Aquila Elounda Village — Hotel in Municipality of Agios Nikolaos

Finally arriving at 1030pm by hire car from the airport, it is not sign posted on the main highway, anywhere! We were greeted by a lovely lady on reception, who commented about us being late, not rudely, but concerned. |A kind chap escorted us to our room (which felt like we were going down to a basement) First impressions, we thought the room was fine, just wanted to get a light snack, there is no welcome pack, no menus, no maps of the place. Went back to reception asked what food was available, as were Half Board and prepared to pay what ever, for room service, just to get a little snack (sandwiches would have been fine) this was about 1145pm but couldn’t find a menu in the room, or any information. We were told could go on the ‘app’ for room service, as no menus, information or maps are provided in the rooms. Everything was on an app? Talk about distancing yourselves from your customer, was this the kind of personal touch a 5* we were expecting, for the rest of stay? |Room service closes at 10pm, along with all the restaurants and the shop (which I can appreciate) 5* with no room service?||With morning arriving time to check out the room,light in bathroom hanging out, plug in bath not secure and covered in black hair, sealant around toilet filthy, ventilation cowl required sealant around it, gouge marks on bedroom walls near headboard, bedside lights loose. Could do with chest of draws and or a dressing table in the bedroom, the area where tea and coffee making facilities and television were situated was hardly an area you could use as a dressing table, first thing a woman would require.|All the issues, of poor maintenance should have been picked up before the room was allocated to the customer, this is a 5 star establishment, according to TUI. |Outside seating area was over shadowed by a huge Palm Tree (Room 104) Rooms in main build area, blotted out by over use of trees, it’s as though they were an embarrassment and had to be covered up and not easily spotted from the pathway. We never saw the sun on our patio area, which would have been nice, either end of the day, but a quiet area to sit and unwind nevertheless.|The reception, bar and dinning area are beautifully designed and decorated, the grounds are well kept, however, all the seats in the outside bar area were facing the same way, towards nothing in particular except for the smoking area, it was like a scene from a sci-fi movie, people staring into oblivion, most odd. |The main swimming pool (this is the one they spectacularly use to advertise as the infinity pool) was ok, not heated and at busy times, could hardly accommodate many people, this was the biggest pool in the complex, disappointing.|The map on the app is useless, it’s just a picture with the identification of restaurants and bars, not inventive or really practical. As the ‘Village’ is on a hill, some of the smaller bars and restaurants are on different levels, beware, you cannot use these restaurants if you are Half Board, only AI, unless you pay. This is where the app fails, I’d like to know where the toilets are, maybe best way to get down to the so called beach, what level the bars are on etc.|The Village is on a hill, there are many steps and steep slopes, tackling these with high heels to get to the main bar, is going to be difficult and warm. Those with any difficulties walking or elderly, this is not the place for you, not even to get from the main building to the Infinity Pool. Beyond that next door is a not quite built hotel staring you in the face.|Half Board; you can eat in the main Restaurant in the main building or pay to use one of the other Restaurants (for AI customers only)|Half Board: if you request water to the table you pay for, as are the drinks, though you would expect that. The staff were lovely and attentive, though one of my gripes is, don’t take a plate away if the other person is still eating, I consider it rude, it’s not a fast food outlet, it’s a place to sit and enjoy your food and company.|There are signs on your table asking you not to load your plate and not waste food, more signs say how environmentally friendly they are and won awards, yet still supplied plastic bottles of water on the table and plastic straws.||Breakfast, has an array of cold meats, salads, breads, cereal, fruit, though not actual bananas, but sliced up in a bowl. The buffet type of hot food are: eggs, poached, fried, scrambled, boiled, bacon, small frankfurter sausages, beans etc. You could even order an omelette, made to your liking. Sounds ok, but there was something missing, the touch of authentic Greek cuisine, a cosiness, all a bit sterile.||The Evening Buffet; the salad bar is plentiful as is the desert bar all quite a show, with again, various breads. The food was uninspiring and warm at best, again it didn’t exude much of the Greek cuisine that we enjoy. The atmosphere was that of a shopping mall eatery, with suited people, sternly looking around, bit off putting when the staff were so nice.|Best bit was the Gourmet Evening, looked extravagant, with tables set out with different foods on them, but again, not inspiring and not very Greek, same with the buffet food. To cap it all, they had a 1980s chocolate fountain, with various things to dip into it, should have worn my flares and platforms.||We ditched breakfast after the third day, the last two evening, the buffet. Instead, in the morning, we drove (hired a car) set up on the real beach enjoyed Greek food from the bakery and coffee, watching the boats coming in and out, absolute bliss.|Evening time a cab into Elounda to experience the Greek hospitality and restaurants, this is what was so missing, an atmosphere.|The good Greek welcome, like we were long lost relatives, the home made food was spectacular, the atmosphere felt warm and sincere.|We had hired a car and drove down to the real Elounda every day to enjoy the beach, the market, getting lunch from various eating places, which never failed in service or good old fashioned Greek Cuisine and just watch the world unfold, relaxing in the warm sun and the charm of the harbour.||Our last day, I was clearly struggling with cases up the stairs, one of the staff members were showing people around, clearly ignored me rather than taking a few seconds to either help or get some assistance, never happened.|At reception, I took the room card back and announced we were now leaving, we didn’t even receive a “did you enjoy your stay”, or would like help with your cases to the car? totally blocked, how rude.||For 5 star, try the Ritz, The Langham, The Dorchester, maybe some lessons for your Hotel management wouldn’t go amiss.|If you are Half Board, you will be treated 2nd class, not by all staff, but you can notice the difference. ||Did I complain? Not once, why? because it was pointless, this was sold on the premise that this was a 5* establishment and as far as the management were concerned that was what they thought. Amazed by the good reviews,...

