Lagomandra Hotel & Spa

"Recently stayed and whilst we did have a good holiday, we left disappointed for the price paid and 4* expectation. We’ve stayed at better 3*. Seems to have everything on paper for the perfect holiday however lets itself down in many areas. Firstly Jet2 airport staff / flight great. Transfer was nearly 3 hours (last stop) and includes changing buses. Jet2 rep only visits on an ‘appointment only basis’ and was not seen during our two week stay. Return pick up time was text message only. On arrival our cases were taken to our room via a golf buggy (nice touch), hotel is not for people who don’t like stairs/steep hills. We were given a room that’s balcony overlooked staff areas / rear of main restaurant. Whilst it had a side sea view, the balcony was not used due to lack of privacy/staff smoking. All other rooms look like they’d have beautiful views (as the main restaurant does). Room was nice and a good size, only downside was the bathroom flooded following a shower. Fridge and a safe in the room (safe was not anchored to anything though so pointless). TV only had bbc news in English. Air con was possibly too good as position blowing straight onto the beds at the height of summer meant either being freezing or boiling at night no in-between. Poor sleep quality for the two weeks. Cleanliness was ok however bed sheets only changed once during a two week stay on day 10! Towels and bins changed daily if you press a button on the door to let them know you’d like room to be serviced. After dumping the cases we changed into swimwear to find the pool and found something I’ve never seen in over 20 years of traveling, nobody in or around the pool at 2/3pm in August summer holidays! No atmosphere, no music but sunbeds galore. The kids loved having the pool to themselves, it just felt weird. No jacuzzi/hot tub either as pictured on website/jet2. It has been covered over to provide additional seating. Thinking it was just a changeover day we went down to the ‘spa pool’ on the second morning to be even more amazed, no towels down or people poolside at 10/11am either. This time we realized the, once white drainage grates around the pool, were green (they stayed green the whole of the 2 weeks we were there and even after complaining to reception to clean the pool). Swimwear was stained green and thrown in the bin. On arriving home both our children had infections that Dr’s said were from dirty pool water. Reception said we could use the other hotels facilities and pool so relocated to the ‘beach hotel pool’, which was much better, although still not busy but in a good way. We only met one other English family during two weeks. Other nationalities tended to use the beach more than the pool. No need to reserve beds at beach pool as always got one (or four) even after lunch. A daily entertainment programme is on a screen at reception and restaurant; all activities were at the beach pool/beach itself and included yoga, aquaarobics, darts for kids etc. Entertainment team not the best we’ve come across during the day but the girls at night were good dancers and nice to the children. As many other reviews point out the beach is beautiful, €15 euro for two beds and an umbrella or €25 for vip which we used but apart from a nicer bed had no different service & still no towels included. You can get waiter service from your beds from a snack bar on the beach and food was nice (pizza, burgers, gyros). Disappointed to hear foul language in songs on the beach sound system and beach pool for a ‘family resort’, even our teenagers reaction was ‘wow’ at certain choice of songs. We ate at the only restaurant on the beach, which has a nice view. Food was good if not a little pricey however no kids menu. We went half board and the food was probably a highlight. Breakfast was great. Lots on offer for evening meals too (obviously got samey after two weeks). Surprised that traditional Greek dishes like moussaka was only on once during a fortnight stay. Gyros on every night which were ok as were the soups, salads and deserts. Restaurant has a lovely view over the ‘spa pool’ and a sea view. Staff were ok if not a little overworked (Australian lady as mentioned in other reviews the best of the staff, always a lovely welcome received). Drinks were expensive in restaurant (€3 bottle of water, where as €2 at the onsite bar or €1 at onsite minimart for same thing!). We tried to change board basis from HB to all inclusive due to drinks prices however reception were unable to cater for this. They did say if we had asked them on day one or two of the holiday and not day 3 they would’ve accommodated the change. The drinks however were good as were bar staff and kids had nice mocktails each night. Alpha Beer is on draft. Cocktails are €11/12 but good and strong! Sport/football was on the bar tv once during our two week stay. Entertainment was good if you like to dance (Greek and Latin nights). External singer every Wednesday and quizzes / bingo ouzo other nights. Mini disco 8:30-9pm with face painting. Kids have a few table tennis tables, basketball pitch and arcade type area to keep busy on an evening. Neo Marmeras is beautiful and worth a trip (take local bus not hotel shuttle) €2 and 10 mins away. Nikiti is also lovely (busier than neo marmeras) again €2 on local bus that picks up outside hotel, only 20 mins away. Busy road between the hotels is bypassed by a bridge from ‘spa’ hotel to the nicer ‘beach hotel’. Other half had a massage and said it was good €55. Unfortunately the famous Greek hospitality was not on show here and we will stick to family run hotels from now on. If already booked you’ll have a good time just stay at the beach hotel & pool."

