The Royal Blue Resort

The Best Hotel We Have Ever Stayed At!

I booked a two-week holiday at The Royal Blue with my husband and our 16-year-old son, and without a doubt, it was the best hotel we have ever stayed in. From the moment we arrived until the day we left, everything exceeded our expectations.

We stayed in a Superior Double Room with a Shared Pool and Garden View. The room was beautifully decorated, spotlessly clean, and felt fresh throughout our stay. Stepping through the patio doors onto our terrace was a real highlight. We had luxurious sun loungers, a table and chairs, and direct access to a lovely shared pool, making it the perfect place to relax.

One thing I particularly appreciated was that the room had a proper double bed rather than two singles pushed together, which made it much more comfortable. The sofa bed that our son slept on was also surprisingly comfortable. The bathroom was spacious, with twin basins and an excellent walk-in shower.

If I had one small criticism, it would be that the room felt a little compact and the storage space was somewhat limited for a two-week stay. However, I think this could easily be resolved by adding a few extra shelves within the existing wardrobe area.

Our cleaner was absolutely outstanding. She cleaned the room to an exceptionally high standard every day, left fresh bottles of water, and was always so friendly and cheerful. By the end of our holiday, we'd built such a lovely rapport that we all received a hug from her on our last day—a memory we'll treasure.

One thing that really impressed me was the hotel's commitment to maintaining such high standards. Whenever guests checked out, I noticed the maintenance team would arrive at the rooms with paint, silicone, and other materials to carry out any necessary touch-ups and repairs before the next guests arrived. It was clear that they take great pride in keeping every room in tip-top condition, and I thought this attention to detail spoke volumes about the way the hotel is managed.

The hotel is in quite a remote location, but that didn't bother us at all as we were more than happy to enjoy everything the resort had to offer. The facilities are outstanding. There is a beautiful private beach with excellent sunbeds and a beach bar, a stunning central pool overlooking the sea, an adults-only pool, and the shared and private pools available depending on your room type.

The pool bar serves a great selection of food and drinks throughout the day, and I have to mention the poolside toilets—they were honestly the cleanest I've ever seen outside of the main hotel building. They were immaculate and felt like hotel lobby facilities rather than pool toilets.

My son made full use of the gym every day. The hotel also has an excellent outdoor gym where fitness classes are held, including spin sessions, which was a fantastic addition.

There are four restaurants within the hotel: the main Symposium Restaurant and three à la carte restaurants, all boasting incredible sea views. Although we had planned to try the à la carte restaurants, we found the food in the Symposium Restaurant so exceptional that we chose to eat there every evening. The variety and quality of the food were outstanding, with something different to enjoy every night.

The restaurant staff truly made our holiday extra special. Every morning and evening we were warmly welcomed and shown to our preferred table. Tito and his team simply couldn't do enough for us. Tito, in particular, was wonderful with our teenage son every morning, always taking the time to chat with him. In fact, every member of staff was fantastic with children and teenagers alike, making everyone feel genuinely welcome.

One thing that really stood out was how the staff interacted with one another. It was lovely to see how friendly and supportive they all were, regardless of their roles. They clearly work as one team, and that positive atmosphere shines through in the exceptional service they provide.

After dinner we often enjoyed a drink in the Elixir Bar before heading over to the Thea Bar, where the resident DJ played a fantastic mix of music every evening. We enjoyed it so much that we've even created our own "Royal Blue" playlist at home to remind us of our wonderful holiday.

I also treated myself to a body massage and facial in the spa with Mela. She was absolutely incredible, and I cannot recommend her highly enough. It was one of the best spa treatments I've ever had.

I had noticed from previous reviews that some guests were fortunate enough to receive a complimentary upgrade to one of the private pool villas for their final night. They look absolutely stunning, and I must admit I was secretly hoping we might be lucky enough to experience one! Sadly, it wasn't to be, but I imagine this depends entirely on availability.

Overall, I cannot recommend The Royal Blue highly enough. The hotel is absolutely beautiful, the scenery is breath taking, the food is exceptional, the facilities are first class, and the rooms are lovely. Most importantly, the staff are undoubtedly the hotel's greatest asset. Every single person we met helped make our holiday truly unforgettable.

We returned home with wonderful memories, a fantastic music playlist, and already talking about when we can come back.

Thank you to everyone at The Royal Blue for giving us such an amazing holiday. We will definitely be returning!

The hotel really lives up to its 5 star category. The resort is beautifully laid out with lots of thoughtful touches. We had a water facing sea view room which was well appointed with tea making facilities, nespresso coffee maker, excellent aircon, twin basin bathroom. We wanted twin beds which proved an issue as the suite we had booked could not be made up with separate beds. To achieve this we had to move down to the smaller room, but it was very comfortable and we got a reimbursement for the difference in tariff. 2 large bottles of water were left in the room every day which is rare in my experience. The half board basis includes breakfast and dinner, both from the buffet, which was excellent with a great variety of fresh dishes. There are 4 à la carte restaurants but we didn’t try them as you have to pay on top of your half board with an un-inticing 15% discount. We did however, go to the special Greek night on Wednesday, which was an additional €60 each (after 15% discount) but included a yummy taster menu including main course of lobster, plus Greek musicians and dancers. Very enjoyable. The drinks are not included in any of the packages and are expensive. We paid €33 for a bottle of wine and €5 for sparkling water. Cocktails are around €13. Entertainment is laid on several nights with too quality singers and we also had a fab cellist playing at breakfast one day. The highlight for us was the private beach. Easily accessible with a lovely small man-made cove with huge rocks providing a safe, swimming area in the beautiful clear water. It is sandy with a few pebbles along the shoreline, but nothing too painful. Plenty of comfortable sunbeds with parasols - we never had a problem. The beach bar will deliver drinks right to your sunbed. There is no saving of beds - which wasn’t necessary anyway. The location of the complex is quite remote and we didn’t want to hire a car, but our main objective was to relax and enjoy the facilities. We organised one day trip to Knossos/Heraklion via the concierge with Cretan coach company. €25 each plus €20 ticket entry price. We paid an extra €20 each (Total €40 each) when we got there to skip the line and have a personal guide, which was worth every penny. Excellent, interesting visit in under 2 hours (plenty in the intense heat). Heraklion itself is quite small and you can walk to see most of the places of interest. Nice eateries and small shops. We also caught the local bus which goes from the hotel ‘next door’ about 10 mins walk. €3 pp each way for aircon bus - takes about 45 mins to Rethymnon. Lovely town. We took the hop on hop off bus for the 90 mins tour which was good. There is also a little Dotti train that takes you into Panormos for a change of scenery. They also do 2 longer routes that we didn’t try.
Overall, a lovely hotel with plenty of friendly staff and great relaxation facilities. Great if you don’t wound not being close by to local restaurants/taverns. Extras will add up though.