"We stayed here 7th July for a week. We've been here before, around ten years ago and have also stayed at various other Mitsis hotels - Blue Domes, two in Rhodes, one in Corfu - so we are familiar with the Mitsis brand.
The location is lovely, of the four hotels in the area it is probably the easiest to get around if you haven't the best mobility, a good walk way to the beach, the a la carte restaurants all easily accessible, as is the buffet restaurant.
The transfer from the airport is good too, under half an hour - which after the flight is a definite advantage. If you book direct via Mitsis, they will schedule their Mitsis mini bus (air conditioned) to pick you up/drop you back. Excellent service - however, if you join the queue for a taxi outside the airport, it isn't too dear either.
Tip - email the concierge in advance if you have any enquiries or requests, they are quite helpful prior to the trip - eg, I let them know that my husband was celebrating a special birthday and they kindly arranged a cake and bottle of sparkling wine. Very nice touch. Thank you. The fridge in the room is stocked with cold soft drinks, bottles of beer and a small bottle of wine, which is topped up daily. However, they are all full sugar drinks, so ensure you let reception know if you require sugar free. They haven't got the same selection for zero drinks (just coke) but if you need other varieties the site supermarket stocks Fanta etc.
The buffet restaurant has very similar offerings each evening, freshly cooked pizza, griddled chicken & pork, fish - a main dish such as Moussaka or Lasagna, chips, rice, potatoes, selection of fresh salads, breads, various desserts and fruits. Breakfast being fruits, fried eggs, poached, scrambled, boiled, omlettes, bacon, frankfurters, cold meats, fruits, pancakes and pastries. However, once sat in the hot plates, loses temperature quite quickly and not very hot. Having a hot drink at breakfast time is ok, if you want coffee - if you prefer tea though, you are given a cup of water - tea bag, milk etc, but the water comes from a flask and just not hot enough to be able to stew a tea bag. Hot food and Hot drinks should be just that! Hot!
When you check in at reception you have to pay the tourist tax, this is set by the Greek government, and is the top price, on the basis it is a 5 star hotel. Make sure you budge for a further £100 plus on arrival, as this is not negotiable.
The pool areas are lovely, the landscaped ones nearest the main building looked absolutely gorgeous, but we didn't get to spend time around the pools here as the loungers were all taken. The larger pool nearer the beach had spare loungers throughout the day and was very nice.
There wasn't any sign of pool side entertainment and activities, which to be fair suited us, the pool area seemed to be mostly couples and younger families, quietly lounging around. However a bit of a surprise/shock when a stereo was quickly set up, pool-side - literally next to my sun bed (touching distance) and the Aqua Zumba started, in Italian. No-one around the pool was invited to join in - it was pre-arranged daily by one of the tour operators, but unfortunately not inclusive to all guests. But to just set up the loud music without any notice next to people quietly sunbathing seems rude and inconsiderate. (To give you an idea, it is plugged in from the bar, the cable then runs poolside, winding around the sun loungers and then the *boom box* plugged in alongside the loungers - I could reach it from where I was sat) This happens daily - Maybe a noticeboard/schedule around the pool to let you know that this is happening, and who can join would be an idea?
Our room was lovely, we paid for a sea view bungalow . The rooms are a bit basic, but we were perfectly happy with it. Great view, great location. Cleaning ladies are very friendly, they are around daily, the drinks topped up daily. We got back to our room half way through the week to find a note under the door asking us to come to reception asap. Once we got there, a receptionist told us that as we were returning customers/loyalty/celebrating a special occasion - for marketing/promotion purposes they were offering us to swap to one of their other hotels for three nights (Summer Palace) I have read about this sort of swap before and to be fair, this is not about a promotional experience for us - it is due to the hotel needed to re-arrange some of their bookings. I did say that we could be interested (why not - a bit of variety is nice) but could she first confirm what sort of room they were offering a swap with, as we had paid for and booked a great room, so we would need to be sure that it is was at the very least an equivalent standard (ie, ground floor, good location and sea view) The receptionist didn't know - we agreed that as I was going back to the room for a shower and rest for an hour or so, she would phone and let us know. We waited in the room and didn't hear anything, so decided to stay put. The next day, later in the afternoon whilst we were out I had a missed call on my mobile, with a voicemail - My network doesn't let me access voicemails abroad - then the day after, another card in the door - asking us to go to reception asap. By then, we had wasted enough time with this promotional room swap offer, so didn't go to reception.
Strangely though - our room key card stopped working, on the same day that they wanted us to move to the other hotel, we had to go to reception to get it replaced. No idea why, but it felt an odd coincidence.
We're not daft, if you wish to re-arrange your bookings, then you need to be honest - offer an upgrade by all means, but at least offer this information in the same conversation, rather than over three days - we are on holiday to relax and recharge, not to be summoned back and forth to reception and to be waiting in our room for reception to call us, as arranged - for the call not to happen that afternoon . You cannot expect people that have paid a lot of money for a holiday to agree to move rooms/move hotels without giving them full details - calling it promotional & marketing is actually a contradiction.
In summary - a lovely hotel, lovely location, but falling short from 5 stars in quiet a few ways."
