Lindos Royal Resort

"Overall: we made it a fun family holiday for 2 adults with 2 teenage boys. Rhodes weather was superb and Lindos is a beautiful town. Lindos Royal is a lovely looking hotel, great views and good location, especially in its proximity to the Bay. But it’s absolutely not a 5* hotel as promoted by easyJet holidays and other holiday companies. Smelly, poor quality, constant queues and sewerage problems (read below for specifics). Location: on top of the beautiful Vlycha Bay, with crystal clear water. There is a small, private beach area accessed directly from the hotel (steep slope/steps) and also, reserved sun-bed area for our hotel on the larger, main beach. The main beach is shared with other hotels but does not appear to have much public access so it’s not hectic at all. Downside is that it’s shingle and therefore very hot to walk on and also quite steep shoreline so not particularly pleasant for a walk along the Bay without sea-shoes There are very few beach bars, though Banana Bar is lovely. We also had a few drinks at the TUI Blue pool bar and wish we had stayed there (but it’s adult only)! Lindos town is accessed by a 7 minute cab ride for €12/15 - it’s stunning with lots of bars and restaurants to choose from. Very touristy though but well worth a visit. Hotel Room: we paid for an upgrade to a sea-view room before we arrived and we had 2 rooms (2 x deluxe sea view). The room was cosy but adequate for 2 of us. It was extremely basic, with no finishing touches, like a bit of artwork or colour on the walls. But the view was gorgeous! The air-con was weak so whilst it felt cool when entering the room, it didn’t stay cool for long when using the room to get ready. We did notify reception but nothing was done. Our son’s air-conditioning didn’t work at all but reception fixed it within 10 mins of complaining (without entering the room)! We had a balcony but no drying rail for wet clothes/towels. Other rooms did. Food/Drinks: we paid for all inclusive and it was very much a typical AI package/rules that you get in most 3-4* hotels around premium drinks (but not usually 5*). You had to queue for soft drinks at all bars (except Breakfast where you could help yourself to juice - but still had to queue at the bar for coffee/tea). Soft drinks were included in the “2 drinks per person” rule which is crazy when you’re 2 adults with children. I’ve never known a restriction on soft drinks and if we wanted to sit and have a drink as a family then two of us always had to go to the bar. Drinks at all the bars for AI were in small, plastic, re-usable beakers - understandable during the day but not a nice experience in the evening. The drinks were warm and tasted very salty (like electrolytes). The mixers were not pleasant and most fizzy drinks were flat. At the pool bar, the left side pump produced a cold beer but the right side pump was warm. The main lobby bar is in-keeping with the nice looking hotel. It was comfortable, cool, quite luxurious and had a lovely roof-top outside seating area. It’s also the only bar (apart from the restaurant) where your drink is served in a glass. But please note it is NOT included in the all-inclusive package. Again, this is really poor for a 5* hotel and such a shame because apart from the views, was the only part of the hotel that felt 5*. We paid for drinks there on a couple of occasions just to have a nice drink in a pleasant environment. The food was very average and again, very typical for 3-4* AI - extremely sub-standard for 5*. The buffet was set out like a canteen and hectic. We made sure to get an outside table every morning and evening so it felt calm but despite the shade, it was warm and they need fans on the awnings to circulate some air. For lunch we only ever ate at the pool bar which provided fresh gyros, pizza, fries, rolls and salads every day - definitely the best food experience in the hotel. Pools and entertainment: the hotel has about 5 pools and they really make the hotel look pretty, but individually they are not big enough for the number of people using them. The deepest pool only just covered my shoulders (I’m 5’7) and after an hour or so they are luke-warm and the water is no longer clear, almost yellow looking. The sun loungers are old, most of them have some damage and in need of repair. Some umbrellas were broken and this is bad because the shade is really needed around the pool. The Calypso bar, which serves one of the lower pools, had a constant, stagnant/sewerage smell. This is also the bar that is used for evening entertainment so it was hard to avoid it. It was very unpleasant and did not make for a nice experience - I don’t know how the bar staff stayed working there. It was also soaking wet on the floor as it was so close to the shallow pool so it was often treacherous to walk into the bar. There is a claim waiting to happen despite the littering of “wet floor” signs everywhere you go in the hotel! Staff: the hotel staff (excluding reception) were really friendly. It was refreshing actually how happy so many of them were. Nora who works at the outside area of the buffet restaurant deserves a special mention for being so happy, friendly, chatty and efficient. She was a joy to talk with each morning. I excluded the reception team because while they were generally polite, they didn’t pay attention to people waiting and would assist whoever barged to the front (maybe I’m too British and respect people waiting before me!). On a couple of occasions we wanted to make bookings and were told we could “come back nearer the time”. It was like they didn’t want to do anything and hoped to pass you onto the next shift! The entertainment team were polite and fun, but it didn’t feel particularly organised. There didn’t feel like much cohesion and consistency (at other hotels they make themselves known, often have a club-dance or just generally feel like a part of the hotel). Here, they weren’t always visible and events would happen without even knowing they had started. There were activities but you only knew about them if you happened to be near the area. But our teenage boys did get involved with some activities though they waited for the darts and when it got to their turn they were told that time had run out so they didn’t get to play. Again, this just feels really poor for what should be a fun, easy holiday experience. I started this review by saying we made it a fun, family holiday. We did! We sat around the pool and enjoyed the weather and pool bar snacks and music. We visited the beach daily, our boys and their friends went out on the donuts and we hired a boat which we drove ourselves and went snorkelling in different bays in the region; I managed to read a book, we met some really lovely families and made the most of our holiday. Our boys made friends and it felt very safe letting them go-off around the hotel. We ate out twice during our 7 night stay (we can recommend the fisherman’s platter at Taverna Glyka Nera in Kalathos) and also visited the TUI Blue and Banana Bar each day. We spent just under a further £2k on top of our all-inclusive holiday cost! But I will not return to this hotel and nor can i recommend it, which is such a shame as it has the potential to be a stunning, genuine 5* experience. It needs to sort out the sewerage problem, fix the salty drinks issue, tidy itself up, renew the sun loungers, and re-think the quality of the experience it wants to offer."

