Elia Agia Marina Resort
Elia Agia Marina Resort is a 24-room hotel at Agia Marina, on the coast west of Chania, and it is the smallest property in this batch. Elia scores 9.2 on Booking.com across 385 reviews and 4.6 on Tripadvisor across 192. The reviews come disproportionately from people on a second or third stay, and what they write about is the food and the service rather than the building.
Crete Locals has no commercial relationship with this hotel. We earn a commission if you book through the availability links on this page, which costs you nothing and does not change what we write; both ratings were read on the date in the table.
Hotel information
| Hotel | Elia Agia Marina Resort |
|---|---|
| Address | 9 Αγίων Θεοδώρων |
| Type | Air conditioning · Airport shuttle |
| Style | Small resort hotel at Agia Marina, on the coast west of Chania |
| Signature | Cooking well above the resort average, from a kitchen serving only 24 rooms |
| Keys | 24 rooms, the smallest property in this batch |
| Guests | A high share of returning visitors, including reviewers on a third stay |
| Sunbeds | Reservable, with guests reporting a charge of about 15 euros per person |
| Nearby | Chania old town a short drive east; Elafonissi, Balos and Samaria to the west and south |
| Season | Agia Marina is a busy resort strip in July and August |
| Airport | Chania (CHQ) about 25 km east, roughly 30 minutes |
| Booking.com rating | 9.2/10 (385 reviews) |
| Tripadvisor rating | 4.6/5 (192 reviews) |
| CreteLocals score | 8.4/10 · read the verdict |
Booking.com and Tripadvisor scores checked on September 25, 2026.
Location
Elia Agia Marina Resort is located at 9 Αγίων Θεοδώρων, in Agia Marina Nea Kydonias. The map below shows the exact spot; Google Maps and Waze give turn-by-turn directions.
Who Elia suits, and who should skip it
Elia suits couples who want a small hotel on the Chania coast with cooking well above the resort average, and who will use Chania old town as their evening destination. It suits guests who value being recognised at breakfast. Families needing space and facilities should book one of the larger Agia Marina or Platanias resorts, and anyone wanting a big pool deck should do the same.
Advantages
- Food and drink singled out repeatedly, with guests calling the presentation and flavours exceptional
- 9.2 on Booking.com across 385 reviews, a solid sample for a 24-room hotel
- Returning guests are common, including reviewers on a third stay
- Service described as attentive and personal, which 24 rooms makes possible
- Agia Marina position, on the coast with Chania old town a short drive east
- Sunbeds can be reserved, so a spot is not a lottery
Disadvantages
- Reserving a sunbed carries a charge of about 15 euros per person, per guest reports
- 8 of 192 Tripadvisor reviews sit at Poor or Terrible
- At 24 rooms, availability is limited and high season books out early
- Agia Marina is a busy resort strip in July and August
- Limited facilities compared with the large resorts on the same coast
- Chania old town needs a drive, a bus or a taxi in the evening
The rooms: 24 keys and a small resort
Elia runs 24 rooms, which is the number that explains the reviews. At that size the staff recognise guests by the second morning, service is personal rather than procedural, and the kitchen can cook properly instead of feeding several hundred people at once. Guests who return describe the hotel as a home away from home, which is a cliche until you notice how many of them say it.
Book early for July and August. A 24-room hotel with these ratings on the busiest coast in western Crete does not have spare capacity in peak weeks, and the good categories go first.
The food, and the sunbed charge
Food is the subject guests keep returning to. Reviewers describe beautifully presented dishes and an excellent drinks selection, and one experienced traveller called it among the strongest dining experiences they had had in Greece. For a 24-room hotel that is unusual, and it is the clearest reason to choose this property over a larger one nearby.
The sunbed arrangement is worth knowing in advance. Guests report paying about 15 euros per person to reserve a sunbed, which is a charge many hotels do not make and which some visitors will find odd at this price point. Reviewers who mention it do so approvingly, in the context of value, so ask at booking exactly what the fee covers and whether it is redeemable against food and drink.
How to get there
Fly into Chania airport (CHQ), about 25 km east on the Akrotiri peninsula, roughly 30 minutes by road. Agia Marina sits on the coast road west of Chania, before Platanias.
Pre-book a transfer for the arrival; the operators and fares are in our guide to taxi and transfer services in Crete. Hire a car if you plan to reach Elafonissi, Balos or the Samaria gorge, all of which are west or south of here, and check the deposit and insurance terms in our car hire guide for Crete. Chania old town is a short drive or a bus ride east, and worth two or three evenings of a week.
The Crete Locals review
Elia earns 8.4 from us. A 9.2 on Booking.com across 385 reviews is a strong, well-evidenced result for a hotel of 24 rooms, and the Tripadvisor rating of 4.6 across 192 supports it. More telling than either number is the proportion of reviews written by people on a second or third stay, who are paying again for an experience they already know.
The kitchen is what separates it from the coast around it. Agia Marina and Platanias are lined with large hotels feeding several hundred guests a night, and the result is predictable. A 24-room hotel whose guests describe the presentation, the flavours and the drinks list in detail is doing something different, and if you care about eating well without driving into Chania every evening, that is the argument for booking here.
The sunbed fee is the one thing we would query. Charging about 15 euros a head to reserve a lounger is unusual, and while the guests who mention it are relaxed about it, anyone comparing hotels on price should factor it in for the length of their stay. Ask what it includes before you arrive rather than at the pool.
Book Elia for a couple’s week on the Chania coast where dinner matters, and book early for high season because 24 rooms disappear. Book one of the larger resorts along the same strip if you need space, facilities and a children’s programme.
