[LEFT Marriott; to become Rosewood] Blue Palace, Crete, Greece [Master Thread]
 

Sounds cool. Any news on the award category.

Here's the press release

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031215/155681_1.html

Blue Palace finally on luxurycollection.com!
 

After announcing the fact that it would be joining the luxury collection a few months ago, looks like the Blue Palace on Crete is finally listed on luxurycollection.com! It does not come up on starwood.com when you search on greece, FYI. The hotel will be a Category 5....I wonder if we will be able to snag the infinity pool rooms with a specialty upgrade. For those of you that are not familiar with this property, the lux collection site does not do it justice, check out this site:
http://www.bluepalace.gr/

I was sad to see the Rayavadee leave the Luxury Collection after a fantastic stay there last year, but maybe this will be a new property to look forward to visiting with my points :-)

Thats a beautiful hotel -- might make this poster reconsider the Mardavall as their top Starwood spot. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif Looking forward to some trip reports.

Oh, lovely rooms with a view and a private plunge pool!

okay, here's a question: blue palace or Mardavall Hotel and Spa? which would you choose? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Hmm .. tough .. i'd say fly into Mallorca and sail across the Mediterranean into the Blue Palace. Why not do both? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Does anybody know the typical range of room-rates here?

www.spg.com will be glad to help you.

i did a little test (which isn't so little on spg.com) and mardavall is about 2x. the rates at blue palace seemed very reasonable.

Second your rate comment, Fly Co. From what I've seen, rates look pretty good (but beware rate differential for single vs. double occupancy). With this in mind, however, it does not seem like a good redemption value as a Category 5.

Anyone hear any buzz on this place, or has anyone stayed there previously?

Thanks.

EWC

Anyone have plans to visit this property in the near future?

I'm interested in hearing experiences regarding spa and breakfast privileges for Platinum level guests.

Any reports on the Blue Palace in Crete please?
 

Heading to Greece in July, including a week or so stay at the Blue Palace in Crete --does anyone have updates on / experience with this property please?

Thanks

Scavanger

Blue Palace
 

Just returned from Europe including Grande Bretagne in Athens, Santa Marina in Mykonos, Blue Palace in Crete, and Imperial in Vienna. I know there has been lots of commentary on most of these hotels with the exception of the Blue Palace so I won't discuss the others except to say that we received great upgrades and that the Imperial was flawless with the Grande Bretagne a close second. What was surprising was that Greece was not busy and according to many we spoke with in Crete it was their worst year for tourism in a decade. Theories included tour operators promoting less expensive countries, rising costs in Greece due to conversion to the Euro and people staying away due to the (mistaken) perception that things would be crazy busy with the upcoming Olympics.

The Blue Palace had occupancy in the 50% range and they were doing much better than most of the so called competition. The Blue Palace is located on the outskirts of the town of Elounda essentially in a fishing village called Plaka and is about a one hour drive from the main city of Heraklion on excellent highways. The hotel sits on 70 acres and has been opened just over one year. It has 204 rooms/suites half of which have private pools and a few of which have a shared pool, the remainder with no pool. The scale is immense in every dimension with the hotel built mostly of cut stone on five levels (seven if you include the beach levels) in a crescent shape facing East on a terraced hillside down to the road. A large walkway under the road leads to the beach levels which include a giant pool area, a couple of restaurants (including a simulated Greek Taverna) and an enormous two level spa with indoor pool. The beach itself is about 500m long and consists of baseball sized stones, there are water sports and it is suitable for swimming but no sand and no surf as the bay is protected. The view from the resort and from every room is of the Sea and an island called Spinalonga which was an ancient Venetian Fortress and up until the 1950’s a Leper Colony. If it were not for the Sea you might think you were in a resort in Arizona due to the desert like landscape and climate.

The lobby of the hotel is on the fourth level and is accessed in four ways: a very steep road; a Funicular which runs up the slope in the middle of the property from the beach (it can be very slow); stairs (stairs are a good 5-10 minute climb not counting getting lost enroute as they are staggered); or with a series of elevators (because of the terraced construction the elevator service is restricted to up/down one level only so to get to the top would require 5 or so different elevators).

