Atlantica Grand Mediterraneo Resort

"Lovely hotel and very clean and well maintained. If you have any mobility issues dont book this hotel. Its built on an hill and although there are electric carts to take you up and down there not always available. The carts only take you to the hotel gates so if you want the beach its a steep slope down. The room was lovely and especially the bathroom which was exceptional very clean, TV and coffee/tea facilities and fresh water every day. The hotel itself is lovely great pool and loads of sunbeds and it has a beach front down a steep hill. The on site indoor pool is okay but unheated its actually the coldest pool ive ever been inand the steam room was out of service not great for a so called five star hotel. The hotel breakfast is great amazing selection of food caters for all. Unfortunately the evening meal can be described as adequate at best and on a few days terrible really really disappointing. According to a fellow guest whos been eleven times he described it as horrendous due to a change of manager? Some of the meats were overcooked grizzly and full of fat one night they attempted battered fish honestly i wouldn't of given it to my dog it was that bad. So we ate lots of salad which was great. The deserts are fine but nothing spectacular lacking no real imagination and a lack of cream and ice cream wouldn't go amiss. We ate off site a few times at the taverna down at the beach which was good but because its the only one there its a bit on the expensive side. The resort is very quiet definitely lacking a few taverna's but if thats your bag you will love it. We found a good snack bar about one kilometre away which is the only nearest one and it was excellent with great local beer. So to summarise great hotel not 5 star not even close, quiet resort, a bit remote let down by poor evening food. Finally Corfu airport is a shambles we waited on the plane for ninety minutes due to it being busy eventually passing through passport control another hour later to find suitcases thrown on the floor. No better going home queue after queue snaking around the entrance to find another queue inside. Tbh its not fit for purpose its actually a disgrace."

"After a 2.5 hour wait at the airport the TUI bus was nowhere to be seen. So we got a taxi to the hotel after the rep told us he had no idea how long the bus would be. On arrival, there was a huge queue. A one hour wait. We asked for a beer or drink and wasn’t allowed. The hotels setting is lovely. Set into the side of a hill. Overlooking a nice little cove. The downside to the hill side of things is the walking up and down. They do lay on buggies to run you about but when the hotel is busier it’s a bit hit and miss on how long you’ll be waiting. We walked a lot of the time but if you struggle to walk then this place isn’t for you. The beach is about a 15-20min walk from reception. The lift wasn’t working for the whole week we were there. We booked this is a 5* Platinum as described by TUI. There are many reasons as to why it falls short. Firstly, the food in our opinion wasn’t anywhere near good enough. Breakfast was ok if you like a cooked breakfast but there were no crepe stations on. Coffee is served to you which takes ages. Self serve machines would be much better and help staff to concentrate on having tables cleared and set, to save the regular queuing. Lunch and dinner felt fairly similar most days, even though there were different themes. We personally didn’t think there was much quality to the food at all. You can’t get an ice cream unless you go to the beach bar (20 mins walk). There is no snack bar to speak of in between main meals. Well there are cold sandwich type things to grab from a fridge, but again, as a 5* Platinum, these things need to be better. We have stayed at 3* and 4* places and had much better options with quality of food and quantity of places to get food at. Entertainment was ok. Some decent singing but that was about it. Although seating is very limited. There didn’t appear to be an entertainment team there. Again, we are used to having some fun in the evenings, bingo, music quizzes that kind of thing. Pool aerobics or water polo etc. Another one of our main gripes was the gym. It was described to have a gymnasium and fitness centre. The gym has honestly got to be one of the worst gyms we’ve ever been in. Broken equipment, minimal equipment, Aircon not working, spa music piped through the speakers, dirty and generally underwhelming. Again as mentioned before, this is supposed to be a 5* Platinum hotel. The gym does not reflect anywhere near that. The staff all work really hard. They are doing their best to keep everyone happy, but I don’t think they are being managed very well. There seemed to be a lot of people in suits milling about, welcoming guests in queues, chatting etc but really, when tables are sitting dirty and the waiting staff are up against it, they should be mucking in and getting stuff sorted. We approached them to make our feelings known and were pretty much ignored thereafter. This hotel falls far short of the 5* Platinum it has been given, but with some work and changes it could definitely achieve it. Tip for if you’re staying here. If the airport is a headache and you decide to get a taxi, check out a car hire for the week and explore the island. The food out and about is immense and very reasonable."

