Elounda Infinity Exclusive Resort & Spa — Hotel in Municipality of Agios Nikolaos

I'll start with the positives - the staff who work in reception are very friendly, the rooms are superficially very nice, the plunge pool was lovely and the views are stunning.

Now unfortunately on to the rest.

This is not a 5* hotel, and I will explain why we were ultimately disappointed.

Breakfast: Our drinks were not refilled on any day of our stay (we were there for 7 days), and on some days we had to get up and ask for coffee because no one came over to us at all. Plates were not cleared, staff argued at the bar in front of guests, the scrambled eggs were not real eggs, the toast machine is placed in the narrow entrance to the dining room causing crowding. The yoghurt is not kept chilled throughout the breakfast service, drinks were not chilled either. Apparently the hotel is going to be extended soon, and I dread to think what breakfast will be like when there are even more people.

The room: Air conditioning was not sufficient for the room size, no ventilation in the toilet and the shower room leaked into the main room whenever we used it.

Housekeeping: Very friendly housekeepers, but they did not leave us toilet paper on any day of our stay! Even when we had just a few squares left, we were not given a new roll. We had to ask for it every single time - completely unacceptable for any hotel, let alone a 5. On one day we completely ran out and had to text the hotel using the app to get toilet paper. It was also incredibly low quality paper and just not want you expect at a 5. Similarly, our box of tissues ran out on day 2 and it was never refilled.

Plunge pool/outside area: Steps to get in were very steep and slippery and there is no rail or handle, despite the safety board next to the pool saying to hold on to the rail...just stupid. As other reviews have stated, there is no privacy at this hotel, and it is a bit of a stretch to call it a private plunge pool. You're shoulder-to-shoulder with other rooms which wasn't great. We didn't use the main pool at all as it was small and surrounded by tall concrete walls so you can't even see any of the surroundings. It looked very claustrophobic.

Car park: Completely unacceptable. Totally unpaved, and no where near enough spaces for everyone. Every evening we were stressed about finding a space, and sometimes we had to go into the overflow which is up the steep hill and essentially on a building site - the ground is rocks and rubbles and we were very worried about our hire car's tyres. None of the parking is fit for purpose, let alone for a 5*.

Other: Towards the end of our stay some people arrived at the room next to us and blasted loud music during the day by their pool. This is a quiet hotel in the quietest part of one of the quietest towns in Crete - the hotel should not be allowing guests to disturb the peace. However, staff were happily walking past this room and chatting with the guests as the music played, rather than telling them to turn it off. On the last evening the same people were smoking cannabis on their terrace and we had to bring all our wet clothes in as they reeked of smoke. We ended up taking them home soaking wet as we couldn't dry them. We made the hotel aware of the situation, and were visited by the reception staff, but nothing was done. I do sympathise with the staff as I recognise this is a difficult situation for them, but the whole experience just further cemented that this place does not have the atmosphere of an expensive, boutique 5* hotel. It totally ruined our last night.

I unfortunately cannot in good faith recommend this hotel and I think that their marketing is actually very misleading. My theory as to why it has some good reviews is that it's the cheapest 5* in the area, so people do not have as high standards or expectations for it.

Ultimately though, I don't care the star rating - I don't want to be worried about flat tyres, getting water at breakfast and running out of toilet paper when...

We booked this hotel as we're celebrating our anniversary, and also recently getting engaged, so we wanted somewhere peaceful and beautiful with good service and nice food and, although we read mixed reviews, we decided to give it a chance as it looked so lovely from the pictures and had a high overall rating. My partner had spoken to the hotel beforehand letting them know we were celebrating. Upon checking in we had to pay a €200 deposit which you can either redeem against food and drink or be fully refunded upon checkout (which can take upto 20 days to appear back in your account).

We had booked a Deluxe Room with Private Jacuzzi and balcony with a garden view. We were shown to a ground floor room, next to the gym and restaurant, with a patio overlooking a stone floor and a fence with a tiny view of the mountain. The room was small and dark with only one window. We went to reception and told them we were unhappy with the room and were told "this is the room you booked" to which we replied that it isn't as our booking said we would have a balcony and a garden view which this room did not have. We also weren't happy being on the ground floor and having people walking past our patio as there was no privacy whatsoever. We were shown to another room on the first floor with a balcony, and the difference between the two rooms was like night and day!