The fourth level lobby area is as nice a setup as I have ever seen in a hotel. The lobby extends into an indoor and outdoor bar area which extends to a pool and sun terrace. It reminds me of the pool area at the W in Westwood except that the view and scale are incomparable. Above the lobby area is a large restaurant where breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets are served. Breakfast is part of the room rate and they offer packages with lunch and dinner as well, again the view is spectacular from the restaurant. We only ate breakfast at the hotel so I cannot comment on the other food. The breakfast buffet quality and selection was very good but because of the scale not at all intimate. e.g. it has the feel of a big resort which is what the Blue Palace is. The service at breakfast was very efficient but more impersonal than friendly.

Check-in was very efficient and included a 10 minute explanation of the features of the resort. We were escorted to our room and upgraded from a superior bungalow with no pool to a deluxe suite with private salt water pool. As the resort is new, the rooms were in excellent condition and were tastefully appointed. Our suite was on two floors and excluding pool and balcony about 60 sq. m. with two full bathrooms (marble) including one with Jacuzzi and an outstanding shower setup. The floor surface on the main floor of the suite was stone and the walls white plaster, ceilings were 10 feet. The main floor featured a desk and two couches with large coffee table and a credenza. The bedroom was on the second floor and featured hardwood floors and white plaster walls and had a large balcony (note: the bed was very very firm). The main level had a walkout to a stone terrace and wood deck in front of the private infinity pool. There are many different configurations but in ours the pool measured about 3m by 4m and at its deepest was 1.5m. (good for plunging or floating on an air mattress) and again a spectacular view.

The accommodation in the resort is on levels one through five and consists of separate two level buildings connected by indoor/outdoor hallways and stairways. In our building there were four suites each two levels. The "private pool" is really one large pool separated from the other rooms by partial walls that rise about a half meter out of the water and are designed with a couple of gaps at the ends to allow water to flow between the pools. In other words you are in full view of your neighbors when you are in the water. From what I could see the set up for pool bungalows was similar except that the room was on one level with the room above being a separate standard room without pool.

In walking the property I was able to see different configurations of the deluxe suites with some choice ones (in my opinion) on a single level with a very private pool adjacent to the suite (e.g. a real swimming pool) An example of that style would be suite 415. Other suites that I deemed to be preferred locations are 521, 527, 528 and 534. It should be noted that with the various walkways and stairways through out the resort that many pool areas are full exposed not only to neighboring rooms but also to other guests using the walkways and stairways.

I would strongly recommend that you rent a car as bus service while on a time table is not always frequent and there is much to see in the area including numerous archaeological sites and places of interest. The town of Elounda, 3km away, is a thriving full service community with numerous restaurants and lots of accommodation options including some five star hotels. About 15km away is the town of Agisos Nicholas which is much larger than Elounda and very nice. Cruise ships stop there and there is limited ferry service. We ate at local tavernas in Plaka and at a Taverna next door to the Blue Palace called Pietros. All of the restaurants in the area were virtually empty due to so few tourists but the food and service fantastic.

My overall impression of the property is mixed. Service as I stated was efficient but impersonal and communication with the staff was difficult even though many spoke English. For example we were interested in finding a nice sand beach. On our last day we finally found one 26km away in a village called Istren (two beaches in that town (excuse the phonetic spelling), one called Panatalome and the other Vukalis). I shared this find with guest relations as they had previously been unable to assist and while the one person was very appreciative for this info as she was from another part of the island her colleague (a local) scowled as I described the location and provided directions. I suppose they want to keep the good beaches tourist free which is somewhat understandable. The resort is very much like a compound and designed to keep you physically on the property which was a bit frustrating as just getting to the road to go for a walk was an ordeal. Even getting around within the resort was frustrating with few signs and at night poor lighting. I am at a loss to draw a comparison to other resorts but will give it a try: It perhaps reminded us a bit of a modern day Las Brisas in Acapulco but without the intimacy, privacy or level of service. If I had to describe the “feel” (just the feel) of the Blue Palace it reminded us of the Marriott resort in Fort Lauderdale but obliviously with much nicer accommodation and setting. We likely will not return to the Blue Palace as a “destination” hotel whereas we would return to the Excelsior in Venice Lido or the Diplomat in Hollywood as destination hotels.

