"Stayed at Avra Beach for 10 days recently. Firstly we arrived shortly after 11 pm and were allocated room 333. Went to the room first thing we did was open the fridge to get some water and there was nothing. As a 4 star all inclusive hotel you would have expected water to be in the fridge but no this wasn't the case. You can buy water from the shop within the hotel but needless to say it was closed when we arrived. We did go down and have a soft drink at the bar. After wards we checked out the balcony as we had paid for superior twin room with garden view!!! The view was a gable wall. As it was almost midnight and we had travelled all day we decided to address this in the morning.
Following morning I spoke to a girl in reception. I explained I wouldn't usually have said anything but we would not be staying in that room. She told me to come back after check out. To be fair to her I was walking past shortly before 11 am and she called me to ask me to look at room 225. After having a look despite the room being slightly smaller I was very happy with it and moved our stuff and returned to confirm. This receptionist was so nice end I'm grateful that she was able to offer us an alternative room. We later found out that a number of guests that were on our flight had to have rooms changed!!
After reading all the reviews I was expecting the food to be amazing but unfortunately based on our experience and in our opinion it didn't live up to the hype. Food was plentiful there is no doubt about that but the majority of food that should be served warm was cold or lukewarm. Breakfast was typical buffet selection. Selection of breads, cold meats, cheese, fruit, bacon, sausage etc you could have scrambled eggs, poached eggs, fried eggs, boiled eggs and omelettes. The fries and poached eggs were my personal favourite as if you timed it right they were just cooked and still warm. Lunch began at 12.30 in the main restaurant but even then the french fries, chicken nuggets etc were not warm. It was just disappointing. Some evenings the queue to the food served along the top of the restaurant was right down the dining room I would dread to think what it must be like later in the season. We chose to have lunch out in the themed Greek and Italian restaurant. The gyros were tasty and warm. There was again plenty to choose from but again very rarely warm. On a plus the dessert range was amazing and very tasty. The snack bar by the pool was great. They served toasties, waffles, pastries, cakes, ice-cream all day till 11 pm daily. Again you definitely would not go hungry as there is plenty of choice.
All the staff were amazing in particular the bar staff who got to know your drinks despite serving so many customers. The gentleman in the pool bar was always so pleasant despite on occasions of a queue of guests waiting to be served. I'm not actually sure if he ever got a break I'm sure he did but he always seemed to be there up to his quitting time. In the main bar at night there was a lovely girl with short hair in bob style with glasses she was amazing. Such a friendly girl. Some managers floated about but didn't engage with many from what we saw.
The animation team work very hard. There are a few activities throughout the day including darts, aqua aerobics, volley ball etc. Evening entertainment starts at 8 with children's face painting then at 8.30 the children's disco. Sometimes at 9 pm there would be bingo otherwise entertainment was 9.30 pm to 10.30 pm which usually was a live group some of which were brilliant but when it finished at 10.30 there was nothing not even background music. Obviously the bar closes at midnight. Two of the animation team stood out for us Bogdan and Tibi (apologies if these are spelt wrong) from what we saw they spoke to every single guest. Their energy was amazing their interactions with both adults and children was amazing. They are a credit to the hotel.
Personally we don't feel the facilities are enough for the number of potential guests. The toilets located on route to the main bar and dining room have 4 toilets in the ladies only 3 were accessible whilst we were there (1 was closed for the duration of our stay) and 2 showers!!! If there was a queue ladies leaving had difficulty accessing the sinks to wash hands due to the layout the space is very badly designed. Also not sure if any other ladies toilets for disabled as these toilets were accessible by a step. I know there is one ladies disabled toilet in the reception area.
Lifts very small and very slow. Spiral to Staircase had only handle on one side. Not ideal for anyone with mobility issues or elderly.
In general the hotel is very clean however twice we were left without toilet roll. I know that is minor issue but it might be worth leaving two spare rolls. Also the toilet and shower area are lovely and I think recently refurbished however the toilet paper sitting on top of the pedal bin isn't really giving 4 stars. Maybe a free standing toilet roll holder could be the way forward.
Location wise the hotel is perfect right on the beach. Yes it's a pebble beach but the most amazing view. Not sure how early you have to be out to get one of the grey deeper sunbeds anytime we were out after 9 am they were all gone.
Great jewellery shop in the hotel and also a shout out to the beauty/massage salon. My partner had a neck and shoulder massage and a few days later had the full greek massage that lasted over an hour. He said it was amazing and definitely would recommend.
Unfortunately we would not recommend or return to the hotel. Certainly good value for families and I believe there is a children's play area. In our opinion maybe not for couples or older couples."
