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The Best Luxury Hotel in Crete: Stella Island

MLE Travel Diary — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Looking for the best luxury hotel in Crete, Greece? Stella Island Luxury Resort & Spa was amazing and I hope to go back one day! I stayed here for 3 nights towards the end of a two-week Europe trip, and it was perfect. My feet definitely needed a break from all of the walking and it was really nice to treat myself to an all-inclusive experience.

I’ll be sharing my experience at the 5 star luxury hotel, from check-in and the room itself, to all the property has to offer. I stayed in a Luxury Room with Pool View, and loved it!! For a full room tour, check out my Instagram Reel! Or if you’d like to scroll through my photo gallery of the hotel, scroll to the bottom!

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Arrival

Woo welcome to Stella Island!! Before you arrive, be sure to download the Stella Island app to make your check-in process smoother. Or they will just have you download it once you arrive, and you’ll have to spend a few extra minutes filling out your information.

This welcome area / lobby is so nice; there is also a bar to the left where you can grab a drink then sit and relax in the comfy chairs and couches. After you’re all checked in, concierge will take you to your room in one of their hotel golf carts!

Luxury Room with Pool View

We stayed in one of the top floor luxury rooms with a pool view. It was so nice to be able to walk out on the balcony each morning. And also in the afternoon to escape the sun! There’s a nice king size bed, bathtub, full shower, mini-fridge, closet with ample hanging space and drawers, and a desk to the left of the bed. There were also two sinks, which I always appreciate when I’m traveling with someone else.

These over-water bungalows are also a really popular option! This makes it so easy to relax right on your porch and you don’t need to worry about reserving a space at the pool. However, I will say the pool water was pretty chilly though very refreshing, if you got hot in the sun.

I did not regret not staying in an over-water bungalow, but these are a great option if you have more flexibility in your budget, or are here for your honeymoon. They’re definitely more private.

Dining

When it comes to dining, you have lots of options! The resort is all-inclusive, which applies to this buffet at Kimata shown above. This is so nice because you don’t have to think about where you’re going to go each night! Also, the food was delicious. I got one of these delicious crêpes every morning!

However, there are also 4 restaurants and 4 bars on the property, if you prefer something different, or don’t opt for all-inclusive. As a hotel guest, you’ll get 20% off at the property’s restaurants, which is nice. Make sure to make reservations in advance!

We actually selected half-board, since we weren’t drinking alcohol either, which is included in the all-inclusive price. We ate lunch at Makūti both days, which was amazing, I would highly recommend!

Amenities

Ohhh my gosh look at the view from the hotel gym! If you’ve been here for a bit, you’ll know that I LOVE to frequent the hotel gyms. Getting a workout in on vacation helps me maintain my routine and feel more balanced overall. This might just be my favorite hotel gym so far; it was so fun to stretch and do pilates on the outdoor patio area!

There is also a larger Sports Center where you can play tennis, beach-volleyball, soccer, and mini golf. Such a fun way to stay active on vacation and meet new people!

During the day, you can relax out by the pool on these daybeds. There are so many all around the resort, there is no need to run to reserve these in the morning. We were posted up here pretty much our entire stay. This was also close to one of the bars, so waitresses would come by offering drink service. All around, a very luxurious, relaxing experience.

Photo Gallery

Sign up for my mailing list for more, and drop a comment or send me an email if you are going to Greece soon and want any more tips on where to go! If you’d prefer to go to Santorini, check out the best luxury hotel in Santorini for inspiration.

mariss

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Best Luxury Hotel in Santorini: Astarte Suites

MLE Travel Diary — Sat, 18 Feb 2023 15:00:00 +0000

If you are looking for a luxurious hotel to stay in during your next trip to Greece, look no further. Astarte Suites truly has it all! From welcome drinks to stunning views to an infinity pool, and not to mention their five star hospitality; this hotel can’t be beat. There are only 13 suites, so you are guaranteed a lot of privacy and peace during your stay here. If you’re not convinced yet, or want to read about our stay, keep reading…and for a full room tour, check out my Instagram Reel!

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Check In

When you arrive, you’ll be dropped off at the top of a stunning spiral staircase. (So, note to self, big carryon suitcases are not the most ideal for this hotel). From there, you’re greeted by the the most helpful staff, ever. I really am not kidding when I say most helpful – we were given a full room tour, and anything we wanted for the duration of our stay was a quick call away. The room has Hermès bath & shower products, so if that doesn’t scream “luxury” I’m not sure what else does.

After you get settled into the room, they will prepare a full welcome platter with drinks for you! Danny had this green smoothie, and I got a peach bellini hehe. We sat by the infinity pool on a pouf and just soaked up the sun and the incredible view.

Dinner & Sunset

The pool closes at 6pm so after finishing our fruit platter and drinks, we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner! We had bought a bottle of rosé from a little shop down the road from the hotel, so enjoyed a glass before dinner. There’s a nice Greek restaurant, Aeolos Tavern, just up the road from the hotel, which was delicious. Also, glasses of wine are legit $3 in Greece & Italy. It is crazy, it’s basically cheaper than the water!

After dinner, we went back to our hotel to enjoy the sunset from our room! There is a really nice patio area attached to every room, and all suites face the water. This gives you literally the best view for the sunset.

We visited Santorini in the end of June, and the sun set around 9pm!

Breakfast

In general, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. At Astarte Suites, the breakfast experience is elevated 10x. Every night before, they have you fill out a form with a TON of options for what you want in the morning – eggs, oatmeal, croissants, smoothies, fruit, toast, coffee, etc. And you also select the time you want your breakfast delivered. This was our spread in the morning:

Daytime

During the day, we just relaxed by the pool. I feel like sometimes when I go to Europe, I want to cram as much as possible in to the 2 weeks I am there. Which isn’t always the worst thing, because there is so much to see and since I don’t get a ton of time off of work I want to maximize my time there. However, it was incredible to take a break from running around and actually just chill.

They have a really good restaurant on the property as well, where we got lunch and these fruity drinks! (You will definitely start to notice a peach trend…I love peach flavored drinks). For all the Entourage fans out there – we met Johnny Drama and his girlfriend here! It was awesome, they were so nice. And that is by far one of my favorite TV shows, so I was super stoked.

As a rule of thumb, I would highly recommend adding a relaxation “buffer” into your Europe trips. Literally just a stop in the middle where you have no plans besides laying by the beach or at a pool for at least a day. It really allowed us to appreciate our time abroad much more.

Sign up for my mailing list for more, and drop a comment or send me an email if you are going to Santorini soon and want any more tips on where to go!  

mariss

The post Best Luxury Hotel in Santorini: Astarte Suites first appeared on MLE Travel Diary.