Blue Elephant
Blue Elephant is a 28-room adults-only boutique hotel and spa on the hillside above Almyrida, 25 km east of Chania, and Booking.com lists it under its fuller name, Blue Elephant Boutique Hotel & Spa – Adults Only. Blue Elephant scores 9.4 on Booking.com across 271 reviews and 4.7 on Tripadvisor across 56, with 45 of those at Excellent and 1 at Poor. The studios with private or shared plunge pools are what guests book, and the hill is what they mention afterwards.
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 | Blue Elephant |
|---|---|
| Address | Almyrida |
| Type | Air conditioning · Airport shuttle |
| Style | 28-room adults-only boutique hotel and spa above Almyrida, 25 km east of Chania |
| Listed as | Blue Elephant Boutique Hotel and Spa - Adults Only on Booking.com |
| Signature | Studios with private or shared plunge pools and a bay view |
| Keys | 28 studios in five categories, one with disability access |
| Review record | 9.4 from 271 Booking.com guests; 45 of 56 Tripadvisor reviews at Excellent, 1 at Poor |
| Sub-scores | Cleanliness 9.6 and staff 9.6, wifi 8.0 on Booking.com |
| Watch for | A steep hill between the hotel and the village and beach |
| Airport | Chania (CHQ) about 30 km west, roughly 35 minutes |
| Booking.com rating | 9.4/10 (271 reviews) |
| Tripadvisor rating | 4.7/5 (56 reviews) |
| CreteLocals score | 8.8/10 · read the verdict |
Booking.com and Tripadvisor scores checked on September 28, 2026.
Location
Blue Elephant is located at Almyrida, in Almirida village. The map below shows the exact spot; Google Maps and Waze give turn-by-turn directions.
Who Blue Elephant suits, and who should skip it
Blue Elephant suits couples who want a studio with its own plunge pool, a sea view over the Almyrida bay and a village three minutes downhill. It suits guests who are happy to walk up a steep slope, or to drive. Families cannot book it, and anyone with limited mobility should read the note about the hill before committing.
Advantages
- 9.4 on Booking.com across 271 reviews, with cleanliness at 9.6
- 45 of 56 Tripadvisor reviews rate the stay Excellent, 1 at Poor
- Studios with private or shared plunge pools and sea views
- Infinity pool where guests report sunbeds are always available
- Almirida Beach 300 ft downhill, with tavernas and bars on the way
- Spa with hammam, sauna and massage, plus a fitness room
Disadvantages
- A steep hill between the village and the hotel, raised in review after review
- Wifi scored 8.0 by Booking.com guests, the weakest of its sub-scores
- The bar closes at 18:00, per a guest report
- Adults only, which rules out family trips
- Only 56 Tripadvisor reviews, so the smaller sample adds little
- Chania town is a 25 km drive rather than a walk
The rooms: 28 keys, most with water
Blue Elephant runs 28 studios across five categories: Deluxe Double Studio, Superior Studio, Studio with Partial Sea View, Studio with Sea View, and a Studio with disability access. Most categories come with either a private plunge pool on the terrace or one shared between two rooms, and the sea view is the reason to pay the difference.
The shared pools work better than they sound. Several guests report they barely saw their neighbours, and that when the neighbours were in their room they were not in the water, so in practice the pool was theirs. Book a private pool if that gamble would bother you, and a partial sea view only if the rate difference is large.
The hill, and the spa behind the pool
The hotel sits above the village, and that position is the whole product. It buys the view that guests photograph from the breakfast terrace and the infinity pool, and it costs a climb of a few minutes from the beach and tavernas. Reviewers are consistent and good-humoured about it: one calls it 30 seconds of resentment at the steepest part, another warns plainly that anyone with a mobility impairment should not attempt it on foot.
Plan around the slope rather than against it. Walk down for dinner and take the short taxi ride back, or use the free parking and drive. Guests with knee problems report booking the wheelchair-accessible suite with its connected pool and driving the 300 ft to the beach, which is a sensible compromise the hotel evidently supports.
The spa is the part the listing undersells. Hammam, sauna, massage and a fitness room sit behind the pool terrace, and treatment reviews name the therapist rather than the room, which is usually a sign of a small operation doing it properly. Breakfast draws similar comments, served on the terrace with the bay in front of it.
How to get there
Fly into Chania airport (CHQ), about 30 km west, roughly 35 minutes by road. Almyrida sits on the Apokoronas coast east of Chania, past Kalyves.
Pre-book a transfer for the arrival, because the final lanes into Almyrida are narrow and the hotel is at the top of the village; the operators are in our guide to taxi and transfer services in Crete. Hire a car if you want Lake Kournas, Georgioupolis or the drive south to Chora Sfakion, and check the insurance terms in our car hire guide for Crete. The village tavernas are a three-minute walk downhill, and the walk back up is the one covered above.
The Crete Locals review
Blue Elephant earns 8.8 from us. Two platforms agree closely, at 9.4 across 271 Booking.com reviews and 4.7 across 56 on Tripadvisor, and the distribution is clean with 45 at Excellent against a single Poor rating.
The proposition is a plunge pool with a view at a price the Elounda properties cannot match. Cleanliness is scored 9.6 and staff 9.6 by Booking.com guests, the pool terrace is described as never crowded, and the spa is real rather than a treatment room with a sign. For an adults-only week within half an hour of Chania airport, this is a strong option.
The hill is the one thing to decide in advance, and we would rather overstate it than let a booking go wrong. It is steep enough that guests mention it in most reviews, and the hotel’s answer is parking and taxis rather than a shuttle. The bar closing at 18:00 also means evenings happen in the village, not on the terrace.
Book Blue Elephant for an adults-only week above Almyrida with a sea view studio and a private pool, and plan on driving or a taxi back up after dinner. Book in the village itself if the slope would shape your week.
