Aqua Blu “Adults Only” – “by Checkin”
Aqua Blu is a 16-room adults-only hotel at Anissaras, on the quiet side of Hersonissos, and it carries the highest service scores in this batch. Booking.com lists it as Aqua Blu Adults Only by Checkin and gives it 9.6 across 226 reviews, with staff at 9.9, cleanliness at 9.8 and wifi at a full 10; Tripadvisor rates it 4.9 across 30 reviews, 29 of them at Excellent. Breakfast is chosen the evening before and cooked to order.
Crete Locals has no commercial relationship with this hotel. We earn a commission if you book through the availability links on this page, at no cost to you and with no effect on what we write; both ratings were read on the date in the table.
Hotel information
| Hotel | Aqua Blu “Adults Only” – “by Checkin” |
|---|---|
| Address | Anissaras |
| Type | Air conditioning · Airport shuttle |
| Style | 16-room adults-only hotel at Anissaras, on the quiet side of Hersonissos |
| Listed as | Aqua Blu Adults Only by Checkin on Booking.com |
| Signature | Breakfast chosen the evening before and cooked to order at the pool bar |
| Keys | 16 rooms: deluxe doubles and junior suites, with and without sea views |
| Review record | 9.6 from 226 Booking.com guests; 29 of 30 Tripadvisor reviews at Excellent |
| Sub-scores | Staff 9.9, cleanliness 9.8, wifi 10 on Booking.com, the highest in this batch |
| Beach | Analipsi Beach 1,200 ft, a 3 to 5 minute walk |
| Watch for | One pool, no dinner service, and a taxi ride into Hersonissos |
| Airport | Heraklion (HER) about 22 km west, roughly 25 minutes |
| Booking.com rating | 9.6/10 (226 reviews) |
| Tripadvisor rating | 4.9/5 (30 reviews) |
| CreteLocals score | 8.8/10 · read the verdict |
Booking.com and Tripadvisor scores checked on September 28, 2026.
Location
Aqua Blu “Adults Only” – “by Checkin” is located at Anissaras, in Hersonissos. The map below shows the exact spot; Google Maps and Waze give turn-by-turn directions.
Who Aqua Blu suits, and who should skip it
Aqua Blu suits couples who want a small, family-run adults-only hotel a few minutes from a quiet beach, with Hersonissos close enough for dinner and far enough for sleep. It suits guests who like being looked after by name. Families cannot book it, and anyone who wants a resort with several pools and entertainment should stay in Hersonissos itself.
Advantages
- 9.6 on Booking.com across 226 reviews, with staff scored 9.9
- Cleanliness 9.8 and wifi a full 10, both the highest in this batch
- 29 of 30 Tripadvisor reviews rate the stay Excellent
- Breakfast ordered the evening before and made fresh, with local produce
- Analipsi Beach 1,200 ft away, a 3 to 5 minute walk
- Staff named repeatedly by guests, with owners and managers on site
Disadvantages
- Only 30 Tripadvisor reviews, so that platform adds little confidence
- At 16 rooms, peak weeks book out well in advance
- Facilities are limited to one pool and a pool bar
- Hersonissos town needs a short taxi ride rather than a walk
- Adults only, which rules out family trips
- No restaurant for dinner, so evenings are spent out
The rooms: 16 keys in three categories
Aqua Blu runs 16 rooms: Deluxe Double Room, Junior Suite, and Junior Suite Sea View. Guests describe them as big enough for two, cleaned daily, modern in design and pristine, and the hotel is small enough that one family booked 10 of the rooms for a wedding week and had the place largely to themselves.
Book the sea-view junior suite if the rate allows. The property sits back from the main resort, so the view and the terrace are what distinguish the categories, and reviewers who mention the sea view treat it as the reason they would return.
Breakfast to order, and a hotel run by its owners
The breakfast arrangement tells you how this hotel operates. Guests choose their options and their time the evening before, and it arrives fresh at the pool bar the next morning, made with local fruit and vegetables. That is a kitchen cooking for 16 rooms rather than laying out a buffet for 200, and it is the detail reviewers mention first.
The service record is the strongest we have seen in this programme: 9.9 on Booking.com across 226 reviews. Guests name the owners, the managers, the barman and the housekeeper, and one couple report arriving late with nowhere open and being made a pizza on the spot. Another chose the hotel for their honeymoon and rated it without reservation.
Anissaras is the reason the quiet works. The hotel sits between Analipsi and Anissaras beaches, about 3 to 5 minutes on foot from the sand, with the noise of central Hersonissos 2 mi east and reachable by a short taxi. Guests describe the location as away from the town but close enough for an evening out, which is the balance this stretch of coast does well.
How to get there
Fly into Heraklion airport (HER), about 22 km west, roughly 25 minutes by road. Anissaras sits between Analipsi and Hersonissos on the north coast.
Pre-book a transfer, since the hotel is on a side road away from the main strip and guests report the drive at around 25 minutes; the operators are in our guide to taxi and transfer services in Crete. Hire a car for the Lasithi plateau, Knossos or the eastern beaches, and check the deposit terms in our car hire guide for Crete. The beach is a walk, and Hersonissos is a short taxi ride for dinner.
The Crete Locals review
Aqua Blu earns 8.8 from us. A 9.6 across 226 Booking.com reviews, with staff at 9.9, cleanliness at 9.8 and wifi at 10, is the strongest set of sub-scores in this batch, and the small Tripadvisor sample agrees at 4.9 with 29 of 30 reviews at Excellent.
What the hotel sells is attention. Breakfast cooked to your order the night before, owners on site, staff who improvise a meal when you arrive late, and a quiet pool a few minutes from a beach that is not part of the Hersonissos machine. For a couple who want to be looked after rather than processed, this is the pick of the Hersonissos area in this batch.
The limits are scale and evidence. Sixteen rooms means one pool, no dinner service and early booking; the Tripadvisor sample is too small to test the Booking.com picture; and the town is a taxi ride rather than a stroll. None of that contradicts the scores, but it defines who should book.
Book Aqua Blu for an adults-only week at Anissaras in a sea-view junior suite, and order breakfast the night before. Book in Hersonissos itself if you want restaurants and bars on foot.