Having wanted to come here for some time and with it being recommended by family, we visited the lovely Aquila Elounda Village over May half term. ||We organised private transfers through the hotel for €90 each way - well worth it! We were told it was a 2 hour coach journey to Elounda, which we really did not want to do after a long flight especially with me being 7 months pregnant. We were greeted by our driver at arrivals and transferred to the hotel in a luxury Mercedes minibus in under 1 hour. I would 100% recommend this. ||We based our review on four things: Room, Resort, Food & Service/Entertainment. Bit of context - we are a couple in our mid 30s who are well travelled and enjoy luxury resorts, but we are certainly not picky customers and just believe in good value for money! We like chilled resorts, good food, and some entertainment options. We are not big drinkers.||Room: After doing some research beforehand, it appeared as though the room categories were a little inconsistent. You could either get really lucky with some room types with great views etc… or not so lucky. We originally booked a Mythica Deluxe Waterfront Private Pool room - but changed our minds due to two very different room layout options as you will see on their website (we wanted a room closer to the front but this couldn’t be guaranteed) so we changed our minds to the Mythica Deluxe Waterfront Bungalow with the glass balconies which are above the pool rooms. We were allocated room number 4 which we were really pleased with - outstanding panoramic sea views, open air bath tub, and we had 3 windows to the left with views of the Bay/Elounda. This room is the only one in this category with these windows - so we got lucky!|Very happy with our room - one of the nicest rooms we have ever stayed in. I would highly recommend the Waterfront Deluxe Bungalows with balcony over the Waterfront private pool rooms, as unfortunately with the pool rooms they are all different layouts and not guaranteed to get one of the best ones. We found our room to be more private and better ocean views than the pool rooms below us, and we love spending time down by the sea so probably wouldn’t have used the private pool much. We were happy we ‘downgraded’ as such. The room was big, spacious, modern, clean and had stunning views. |We rated our room 5/5.||Resort: The resort and the grounds are stunning. The gardens are immaculate and have such a lovely Grecian feel. The buildings are beautiful, and the resort was very tidy and clean. Unfortunately there was a huge sandstorm for the first 2 days, and sand rain covered EVERYTHING. But the staff spent the next 2 days hosing everything down and cleaning everything, which was good to see! I only wish our glass balcony would have been cleaned - as from day 1 we had sand smeared all over the glass which impacted our view (sounds picky but think it’s reasonable given you pay a lot more for these rooms and the views). There are a lot of steps as you can imagine with the resort being on a cliffside. It can be hard work going up and down if you aren’t too fit, or in my case 7 months pregnant.. but I took my time and it was fine!! It added to the charm of the resort. There are some areas in the original building which are a little dated and need some attention, but we didn’t spend much time in there. We LOVED the pier/the little beach/the sea it was such a beautiful setting - the snorkelling was brilliant and crystal clear waters, and the sunbeds were comfy. We saw loads of fish including lionfish, barracuda and other local species. We rated the resort 5/5.||Food: We were Half Board and glad we chose this option for us - I couldn’t drink alcohol and my husband doesn’t drink much so were happy to just pay for lunches and dine in the main restaurant. We had one lunch at Mirabello which was lovely, and we paid to do the Greek night on the Thursday which was well worth the money - probably the best night food wise and was a great experience. We went to Elounda for lunch one day (via taxi) and that was a beautiful fishing village - highly recommend the trip there. From looking at the menus it seems as though there’s not a huge amount of choice for all inclusive guests, so would recommend Half Board depending on how much you are planning to drink as drinks can be pricey and classic cocktails/beers/house wines/spirits seem to be included. Food in the main restaurant was decent enough, but not the best we’ve had. There’s not a huge variety, especially of hot food, and can be a bit ‘samey’. There didn’t seem to be any themed nights, which I think the hotel would benefit from just to keep things a bit more interesting for guests. The food wasn’t bad by any means, but it could have been better. They only serve a couple of toastie options down by the beach bar which was a little disappointing, as we definitely would have had our lunch down there most days if there were more options. We rated the food 3/5.||Service/Entertainment: Service in general was good, but found it to be a little inconsistent. Some staff were extremely friendly and went out of their way to make guests happy, and there were others who looked stressed/too busy or just didn’t want to be there. We found the main restaurant to be understaffed and slow service - it took us a while to be served for drinks/cutlery etc in the restaurant and in the beach bar. Entertainment wise they do offer some things to do, unfortunately being pregnant I was knackered after our evening meal so just came back early! But whilst we were there they had a cinema night, beach party night, Greek night and some classes which all looked good! They could maybe benefit from some more live music in the evenings in the main bar, as this only happened on 2 nights we were there. We rated the service/entertainment a 3/5. ||On a side note and nothing to do with the hotel, we got very unlucky with the weather. We only had 3 nice sunny days out of 7. Our first 2 days and our last 2 days were rainy, cloudy and thunderstorms. Total luck but we wouldn’t risk going again in May unfortunately, as we were really disappointed to be missing out on the beach and those blue skies that us Brits crave!||Overall, we rated the resort a 4/5 given the above. We would return in the future and would recommend to others, as it such a beautiful place...