To conclude The Blue Palace is magnificent in its setting and in its architecture with very few shortcomings – if the service could somehow be raised a level or two this place would be hard to beat notwithstanding its inaccessibility.

Thanks for the excellant trip report! Being the first to write a trip report
for this resort, I'm sure you'll be answering a lot of questions. I'll start:

Did you stay on points or pay in full?
Regarding transport to the island, did you fly or ferry? If you purchased tickets while in Greece could you give details on where you bought them and approximate prices?

Did you stay on points or pay in full?
Regarding transport to the island, did you fly or ferry? If you purchased tickets while in Greece could you give details on where you bought them and approximate prices?[/QUOTE]



1. Payed for Athens, Payed for Mykonos 2 nights and (free weekend 2 nights) and payed for Vienna (50% off award). We used points 48,000 for five nights at the Blue Palace (low season rate for a cat-5)

2. Ferry from Athens to Mykonos -- purchased through Concierge at Grande Bretange but would have been easy to get at any of the numerous travel agents of Ferry offices in the central area of Athens. We took the Hellas Flying Dolphin fast ferry from Piraeus -- very pleasant and payed for first class (top deck) --First features reserved and comfortable seating and access to a huge outside deck with additional seating. I think we payed 62 Euros per ticket -- economy is on the lower deck and would have been 36 and I think business class was 48 or so. Economy has limited access to the outside. Business class is at the front area of the Econo section. The trip took from 8:30am to 11:15 am with short stops at a couple of other islands

We planned to take a smaller fast ferry from Mykonos to Heraklion (Crete) but too windy so the fast ferries were not running -- so we flew from Mykonos back to Athens and then on to Crete -- same elapsed time as the ferry. Flew Agean in business -- a very nice airline I must say -- and had the added bonus of a two day free Hertz rental with a return business ticket. Tickets were purchased from a local travel agency on Mykonos and cost 276 Euros each for the Mykonos - Athens - Heraklion - Atherns routing. Athens airport is great and the Agean lounge very nice- Heraklion airport is old (no lounge) and very crowded due to charters. I can only imagine what it would be like if they were having a good tourist year.


Hope that answers your questions

Thanks for the detailed report! I'm bummed to hear that the private pools aren't necessarily private, and that the atmosphere is a bit weak. I'm starting to think about my honeymoon next summer, and the Blue Palace was one of the places we are considering, but we want to go to a true "destination" resort.

Great report. Any pictures?

- How would you compare the Blue Palace to the Santa Marina in Mykonos?

- Was their a gym? How was it?

- What was the main pool like?

- In terms of ultimate Starwood ocean resorts in Europe, would you say this is at the top of the list?

- What are prices like on the Island? Expensive?

---Tavernas 35-50 Euros for dinner for two with fresh seafood with appetizer, salad and house wine. Lunch maybe 20 Euros.

Thanks for the great report! ^ We are planning a return trip to Greece next year and the Blue Palace is in our travel plans (they only have rack rates loaded into the system for 2005). The facilities sound nice, and hopefully their service will improve over the next year. I am a little concerned about the thought of travelling to the other side of the planet to stay at a "Marriott resort in Ft. Lauderdale", but we are set on going to Greece and I would like to check this place out.

Couple questions:

- Were the outdoor pool/s heated? We ran into this issue last year at another Greek property, and since your description of the beach doesn't sound great, we'll likely want to spend time by the pool ... hence the question.

- Since you don't think the hotel itself is a "destimation resort", how long of a visit do you think is adequate to see the nearby sites?

