"We stayed at Akti Beach Club in Kardamena in June as a family of four, with two teenagers. Overall, we had an enjoyable holiday and there are plenty of things to like about the resort. However, I do think it’s important to be realistic about the hotel’s official five-star rating, because in my experience it simply doesn’t deliver what I would expect from a five-star property.
The five-star rating – and the tourist tax
This is probably my biggest frustration.
Akti Beach Club is officially rated as a five-star hotel, although Jet2 rates it as four-star, which I think is a much more accurate reflection of the experience.
I’ve stayed in quite a few five-star hotels over the years, and there is usually something that sets them apart from a good four-star hotel – whether that’s the quality of the rooms, facilities, service, attention to detail or those little extras. I just didn’t feel that Akti Beach Club had that five-star feel.
And this isn’t me saying that Greek hotels can’t be five-star. We stayed at La Marquise in Rhodes a few years ago, which was a genuine five-star experience in my opinion, so I don’t think this is simply a “Greece” issue.
The frustrating part is that the official rating also affects the tourist tax. Because the hotel is classed as five-star, you pay the highest level of tax. My partner dealt with this during our stay and, if I remember correctly, it was over £100 for the family. When you’re paying that level of tax, you can’t help but expect the standard of a genuine five-star hotel.
The rooms
The rooms were probably the biggest reason I struggled with the five-star rating.
They were very basic – honestly, I’d describe them as more like a three-star standard in terms of finish and facilities. They were clean and practical, but there wasn’t anything luxurious about them.
For a family of four with two teenagers, we also found the room quite small. It was manageable, but definitely not spacious.
The resort and pools – a big positive
The grounds and overall complex are excellent.
There are plenty of pools and lots of space, and the resort is very attractive and well laid out. The pool area over the car park from the main reception building had more of a lively, party atmosphere and was probably our favourite area.
There is a really good choice of places to relax during the day, and the grounds themselves are one of the hotel’s biggest strengths.
Entertainment and facilities for teenagers
This was another area where we felt the hotel could improve.
With two teenagers, we expected there to be enough evening entertainment and activities to keep them occupied, but there really wasn’t much for that age group.
There appeared to be entertainment around the little amphitheatre area near the main pool, but this seemed much more geared towards younger children. Our teenagers were quite bored on some evenings.
Opposite the bar there was also a very small gaming area. To be honest, it was quite depressing and felt more like an afterthought than a proper facility. A decent gaming area, with some modern games or activities aimed at teenagers, could have made a real difference to the evenings.
Obviously, creating a proper gaming area would involve investment, so I appreciate it’s not something a hotel can simply add without cost. But for a resort aimed heavily at families, I think it would be a worthwhile area to consider improving.
There was also a pool table in the pool/evening bar area, which we were really looking forward to using. Unfortunately, both pool tables were broken for the entire seven days we were there.
This particularly disappointed our son because playing pool is something we normally do most evenings on holiday, keeping track of the games and scores throughout the week.
There was a working table in the adults-only area, so we went over there on a couple of evenings and had a few games before being asked to leave – which was fair enough given the adults-only restriction!
But it did make me wonder why the hotel hadn’t simply repaired the two broken tables. Pool tables aren’t exactly complicated pieces of equipment, and having two unusable for the whole week seemed unnecessary.
Food
The buffet restaurant was actually very good.
There was plenty of choice and a good variety of food, and the pizza station was definitely one of the highlights. Fresh pizzas being made was very popular.
The only issue was the complete lack of queuing etiquette from some guests!
People would regularly ignore the queue and grab the fresh pizzas as soon as they came out. After three or four nights of watching this happen, I eventually had enough and called a couple of people out for jumping the queue and told them to go to the back.
I’m 6’1”, so thankfully they listened! 😂
What made me laugh was that the pizza chef actually thanked me, along with another guest, for trying to keep the queue under control. He said he’d been dealing with people doing it for years, so clearly it wasn’t just me who had noticed!
The other disappointment was the limited à la carte offering. For a hotel marketed as five-star, having only one à la carte restaurant felt quite underwhelming.
Check-out and late flights
One thing the hotel does offer, which is genuinely appreciated, is complimentary rooms for guests with late flights.
This is a great idea, particularly when travelling with children or teenagers and having a late evening flight.
Unfortunately, the way it was organised didn’t really work for a family of four.
We were given a 30-minute slot in a room above reception, which had one shower. For four people trying to shower, change and get ready for the journey home, 30 minutes simply wasn’t enough time.
The idea is excellent and certainly better than having no facility at all, but longer slots or perhaps access to a couple of rooms/facilities would make the process much more useful for families.
Overall
We did enjoy our holiday, and I don’t want this review to give the impression that Akti Beach Club is a bad hotel – it isn’t.
The resort itself is excellent, the grounds are lovely, there are lots of pools, the buffet food is good and there is plenty of space to relax. We had a good family holiday overall.
However, I think the hotel needs to be realistic about what it is offering.
For me, Akti Beach Club feels much more like a good four-star family resort than a five-star hotel. If it were rated and priced accordingly, I think expectations would be much more in line with what guests actually experience.
The biggest issue is the gap between the official five-star classification and the actual standard of accommodation and facilities. The rooms in particular are nowhere near what I would expect from a five-star property.
There are also some relatively simple things that could make a big difference for families – repairing the pool tables, improving the teenage gaming area and providing a better late check-out facility."