"Would I recommend this hotel?? Pros and cons but NO I WOULDN'T!!!! We are an English family of 5, 2 adults and 3 children. Our accommodation was lovely and spacious, two bathrooms , an upstairs and a downstairs and a huge balcony. The private beach is stunning and feels like you are in a warm bath, the beach was our saviour for this holiday. On our first day, not even an hour into being there, I had an unpleasant experience with the man who runs the gym! He is rude, aggressive and has zero respect for guests! The story is....The pool says "no diving" understandable! However jumping!!! When we arrived I jumped into the deep end, the pool is completely empty and now I know why!! He came out of the gym like a bull in a china shop and screamed for everyone to hear and stop what they are doing. I'm am an adult and he spoke to me like a child, he told me not to dive and I explained that I didn't and that I jumped! He then proceeded to call me a lier, I asked him not to speak to me like that and still argued the point that I jumped! He continued to shout saying "you are a lier! Get out the pool and make a complaint if you don't like it" which I then answered "I shall!" I swam to the side to get my towel and started walking to reception to complain and he started harassing me and shouting and followed me to the reception, where he continued to shout and said "if I don't like it, go home!". It took 3 days to eventually speak to the hotel manager and his answer was "he is like that, and we keep him away from others in the gym" Regardless of he is like that, it doesn't make it ok! The gym man never apologized for his behaviour, instead everytime we used the pool, he would appear and cross his arms and stare at myself and my husband and try and make us feel uncomfortable. In the end we went to the beach everyday as he completely spoilt our pool experience. On the last day the beach had lots of jelly fish, so we went to the pool where he was shouting at others about jumping in the pool!! IT IS A POOL! ITS NORMAL BEHAVIOUR TO JUMP IN A POOL!! The pool is way too strict, so if you have children who like to play in the pool and jump in then I would AVOID this hotel! The pool has absolutely NO aphoshere at all! There are loads of sunbeds as the pool is empty! And I really think this is because of the rules and the gym guy!! There is no music around the pool and it's August which is peak time!! The food is very samey and only one or two dishes are different in the evening, you also have to pay for water in the evening too! Apart from one lady who was Australian, the staff in the restaurant were very unfriendly and when you asked for something it felt like it was a problem. unfortunately there is not anywhere to eat out unless you get a taxi into town which is around 17 euro each way. You are very out of the way here and there are no shops or strip to browse in unless you go into town. The hotel does have a shuttle bus which you pre-book to take you into town in the morning and that's 2.50 euro each way, but you only get two hours in town before being picked up. There are two little mini marts at both hotels where you can get drinks, snacks etc. On the beach there is one restaurant which is SUPER expensive and not worth it. We ate from the snack shack on the beach most days for lunch which has giros, pizza,chips etc You can get sun beds and umbrellas daily at around 15euro each but we preferred to pay on the sand away from the Hustle and bustle of the sunbeds. Lots and lots and lots of stairs, so I would not recommend for anyone who has mobility issues. For the whole week we were the only English people at this hotel or so it seemed."

"We got an economy room with the commercial name "Superior Room". The room had an bad view, it was located on the 0th floor and looked out onto the olive trees. It was so small that 2 adults couldn't pass each other! To get to the room we had to cross a dark corridor. We complained and they said they could give us the same room, but on the 1st floor... in our situation there were other tourists who were unhappy with this room."