400k points – Al Wadi Desert or Domes of Elounda?

[moody]

Looking to make a booking before the devaluation. Traveling with 2 young children. Trying to decide between these two properties – would anyone who has stayed at both mind offering an opinion?

[Rob]

They are, weirdly, similar in many ways – except one is a cheap flight away and sits on the coast and one is quite a way away in a desert!

Overall, Al Wadi is higher quality. I mean … it’s got the most astonishing ice-based spa I have ever seen in my life AND IT’S IN THE DESERT. All rooms have private pools too, which I’m not sure is true of Domes.

I took my kids to Al Wadi for a couple of days when they were young (6 and 9 I think) and it was fine – kids club, the daily falconry show etc were fun. There is a long review on the site (I didn’t review Elounda although other readers have done it for us.)

However …. Al Wadi is best done as a couple of days tacked on the end of a beach holiday (Waldorf Astoria Ras is the obvious choice). It is too far to go for a couple of days with kids and weird to go and not do any beach stuff.

In pure value terms, I would imagine Al Wadi is a higher pence per point value but I wouldn’t be driven by that.

[moody]

Thanks Rob, food for thought, I’ll need to decide soon!

[bungalow]

Robs right about Ai Wadi, an experience no doubt, but 3 nights max…

… and definitely not in July!