"I should have trusted the reviews before booking. We came knowing this is not a 5-star hotel, and at the end of the season, so our expectations were modest. Even so, here is what we noticed. The hotel. It is simply run down, as if years of doing the bare minimum have caught up with it. Apart from the reception and perhaps the two main restaurants, nothing looks as if it has been maintained in years. It is clean, given its age, but needs a good deal of TLC. Our room. The family room photos were uninviting, so we booked a deluxe junior suite. It turned out to be a slightly bigger room with a dividing wall: no kettle, so little storage that half our clothes stayed in the suitcases, and not a single hook for towels. It did have the advertised sea view. The food. Simple and, despite looking tired, tasty. The selection is small and repeats much sooner than at other hotels we have stayed in. The worst part is that it is lukewarm at best, unless it is cooked in front of you at one of the one or two live stations. The facilities. A few smallish pools: nothing special, nothing bad. One was closed and being patched up with a digger, oddly with guests 10 metres away and a "Quiet pool" sign right next to it. The spa and the very small gym are reached through a maze of corridors in what seems to be the adjacent hotel. The tennis court is shared with two or three other hotels. We booked it for four and arrived at reception 10 minutes early, but they couldn't find the fourth racket and asked us to wait while someone brought one from another hotel. After 20 minutes I asked again. The racket never arrived, so we played with two and took turns. Service. The restaurant and bar staff, the small animation team, and the cleaning and spa staff are friendly and helpful. Reception staff are moody and do the bare minimum, with one or two exceptions either way. Wi-Fi. Slow, not available everywhere, and almost every day you have to reconnect by typing in the code you were given on arrival. Until you do, your phone looks connected but is quietly using roaming data. Very annoying, and potentially costly. Late check-out. Available, but at €15 an hour, which is a lot with an 11:00 check-out and an evening flight. Towels. You collect and return beach towels at reception, but can only exchange them at the spa, through that maze every time. Not a big thing on its own, but with everything else, small things start to feel bigger than they should. Entertainment. Practically none: a 30-minute kids' disco and a singer afterwards. The positives. Our room had a lovely sea view, and it makes a real difference: the beach is about 50 metres away with nothing in between, a genuine highlight. The location also makes a good base. If you're tired of the beach, you are better off hiring a car and exploring the island than staying in the hotel, as there is plenty to see. We will return to Rhodes, but sadly not to this hotel."

"Booked this holiday based on the reviews. To be honest as a family, we was not disappointed. From the moment to we checked out , the staff were lovely. Nothing seemed to be problem. Staff are friendly and very helpful. Big thanks to the reception staff always helpful. Food is typical of all inclusive, and never went hungry. Rooms cleaned to a high standard every day. Thank you for a memorable holiday"