"I think the best way to do this is to summarise our holiday as if it's a 24-hour experience:
Arrival – Amazing front entrance; a real dominating frontage with fountains and bright LEDs. Yurij was the first employee we encountered and was fantastic in helping us. He grabbed 75% of our suitcases before we even had a chance to ask and assisted our elderly relatives to their ground-floor rooms by driving them there.
Got in – fresh damp towels and a berry tea. Small touch, but it's always nice to be welcomed with. Got our rooms sorted quickly and were shown where everything was.
(24-hour beginning)
Morning
So, a minor issue is that it's very easy to hear people through the corridor, so it was hard to get even a remotely decent sleep-in.
Woke up to a breakfast buffet style setup, but you can order food as well. However, we only did this once, as the buffet just had so many options. Breakfast has plenty of choices, from cereal and bread to lightly heated food, a full English, multiple types of smoothies, and a dedicated kids' section. More than enough. Coffees were okay; they had "caramel" syrup, but it didn't mix at all with the coffee, so you had to withstand the full brute force of the coffee.
Sunbeds
Probably the only consistent "bad experience". You'd think choosing a sunbed would be straightforward. Having dedicated sunbeds is a great idea in practice, but my God, practice patience. It took us 26 minutes (yes, I timed it) to choose four sunbeds because they insisted they weren't available (despite showing green on the screen). Then, after 10 minutes, they realised, "Oh, they were available all along," but then told us that wouldn't be enough and we'd need eight, only to then be told by a different employee that each number represents two sunbeds. So yeah, maybe just prepare for a bit of difficulty and you'll be fine. (Only consistent negative.)
Morning Activities
Tennis courts themselves were in great condition. The surrounding metal fencing was a bit sparse though, making it quite easy to lose balls.
If you're a serious tennis fanatic, I'd probably contemplate bringing your own equipment. Of the tennis balls given, two were genuinely rotten and only two were usable.
Small 5-a-side football pitch – well maintained. Never used it, but it was kept better than the tennis equipment.
Volleyball – absolute must. Great laugh and very accessible for everyone (unless you're sub-5ft). Obviously depends on who you're playing with, but it was so much fun.
Activity reps – first of many mentions: not a single issue with any of the reps. But Sam, whether he has a separate role or whatever, really stood out. Absolutely lovely chap; genuinely a wicked bloke.
Lunch
There were probably more options, but we used three:
Buffet – only used twice due to the sheer volume of food, but again, 10/10 quality.
American Diner – used once, again just because of the volume of food available. Order your food and it arrives at absolutely amazing quality. The milkshakes are a must.
Snackeria* (I think that's what it's called) – pre-made and packaged food, pizza, and hot dogs. Top quality and really good if you want an in-and-out job. Also probably the best coffee, as they actually have syrups that mix properly.
Lunchtime Activities
There was always a lunchtime water sports activity. Regardless of which one it was, it was a bit more intense than volleyball. Great fun and harmless, but yeah, I can easily see it going a bit too far.
Midday Snacks
Dedicated ice cream parlour. The first time was a bit odd, almost like some future utopia – just a single ice cream lady standing in a shop waiting to serve. But once you get used to it, there are lovely options. Just odd to walk out without paying in the style they did it.
Other Activities Prior to Dinner
So, we had one child with our original party. The pirate ship was awesome and all the kids loved it. Bit of advice: if you're an adult going on the slides, tuck your elbows in... learn from my mistake!
Room for Getting Ready
We paid for, I believe, the lowest-priced rooms, but they were by no means low quality. Two sinks, huge shower, huge area, great all round. Loads of room to get ready and plenty of amenities.
Dinner
So many options:
Original Restaurant Buffet – different every day and very high-quality food. Only ate there three times due to going to the other restaurants or eating out, but we had Indian, Italian, and I think Mediterranean-themed evenings.
American Diner – again, same as lunch, but still fantastic quality.
The Greats – inspired by "great people". The food sort of didn't have a theme, but it was lovely quality and quite easy to get a spot.
Italian (can't remember the name) – not taking anything away from it, but it was very "elitist" food and just wasn't us. Still lovely carbonara and steak, but we thought it was going to be our favourite.
Asia – I think it's fair to say this was the best restaurant. Very hard to get a booking though. However, I think that may also be down to the limited number of tables for groups of four or more. The food was absolutely amazing.
Cyprus one* – apologies, I've already forgotten the name. It was lovely. Probably didn't help that we had it booked just after our Cypriot wedding meal, but still lovely.
I think there is another restaurant, but we didn't go to it.*
Drinks
Wow – this place really shines with its drinks. Bear in mind I only consume alcohol maybe three times a year, but I broke many personal records of consumption here. Fantastic quality drinks. The passion fruit frozen daiquiris are spot on... just don't try and make up flavours like mango. They taste too weak and the alcohol really pushes through.
Entertainment
So, as it's a 5-star, I was very dubious about what to expect. I think because we've only been to adults-only resorts before, where the entertainment is a bit more classic music or "elitist" orientated. But honestly, the entertainment here is incredible.
I'm not just biased because Sam worked there, but it was the perfect balance of quality without taking itself too seriously. The experience arena is better than some local shows, and the waiters and waitresses never stop coming around.
Sleeping
Bed quality is great. Again, we chose the cheapest rooms. The only minor complaint is that the hallway lights come through under the door, and the sensor in our wardrobe wouldn't turn the lights off, so it wasn't perfect. Combined with guests who perhaps could have politely benefited from a "guests may be sleeping" reminder, sleep was a little disrupted.
The curtains were pretty good. Not complete blackout, but better than most people's houses and only slightly worse than places where blackout curtains are essential (if that makes sense).
Others Not Mentioned
1. Did I mention Sam was awesome?
2. Pools
The pools are very nice. The first one as you come in isn't very deep; I think it averages about 1 metre, so it's ideal if you just want to cool down.
The next major pool is huge. I believe the perimeter is around 250 metres, so four laps is a good wake-up.
The kids' pool is great... for kids. It's got a pirate ship, a mushroom to shower under, and some little fountains. It can definitely keep kids occupied.
Then you've got the adults-only pool bar. Had me and my Mrs been on our own, this may have been our permanent spot. Fantastic and so beautiful.
3. Lazy River
Pretty good considering it doesn't specialise in it like a water park. It's a good length and really adds to the aesthetics.
4. Location
Depending on your walking mentality, a lot of people would say it's a bit far from Ayia Napa. Realistically, it's about 20 minutes to get significantly into Ayia Napa and maybe 35–40 minutes to the centre."
