Phāea Blue Palace

The hotel is splendid location is far from everything but it is great

My husband and I had an absolutely amazing stay at the Phae Blue Palace soon after it's re-opening as a luxury boutique hotel. We didn't know the previous version of this hotel to compare to but we loved the "new" version, with all the thoughtful gestures towards sustainability and efforts to integrate with Cretan culture & foods, etc - whilst still maintaining the quality and personalised service you expect from a 5-star place. Yes, it's a smaller "boutique" property and OK, it hasn't got 18 restaurants and 6 pools and golf course and helipad and watersports centre with giant slide - blah-blah-blah - but that doesn't mean that the experience is any less luxurious. If anything, the smaller size means you feel like the staff really treat you as individuals (even friends!) rather than just another dollar sign with a room number attached. The location is sublime with the views to Spinalonga Island; sunset dinners at the Blue Door Taverna on the beach are just magical and lots of local attractions are within easy driving or boating distance. You can also do daytrips to several other parts of Crete easily. We made a daytrip to the Omalos Plateau & Diktamos (Zeus) cave one day and climbed to the top of the mountains (high enough that everything was covered in a freezing mist!) and were back in time for a lovely dinner in the main restaurant. (Yes, there were roadworks/building work for the sister site going on while we were there but it honestly wasn't that much of a hassle. You just had to look more than once each way before driving out of the hotel property onto the road and we weren't disturbed by the noise at all.) The thing that really set the Phae Blue Palace apart for us was the staff, who were all wonderful. They really embodied the Greek value of "philoxenia" - all the smiles felt genuine and they really seemed delighted to help you enjoy Crete as much as possible. In particular, I need to mention Lina Stratsiou (Front Office Manager) who was INCREDIBLE - even months before we arrived in Crete, the level of effort & attention to detail she showed as we corresponded via email was just unbelievable. She was so patient with my endless questions and itinerary changes, and her messages felt heartfelt and genuine, not just slick, stock responses. When we finally arrived at the hotel, we received such a warm personal welcome from her - it felt like meeting a lovely penpal at last or something! But all the staff were amazing. We have stayed in a lot of luxury hotels in many countries and while they all have perfectly trained staff, this is one of the few places where it felt authentic and not sycophantic. Unfortunately, I can't remember the names of all the lovely people who made us feel so welcome but in addition to Lina, I'd like to say a special thank you to Stavroula, Maria & her team in the main restarant Anthos and the charming Haris (manager of the Blue Door Taverna), who took great pride in providing top service but in a way that felt (a

I had previously been a guest of Blue Palace (2022 & 2023) and just came back from my first stay at Phāea Blue Palace. As I had heard about all the changes I was eager to find out how that would translate and how it would be a completely new experience. There is no question, Phāea Blue Palace is a different hotel which occupies one side only of the original Blue Palace. I was lucky enough to have a long chat with the front office manager who explained the transformation further. The owners essentially split the original resort into two hotels last October: Phāea Blue Palace (where we stayed) and the other part which is currently closed and will re-open under Rosewood from 2025 as a much bigger resort. He told us how the same Cretan family still owns both sides of the original resort and the daughters (who are now in charge) wanted to create a new and more intimate experience, like stepping into a private Cretan estate and I believe they succeeded very well. The entrance lobby (which is nowhere near where the older entrance was) is a wonderfully warm and welcoming space very tastefully designed with soft colours, big drapes mixed together with great modern lightings and furnitures which makes the place very current and up to date. Something I thought that was much needed at the old Blue Palace on my last visit last summer. This entrance is a real ‘living and mixing space’ leading on one side to the main signature restaurant Aethos where breakfast, lunch and dinners are served and opening to a very lifestyle (albeit expensive!) boutique on the other side and a great bar at the back. We liked the way they cleverly created different lounging areas within that space. It is serene and very welcoming. The upper level even led to a private small screen room and more lounging areas. Interestingly, I had never been to that side of the original resort on my previous visits. I understood from the Manager that the area where the heart of the resort and pool & outside bar now are, were little used before. On that side, the rooms and suites are set together in a very nice way with paths, steps and small road access with lush mature gardens all around which separates very naturally from what will become the Rosewood part. It does look very nice and feels small and private. Although we could see parts of the other part of the resort from our room, it is not too close as there are gardens in between. You don’t see it or very little from the rest of the grounds /hotel. Our room was at a lower level of the hill and offered views on the former Blue Palace part and the village of Plaka and a second balconnet with a view of the magical islet of Spinalonga. The room was very spacious, great bathroom & amazing tub with a view! Colours were subtle in a similar style as the former Blue Palace. We alternated between going to the reception/bar/restaurant/pool through the gardens or using the buggies on demand. No more funicular to the beach! They are creating

The hotel has recently been refurbished and the staff are exceptionally welcoming. The quality of the Anthos restaurant is exceptional as is the cheaper Blue Door Taverna down by the beach. The food in both is sensational. The one thing which seems incongruous and out of character with such a high class hotel is the high volume touristic piped music played down by the poolside. It's too loud to concentrate on your book, or anything else for that matter. It changes the ambience from classy five star hotel to cheap package holiday. It has driven us from the pool to the tranquility of our balcony and private plunge pool. It seems to be repelling other guests, resulting in a lovely pool with spectacular views being deserted. The music is so obviously wrong it has driven me to fire up the TripAdvisor app and write my first review in some five years. Please turn down the music, even better turn it off. You come to a hotel like this for the peace and seclusion. There is no peace at the poolside, hence this review.

The location of Blue Palace is unbeatable in my opinion, overlooking Spinalonga island, a 5 minute walk into Plaka, and yet it also has a feeling of isolation which allowed me to immediately relax into my luxurious surrounds. I visited Blue Palace before when it was a much larger hotel. The new boutique hotel has kept all of the best features (dining outlets, private beach, great selection of accommodation types), and now these is an even more personal feeling. You quickly get to know the service staff, and they get to know you, and your preferences. 10/10 hospitality, as only the Cretans can!

It was in such a beautiful area, and they had wonderful and super kind staff. The food, both breakfast and dinner, was super delicious! One of the best hotel experiences i’ve ever had! My family and I had so much fun here. The view was the best, they had a beautiful lobby and pool area, and if we needed to call a taxi or book an experience the staff did everything.

We ate at Anthos, Blue door and the beach bar, all great and super friendly staff, both in the hotel itself and down at the beach. Breakfast was awesome! We also walked in to Plaka several times and ate at Ocean, Giorgio’s and Gorgona, which were also lovely. We took a boat trip brother bay which was fun and Spingoloa was fascinating.