feel, the main buffet breakfast restaurant we only went to once but both had plenty of options for food and drinks and great service from the staff, you are able to order, crepes, pancakes, omelettes and poached eggs at the Ocean breakfast and I'm sure that's available at the main buffet. For lunch we only went to the main buffet twice again options are fantastic and plentiful, we did however eat mostly at the Blē snack bar as this was unreal, the options were fantastic, also Anima sushi bar was 10/10. This is by far one of the best All Inclusive we have been too.

Location In a very quiet part of Crete but still plenty of restaurants around, would recommend Sirtaki and Areya both fantastic. Not to far from Hersonissos, Hersonissos Old Town and Koutouloufari around 15/20 euros each way to these places. Water sports about 15 min walk to the front right of the hotel and 5 min walk to a wee quad bike hire place Summer Time, highly recommend.

Drinks Drinks menu is great, we really just stuck to cocktails, wine and beers, we didn't necessarily wait long to be served at the bar although some staff were extremely rude especially Miya, I don't think we got a hello, thank you, enjoy or even a smile from her the whole time, she actively went out her way not to serve people, her whole attitude in general was terrible as one the blonde barmaid in the Blē bar, couple of times you struggled to get a drink if sat enjoying lunch or evening entertainment. Staff seemed unwilling to serve at the table, although we felt this was only at the Blē bar and only a couple of the staff, the good ones definitely outweigh the bad ones. The Lobby bar had great atmosphere and the staff were lovely there. Coffee was also really good, either hot or iced.

Entertainment For us it was good, relaxed and enjoyable. If you want daily loud pool games and music, loud evening entertainment then this isn't the place for you but for chilled, relaxed vibes its perfect, singer, DJ, beach party, saxophone all wonderful. There is ping pong, mini golf, darts and a large chess all free at the back of the hotel. You can hire rackets and such for tennis and padel for a fee.

Staff For the most part friendly, helpful and kind. One day my 15 year old son took a wee funny turn in reception, they tried calling us but luckily our friends daughter was there and came to get us, when I got to him the staff were helping cool him down, giving him water and fanning him. Giving us information on the private on-site doctor and information on chemists near by, they helped get him back to the room on a golf cart and checked in on him. Luckily he was fine and just got to hot and after a couple hours in bed some electrolytes he was back up and in the pool.

Hotel overall. Overall 4.5/5 small things to be improved on but not stopped us booking again for next year and looking forward to it, the hotel is just new and only in its second summer so we absolutely expect some teething problems, but in all honesty the place is that good you forget the wee issues.

Gym Husband used the gym a couple of times and said it was decent, good equipment and open 24/7.

Spa We didn't use the spa but our friends went for the one hour pass and enjoyed it.

Shop Really reasonable priced and has everything you would need.