Booked with TUI all inclusive 11 nights||All inclusive appears to mean different things to the Hotel. It’s a little confusing and doesn’t match what the TUI website says. Be careful as you may be conned into ordering a drink that you think is all inclusive but without checking the bar list first. There isn’t such a thing as a separate all inclusive list. I strongly advise you check to as there is a little house 🏠 next to those items that are included in your all inclusive package, otherwise there is a charge. I feel that this should have been explained to us when we checked in or at the TUI welcome meeting but it wasn’t.||According to TUI all inclusive guests are entitled to eat free once per stay at the Al la carte restaurant, which suggests everything is included as all inclusive, however according to the hotel app, all inclusive guests are entitled to a limited (but good) choice and everything else has a 25% discount. But if you’re not expecting this it could be quite a shock at check out, the good news is that there is enough on the menu to not pay extra, although on both occasions we chose something that wasn’t and really enjoyed it.||Big tip get to know the Aquila app, you make your reservation there, check times there, look at menus there and receive notifications there but good luck as it’s not the most user friendly.||TUI rep new to resort and not clear about what’s what, “check with guest services” was her advice?||The room||Stayed in a standard sea view room, yes it’s standard and had a sea view and if you ignore the empty unfinished building on the left the view is pleasant, but I didn’t think it was 5* standard. Gowns but no slippers, dated decor, wardrobe but no drawer space, bog standard kettle and drinks option and basic shower over a bath, you get something similar (without the view and the weather) in a travel lodge/premier inn, 3 possibly 4 star standard! As usual in a Greek island hotel you are asked not to flush any paper down the loo which means that you place used toilet paper in the bin provided! You’d think that a five star hotel would empty these regularly but no it’s daily unless the cleaner forgets! ||Dining||The buffet restaurant is well stocked with a good variety and choice and the food nicely presented, available for Breakfast, lunch and dinner and all the food included with all inclusive although you have to pay extra if you want anything other than the house wines/beers, check the wine list on the app first. Only issue is that occasionally the food is a little on the cooler side than I like. ||The Mirabello restaurant was a real change, nice relaxed atmosphere, great service and the food was really tasty. Interesting quirk no menus so you had to use (yes you’ve got it) the app to see the menu and make your choice! If you don’t have your phone handy the waiter will lend you his??||Symposium restaurant is the feature A La carte restaurant and like the Mirabello has a mixture of included and not included with the all inclusive. A completely different experience but still very pleasant and the staff make a real effort. We ate here twice and had lovely meals on both occasions.||Service||A general comment and one implied by many staff we spoke to is that the Hotel is understaffed, there are certain individuals who clearly know their stuff and others who admitted that it was their first day. As such the quality of Service varies depending on the person serving, many staff appear to honestly go out of their way to help you whilst some seem bored and everything is a chore. Probably true for all hotels but for a hotel that has won the bronze award for Greek hotel of the year 2025 “staff love working here” award it raises eyebrows!||A strange quirk was that Only certain individuals can take your order while others deliver it! Even if you sit at the bar you order via the waitress who can take orders not from the bar staff themselves who are there just to prepare the drinks. Generally it works well but on one occasion at the pool we had to ask three times for the whereabouts of our drinks and when they delivered them 40 minutes after first request we were given an apology and said it was the internet, so much for the app! ||One major issue.||Part way through our visit a large group (110) arrived and the atmosphere Changed abruptly, from calm poolside to rowdy over excited adults who didn’t seem to appreciate the existence of the other residents. Smoking, drinking out of their own bottles of booze in the pool, playing their own music loudly at the pool and generally taking over the place. Some of the French guests we got to know, spoke to customer relations and were told that they needed to be more understanding of others?? Most of the staff were understanding and basically felt the same about these guests, luckily they only stayed for 3/4 days but they did leave a bad impression of their company and country of origin. I think the hotel needs to consider is it worthwhile offering this type of holiday as I feel it would put off many people like us who were expecting a much more calm, tranquil and relaxing experience.||In Summary||The hotel is sold as a relaxing escape, which at times it was but it’s extremely isolated, basically if you want to venture out the rep suggested a taxi, no footpaths or beach walks available which we felt was a little restrictive. We weren’t interested in popping down to the nearest villages/towns but would have liked to be able to walk out just for the exercise and views.||The all confusing inclusive questions needs to be resolved and explained better, either by the tour company or the hotel itself.||Final words, I appreciate that we went for the standard but we were expecting a 5* standard, which we felt was never achieved. Would we go there again,...