Creta Blue Boutique Hotel
Creta Blue is a boutique hotel on the hillside at Koutouloufari, above Hersonissos, and Tripadvisor carries it as Creta Blue Hotel and Suites. It scores 9.3 on Booking.com across 227 reviews and 4.7 on Tripadvisor across 854, ranking 4th of the 17 hotels in the village, with 678 of those reviews at Excellent and 20 at Poor or Terrible. The restaurant, the view and the owner get named in almost every review; the steep paths around the property are the practical caveat.
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 | Creta Blue Boutique Hotel |
|---|---|
| Address | Ipsilantou str. |
| Type | Air conditioning · Airport shuttle |
| Style | Boutique hotel on the hillside at Koutouloufari, above Hersonissos |
| Listed as | Creta Blue Hotel and Suites on Tripadvisor |
| Signature | Suites with hot tubs, an adults-only pool terrace, and the Blue Moon restaurant |
| Rooms | Eight categories, from junior suites to a luxury pool suite with sea view |
| Ranking | 4th of 17 hotels in Koutouloufari on Tripadvisor |
| Review record | 678 of 854 Tripadvisor reviews at Excellent, 20 at Poor or Terrible; 9.3 from 227 on Booking.com |
| Sub-scores | Staff 9.7, cleanliness 9.6, wifi 8.8 on Booking.com |
| Watch for | Very steep climbs around the property, and a shared adults-only pool |
| Airport | Heraklion (HER) about 25 km west, roughly 30 minutes |
| Booking.com rating | 9.3/10 (227 reviews) |
| Tripadvisor rating | 4.7/5 (854 reviews) |
| CreteLocals score | 8.8/10 · read the verdict |
Booking.com and Tripadvisor scores checked on September 28, 2026.
Location
Creta Blue Boutique Hotel is located at Ipsilantou str., in Hersonissos. The map below shows the exact spot; Google Maps and Waze give turn-by-turn directions.
Who Creta Blue suits, and who should skip it
Creta Blue suits couples who want a suite with a sea view or a hot tub on a quiet hillside, a serious hotel restaurant, and a village to walk into for a change of scene. It suits guests who return, and many do. Anyone who cannot manage steep climbs, or who wants a beach at the door, should book on the coast below.
Advantages
- 678 of 854 Tripadvisor reviews rate the stay Excellent, and 4th of 17 in the village
- 9.3 on Booking.com across 227 reviews, with staff at 9.7
- The Blue Moon restaurant, praised across both platforms
- Suites with hot tubs, and an adults-only pool suite area
- Sea views over the village to the coast from the upper categories
- Guests returning after eight years and booking again on departure
Disadvantages
- Very steep climbs around the property, raised by guests as a warning
- 20 of 854 Tripadvisor reviews sit at Poor or Terrible, and 30 at Average
- One guest was initially given a room without the sea view they booked
- Wifi scored 8.8, the weakest of its Booking.com sub-scores
- The nearest beaches are 0.7 to 0.8 mi downhill
- The adults-only pool is shared by up to 8 adults, not private
The rooms: suites, maisonettes and hot tubs
Creta Blue sells eight categories: Junior Suites with garden or sea views, an Executive Suite with Garden View, a Grand Suite with Sea View, a Deluxe Maisonette with Sea View, a Suite with Hot Tub, and two adults-only categories, the Luxury Suite with Hot Tub and the Luxury Pool Suite with Sea View. A guest describes the adults-only area precisely: a private balcony with a pool shared by a maximum of 8 adults.
Confirm your view in writing before arrival. One guest booked a room with a panoramic sea view, was initially given a different outlook and had it resolved, which is the kind of thing that only becomes a problem if you accept it quietly. Our record holds 29 rooms and the Booking.com category list is longer than that suggests, so book by category.
A hotel people come back to, and a hill to climb
The ownership is the story here. Reviews name George and his team over and over, describe arriving as guests and leaving as friends, and report booking the following year before they have left. One couple first stayed eight years ago and returned this season asking why they waited. That pattern, across 854 reviews, is what puts a small hotel fourth in a village of 17.
The restaurant is the second recurring theme. Blue Moon draws praise from guests who eat there repeatedly rather than once, and in a hill village full of tavernas that is a real compliment. Breakfast and dinner both get named, and the hotel is small enough that the kitchen is cooking rather than assembling.
The hill needs stating plainly. A guest who rated everything else highly warns that there are very steep climbs around the premises and that the hotel is not suitable for everyone on foot, and Koutouloufari itself is built on a slope. The village is a short walk for most people and a genuine obstacle for some, so weigh it honestly before booking, and ask the hotel which rooms sit nearest the entrance.
How to get there
Fly into Heraklion airport (HER), about 25 km west, roughly 30 minutes by road, which is the transfer time guests report.
Pre-book a transfer, since the lanes into Koutouloufari are steep and narrow; the operators are in our guide to taxi and transfer services in Crete. Hire a car for the Lasithi plateau, Knossos and the eastern beaches, and check the terms in our car hire guide for Crete, remembering that village parking is limited. The tavernas are on foot, and the beaches are about 0.7 mi downhill.
The Crete Locals review
Creta Blue earns 8.8 from us. The Tripadvisor record is large and strong, at 4.7 across 854 reviews with 678 at Excellent and only 20 at the bottom, and Booking.com agrees at 9.3 across 227 with staff scored 9.7.
This is a hotel that has built a following rather than a brand. Suites with hot tubs and sea views, an adults-only pool terrace, a restaurant guests eat at all week, and an owner whose name appears in the reviews more often than the hotel’s, in a village that stays lively without turning into the Hersonissos strip. That combination explains both the ranking and the return rate.
Two caveats belong on the page. The property is steep, and guests say so in reviews that otherwise praise everything, so anyone with mobility limits should ask about room positions before booking. And confirm the view you have paid for, because one guest had to raise it at check-in.
Book Creta Blue for a week above Hersonissos in a sea-view suite with a hot tub, and eat at the hotel at least twice. Book on the coast if steep paths or a beach at the door decide your holiday.