Thanks again.

I am planning to go Greece for a total of 8 nights. Thought I would spend 2 nights in Athens (I think that's enough), and then I will have 6 nights for the Islands.

Would 6 nights be too much at The Blue Palace? Would it be better to split the time with one of the others?

---What you may want to think about is starting at Blue Palace and then leaving Mykonos (or some other island) and Athens flexible that way if you really like (or don't like) Blue Palace you can modify the rest of your trip. Crete is an amazing island where one could easily spend a couple of weeks in my opinion.


We spent 3 nights (e.g. two full days) in Athens which was just right for us-- and we spent 4 nights in Mykonos which was probably one night too long

Its hard planning when transfers eat up so much time

Scavenger, thank you for all your insights and details about your stay at Blue Palace. I, like some of the other posters, am planning a vacation there with my girlfriend for 4 nights in mid July of 2005. First we are staying in Athens for 4 nights, then off to Santa Marina in Mykonos for 4 nights, and Santorini for 1 night before hitting Crete. Unfortunately, I booked my travel arrangements through LuxuryLink.com, which is a lot like Hotwire in the fact that you "bid" on the package, so I may not be eligible for any upgrades as a Platinum SPG. However, we are booked for a Superior Bungalow w/ private pool, so I'm sure we will be fine.
My questions are as follows:
Were there fairly frequent ferries from Santorini to Heraklion?

Did you visit the Palace at Knossos? If so, did you drive or arrange a tour through either the hotel or a local tour "store"?

What time of year were you there?

Were there fairly frequent ferries from Santorini to Heraklion?

WE SKIPPED SANTORINI -- FERRY SCHEDULES CAN BE A BIT OF A CHALLENGE. HERE IS ONE OF MANY LINKS THAT MAY BE OF SOME ASSISTANCE

http://www.cretetravel.com/To_and_fr..._Santorini.htm

THE SCHEDULES CHANGE FROM YEAR TO YEAR AND IN THE CASE OF FAST FERRIES THEY DON'T ALWAYS RUN IF THE MELTEMI WINDS ARE BLOWING - ANOTHER WEBSITE IS WWW.FERRIES.GR --

WE FOUND A TRAVEL AGENT IN MYKONOS WHO WERE AMERICANS (FLUENT IN ENGLISH) AND WERE AMAZINGLY HELPFUL IN PROVIDING CURRENT AND RELEVANT INFORMATION-- THEIR EMAIL IS [email protected] THEIR COMPANY IS LIKOURIS TRAVEL INTERNATIONAL (30) 22890 26439 WWW.TRAVELAGENT.GR --


Did you visit the Palace at Knossos? If so, did you drive or arrange a tour through either the hotel or a local tour "store"?

NO WE SPENT OUR TIME SEARCHING OUT SAND BEACHES (how pathetic is that)

What time of year were you there?[/QUOTE]
JULY AND THE MELTEMI WINDS WERE SEVERE IN MYKYNOS BUT WERE NOT AN ISSUE IN CRETE

ONE LAST THING THE HOTEL SEEMS TO HAVE RE-CLASSIFIED THEIR ROOM TYPES -- DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN THE TWO FLOOR SUITES WITH PRIVATE (ADJOINING) POOL AND THE ONE FLOOR SUITES WITH TRUE PRIVATE POOLS.

THE HOTEL WAS RECENTLY REDUCED FROM A CAT 5 TO CAT 4 WHICH SUGGESTS TO ME THEY ARE STILL HAVING A TOUGH TIME WITH OCCUPANCY WHICH MEANS UPGRADE OPPORTUNITIES SHOULD PERHAPS BE EASIER TO WORK OUT -- YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK THEIR WEBSITE TO GET THE EXACT ROOM TYPE TERMINOLOGY THAT THEY ARE USING SO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO ASK FOR.