Service was a mixed bag. The hostess at breakfast and dinner was very observant and friendly. Agalena and Joanna were great and very friendly and chatty and made us feel really welcome, as did the runners who were very efficient and smiley, but everyone else was a quite slow and seemed very distracted.

The pool area is nice and there's enough sunbeds for everyone and no-one reserved sunbeds with towels which makes a nice change. The music around the pool was unnecessarily loud dance music which really ruined the relaxed vibe we'd been hoping for.

The cleaning was fine but not what you'd expect from a 5* star hotel. When we checked into the second room the floor hadn't been cleaned and made our feet dirty after we'd just showered. On two occasions they took our robes and didn't replace them so we had to phone reception (they also don't provide slippers which, I think, is an oversight). We also only ever had one cup and saucer in the room, even though there were two of us. However the cleaning staff were friendly and whenever we asked for anything they did provide it for us.

On our last day we asked for a late checkout as our taxi was coming at 1pm and we needed to be out of the room at 11am, so we wanted to spend a bit of time by the pool and then be able to shower before our taxi came, and the hotel accomodated a 12:30pm checkout which we appreciated.

Overall Elounda Infinity does absolutely not feel like a 5* hotel and, considering it's probably one of the most expensive hotels we've booked, it's probably the most underwhelmed we've ever felt on holiday. Nothing feels particularly well thought out and guest comfort doesn't appear to be a priority.

Considering we were celebrating a very special occasion, not one member of staff made us feel special or seemed to care whatsoever about us having a nice time (other than Agalena who really did make our trip so much better). You really do just feel like a number here when it comes to everyone else.

The only other redeeming feature of this hotel is the beautiful location but that certainly doesn't warrant the price.

We wouldn't stay here again.

Edited to add: be VERY careful with your €200 deposit. We were told that whatever we spend would be taken off the deposit and the difference would be returned to us. This is NOT the case. We have just been charged for what we spent and it's going to take up to 20 days to receive our deposit back. This wasn't explained to us on checking in as we were told the difference would be returned to us. We're now down a €200 deposit plus €140...

We stayed at this hotel for about a week. Before arriving, I had read a mix of reviews online—some very positive, others more critical—so I was not entirely sure what to expect. However, our experience turned out to be excellent overall, and I would like to highlight several aspects of our stay.

The Hotel & Location The hotel is beautifully situated on a hillside. The higher your room is located, the more uphill you need to go. Fortunately, the hotel provides golf carts with staff available 24/7 to drive guests up and down. From the moment we parked our car, staff members were there to assist us and bring us to the reception with our luggage. After check-in, we were also driven directly to our room. This service was outstanding.

Check-in & Room We arrived late in the evening, but the hotel had thoughtfully prepared some food for us, knowing about our late flight. The room was very comfortable and well-equipped, including both air conditioning and a ceiling fan. Since we prefer not to use air conditioning too much, the ceiling fan was ideal. Housekeeping was excellent, providing fresh towels daily and cleaning the room twice a day—once in the morning and once later in the afternoon.

Staff & Service The staff deserves special recognition. Everyone we interacted with—from reception to security, from the breakfast team to the pool staff, and even the golf cart drivers—was exceptionally friendly, respectful, and always smiling. Importantly, their attitude felt genuine and authentic, not forced. In my opinion, the staff truly made our stay memorable and deserve a score of 10 out of 10.

Pools & Atmosphere The hotel offers several pools, all clean and well-maintained. A big plus was the availability of sunbeds—there were always enough for everyone, which avoided the stress of having to “reserve” a spot early in the morning. The overall atmosphere around the pool was very relaxing, with perfectly chosen lounge music at just the right volume. The poolside menu was good and reasonably priced, similar to what you would expect in the Netherlands. The only downside here was the slow service: although tables had call buttons, it sometimes took too long for staff to arrive after pressing them.

Dining Breakfast and dinner were included in our stay, but unfortunately, this was the weakest part of the experience. The breakfast lacked variety, and the dinner options were disappointing in terms of taste and quality. Surprisingly, the desserts in the evening were often better than the main dishes. While this did not ruin our holiday, it is an area where the hotel could improve significantly.

Overall Experience Despite the issues with food, our overall experience at this hotel was excellent. The location, facilities, and especially the outstanding staff more than made up for the shortcomings. If the quality of the breakfast and dinner were improved, this hotel would easily earn a perfect score. For now, I would rate our stay a...