We spent 7 nights at the Blue Palace hotel, looking for relax, blue seas and excursions. First, this part of Crete is much less spoiled by mass tourism, and this is particularly true for the small Plaka village, north of Elounda, where the hotel sits (actually the hotel is bigger than the village).
ROOM: the hotel/resort is BIG, yet designed carefully enough to blend reasonably well with the rugged terrains it is built upon. We got a standard sea-view room (no private pool) and we have been more than satisfied: airy, comfortable, with effective air conditioning and extra-comfy bed. The terrace with the view was what we enjoyed most.
BEACH: we went for the sea, and the hotel private beach did not disappoint us. Beware, it is a pebble beach, not sand, but considering the strong winds I consider this a plus. It is big, well organized, with pools, green areas and very large spacing between umbrellas. Very friendly for kids. By looking at all the others resort beaches in that part of the coast, it is the best we spotted, except maybe the Daios Cove one (south of Agios Nikolaos), which is smaller but looks more secluded and spectacular.
STAFF: excellent, from the breakfast to the concierge service: they procured us two mountain bikes for the next morning asking just the evening before.
AREA: the Plaka village (2 min on foot) offers many good restaurants/tavernas/bars where to have lunch/dinner avoiding the overpriced resort restaurants.