- Greece Holidays
- Elounda
- Domes Aulus Elounda
Ideally set in Mirabello Bay, our central location offers a tranquil escape near all the city's top attractions. The beautiful coastline, shaded beaches and crystal clear seas is mere steps from our front door. Our peaceful retreat offers onsite dining, spa, two pools and breathtaking views of the Aegean Sea and Cretan landscape.
An absolutely wonderful experience at Domes Aulus Elounda! Every time we visit, the hotel manages to surprise us and exceed our expectations.
A very special thank you to George, the Operations Manager, for his exceptional help and care from the moment we made our reservation until the very end of our stay. He took care of everything we needed and arranged so many thoughtful details for us, making our experience truly special.
His professionalism, genuine hospitality, attention to detail, and willingness to go the extra mile are what make such a difference. And somehow, every time we return, he manages to surprise us all over again!
A huge thank you to George and the entire team for another unforgettable stay. We are already looking forward to coming back!
A disappointing experience – nowhere near the 5-star standard advertised
We came to Domes Aulus Elounda expecting a genuine 5-star experience, particularly given the positioning, price and the hotel’s advertised concept. Unfortunately, our experience has been that this is a below-average 4-star hotel being marketed as 5-star.
There are certainly positives, the setting is beautiful and the hotel itself has potential, but the service standards, transparency around costs and overall execution simply do not match what you would reasonably expect from a 5-star resort.
Hidden costs and misleading expectations
One of our biggest frustrations has been the number of additional costs and charges, which feel particularly contradictory for a hotel marketed around an all-inclusive experience.
For example, room service is available at a very significant additional cost. While we understand that not every service has to be included, when you are paying a premium price for what is presented as an all-inclusive 5-star resort, having to pay heavily for basic conveniences such as room service makes the experience feel much less premium and much more like constantly having to check what is and isn’t included.
There is also a major issue with the way the hotel is presented in its marketing and promotional photographs.
Many of the photographs prominently showcase the Cool Living rooms, their private pools and upgraded accommodation, creating an impression of the type of experience guests can expect when booking the hotel. However, these rooms and pools come at a significant additional cost.
We find this particularly misleading in the context of an all-inclusive resort. If the imagery being used to sell the hotel predominantly represents an expensive upgraded product that isn’t included in the standard experience, guests can understandably arrive expecting something very different from what they have actually booked.
It creates the impression of a resort where the best version of the experience is constantly behind an additional charge.
For a hotel marketed as 5-star and all-inclusive, there should be much greater transparency about what guests are actually paying for and what experience their booking provides.
Service standards need significant improvement
The service, particularly around the buffet, has been one of the biggest disappointments.
Staff can take an unnecessarily long time to approach tables, and on several occasions the service has felt passive rather than attentive. At this level of hotel, we shouldn’t have to repeatedly try to get someone’s attention for basic service.
What is particularly frustrating is that the issue doesn’t always appear to be a lack of resources, it is a lack of initiative.
A perfect example was the availability of non-alcoholic wine. There was none available at the buffet, despite the fact that the bar immediately next to the buffet had plenty available.
Rather than someone simply thinking, “We have this available next door, I’ll go and get it for the guest,” the response was effectively that it wasn’t available in the buffet.
That might be acceptable in a basic hotel, but at a supposed 5-star resort, staff should be empowered to solve simple problems rather than simply tell guests what they cannot do.
It is these small things that make a huge difference to the perception of service.
A confused hotel concept
We also struggle to understand exactly what Domes Aulus Elounda is trying to be.
It is marketed as a relaxed, eco-focused, premium resort, yet some of the decisions and service standards don’t seem to align with that concept.
For a hotel that promotes relaxation and an eco-conscious experience, the beverage selection is surprisingly limited, and there doesn’t seem to be a consistent understanding amongst staff of how the different parts of the hotel should work together.
