Stella Palace Aqua Park Resort

Was our 3rd year visiting a big all-inclusive resort in Crete (different hotel every-time). So we have some comparison. Booked 2 standard rooms for 2+3. We asked for the rooms to be close and indeed received adjacent rooms. Both rooms were the same, with 1 double bed and 1 single bed. Rooms were spacious even for 3 with a nice balcony towards the pool. Bathroom and shower were also spacious and comfortably designed. However- the drain in the shower was a bit clogged, the water went overboard. We asked to be fixed and they did immediately. Also, the current is changing in pressure and temp every min’ in all hours of the day, with no control from our side. All of the sudden- weak and very hot for a few seconds&back to normal. Also, almost every night there was loud music from the bar by the pool, either a regular dj or a live band. We were not that close to the bar, and yet heard the music very loudly in the room with closed doors until 23-midnight. I am a light sleeper and needed earplugs for an hour or 2, since we went to sleep around 22. Also, only upon arrival we found out that the a-la-carte restaurants are not included in the all-inclusive package if you stay less than 5 nights (we stayed 4). It is probably mentioned somewhere but I did not see that info when booking with hotels.com. It was rather disappointing since the price per night is high, and we did not plan on paying extra for dinner for 5. On the other hand, did not want to eat at the same buffet 4 nights

Amazing food

Food was average. Water park was good. Our rooms had an issue, so spent one night at n another room and had to move. Would recommend if you have kids.

First time we’ve ever stayed all inclusive with our kids so we tested the water by booking only 4 nights. Instantly fell in love with this place, so much so that we’re already booked to return next year! Beautiful site full of palm trees, accommodating staff, nice bars and entertainment, good range of buffet food and best cocktails I’ve ever had in an AI! Great waterpark, which (even though shared with the other 3 Stella hotels) only ever had short queues to ride the slides and didn’t feel crazily busy even in peak season. Even at times where it was trickier to get a sunbed there for all 4 of us, there are plenty of tables and chairs in the snack bars too so always somewhere to sit. Lunchtimes really cleared out too, at which point there were plenty of beds available. Can highly recommend the first floor sharing pool rooms. A smaller number of suites share a pool which is a bit quieter than the main pool and there was always space around this pool. The suite itself was great for a family with teens. This room type had two bedrooms, interconnected with a door but totally separate rooms (I.e. not just separated with a partition), each with their own bathroom so plenty of privacy. The only thing that might’ve been a nice extra is to have some sporting activities targeted to teens. There was footie for example for kids up to 12 and then an adults’ one but I think our son would’ve been more confident joining in with older kids his age.

Amazing hotel, cannot wait to return another year!

Its just this simple, booking and making booking adjustments with Expedia and Stella was super simple both offered amazing customer services. The service and facilties at the Stella hotel were unbelievable, best ive experienced in Europe. The room for 5 was superb large enough space to cover our needs. The staff were phenomenal couldn't be more helpful. The food was a solid 8/10. The water park and the pool facilities were brilliant never over loaded with people even though the hotel was fully booked, enough space for everyone. The local town qas quaint and had enough restaurants and shops to keep the family happy. I'd go back tomorrow. Well done

Very friendly staff, nice waterpark and good food.

Loved this place. Food excellent, great for kids and adults too. One of our new favourite places.

The main attraction is the water park which is excellent. The breakfast and the service at breakfast and lunch was very good. The shows were ok, though the movie screenings are pretty bad because their screen is defective and they decide to do the movie screenings when the sun is pointing right at the screen so you can't see anything. They didn't come and clean our room during our entire stay. Both showers leak like crazy meaning anytime you take a shower you basically flood the room. When I begged them weeks in advance for a reservation to their high-end restaurant for my 20th anniversary they told me that they can't make a reservation without a room number (even though I had booked the hotel and already paid). They said they would get me a reservation at this restaurant when I arrived and I made sure they understood the importance. They lied. They were full for all of the restaurants and would not provide us with a reservation there. They tried to sit us at their greek restaurant by the pool, which is wholly inappropriate for an anniversary dinner and after a lot of back and forths they called me back and gave us reservations at their asian restaurant for 9pm (which is quite late for us). We arrive at 9pm and we see the restaurant is practically empty. They could have easily given us reservations but they were completely inflexible. Really spoiled out entire experience for us for no reason.

Alles genauso schöne wie in der Hotelbeschreibung. Wir kommen wieder

All great, One warning (as we didn't see this in the information) when booking the all inclusive package, and you prefer to go to a restaurant rather than buffet. (The buffet wasn't the best to be honest in our opinion) You are limited to the amount of times you can eat in the restaurants in the evenings within the package. You can however book and pay extra to go to more restaurants. This was a bit disappointing but it was overall still a great stay. Staff were amazing, especially with a young child.

The scuba instructor was… let’s say not always the most customer centric. Not a hotel staff but they sub contracted

The food is exceptionally good and everyone in the staff is very friendly. It's a beautiful resort with lots of comfortable sunbeds around the pools. There is animation but not too late and not too loud. Best all-in hotel ever!

Beautiful resort with super friendly and helpful staff. The water park looks amazing for kids (and adults too). Plenty of areas for adults to relax too. Only improvement is Netflix needs to be added to the TVs in bedrooms, the existing selection of mainly news channels is awful

Fantastic place... amazing food. Only if we had come last week of October then weather would have been nicer and kids would have enjoyed waterpark

Overall really good, just a little disappointed with the quantity and variety of food options at the buffet restaurant. It’s probably the smallest selection Ive had but what was there was very good, just would’ve like more choice as some of our group had restricted diets and we’ve always had a good selection to choose from

An sich eine schöne Anlage aber das kleine Bett, ist einfach zu hart Rückenschmerzen vorprogrammiert, das ist nicht der Sin vom Urlaub!

Lovely property, not much going on outside. Also as it's such a big hotel it is very busy. Pounding music round the pool every day was unavoidable and not so relaxing. It was very clean and staff were great but wouldn't return.

Be aware when booking, if you select a pool view room type, the hotel cannot guarantee this - even although this is what you’ve paid for. We had ants in our bathroom, there was no infant cot bed when we arrived, nor when we changed room. The food was extremely repetitive and not as much variety as other all inclusive hotels. Restaurant staff were lovely and friendly. Reception staff ultimately resolved some of our issues but not without a lot of push back and arguing. Pool area was great, grounds were lovely, water park was fun and a la carte restaurants were good. There were lots of issues that could have been resolved with more attention prior to our arrival (knowing we had an infant so not putting us up two flights of stairs, checking the bathroom for leaks, checking the patio door to ensure it locked, thinking that if we had a cot bed in one room then we’d need it again after we changed rooms, spotting the hundreds of ants that were on the floor etc). Overall, nice property but won’t be returning.

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