HOPE THAT HELPS

While I haven't stayed at the Blue Palace, I have visited Knossos ;) I would recommend the site to anyone who has had an interest in ancient Greece, Minoans, etc. Critics complain that it was creatively "rebuilt" by excavators but I enjoyed it. We had a rental car but my friends made me take the bus from Heraklion (why they didn't want to visit it too, I don't know). It was easy and well signposted. :)

Blue Palace Hotel Crete Trip Report
 

We just got back from our vacation and I wanted to share my impressions of the Blue Palace Hotel in Crete.

We flew into Heraklion airport and rented a car. I was a little apprehensive about driving in a foreign country but it was easy. Just remember to hug the shoulder so people can pass. The highway was excellent and it took about an hour to get to the turn for Elounda (they pronounce it “A Loon Da”). The drive along the coast was spectacular and the hotel is in one of the most gorgeous spots I have visited. It rivals the bay in Kauai that the Princeville looks out over although more arid. The island of Spinalonga sits in the middle of a secluded cove and the ruins of the leper colony are visible from the shore. The view this produces is magical in the evening.

The hotel is amazing. We have stayed at some excellent hotels in the past but this one is the best we have ever stayed at in terms of the physical attributes of the property and the room. We were upgraded to a suite that had a private pool. The bedroom was on the second floor and there were 2 great bathrooms. Everything looks brand new and the staff works hard to keep it looking that way. The lobby aobby and bar area has an indoor outdoor layout with huge arches that define the space. It is very visually appealing to say the least.

There were some problems over the 6 nights we stayed. Most were not a big deal but they could improve with better customer service. If you drive a rental car and get a manual beware. The hotel put a gate with an operator half way up a very very steep incline. I have owned 3 different cars that were sticks and I consider myself skilled with them and I had to roll back down the hill on one occasion. Why they stop you at all in this remote area is baffling to me. We wrote our hotel number on a piece of cardboard and flashed it to them on the way up so they would open the gate without us having to stop. When we compained the staff person just shrugged.

Check-in was slow. The person they had to show us to our room was not there and they made us wait 15 minutes before she showed up. She was nice and all but we were tired and I don’t see why they could not have someone else walk us up. Later we bumped into her on the elevator and she acted like she didn't know us? The door man insisted on taking our bags and then didn’t bring them up for 40 minutes when we really would have preferred taking them ourselves. The room keys stopped working on our second day as did the safe. I can’t ever remember anyone apologizing for the inconvenience these things caused. Also, the lift that takes guests to the beach was broken for a full day which was a problem since it is a long walk. They offered rides with golf carts but it was a hassle. Overall the service was not up to par with the amenities and we both thought the staff was a little cold (not rude) with a few exceptions. The woman that ran the spa was super nice and the maids were very sweet as well. We don’t require people to kiss our behinds but we do appreciate warmth when we interact with the staff and a willingness to make our stay a happy one.

The beach area was excellent. We didn’t hang out there very much because we drove around the eastern part of the island during the day and went into Elounda for meals. However, the water was clean and clear and the pools were beautiful and well kept. The beach was private so there was never a feel that it was crowded even though the hotel was full while we were there. We were both surprised how few Americans were at the hotel.

The restaurants were expensive so we didn’t go. We did have room service for breakfast and it was very good. Service was fast from the kitchen to the room.

All in all we really enjoyed our stay and even with the problems we would definitely go back again. The management must have a difficult time, seeing that this is a seasonal resort hotel and they have to bring in and train new staff and get things together pretty quickly every spring. It is my guess that this is part of the service problem. On a scale of 0-100 I would give this hotel a 90.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will try and answer them. We stayed on points by the way and are plats.

Mark

Blue Palace
 

I also stayed 6 nights back in May.

AGree with lots of Mark's comments, but glad to hear that you got upgraded to a real suite. I was told I was upgraded to a suite, but it was just a slightly extended regular room (Most of the hotel is suites with private pools). The hotel tried to really blow off the plat program...

The gate driving in is odd--I also have driven stick for years, but really struggled with the getting through the gate. You need to stop on a steep hill and wait for them to open the gate--twice I had cars pull up right behind me.

