"Trip advisor doesn’t allow half ratings but my true rating would be 3.5 not 3
We stayed in September 24. It is a very beautiful resort but does have room for improvement, especially to make it a true 5 star experience.
Positives:
Prior to booking I used their live chat function on their website to ask questions and this was very helpful.
Transfers to and from the airport were on time with no issues and the resort is so beautiful. The landscapers/gardeners must work tirelessly to make the grounds so stunning. The grounds are full of olive trees, lime trees, pomegranate trees, bougainvillea, grapes growing on the vine and the most beautiful flowers everywhere you go. The hotel grow a lot of their own produce and have their own allotment area which is very impressive.
The hotel has managed to achieve the feel of a traditional Greek property/village but still maintain modern 5 star luxury. Everywhere is very clean and sleek looking, with attention to the design details everywhere.
We stayed in a garden view suite with private pool. Calling it “garden view” is a bit of a stretch I think - it is just one bush behind the pool then other villas behind, and we were unable to use the pool as it was freezing (more about this later). But the suite was very nice - gorgeous bathroom with his and hers sinks, large bedroom area with lounge and a good sized outdoor area with loungers. Very tastefully decorated. The bed, although two beds joined together, was comfortable and robes & slippers were provided along with two bottles of water per day.
Staff were all friendly and our room was cleaned well. They also cleaned our pool every day.
The main pool area is an infinity pool split over three levels, with an adult only pool available too. The view from here over the sea and Kefalonia in the distance is truly breathtaking, and they also have hammocks hanging over the pool too.
The gym is really well equipped for a hotel gym and has a decent amount of weights and weight machines as well as cardio equipment. It would be great to see some gym classes offered particularly as this is a 5 star hotel.
Really loved the village square, where you can find a little chapel, museum, taverna, games room and gelato shop. A lovely concept. I think it would be great for the museum to add in descriptions of the items, as you don’t know the history of what you are looking at or what it is exactly.
The food and drink was a bit hit and miss for us. I’d read previous reviews advising not to go half board and I’m glad we followed this and booked breakfast only as half board would have been very limited for choice (you can only eat in one restaurant and it only has 3 choices of starter/main/dessert). We loved the breakfast buffet in the mornings, it was extensive and the pastry section in particular was incredible - the pistachio croissants are the best I’ve ever had. The pastry chef is clearly extremely talented.
We weren’t as impressed with the a la carte breakfast menu - not many options at all. I ordered the “pancake with egg” and it came as one very flat stale pancake on the plate with one flat fried egg on top, weirdly enough walnuts and syrup on the egg. The pancakes at the buffet were also stale/hard from being left under the heated lamp.
It would be great to see a fresh juice station where you can select your fruit/vegetables and have it juiced fresh in front of you. Only orange juice and pomegranate juice were available every day. Service also varied and sometimes you waited quite a while for food/drink.
Now on to the negatives/areas for improvement:
When you look through photographs of this hotel you will notice that nobody is ever in the swimming pools - this is because they are absolutely freezing! We visited the first half of September and temperatures were high 20’s Celsius so not a cold time of year.
Sadly this also applied to our pool in our room. If I had known this in advance I would have saved a significant amount of money and booked a room without a pool. My husband and I attempted a few times to go in it but it was honestly like an ice bath.
I did discuss this with reception and they said they don’t heat the infinity pool or the room pools, but that the spa pool is heated. This was not true as we went to the spa and couldn’t swim in there either as it was so cold.
We didn’t see a single person in any of the swimming pools the whole 5 nights we were there, and we witnessed several people trying to get in but screaming it was too cold. Such a shame we couldn’t appreciate the view from the infinity pool in the water. We travel a lot and it is the only hotel I’ve ever stayed at where I’ve not been able to use any of the swimming pools. The sun may be on them all day but it doesn’t heat them.
As mentioned above we used the spa on one of the days and both had massages. The therapists were very polite and kind but unfortunately the massage itself was not great. I had the “relaxing aromatherapy” massage but could not relax at all. The hand movements were the fastest I’ve ever experienced in a massage, as if the therapists were in a rush to finish it all. It was uncomfortable at times too, digging elbows into bone and using knuckles on sensitive areas. To be honest we both looked forward to the massage ending and both felt sore the next day. As mentioned above we couldn’t use the pool or jacuzzi after our treatment either as it was so cold.
Another issue I found was that we often felt we were being misled or tricked out of money, as though things were deliberately not made clear. Perhaps this is not the case but it sometimes felt like this. For example, prior to arriving I emailed the hotel and asked to arrange an airport transfer to and from the hotel. They replied and told me I can book a limo for 150 euros. No other options were mentioned. I had to email back and ask if a regular car was an option - it was, so why not say this? I asked for the price to and from the airport and I was told 40 euros. When we left the hotel I then discovered it is 40 euros there and 40 euros back, so 80 euros total. Again not made clear.
On the first and last evenings we ordered room service as we were feeling tired. The menu specifically stated that all charges, tax, service etc is included in the price. We then discovered that they had added almost 40 euros to our bill for a tray charge. They did remove this charge when I showed them the menu, but this should not be happening at a 5 star hotel.
We also had occasions where items were ticked on our mini bar list to say we had had them when we hadn’t. For example, the staff in charge of the mini bar ticked to charge that we had had soda water, “premium water”, orangeade and chips. We had not had any of these and again I had to go to reception to have the charges removed. Again it made us feel like they are trying to deceive us. I had to then start making a note of every single charge to ensure it was correct.
We felt the food and drink prices were very high. We have stayed at some of the top 5 star resorts in the world including in the Maldives, Mauritius, Thailand etc and we are happy to pay high prices for food and drink providing it reflects the quality. Food and drink prices were similar to some resorts we’ve stayed at in the Maldives. €6.50 for bottled water is crazy. So just be prepared for the food and drink prices before you come.
To give some examples to help others - our room service bill came to €100 for a salad, two burgers, a chocolate mousse and a milkshake. The Bostani farm to table meal was a set menu and came to around €127 total. Again, happy to pay this for exceptional food, but didn’t feel the quality matched the price. The starter was a salad to share, some grilled veg and one slice of cheese pie each.The main was some chicken wings and chips. The dessert was a small slice of milk tart.
Although the beds were comfy we did struggle sleeping due to the pillows. They unfortunately don’t have a pillow menu like you’d expect at a 5 star resort. We did ask about the pillows but they could only provide more of the same. The ceiling fan is also very noisy and makes clicking noises, and the TV would randomly come on several times in the night and wake us up, no matter how many times we switched it off. We ended up unplugging it from the wall in the end. Also quite a lot of ants about, including in the bathroom.
Overall I would recommend this hotel for its beautiful grounds and rooms and the whole look/aesthetic. I’d definitely recommend bed and breakfast rather than half board, and to dine out at restaurants outside of the hotel."
