"Restaurant: we arrived late (1am) but the staff had put fresh bottles of water and a pack up in our fridge for us (knowing we won’t have had food) this was a very nice touch.
lots of veggie options. Salad bar was really good with lots of options and lots of cheese including feta. They had a Greek corner which was nice. The food did seem quite repetitive after a while and we did get bored and ended up eating out. There was lots of pork and chicken. On some nights they had beef and duck. I didn’t like how the chef played recommend meals up and put them outside the restaurant as it seems like a waste of food.
Snack bar: snack bar was really good. They had really lovely authentic pizzas. They also did gyros (chicken and pork on different days) and salads (although if you want Greek salad get there early because the feta goes so quickly). They also did fish fingers, chips and nuggets as well as pastries and desserts. If you love cats there’s some gorgeous cats that reside near the snack bar. You can also self serve ice cream.
Drinks: typical AI drinks. The evita special was super strong! I don’t really like juice cocktails like this anyway but others in my party said they were OK. The wine and vodka was nice if you ordered at the bar. There is a self serve wine tap next to the water and fizzy drinks but this was warm!! I’m unsure if it was broken or not but it was horrid. The drinks machine was also broken in the restaurant for the duration of our stay.
Pools: be prepared to get up super early to reserve beds. You then need to sit with the beds or they take your towels away (only on some days though!). Other wise you will not get a bed (August). There are not enough beds for the amount of guests. The water slide pool beds always went quickly too. The only pool where there weren’t sunbed wars was the baby pool but the splash feature didn’t appear wasn’t working. The green slide wasn’t working for the duration however we did see someone working on it. The other two slides were OK. Don’t sit near the massage place if you want to have a laugh and have fun as you’ll be shouted at.
Lifeguard wasn’t very nice. Some days she blew the whistle every two seconds and other days she just sat and did nothing. The one day my daughter had an accident and she wasn’t there and the other life guard from the slide pool had to give my daughter first aid however he didn’t seem to be very confident and we learnt later he was just a volunteer. He was very nice and caring and really wanted to help but seemed a bit like a rabbit caught in headlights. The hotel manager did explain that the main lifeguard had phoned in sick and to give them credit, they did arrange a replacement lifeguard within the hour after the accident. The bar man and manager were really good and kind to my daughter and helped her as much as they could (the accident was not the hotels fault however we did fill in an accident form).
Hotel and room: the hotel has its own supermarket which is handy and you can buy all sorts in there such as pool floats ice creams olives etc and it’s reasonably priced, similar to the main ones in faliraki if not cheaper. The supermarket shuts bang on 9pm and there is no other way of buying bottled water on site once it’s shut, no vending machines and you can not purchase from the hotel itself. If like me you like a bottle of water for the night, make sure to buy from the supermarket before 9pm. Big bottles are only €1. The hotel does let you refill these are the water station on the bar.
our room was on the bottom floor (410) and had thousands of ants in our room and bathroom. We told reception and the maids must’ve sprayed them because they were then all dead in the bathroom (for the duration). They didn’t come back for the whole 10 days then. I loved the peacocks that roam around although they’re very noisy. I don’t think the hotel staff like them as they shoo them away and they constantly have to clean. That being said the hotel is very clean around the grounds with staff cleaning all the plastic cups constantly. The room was clean and beds were comfy, however the sheet kept coming off the mattress (which didn’t have a mattress protector on!) and that made me cringe a bit. Our room didn’t have a bath but my family were in a different block and they did, they were in a family room. There are lots of cats on the grounds and appear looked after well by staff (particular the bar kitten and its mum). My daughter bought food from the supermarket (not the on site one) and fed them daily. Aircon was weird, it was either too cold or not right and we didn’t have any thick blankets, only sheets. We got a safe key upon arrival free of charge.
Location: it’s not too far from the beach (maybe 10 mins). If you walk a bit further on (past the port) to casa del Sol you can rent two sunbeds and spend €30 in the bar so you don’t have to pay essentially. Other sunbeds on the beach were €24 for two uncomfy ones with an umbrella. Oat casa del Sol they were comfy ones and the food was delicious (Greek salad, tzatziki and oregano chips). There was also a gorgeous taverna called wave that we had the best gyros from (they do halloumi too) for around £6.50. Wine was gorgeous too. Really authentic. The hotel was quite far from the strip in the heat of the day with young children but taxis are easy to get (€10 each way €15 mini bus).
The strip is not suitable for children after 9 o’clock but there are some family friendly bars such as jimmys. There are some nice souvenir shops and crepe/ dessert places. We got the water taxi to Rhodes old town and this was definitely worth it- it was beautiful. Again, lots of cats so if you love them take some food; shake the bag and they come running!
Entertainment: the team were fab! Ralu was really lovely with the children at the kids club and my daughter and her cousin went everyday because they loved Ralu so much. She also spent a lot of time with us as a family answering questions and just making us feel welcome!
Sam was also fantastic and always made us smile and laugh, he’s absolutely bonkers. Faro and Billy were also lovely. They kept everyone busy during the day and there was something different every night. Weirdly the “cinema” night on a Saturday is advertised but in the main area there is a live band, which is good. The other entertainment was things like dancers, singers and the fire show was amazing!! Get down early to get a good spot at the front because people stand up and obstruct your view. You can buy personalised hotel T-shirts from the entertainment team for €18. The hotel also runs club nights where the entertainment team take young people to the night club and bring them back. If under 18 I think parents sign a disclaimer and they get a taxi down and back (20€pp). The activities were the same every day at the same time and I thought they could have mixed it up a bit. For example, the water gym was really good but the same every day (I don’t know how billy doesn’t get fed up).
Overall I would go back. The cons for me were the lack of sunbeds because there is lots of space for them further back!! And that it was quite far from the main strip (with younger children)."
