I have stayed 5 star in Greece before and expected similar 5 star here. On arrival the hotel is beautiful, the main areas are w... Read More
I have stayed 5 star in Greece before and expected similar 5 star here. On arrival the hotel is beautiful, the main areas are well kept and are always being cleaned by staff. The reception was poor - check in took ages despite there only being 2 parties arriving and staff to deal with us both straight away. Not much information was given either. Room we arrived and the keys didn’t work so was a trip back to reception. Our bags were left with reception and these were brought shortly after arriving in the room. The rooms we had booked 2 separate rooms - the rooms are massive and decorated lovely and we were lucky enough to get both rooms with views over the front straight over the pool and out to sea. Problems with rooms - the shower it leaked every time I had a shower. The shower couldn’t drain as quickly as it ran. So the water would fill the bathroom and I would have to mop it up with towels every time. The rooms can easily fit a family of 5 but only take a maximum of 3 people? As I said we booked 2 rooms (3 in 1, 2 in the other) but we used our room to sleep 4 - ourselves and our youngest 2 children. The rooms consisted of 2 double beds and a sofa bed ( which we didn’t use or pull out to look of it was single or double). Our 2nd room was a corner suite and not the room we booked, which was fine but the only thing is this room only had a shower over the bath which was a little more awkward. Breakfast - I wasn’t the biggest fan. I’ve stayed in hotels with less stars with better breakfasts. They had a omelette and scotch pancake station but it was just a large omelette made and cut up into a tray and the pancakes were just cooked in batches and in tray and weren’t to order either. I much prefer the omelette stations where you pick your own filling and this is cooked for you and again pancakes that are cooked to your liking so can have crepes if you choose. The rest of breakfast was very Turkish - soup, salad etc and there were eggs of any type. Plenty of fruit available. The pool bar opened for food at 11:30 so although the children weren’t well fed at breakfast it wasn’t a great deal as always managed to get something to eat shortly after. We only ate lunch at the pool bar and didn’t use the restaurant as the children were normally dressed for the pool so it was easier this way and the pool bar food was a nice change from the restaurant. My youngest loved the cheeseburger and chips. Evening meal there was always something to be had and I was more than happy with the food choice. Problems - we arrived and it was quite quiet and the service was poor. Not once did we get offered a drink at our table. Not once was we waited on at the pool bar around the pool for the first 5 days. You had to queue for everything! In the restaurant you’d expect to be taken to your table on arrival but no, it was more like a canteen. If you weren’t there for the first sitting the tables were never re-set. You had to go and collect your own knives and forks. It wasn’t 3 star service never mind 5 star! As the hotel got busier at the weekend the service got worse. One day during our weeks stay we got offered drinks by the pool and I had never even seen them offer them anyone until then. I’m sure they had some travel company there that day looking over the place as there was a group all wearing the same t shirts walking around. So think it was for there benefit rather than the guests. The staff however always seemed busy they just didn’t seem to have specific roles so all seemed to be clearing plates whilst no one seemed to be taking care of guests or re setting tables in time. I think they need to allocate a waiter to you on arrival to restaurants who will get your drinks and show you to your table. This seems to work for other hotels. Also need more waiter staff walking around the pool. The upstairs waffle bar was a treat for in the aft and a great way to get the kids out the sun for a bit. They had cakes, cookies, hot drinks, waffles and ice cream. The downstairs coffee shop didn’t do anything other than hot drinks and probably would of been better if this one offered soft drinks so there was a bar that was not for alcohol. There was no self service drinks. Maybe a soft drinks self service might of helped near the pool? The mate bar at the front of the hotel always seemed quiet. The upstairs bar always had a good singer on a night and was busy and offered a good alternative to the pool side entertainment. The poolside entertainment was ok. Pretty standard really the fire show was good. The pools the kids loved them. The slide park was just the right size to not over take the hotel and near enough that the kids could go up and down by themselves and we could watch. Everything was compact around the pool and the beach was just next to the poolside areas. The only problem was the ruling around the pool wasn’t non slip. My youngest had hits a bad slip I told reception but they didn’t come and do anything about the situation. They needed more non slip mats around the pool like they had near the steps to the slide. Transfer- advertised as 1hr 15min in the jet2 brochure. It was just over 2 hours both times. We were the first pick up and lost drop off. I think if I was to stay again I’d get off at the first hotel in the resort and get a taxi to the hotel and again get a taxi to the last pick up. The transfer to the hotel was in a large coach and the journey was that bit smoother but on our return to the airport on departure it was a smaller 30 seater coach that felt every turn and bad road. We all felt travel sick. The extra restaurants you could book? GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! 6 advertised what they don’t tell you is they only open 3 per night and 3 out of the 6 have an entrance fee! You could only book the day before between 2-4pm so that meant first of all the first 2 days are out as you aren’t there in time to book them. Then when you do go to book the free ones are always fully booked. Large parties have been and booked we kept getting told however we kept looking in the restaurants and they were always mostly empty. They did 4 sittings 7,7:30, 8 and 8:30 and they were NEVER full. They definitely didn’t seem any large parties! For example the Friday we tried to book for the Saturday and there was only 1 free restaurant open the Saturday night despite the hotel being its busiest at the weekends as seemed people did stay there for weekend breaks. The restaurants seem to be there to be advertised as a facility rather than used. Read Less