The impression we have been left with is that there are good ideas behind the hotel, but they haven’t been properly joined together into a consistently high-quality guest experience.
5-star prices require 5-star service
Ultimately, this is where our disappointment comes from.
If this were advertised and priced as a standard 4-star hotel, many of our criticisms would probably feel far less significant. But when you are paying the prices associated with a 5-star resort, you expect:
Unfortunately, we have not experienced that consistently here.
There are elements of a good hotel here, and the location and surroundings are undoubtedly attractive, but the service delivery is simply not at the level we would expect from a 5-star property.
Our overall impression is that Domes Aulus Elounda is a below-average 4-star experience dressed up as a 5-star resort. The branding, concept and price point create expectations that the actual service simply doesn’t meet.
We came here expecting a relaxing, premium all-inclusive holiday. Instead, we have spent far too much of our stay having to chase basic things, question additional costs and wonder why relatively simple issues aren’t being resolved through basic staff initiative.
For us, that is the fundamental difference between a 4-star and 5-star experience, it’s not just the building, facilities or beautiful photographs; it’s the service, transparency, attention to detail and willingness to go the extra mile.
Unfortunately, that has been missing during our stay. I would urge visitors to look at far superior alternatives in the same region and avoid this hotel.
Revisiting Domes Aulus, did not improve our experience from 2024, am afraid it’s actually more the opposite.
We got 719 this time, despite asking for a room at the longer swim up pool, turns out that it did not really matter as the water temperature is still on freezing, so no one seem to use the pools at all.
The biggest disappointment is the mood at the hotel, the only people who seem to care are the drivers who bring you up and/or down, they are politely asking you if you need a lift, and they are also keen to chitchat etc., you also get positive experience from the bar tenders although more in Levante as it’s not as crowded as Blue bar. The rest of the zombies they have to serve you are not really showing any interest, except maybe when you are doing à la carte.
The food has slightly improved in Island buffet restaurant, but the atmosphere absolutely not, the wine have declined, though still possible to get a decent Prosecco and red wine. Greco Levante seem to try to match Island, where one would have hoped they turned the other way, and improved the experience, we did like the atmosphere at dinner in Levante, but the food is really simple and not very inspiring.
Both Yellow Sea and Amphiteatro are not really worth it, for sure you can have sushi, but it seemed a bit like the Olympics where courses are served so fast that you do not need more than 20 minutes for a 3 courses dinner, and the attentiveness is not high besides the serving, what does it take to ask if you want more wine or whatever, isn’t this the purpose of the waiters besides cleaning, which unfortunately also seem to be fairly infrequent, sorry to say the whole billing to primarily give tips seem really as a poor solution, and I bet you that very few guests feel encouraged.
Given the season the terrasse do not provide sun for many hours except a couple in the morning, so everybody needs to go to Top, main pool or beach to get some D vitamins, and no there are not sufficient number of sun beds etc., which especially when you have cool living is very disappointing, as this is for sure why you paid extra.
The hotel is nice, the view fantastic and rooms fine, but the experience is 3 stars and the food and beverage maximum 4 stars (they even took away the premium liqueur as if it’s all about saving money).
Sorry to say, we will not be back, even so Elounda and Praka are nice villages.
We had the most amazing stay! We loved the food thw room, oh my gosh the cocktails juat delightful . I liked the hugo :) Thw cleaning ladies are wondweful ! The whole staff so attentive! See you soon
A wonderful return visit to Domes Aulus Elounda! We returned to this hotel for the second time, and it did not disappoint. Even though the weather wasn't entirely on our side, we had an amazing time at the resort. We would like to express our sincere thanks for the incredible hospitality—the hotel accommodated our request in advance and placed us in our favorite suite with a whirlpool tub. The entire resort is beautiful and spotless, the food is excellent, and the staff are incredibly friendly. A special thank you goes to the Guest Relations team for their wonderful care. We are taking home more beautiful memories and highly recommend this hotel!
