"This hotel has a lot of potential but unfortunately there were lots of things that let it down massively, one especially being the service.
When we first arrived at the hotel we was greeted by a man at reception that didn't seem all that friendly or interested, he quickly ran through where we could eat in our all inclusive package however it wasn't very well explained and left us feeling very confused. We arrived on a Wednesday at about 2pm for a 1 week stay, and he told us that on Wednesday's there is a Greek BBQ night in the beach restaurant, we thought this sounded great, we went to book online only to find out that there were no reservations left. Much to our disappointment this has to be booked in advance, which makes no sense for guests arriving on a Wednesday, I thought this was false advertising. You can't advertise a Greek night as an option if it's only available to guests that don't arrive on a Wednesday! Due to the confusion of not knowing where we could eat and having to book certain restaurants we found ourselves for the first night in the top buffet restaurant, to say that this was absolute chaos would be an understatement. We asked one of the waiters how or where to order a drink and he looked at us like we'd just asked him for a fight. The food was not very nice at all, bog standard all inclusive buffet but slightly worse than expected standard. After going to reception and speaking with someone different we eventually worked out where we could eat and where we needed to book. We booked the beach restaurant which we were disappointed to find that it was also a buffet. This is such a shame because it has a lovely setting but again just felt a bit chaotic, although less so than the top restaurant we went to on the first night and the food here was actually much nicer. They are missing an opportunity to make this a lovely dining experience. That particular restaurant does have an al a carte menu but it is only for lunch. The menu is limited but had the best food by far out of all the restaurants, the burgers are delicious. We also booked the "Asian" restaurant, or so we were told it was. It was a Sushi restaurant, and only served Sushi. So if you don't like Sushi then you will be walking straight out like we did. Again such a shame as this was a nice roof top restaurant, lovely setting but very limited food choice if you're not a raw fish lover. This then brought us down to the buffet restaurant on the ground floor next to the main pool which you don't need to book. This restaurant was a buffet but you also had the option to order something from their special menu as well as helping yourself to anything from the buffet. The food here was nice but it was quite repetitive. The service in this restaurant was probably the best out of all the ones we ate at, thanks to the lovely waitress that works in there, didn't get her name but she had a nose ring. She was very polite and professional, by far the best one there. This leads me on to the general service - shockingly bad!!! Never have I visited a restaurant where I have had to sit down at a dirty table while they clean it and set out cutlery around me. For me this is just a basic customer service requirement, if there are no free clean tables then hold back your guests until there is! We found ourselves welcomed into a busy restaurant to locate our own table which normally was dirty and then we often had to ask for the table to be cleaned. This was a regular occurrence too, not just a one off. The waiters and waitresses take your drinks order when you sit down but rarely do they come back during your meal to take the empty glasses or ask you if you'd like another drink, in fact after the initial first drink, when asking for another it felt like you were personally asking them to pay for it. We came to conclusion that maybe they were doing it on purpose, almost like "you've had your drink and meal, now bugger off". Also, they are very, very slow at coming to collect your plates after you've finished eating so on many occasions we left the table with dirty plates still on the table without having been collected. On a whole, the dining experience at this hotel was pretty poor. There were many inconsistencies regarding the drinks too, on more than one occasion the drinks were flat, the strawberry daiquiris were awful, they didn't even have any ice in them. I was served at least twice a dirty glass and on the last day one drink even had an ant floating in it. I didn't bother complaining because it felt like they just weren't interested, and you would non doubt be met with rudeness and eye rolling and like the problem was all you. Getting drinks at the bar was also a very slow service. We ordered and were told to go and have a seat and our drinks still never came after 10 minutes. When we went to the bar and asked where our drinks were we were met with utter disgust that we dared ask with no apology or attempt to rectify the problem.
The actual hotel was very pretty, I loved all the plants dotted about inside and outside the hotel and the paintings. The gardens were very pretty and well kept, loved the flowers and the pomegranate trees. Although one night whilst walking back to our room a mouse scurried past us, so I'm not sure if they maybe feed off the fallen fruit from the trees? I've never experienced this happening at any other hotels I've stayed at.
The area is nice, it's about a 15-20 minute walk to Georgioupolis. The walk is do able along the beach during the day, there is no path but there are taps along the beach once you get there to wash your feet off. I wouldn't recommend doing it at night though as there is no light at all and there is a section where you have to cross a little bridge, you'll probably get wet feet and legs and the water in that section is freezing cold. The taxi was €6 to return. Georgioupolis was ok, had some great restaurants, highly recommend Armonia, incredible food and could not fault the service at all, We went twice for dinner, Giannis and Andy were great. I was quite taken back by how much that area is geared towards couples or the older generation, I would say it wasn't the most family friendly. It had some nice souvenir shops but lacked anything interesting for young kids or teens. I felt like the actual sea front had lots of nice restaurants and hotels but as you walked more towards the square it was a very run down area.
Some positives about our stay here -
- The beach. Not too busy and exclusive to hotel guests. No paying for a sun bed.
- Fresh towels provided each day, including beach towels. These were supplied in the room rather than having to pay a deposit and collect elsewhere.
- The entertainment. Although a lot of it was pretty mediocre, there was one night where they had traditional greek dancers and it was brilliant, definitely a highlight of our holiday.
- No AI wrist bands. You use your room card to get food and drinks.
- The pool. We always went to the main pool which I felt was probably the best one for kids. It never felt too busy and there were always loads of sun beds left even at 10am. The pool by the beach gets very busy and did not look very relaxing in my opinion, which was disappointing.
- Robes and slippers supplied in the room.
- Kids corner. Very convenient and great for the kids, endless ice cream is always a bonus. It could have maybe a few more options though, the pizza was lovely but I think it was only served during certain times.
- Comfy sun beds
- The maids. Cleaned the room to a good standard and was polite, often greeting you with a "Kalimera".
- Breakfast. Lots of choice. Only thing I would say is that the glasses run out and sometimes had to wait for a clean one.
- Lifeguard always on duty at beach and hotel.
Negatives about our stay -
- The service. Very poor and needs addressing ASAP.
- The pool aerobics. I understand maybe once a day but TWICE a day is excessive. It made it really hard to relax with music blaring out, I don't think it needed to be as loud as it was and I found some of the music they were playing pretty inappropriate considering there were lots of young children around the pool, for example Rihanna's song S&M. It felt like it went on for ages too, if your going to do it twice a day maybe make the sessions shorter?
- One night we all had to have cold showers because the hot water in the shower had suddenly stopped working. It came back on the next day by itself but wasn't nice having to have a cold shower.
- The beds. Awful, worse nights sleep I've ever had. The bed dipped in the middle and you were only supplied with one pillow each which wasn't very nice to sleep on.
- Barely any storage in the room. It would have been nice to have a few hooks on the wall to hang stuff. There were hooks in the bathroom but they were right next to the toilet which didn't seem very hygienic.
- The desserts. If you love mousse and wish to eat it 7 days a week then you will love this place.
- The food. Repetitive and not the nicest AI I've been too. Exception would be for the Lunch at the beach restaurant.
So overall, I think the hotel has potential but the biggest thing letting it down is the service. Our experience here unfortunately does not make me want to return."
