"Our stay at Radisson Blu Larnaca Beach Resort was an enormous disappointment. This was supposed to be a 5-star hotel, but unfortunately our experience was nowhere near that level.
When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to a better room. Unfortunately, the room itself quickly turned that excitement into disappointment. The mirror was dirty, the furniture was worn, there was a poorly repaired hole in the wall, the mirror light did not work, the refrigerator did not close properly, and the room was poorly cleaned. The floor was also extremely slippery and felt genuinely unsafe.
The bathroom amenities were another issue. The Radisson-branded bottles in the shower were empty – there was no shampoo, conditioner or shower gel. We contacted reception about this, but it took three separate complaints before we finally received soap.
Housekeeping throughout our stay was extremely poor. The floors were not cleaned even once during our holiday. The toilet was cleaned only once, surfaces were not properly wiped, and on one occasion the cleaner left our room door wide open for the entire day.
We also found a pair of dirty underwear belonging to a previous guest inside a wardrobe. We were actually looking for a hairdryer, which was also missing from the room, when we discovered it. We ended up throwing the underwear away ourselves.
The bed linen was not changed properly either. We noticed that the cleaner simply folded the existing sheets instead of replacing them, despite the sheets being visibly worn and even having holes in them.
Room service created another problem. Used dishes, cups and glasses were left in the room and were not collected or cleaned. Used coffee was not replenished, and a cooler that had been brought to the room on our first evening remained there for four days.
Even the towels were inconsistent. They were usually taken away, but on several occasions they were not replaced properly, leaving us without enough clean towels.
The hotel itself has some genuinely good qualities. The location is excellent, the overall design and facilities are nice, and the breakfast was good. However, considering that the hotel is only around three years old, the condition of the property was surprisingly poor. Pool tiles were coming loose, lights were malfunctioning, and the rooms and furnishings already looked noticeably worn.
Unfortunately, the problems were not limited to housekeeping.
After the cleaner left our door open, we went to reception to complain about this and the other issues. We were directed to speak with the hotel manager. He apologized and offered us dinner at the hotel restaurant as compensation.
However, the dinner experience was disappointing as well. We were not properly informed that the offer did not include drinks. Once we arrived at the restaurant, we struggled to get any service at all. We had difficulty getting drinks or even getting staff attention. When I asked how we could order drinks, I was told that the complimentary offer only covered the food and that drinks had to be paid for separately. We eventually ordered and paid for the drinks ourselves, but the service was extremely slow and unfriendly.
The food itself was also disappointing – dry and lacking in flavour. Unfortunately, the poor and slow service made the experience even worse.
On our final day, things reached another level. A note was slipped under our door informing us that a wedding would take place that day and that parts of the hotel would be unavailable. We were told to expect some disturbance.
The disturbance was far beyond what we would consider reasonable. The wedding was so loud that it was difficult to even watch television in our room, and the celebrations continued late into the night.
The following day, I requested a late check-out, which is included with my Radisson membership benefits. Despite our late evening flight, we were given only one additional hour. We then had to sit in the hotel lobby for approximately five hours waiting for our transportation to the airport.
When we checked out, we were asked how our holiday had been. Honestly, we did not even know what to say. The entire experience had been such a disappointment that we could not pretend otherwise.
This hotel has a beautiful location and some good facilities, but those positives cannot compensate for the basic standards of cleanliness, maintenance, housekeeping and customer service that we experienced.
In our experience, this hotel does not meet the standard we would expect from a 5-star Radisson resort. Unfortunately, our stay was one of the most disappointing hotel experiences we have had.
We will not be choosing Radisson for our future holiday trips."