The lift going up from the pool/beach was slow and a hassle.

The breakfast is great and free ($4 extra to deliver it to your room) which is really cool.

We loved the restaurants, although they are real expensive. The food is top notch and the service was perfect at the restaurants.

I thought the service at the rest of the hotel was better than average.

I played golf in Crete--decent course and average rental clubs. It was worth the trip.

I also rented a car and would recommend doing so as well--my company has a rate with Budget which gave me a Toyota (can't remember the model)

All in all, a great trip. I also stayed at the Grande Bretagne which was one of the best Starwood stays I've had in years (there was a royal wedding during my stay and the wedding party was in the "royal suite" on my floor)

And could you be more specific about food being really expensive? There's 'Midtown Manhattan' expensive and then there's Costa Smerelda expensive...

Thanks for the posts on this property. I have been very interested in a trip here since it joined the *wood ranks. From what I've seen, the place really looks like a gem. Might have to go and write my own trip report soon...... :cool:

Here are some pictures of the hotel and the view. http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePh...1&sort_order=0

They are mixed in with pictures of crete, Istanbul and Athens.

We were in Greece for the month of April this year and stayed for 6 nights at the Grande Bretagne. I agree... for us it was the best hotel we have ever stayed in and am continually surprised that it does not make the Conde de Nast best 100 Hotel list every year...

In 1970 my family spent a year in the Elounda area and actually through a proxy bought water front property there... we sold it three years later when a hotel wanted the land.... it turned out to be the Elounda Beach Hotel.
Where the Blue Palace is now was nothing but olive groves and shepherd huts......and a wonderful secret stone beach that was still littered with abandoned WWII German army vechicles right off shore.

When my wife and I stayed at the Blue Palace last September on an award stay, the breakfast was free.

EWC-JMU

breakfast was free...although if you wanted it in the room it was $4 (can't remember if it was $4 per day/room or $4 per person)

Food was NYC expensive (I live in the city) without the $ to Euro conversion and then just plain expensive after the conversion. Lunch was 25-35 Euros per person and dinner entrees were about 35-40 euros per person if I remember correctly. Food was excellent, so we ate in the hotel most days for at least dinner.

L' Orangerie was superb and the Asian place was good. The greek tavern (I think it might have been Blue Door?) wasn't any better than the places in Agios Nicolos (sp?) like Du Lac.

As you can imagine, the hotel is adamant that you should not eat anywhere outside of their restaurants--we had to push very hard to get a recommendation of the premises.

Since many of us on this board are reporting stays >4 or 5 nights, the hotel is going to have to get over the fact that you can't eat at their places every night.

Elounda is ok to walk around and Agios Nicolos was better than expected. Getting off the property is one of the reasons I would recommend renting a car for the trip, although getting from the airport to the hotel, especially at night is a bit tough. The car service from Heraklion airport to the Blue Palace was something like $70 each way and the car rental ran me about $250 for the week.

Excellent Stay at Blue Palace!!
 

