Elounda Ilion Hotel

The Ilion Hotel, We loved the Ilion hotel in Elounda. We stayed for 7 nights on a half board basis. Really annoyed with myself for forgetting my digital camera as I would have posted some pictures of this brilliant hotel. The hotel was very clean and well run. We arrived and were put into a small room (Number 88) but the following morning I asked at reception if we could be moved and was given the option of 4 different rooms all better than 88. We settled with room 16 which was much bigger and nicer. All the rooms had air conditioning which you needed as the weather was fantastic. Breakfast was ok. It was made up of salads, cereal, fruit, toast, orange juice, tea, coffee and eggs all of which you could have as much as you wanted. The pool was cool and clean and the views from the decking round the pool were fantastic. The poolside bar was a bit expensive for drinks and the bar maid always looked like she didn’t want to be there but in that heat I sort of understood. The bar snacks were nice but a little over priced for what they were. The evening meal was like the breakfast in that it was presented in a buffet style and you could go back as many times as you wanted. The evening food was varied, fresh and delicious (fish meat and fresh vegetables). You had to pay for any drinks you had while having you meal. There was a nice mix of French, German, Dutch, Italian and English people who were at the hotel during our stay. Some kids but not many and always with parents. The resort of Elounda was about 20-30 mins walk away (7 Euros in a cab). There was a wide choice of bars, seafood restaurants, supermarkets, local produce and very nice tax free jewellery shops in this quaint but nicely busy little Greek town. We would defiantly go back to this resort and this hotel. Yamas ! !

My partner and I stayed at this hotel August 2008. Elounda is a beautiful village and whilst its a 2km walk from the hotel it is worth it for the elevated position of the hotel and the spectacular views.The hotel is lovely and clean and the food is good.We arrived in the early hours of the morning and were shown to the restuarant and given a lovely salad.Elounda offers great walks and enough shops and restuarants without being too busy. It is friendly place however the people are not in your face and you are left to enjoy your holiday at your own pace. We loved the hotel, the people and the village and would return again and again...

The Elounda Ilion, like many resorts in Elounda, is built on a steep hill overlooking the sea. Every room has a spectacular view. While we stayed there, the staff was friendly and our room was clean. Breakfast wasn't exciting, but everyone can find something they like. There was very good bread every day, as well as cheese, cold meats, cereal, and a few hot dishes, including eggs every day. I do recommend renting a car. The town is too far away to reach on foot, and it's a steep climb down to the rocky beach. Amenities include a refrigerator in the room (with a few mini-bar supplies, which can be removed to make room for your stuff) and a hairdryer. I wish there had been an ice machine for guests, as the refrigerator does not have a freezer compartment. I recommend this hotel if you plan to spend your vacation sightseeing or going to the beach, but not if you want to hang around the hotel.

I enjoyed staying at Elounda Illion for the following reasons: - the view (excelent position over the Bay); - the gardens near the bungalows; - the tourists (mostly middle-aged Germans, Italians, even nice East-Europeans). I was dissapointed by: - the bath (terrible experience); - the low diversity of the dinner and/or breakfast; - other hotel facilities (boring evenings within the hotel, second-hand pool table, expensive drinks etc) Overall ok, but lower than I expected. Not a 4-stars hotel in my opinion.

Excellent family owned and run hotel in a position overlooking a beautiful bay, the food and service are very good, the staff friendly and being local people have a wide knowledge of the area, they are always willing to assist and advise. I recommend hiring a car to explore this part of the island many mountain and coastal villages and stunning views. Having visited this hotel for the past six years with never a problem I highly recommend a visit.

As stated before Greek 4* is equal to at best 3* in most other places. We stayed on an all-inclusive basis (which incidentally not everybody does) and the hotel is very new to this concept and they don't do it very well. No ice creams for children, a very limited choice of drinks,sometimes no vodka in the vodka and orange, I used to stand at the side of the bar to watch what the barmen put in the glass, but still there probably wasn't much vodka in the special bottle used for AI guests either. The staff were OK but if you went to the bar more than 3 times in an hour they did try to make you feel guilty. The food was OK especially the lunchtime snacks although a bit more choice would have been better. Again as stated miles from the town so ended up hiring a car which is fun or scary depending on your point of view of greek drivers. Overall if you like a very very quiet holiday with no entertainment what so ever and in the middle of nowhere this is the hotel for you - me I will not be going to Elounda or the Ilion ever again.

