REVIEW | Blue Sea Beach affiliated by Melia

As is usual my boyfriend and I gift a holiday as a birthday gift to each other. In 2025 Sam was early by gifting my ‘present’ trip to Crete in May as in late September we would be off to Japan..

Due to some trouble getting his time off at work confirmed Sam was forced to book very last-minute (a week before departure) and had trouble finding options. Eventually he found an option through booking.com that sold last-minute packages through last-minute.com. We would be flying on Greek carrier Sky Express from Brussels to Heraklion, stay at the Blue Sea Beach affiliated by Melia in Stalis, a 5 star all in resort and fly back home on Tuifly.

We had booked a direct private transfer from the airport to the hotel. It was a comfortable Mercedes taxi that took us about 20 minutes to get to our hotel. the entrance at the main road looked rather intimate without big signage, more like a the entrance of a wealthy person’s big luxury beach villa.

One of the reasons we booked this hotel was its low buildings set in greenery style, feeling less like a mass product and we truly enjoyed this. All parts of the hotel where scattered throughout a lush green garden, providing for peace, quiet and shade.

Upon arrival the check-in was rather chaotic as there was someone still checking-in before us and the staff was apologetic about the wait. They wanted to start as fast as possible with the registration paper work but then remembered they need to give a cold towel to freshen up as well as a glass of refreshing lemonade.

All items of a very warm and luxurious welcome where there, but presented in a typical Greek slightly chaotic style. I liked it as it really felt like welcome to Greece. Sam was more annoyed about how this could have been performed much more efficient and streamlined. We also got help to carry our bags to our room, initially we were like “that’s not necessary” but when we saw the big bulky cart designed to “walk” stairs we were happy that they did as there are lots of different levels and stairs throughout the complex and thus not easy to roll your bags.

Sam booked us a room with a private pool. It’s wasn’t the biggest room I ever stayed it in, but the size was sufficient for our midweek stay. A big comfortable bed with a choice of a firm and soft pillow per person was in the middle of the room. There where where power plugs at both sides of the bed. In between the bed and the window there was a nook with some seating and a table. The sofa in this area could be transformed into a sofa bed if you are travelling with children.

They presented is with a gift of a complimentary water bottle, a bottle of white wine and some fruit. There was an empty mini fridge to store items and a water kettle for tea and instant coffee. Proper coffee could be had at the bars and restaurants, as we had an all-inclusive package this was no big deal, however we felt that if you want to class yourself as a 5 star resort a proper pod coffee machine on the room would be a nice addition.

The bathroom was quite tiny, with a sink, a toilet and a spacious walk-in shower (before the renovation presumably a bath tub was in that spot).

They had wall mounted dispensers for hand soap and body wash while also providing miniature toiletries of a more upscale sounding brand for all other things like shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion. There were plenty of very soft towels, bathrobes and slippers provided.

The piece-de-resistance of the room was of course the spacious terrace with a table and chairs, 2 loungers and the private pool. This pool wasn’t heated but it is perfectly refreshing on a hot day. Due to our private pool we only once swam in the main pool.

The main pool area consisted of a number of different pools divided over different levels. Some of the pools provided a magnificent view over the sea while another was landscaped into the garden. The hotel also had a private beach, but this was very small and filled to the brim with loungers, not inviting us to spend time there. They also had an indoor spa with some treatment options and an indoor pool. While the rest of the property is well kept up and recently modernised, the indoor pool felt like an afterthought and could do with a refresh. The water was also quite cold and we only tried it out a single time.

While we had a booked the all-inclusive package the access to the private beach, drinks at the hotel bars, the snack-bar at the pool and the main restaurant buffet were included in our rate. The hotel also had an a la carte restaurant, where you could have 1 complimentary dinner per 7 days stay in All-Inclusive, as we only had a 5 day stay we could eat there when paying and receiving a €15 discount per person. As the quality of the main buffet restaurant was excellent we opted not to spend extra for the a la carte restaurant. You could also book the hotel as a breakfast only or half board package, in which case you would receive a different colour armbrace.

The main buffet restaurant was also located along the sea front, overlooking the sea and the boulevard along the sea front. It served a buffet in the morning, noon and evening. While the breakfast was the same every day, lunch and dinner had a different theme with focus on a different cuisine each time. Of course you always could get staples like pizza and pasta. They also always had some Greek specialities on offer. All in all I really liked the food as everything was well presented and tastefully prepared with good ingredients. Sam was less keen on the cuisine as it was his first proper time in Greece and wasn’t yet very familiar with Greek cuisine and there were a lot of firsts for him to try out.

The restaurant had a both an indoor and outdoor seating area, for drinks you could only get water, soft drinks or beer or wine, any speciality drinks like cocktails you could only drink at the main bar next door.

The main bar was also tastefully decorated with both an outdoor terrace and indoor space. We enjoyed some very delicious cocktails there.

In the pool area you also had the pool bar which had a smaller selection of drinks and the all-day snack-bar that offered made to order sandwiches, burgers and fries, hotdogs and of course Greek kebap.

We had a wonderful stay at Blue Sea beach affiliated by Melia in Stalis Greece. The hotel surpassed our expectations and we were pleased by the very warm service. Compared to our stay in the RIU Palace in the Dominican Republic we were very pleased to be able to just walk outside and into the neighbouring towns to stroll around and browse through some shops. We will definably travel to Greece again for a short term holiday.