Domes Aulus Elounda All-Inclusive Resort, Curio Collection by Hilton

The bar has music thumping out late at night. This is a beautiful part of Crete ruined by a moronic beat. We are not in Malia. What a pity as otherwise fantastic. Poor publicity for what is paradise. Not what I would expect from the Hilton brand.

⸻ Zu viele Gäste für zu wenige Mitarbeiter. Der Service ist sehr schlecht. An der Bar muss man etwa 15 Minuten auf ein Getränk warten, weil nur ein Barkeeper für rund 10 wartende Gäste da ist – und obendrein arbeiten sie sehr langsam. Dasselbe gilt auch für die Restaurants: Auf allen Buchungsplattformen wird „All-Inclusive mit Restaurants“ versprochen, aber tatsächlich kann man während des gesamten Aufenthalts nur einmal in ein Restaurant gehen – nicht täglich. Als Ausrede heißt es: „Das Restaurant ist ausgebucht“. Doch jedes Mal, wenn wir uns selbst davon überzeugt haben, waren höchstens 3-4 Tische belegt, der Rest war leer. Als Alternative bleibt nur das Buffet – aber selbst dort wurden wir dreimal abgewiesen, weil es zu voll war und es keine Sitzplätze mehr gab. Das Hotel verdient höchstens drei Sterne. Von außen sieht es vielleicht aus wie ein Fünf-Sterne-Hotel, aber der Service und zusätzlich die Qualität des Essens sind wirklich schlecht.

What can we say? Wonderful 5 night break at this delightful hotel. Even though this is the last week of the season, nothing is too much trouble for this wonderful staff team. Fabulous suite with amazing views, easy, laid back styling and entertainment offerings, and superb food at all of the restaurants. Special mention to Christina and all of the team at the Island buffet restaurant and the amazing chef and his team at the sushi meze restaurant. Thank you Vicky and all of your team...and definitely see you again next season!

So we are just back from a short break (4 nights) at the Domes Aulus and I have very mixed reviews. Firstly the staff are fabulous, and absolutely 5 star but the resort is not. We booked a Sapphire Cozy Suite with private pool and private terrace, comes with Cool Living but the description and room layout given by Hilton is not the reality. As we had booked Cool Living we expected to be at the top of the very steep hill as that is where Cool Living is situated but we were not as it appears that they have not built any Sapphire Cozy Suites up there…instead they have renovated a few of the old hotel suites at the bottom so anytime we wanted to use the facilities we paid for we had to either walk up the very steep hill (its half a mile)or get a golf cart from reception and that is for breakfast, lunch, dinner or to sunbathe, so a bit of a pain. We were in block 1, next to the normal restaurants, just above reception and the car park. So noisy, overlooked and not private. Our deck and pool were not private, they were on a public walkway, surrounded and overlooked. If we had been staying longer I would have complained but the alternative, as I found out, would have been a move to block 5 which is neither near the beach or cool living, instead stuck half way up the hill. All the new Cool Living blocks are stunning, relatively private with fabulous views. The original hotel at the bottom of the hill (non cool living) is quite rough in places, like the pool needs an overhaul, the loungers are not great and there is broken tiles and decking and generally not that clean. The new cool living part is beautiful, stunning pools, great loungers, lovely bar area and good food but that all comes at quite a premium and even if you’ve paid for cool living you may not be roomed there. However its not all good because the hotel appears to upgrade anyone who complains about the normal facilities to cool living as compensation but that means those who have paid for cool living don’t always get what they have paid for. We couldn’t get a restaurant booking for a couple of the nights and couldn’t get a lounger one of the days. It sounds petty but when you’ve paid just under $4K for 4 nights and been promised 5star it’s not really that great. The food in the Griglia is lovely but I wasn’t impressed by the food in the Island restaurant (very basic buffet). So would I go back, no, not 5 star and definitely not value for money which is a shame as Crete is beautiful and the staff are fabulous.

We upgraded to Cool Living Zen Suite with private outdoor jacuzzi Room was beautiful with the most stunning view. No warm water for jacuzzi but in all honesty if using in the day you won’t want extra heat anyway! I would have liked the option of room service and free mini bar refills given 5 star, but it certainly wouldn’t deter me from booking The rooftop cool living pool, bar and restaurant is 100% worth the upgrade and feels night and day from the standard pool area. I do have one BIG criticism. They do not police the guests attending the area AT ALL! We paid extra to access this area, yet getting beds was so difficult because they allowed all hotel guests to use it. They really really need to fix this. There is a lifeguard on duty who has very little to do, seems to me they could get this person to ask for room numbers or to see key (as cool living have different key) at no extra staffing cost. So easy to fix and all cool living guests complained of this. Food was good. Not ‘blow me away’ good but good enough and met my expectations. We had a big birthday whilst there and they were brilliant and making it special. We had a personalised birthday cake, a great table and the band sang happy birthday. We booked a half day semi private catamaran through the concierge and it was absolutely fantastic. The concierge are great and arranged all our restaurants too. The location was amazing! Highly recommend visiting Plaka, Elounda and Agios Nikolaos. A trip to Spinalonga is a must. Also, do take advantage of the hotels free shuttle to Agios! Overall I would definitely recommend staying here. I just think they need to fix the issue with allowing none paying guests in the cool living area.

We have just returned from a lovely holiday. This hotel has the most amazing scenery I think I have ever seen. Unfortunately the bar is very much indoors, with no views but the main restaurant has views all round, with seating indoors and out. There are sun-beds around the pool and on the beach but there is no room on the beach for just a towel. The beach is quite small and the sea comes right up to the wall in the area, apart from on the private beach. The setting is on an extremely steep hlll, probably not suitable for older people. They do have buggies but I think there’s a bit of waiting around for them and having to get reception involved. We just had a room with a sea view but it turns out there are many options, including suites with a pool and their own a la carte restaurant. I think, as we were at the end of the season, there was a few mouldy bits in the shower and it generally needed a cleanup. The water wasn’t always hot either. Hence my 4 star rating. The resort is a long way from town. About 3km and about 4km to the village of Plaka in the other direction, where you can get boats to Spinalonga, a former leper colony. We had a wonderful time here. The staff are very friendly but be prepared for a welcoming meeting, instead of just checking in. We found this a step too far!