I've left a few days since returning from the Ilion in an attempt to ensure that my feedback is balanced and fair so here goes! Good Points: The hotel is fair value for money and most of the staff are friendly -especially the restaurant waitresses and girl at the pool bar who were fantastic with our young children. There are wonderful views over the bay from the poolside and restaurant terrace. The food is just about okay although you wouldn't want to eat there every night for two weeks (no more 'Lamb Greek Style' for me this millenium please...). Fellow guests are a mixture of Brits and French with some Italians too and were all very friendly without being intrusive. The hotel is a little out of town (35 min walk into Elounda) although taxis are only 6 Euros and it is fairly peaceful. Not So Good Points: I agree with the previous comment that this hotel is not 4*. 4 Greek stars probably equate to 3 at best on any other grading system. Our room was starting to look tired, the bathroom was grubby (although the poor maid did her best) with a hand held shower and yucky bathroom blue shower curtain - bit of a 1970's throwback. The air con is a blessing although we too would rather have had clean beds/linen and towels as promised. Although our two children really enjoyed their stay, the hotel is not particularly toddler-friendly as there are numerous 20-30 ft drops from open fencing on to concrete paths and staircases. You need to watch them even more than usual and this doesn't make for a particularly relaxing holiday for parents. The facilities for the older children are good though, and they all seemed to have a ball. As I said, the staff are generally friendly although hopefully the power of the internet might help drive some improvement where it is needed! Talking of power, it seems to have gone to the Maitre D's head and you would think he was running a 3* Michelin restaurant! He could be gushing one minute and then cutting or abrupt the next - weird! I had the temerity to ask for water at breakfast for the children (none is provided) and the conversation went as follows: Maitre D: "Water for the children? The water is dangerous!" Me: "What bottled water? Oh forget it I'll get some from the room." Him: "You can't expect the children to wait - I'll bring you some water." What was that all about? Strange bloke but he definitely needs taking down a peg or two or at least an intensive customer care course! Finally, I was willing to pay for a late departure as we did not leave until 6pm and checkout was noon. I made the request four days before and they finally said it was okay at 11 am on checkout day (an hour before check out and after we had packed, naturally!) before taking my money. Not the sort of stuff that makes you want to return and hardly good sense as this was our last impression of the hotel.

This hotel is not a four star hotel. It is a group of apartment type rooms built around the main base of a swimming pool and a restaurant/dining area.With the scope for building on to during expansion. Upon checking in at 5am ish we were shown to our room. Unfortunately although we had expected two beds in our room (I was travelling with my daughter) we had only one double and a setee which was not made up and ready and was certainly not acceptable for the price we had paid. The room No 39 itself was above the kitchen and at 7.30am ish became noisy for us above with food preparation etc. going on below. Also next to the room is a canopy on the balcony used for eating. This awning kept us awake all night flapping against the wood structures. After checking in this early we certainly didnt expect to be kept from sleeping as well. We complained and were moved to a much better room No45. And although it did not have as good a sea view that was paid for we were happy to get a good nights sleep the next night and settled in. The room itself had two large single beds, tv (only world bbc news on though), air con which was excellent as temperatures reached 41 degrees on a couple of daysand a fridge/mini-bar which was very expensive. The beach which was descibed in the write-up as being a short walk away was not a beach but a flat rock area next to the sea. Very disappointing after the dreadful walk to it. The walk back was worse due to the very steep slope back the road. If you are not fairly fit then forget this walk. I fact dont bother there is not a thing worse seeing. The Hotel is on a very steep hill so be prepared for a lot of hill climbing. The Swimming pool itself has a glorious view and is worth spending a couple of days by for the first couple of days or so. This will give you time to adjust to the heat. Pool side/Bar snacks are expensive nearly 20 euros for two meals and two drinks. The food at the hotel was adequate, but was buffet and should have been from a menu and with waiter/waitress service at each table. Hotel policy is that linen on all beds would be changed every day, ours were certainly not. If we had not mentioned this to reception they would, I am sure stayed unchanged for the duration of our trip. The rest of the hotel is clean but the toilets and shower rooms next to the pool needs some slight up dating. This is a vey QUIET location,it is essential that you hire a car if you come to this holiday area....but check out the prices first in Agious Nicolias before you rent any. The hotel is convenient for car hire but nearly twice the cost of outside. Taxis are about 10-15Euros each way to Ag.Nic. so you may aswell hire a car for a few days and see much farther afield. All the trips that are available through Olympic can be driven to for a fifth of the cost and you still have to pay to get in to them anyway. So a family of two or more can make huge savings and have the freedom of coming and going to suit themselves. There are no beaches within walking distance near to this hotel....Plaka (two or threee kilometers away)was a favourite of ours although it was a pebble beach. During the day the winds do get up a bit which can be a godsend in the heat, so think twice about looking for sandy beaches which will sand blast your sunburn. Great Taverna on Plaka beach though with resonable greek food as well as english. Lovely couple running it. Just up the road is where the ferry goes over to Spinalonga...Great trip. Next to a Octopus and squid restaurant. Agious Nicolias is where we spent alot of our evenings. Prices are varied so be careful. But do venture further a field locals are friendly and kids will be safe. Elounda is a small place with a few shops and bars cattering for the tourists if you are looking for a place with things to do especially for the kids this is not the place for you. Better try more westerly on the Island. I have been to Crete three times previously but would not reccomend this area for a base, I would suggest more westerly and nearer to the airport. The journey by bus is two hours or so once dropping off everyone at different hotels along the way. Best to pay for a taxi from and to the airport through travel agent. Overall weather great, Crete Lovely, Hotel and location not up my expectation.

Excellent hotel, staff friendly, helpful,efficient. Would have no hesitation in staying there again. As good as the Minos Mare in Rethimnon and Lindos Mare on Rhodes (though smaller and fewer facilities than these) Not suitable for disabled. Recommend car hire, it's a long hot walk to town, though taxis are only 6 euros (and 10 to Aghios Nikalaos) Not too many Brits and none of the rough ones.

The views from the hotel are excellent. a lot of French stay here which was not a problem to me but may bother some.Food was Excellent and staff are Extremely friendly. Car hire with Olympic holidays was the usual farce car late and unlean(were told to use as theses were supposed to be best deals, but would recommend hiring from any local hire company)