Domes Aulus Elounda

Domes Aulus Elounda is a good hotel and you will enjoy your stay. It does, however, fall down in places that make the luxury 5 star rating questionable.

We’ve stayed here and at their sister hotel Domes of Elounda, last year.

Domes of Elounda has the better facilities, significantly better beach, better food options and much more modern rooms.

What Domes Aulus Elounda offer is All Inclusive and Adults only. The views from the rooms are stunning and also better than Domes of Elounda, although there is a significant caveat to that.

If we are honest, we aren’t really All Inclusive people, we made breakfast once (it’s a hotel breakfast) and lunch twice, preferring to eat out locally for lunch. We aren’t massive drinkers, so didn’t benefit from that, although not having to pay high prices for soft drinks was very much welcomed.

If All Inclusive is your thing, then this is probably a very good choice, particularly if you upgrade to Cool Living.

Rooms:

We stayed in a Saphire Zen Suite room with a private pool. The view was sensational, although we immediately clocked that there were one or two of these rooms which weren’t private, were located next to a road and a footpath bridge. We would have rejected one of these rooms, as they are not as advertised on their website.

The rooms are dated in places. Paint poorly finished, particularly in and around the pool and a few maintenance requirements were noted. They are clearly slowly updating rooms, but some of the updates are not 5 star - merely sticking plastic onto wooden doors in the bathroom/shower room isn’t exactly luxury. This all sounds rather picky, it is, of course it isn’t going to ruin your stay but if you are after refinement and attention to details, then it might not be for you.

One upgrade desperately required is heating the private pools (Domes of Elounda does it). The temperature of the pool was 23 degrees (26 in communal pools and in the sea) and it is on the rather fresh side.

Saying that we slept very well. Hot water can sometimes be an issue, we found it occasionally intermittent at “peak” times.

Food/Drink:

It is plentiful. Mini bars are topped up and you won’t go thirsty.

The buffets have a good selection, but everything isn’t warm enough. The atmosphere is nice, no kids running around, but it’s just lacking that attention to detail.

The A La Carte restaurants are chaotic in places. Staff are polite but it all just feels disorganised and rushed. It is not always easy to get a booking and the 21:00 sittings, you do feel like an inconvenience with them cleaning up around you. I still can’t quite get over wine being served in a tumbler and you didn’t always get the glass of wine that you requested, red wine to some of the staff is red wine, despite the wine menu giving you choices.

Greco Levante was disappointing, the food tepid and the service erratic. To be honest we were the late sitting.

We enjoyed the Asian restaurant, Yellow Sea. Food was hot and tasty.

The stand out choice is however up in the Ampitheatre, with Tesoro Mio Italian Trattoria and PITA Canteen. The manager has clearly got it organised up there, the food, whilst not fine dining, is exceptionally good, whether you go for the Italian or Greek option and there really is a lovely atmosphere up there.

Staff:

Staff are exceptional and incredibly friendly and helpful. You can’t really fault them at all.

Beach:

Disappointing, cramped, small and next to a road. The food/drinks hut is a really nice touch and it is included in your package. We do have a slight confession, we didn’t spend long there, deciding to walk up to the Domes of Elounda beach, purchasing a few drinks and enjoying the much biggest space and better facilities.

Location:

Location is perfect, Elounda is a 20 minute walk and Plaka is about 40 minutes. We recommend going to both.

Rooms are up steep hills, buggies and cars are provided but you have to be conscious that walking to a room or back down to reception is challenging on your knees (although a very good workout).

Conclusion:

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Would we return, probably not, but this isn’t a slur on the hotel, as we like to visit different places. Would we book another Domes Hotel, absolutely.

If All Inclusive is your thing, then you won’t be disappointed. If you like exploring, like we do, then you won’t massively benefit from the All Inclusive element. It is still a great base.

A few tweaks and a few upgrades and they’ve nailed this place. Private pools definitely could do with some attention and updating.

A great stay here, a special first time to Crete. The staff at the hotel are exceptional, and nothing felt too much trouble. We felt very welcomed from the beginning. Hotel has good facilities to offer including a spa and gym on site.

The views here are stunning, hotel is situated on a steep hill so be aware if you struggle with mobility.

We would recommend the upgrade to the cool living section situated at the top of the hotel where the infinity pool is located and Greco levante restaurant, well worth experiencing it!

The hotel is also spotless, housekeeping also does a very good job.

We were very satisfied with our stay and it was truly memorable!