Aelius Hotel & Spa

Its the second year running I have been to Aelius and I will be returning again next year. The staff and the hotel are wonderful. Nothing is too much trouble for them. The rooms are beautiful and clean and the food is great too the lady who particularly stands out is Giota she's so lovely. The swimmimg pools and grounds are extremely well maintained and just so chilled amd reIaxing. I made the most of all of the facilities including the spa. The spa is gorgeous with an extensive list of treatments. I had 2 treatments 1 by silvana, a head, back and shoulder massage and a facial by Mikela and they were heaven! Both girls are very highly trained and the lady who runs the spa really explains all the benefits of the treatments and recommends exactly what you need. All in all I couldn't recommend this hotel more it's just the best.

Beautiful hotel, clean and staff are very helpful and friendly. The pool and sun beds were perfect and facilities generally excellent. The breakfasts were delicious with lots of fresh fruit and great choice. Good coffee, and clean and tidy restaurant. The evening meal was good most of the time, but occasionally the food was not hot enough. Good location to the beach, and a selection of good shops and bars / restaurants. Overall. Great value for money. I had a massage at the spa and Haris the lovely Greek girl was so sweet and made me feel very pampered. The spa area, is hidden away so you have to ask where it is on the complex which was funny but thoroughly worth a visit. Sam and Matt

I went alone for a short break and enjoyed it. I was a bit unsure with me going alone as it wasn’t an adults only hotel, but it was rather quiet which was nice. They weren’t too many children there and not big groups. It was mostly couples and a few small and quiet familes. I have been to several parts of Crete before and this hotel is close to the beach and there is a bus stop very close. It is also near Heraklion. I didn’t do many excursions with this only being a short stay but I have done several of the excursions before and Gouves is close to them. The hotel was clean and the room was spacious. There was a safety deposit box and a kettle in my room. There was also good Wi-Fi. The staff were friendly and helpful. My room was situated near the pool so it was a little bit noisy at night but I wasn’t too bothered as it usually stopped by 11pm. But if you like early nights or traveling with children then do ensure you get a quiet room (I thought I had asked for one but I may have been mistaken). I am a fussy eater and vegetarian but there was plenty of choice. There were a few snacks near the bar in the day. Not really as much choice as I have had from other hotels but still nice. I went all inclusive. There were lots of drinks to choose from (I have been saying all inclusive before where the drinks included have been very limited but this was not the case here- lots of choice). One day I struggled to get a sun lounger in the afternoon but there were still plenty of places to sit. And I got one the rest of the time. I also like the fact that there is somewhere you can have a shower once you have checked out of your room. I would like to visit some other places but if I return to Grouves again then I would stop at this hotel again.

Wonderful stay here in July'24. Family of 4 with 2 young adults (18 & 20). two separate rooms, quite close together. We did have a sewage smell outside our room & we were moved to above reception which was much better & more luxurious. In the final days, kids were upgraded for one night by management to Sensus which was a total surprise & lovely for them & with a roof top jacuzzi & luxury room ! we were able to use the more private facilities. Main pool & beds get filled quickly from breakfast, but the quieter area pool is great & easy to get a bed in the morning. Fab aqua aerobics teacher & class ! Food is great, good variety, fresh & varied. lovely omelettes & smoothies, thank you ladies ! Free mini bus to the local beach (10 mins), nice restaurants. 15 mins walking to a long strip of great shops, restaurants, bars. Good to hire a car to get to better beaches, attractions. Bus stop close but don't bother for the sealife center (just get a taxi) as its a long walk down a hill from the bus stop drop. Hard to get a taxi from there, so do pre-book. Don't miss going to the fresh water lake with turtles - best day out ! (didn't really see ! ), although a good 1.5hrs well worth the drive! Hired at reception, although do check engine power as we had a small car & struggled in one town up a steep hill ! lovely reception staff & reps. We will return but without the kids !

Lovely food, great location and staff are very friendly and helpful. Overall a really nice place to be. Also made use of the Lavris Spa where I had a back, neck and shoulders massage by Kristoforos. Kristoforos was very professional and did an amazing job.

A lovely hotel made exceptional by its staff. Nothing was too much trouble, there were always smiling faces and a moment to have a friendly exchange. Look out particularly for Nenna, serving on the buffet restaurant, she is bubbly and full of joy. We stayed in a standard room (102) big tree obscured the view of the pool but we didn't mind as close to centre of hotel, restaurant and main pool. Signs up around pool saying no holding sunbeds with towels but it still happened. Room was basic but clean and suitable for our needs. Shower over small bath, OK for us but might not be ideal for someone with mobility issues to step into. We had a spa treatment and it was very good, profession standard. You can also pick up breach towels from here. Locationwise it's a 20 minute transfer from Heraklion airport, the public bus stops at airport. The malia bus goes part the top of the road, stop 11 is the one you need, €2.40 each. Hotel 200 meters walk from bus stop. Hotel is 600metres from beach and a complementary bus also runs to beach. We found the beach is nothing special (we come from Bournemouth) but the sea is warm (8 euros for hire of 2 sunbeds). Drinks reasonably priced for hotel, nice cocktails €7-9, soft drinks €3 My only small downside was our return flight was late and we had to be out of room by 11am. Hotel offered us late checkout foe €70, if our room didn't need to be ready for anyone coming in after us. That said there was a luggage store and showers we could use.