"This is not a five star hotel – but a four star at a push. Overall, we did have a nice time, but there are a few things that could have made the experience better. Travelling & check-in - 2 stars My partner and I stayed for a week on a half-board basis in early May. We booked through TUI as a package. The weather was mostly nice, but we had a few overcast and rainy days – so my advice would be to book in June at the earliest for better weather. The holiday didn't get off to the best start as Corfu airport was rammed. We were queuing for 2 hours to get through passport control once we landed – this will only get worse as the season progresses so be warned. Once we were our TUI transfer coach took another 40 minutes to turn up. Some guests opted to get private transfers and then apparently claimed this money back through TUI. But, once the coach eventually turned up and dropped us at our hotel, there was ANOTHER 40 minute wait to check in. What could be taking so long to check people in, we wondered? Well, once you get to the front desk, they try to sell upgrade packages to all inclusive for drinks or just for a day etc. If they didn't do this sales pitch to every guest, the wait time would be much shorter. Saying this, the reception staff are all very lovely and we were offered water/juice and small snacks in the queue (no welcome glass of prosecco as suggested by other reviews). Room - 3.5 stars We stayed in room 215, which was relatively close to the main building. The room is spacious and has everything you need. Although when we arrived, the safe was missing a battery and the TV remote wasn't working. I phoned reception who said someone would come round in 20 minutes. No-one turned up, and giving them grace we waiting to the next day to then ask in reception. Chasing up on issues isn't a 5 star experience. Bed is comfortable, wardrobes have lots of hangers and space. Robe is a bit tatty for a five star. Slippers were nice. The shower was okay - but the design was flawed as water escaped from under the shower door and flooded the toilet area every time. The bath had brown hair dye splatter stains in it. Again, not five star. Food - 4 stars Food was varied and tasty. Desserts were very nice. I'm a pescatarian and felt it was lacking in the fish options – there was one seafood night which I enjoyed but beyond that, the only fish option was a mysterious white fish that wasn't very nice in a random sauce. There was a bowl of cold tuna in the salad section which I relied on. Boyfriend is a big meat eater, he was very happy with all of the grilled meats. We went half-board so for lunch we grabbed some rolls etc from Corfu town to eat throughout the week. We also visited George's Taverna which is to the left of the beach for a few amazing lunches, I'd highly recommend doing that. Service - 1 star The wait time to get a table at dinner was unreasonable and pointless. Typically the wait could be up to 15 minutes at peak times, which yes can be understandable BUT when you go round to the outdoor dining area at the back or even indoors and see multiple empty tables, you wonder where things have gone so wrong. Other guests just stopped waiting in the queue and starting seating themselves, which didn't help the situation, although I understand why they did it – it seemed to be a hack. Service from the waiting staff was awful. 80% of the time, we would be led to a table, the front of house staff member would flip the table mats around (so unhygienic) so they were 'clean' and there was a promise that the table would be laid. So, we would go and get our food, come back and still no cutlery. We would then have to chase a member of staff around to ask for cutlery, who would promise to do so, and then disappear. It's extremely obvious that there is not enough staff, and they have not been trained properly, they were all nice people but seemed overworked and extremely stressed, which wasn't nice to see. None of the staff (apart from front of house) were local/Greek, which makes me worry about employing 'cheaper' labour. I hope this is not the case and the staff are paid well. Breakfast was less of a wait, but still a battle to get basics like cutlery and coffee. According to rumour, the hotel used to be a TUI Blue, then got downgraded and they replaced all of their staff. It shows massively. Facilities/setting - 5 stars This is what saves this hotel. The setting is beautiful. There is an abandoned hotel opposite, which could bother some people, but I found it interesting. The sea was lovely, beach very peaceful. Pool was also great. Indoor pool was a blessing on the colder days. Everywhere felt quiet during the day, no sunbed battles. Gym was also very good for a hotel. Worth noting that the funicular lift was not working throughout our entire stay, which didn't bother us as we are young, but felt like this is bad for those that are less mobile. It is very steep everywhere you walk in the hotel – do not go here if you have any trouble with your mobility. Corfu transfer - 3 stars The transfer to Corfu old town is 7.5 euros per person - overpriced considering it's only a 30 minute journey. The hotel must be making a tidy little profit off of this. The problem is that the hotel doesn't sell tickets for a specific time slot, leading to a lot of disappointed people when the coach inevitably fills up. It was a stressful experience waiting outside the hotel with 80 plus other guests, knowing you aren't going to all fit on. The coach does come back in an hour to pick up the other guests - but what a waste of time! My tips to the hotel would be as follows - Don't make the check in process a sales pitch, instead all of this information is on the app, point there instead or provide a leaflet with this info on. - Make sure the rooms have everything they need in them before check in, and if there are stains in the bathroom, replace the units. Replace the dressing gowns - More variety of fish at dinner, we are right by the sea after all! - Employ more staff, train them properly. - Sell tickets for the Corfu transfer by time. This avoids disappointment. My advice for guests travelling here - If you don't want to rely on a buggy or scale a mountain every time you want to eat, request a room near the main building - Get to breakfast and lunch early for decent service - Go to George's Taverna for lunch - Bring towel clips for the wind - Book earliest in June"