Domes of Elounda, One of the Best

Domes of Elounda is the last stop of our extended trip to Greece.  I booked this resort prior to the 8/18/2018 Marriott/SPG/RC merger.  The old rate was Category 9 with 45,000 points.  

The current rate is the new category 8 with 85,000 points each night.

This resort is located near the town of Elounda, Crete.  It is a busy tourist town.  

The resort is all suites, from one bed room suite to 2 bedroom family suites.  There are also some villa and residence.

The owner plans to build another section of villas.

We rented a car from Heraklin and drove to the resort in the evening.  I already told the hotel to check in late.  After we arrived, the valet took over the car and luggages and we were escorted to the receiption area.  The concierge led us to the bar area and there was live piano playing.  

We were offered cold towel and cold drink.  The concierge went through all the paperwork and introduced all the activities for that week.  

At the end of the reception, the concierge took us to the room in the club car.

I booked a family suite for 3 adults and 1 child, balcony, outdoor jacuzzi and sea view.  This is eactly the suite we received.  The suite is even better than we anticipated.  There was a king size bed in the bedroom and two sleeper sofas in the living room.

Later during our stay, we were offered to move to a two bedroom villa on the other side of the property.  We kindly declined.  Our suite has far better view than the other villa.

The sea view from the room is fantastic.  We can see the Spinalonga Island right from our balcony.

The resort has two pools, one for adults and one for family with kids.  Most of the families use the beach and not a lot of people used the pools.

One of the best part of the hotel is its beach.  It is not the typical "beach" you can find in Cancun.  But much better than the typical "Crete beach".  The beach is very clean and the water is very clear.

During our stay in later August, the sea water temperature is just right.  It was not cold and there were a lot of simmers off the beach area.

The resort has excellent spa service.  We enjoyed the service.

There is a water sport place near the resort beach.  The prices were very reaonsable.  We rented a motor boat for the family and we drove the boat around the Spinalonga Island.  It was a lot of fun.

The service was superb.  Most of the staff remember my name, from the general manager George, reservation manager Mike to concierge and front desk staff.  They always call me by my name.

All the valet, service and cleaning staff were very couteous and were willing to help.  Never any service related issues.  We only called to ask for the water that was not delivered on time.

The buffet breakfast is included.  The food and service were very good and we did not have any complaints.

This resort is located just North of the town of Elounda.  It is about 8 minutes drive.  The small town of Plaka (yes Plake) is close, but only several nice restaurants and small shops.  

For people without cars, they would feel isolated since it requires efforts to go to any town or to explore.  Fortunately that we rented a card during our entire stay at the Domes.  

We tasted several restaurants in both Plaka and Elounda.  We also drove to the East shore of Crete (Itanos) and the South shore of Crete (Ierapetra).  Car is necessary if you plan to stay there long.

Over our entire stay at the Domes, we were never bored.  We could certainly use several more days to explore the large Crete island.  All the local seafood is so tasty.  We love the snail, grilled sardines, grilled octopus and Greek sea bass and sea bream.  The food in the South (Ierapetra) is much cheaper, fresh and tasty.

We really enjoyed our stay there.  This is one of our nicest resort experience.  Even in peak season the resort fully occupied, it did not feel crowded at all.  The staff was very nice.  Food was great.  And there is so much to do in Crete.