My girlfriend and I just got back from Crete, and the Blue Palace in mid July. We stayed 4 nights in a room with private pool on the lower levels of the property. In my humble opinion, the lower level pools offered the best views and easier access to the pools, beach, spa, and L'Orangerie.
I have to say that I have stayed at some remarkable places in the past (Ritz in Kapalua, Mandarin Oriental in Miami, Santa Marina in Mykonos, etc) and Blue Palace was probably my favorite. The views, as mentioned above, are breathtaking. Pictures cannot capture the serenity and peace you feel by being on a secluded part of one of the most beautiful islands in Greece.
We arrived via high-speed ferry from Santorini in Heraklion and had the hotel arrange for a taxi to take us to the hotel. The ride was about $70/way and took about an hour, but it was worth it in my opinion because we arrived late at night and didn't need the extra hassle of trying to find our way around a dark island in after a long day. When we arrived, the reception desk staff was very friendly, although I will echo the comment earlier about them not paying too much attention to Platinum status. Our concierge showed us around the lobby and the restaurants before shuttling us to our room in one of the golf carts. She was incredibly friendly and DID remember us the next day when we were asking questions about excursions to the Palace at Knossos (which by the way is AMAZING!).
The food is excellent. We also had free breakfast every morning, and the added extra bonus of free champagne made each morning that much better. :) The pools were great, and each of the lounge chairs were covered with a fresh towel in addition to of course towels available for drying off. The beach is a rock beach, so for those of you expecting sugary sand, you might be a little disappointed. I believe this is mainly due to the infamous Meltami Winds that blow throughout the Greek Isles. This IS something that travelers should be aware of if you are carrying a lot of loose items that can get picked up easily with sudden gusts of wind.
Dinner at L'Orangerie was one of the best I've ever had. They really did outperform my expectations, and the view of Spinalonga Bay made the ambiance that much more special. I only wish they had some type of flood lights out on Spinalonga Island to illuminate it a little more, but none the less, the view is amazing day or night.

I would highly recommend this property to anyone and personally plan on visiting my friends at Blue Palace again very soon.

Has anyone got an e-mail address for the Blue Palace ?? I have tried the one on the web site twice with no joy.

Thanks

This is the contact I have....
Katerina Youlaki
Reservations Manager
BLUE PALACE, Resort & Spa
The Luxury Collection - Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Tel: +30 2841 0 65500 Fax: +30 2841 0 89712
Email: [email protected]

Virtuoso and FHR rates for sure include breakfast. I have noticed lower rates now than when I 1st started to book the hotel, except for the Island Suites which are not really discounted

I wonder if he's Gold or Plat.

I CERTAINLY can't imagine getting that free upgrade again (on an award).. the DLX Suite is certainly amazing. It's what you get when you book an award suite night, for 24K SP. I asked them if I were a Gold, if I might be able to be upgraded to Island suite, and they said "it's possible." But the DLX Suite really is amazing. The Island suite is simply more secluded, with a heated pool with a wall around it. The Infiniti Pool in the DLX is fairly larger I believe, although it might simply be the different sizes of the floorplan.

So far, this is the best property I've seen for a suite award.

But now, I just read a post saying Starwood "has said" they are going to devalue points...

Well crap.

I am considering going to this hotel on July 1...please let me know your perspective.

Also, my sense it you need to say in Athens 1-2 nights on the way in and out?

Are there direct non-stop to any other cities besides Athens which would be great to visit on the way in and out, and also provide nonstop access to LHR?

We stayed at the Bule Palace for 5 nights at the end of May on Points. We were upgraded to a room with a private pool, but no Breakfast was included.

I'm a SPG Gold

Shawn

Breakfast Trick
 

My wife and I honeymooned at the Blue Palace last year when it was a Cat 4. We used double points to get a very nice suite but there were no further upgrades as the property was full. Breakfast was not included.

However, what they did have are fantastic room service assortments for breakfast which are REALLY reasonable, because they are targeted at the 90% of the people who get breakfast included. They are something like 16 Euros each and are fantastic and very plentiful. One breakfast is enough for two and it's amazing. You can enjoy it outside by your pool and it's much better than eating with everyone at the buffet. We did this every morning and LOVED it.

This is my favorite starwood property, and I have stayed at all of them in Greece and many in other countries and the US.. They have nice Molton Brown products (more exotic blends than most properties). Definitely rent a car!

We are thinking about visiting the Blue Palace in September or October this year. Has anyone been there later in the season? When is the latest that you can swim there before it starts getting cold? Is late September fine or is the water still warm in October.

Also, I saw that the property is now Cat 5. The website used to say that the high season ended on 9/11. Does anyone know if this is still the case?

Thanks for providing recent descriptions about the property including the "breakfast trick."

What a wonderful, detailed trip report!

We've never been to Greece but are considering a trip there.

I just checked out their website and the hotel looks perfect.

Thanks for the heads up on this property. ^