"This is a long but HONEST assessment of The Messongi beach hotel.
We first visited this hotel in 1984 on our honeymoon and had a great time.
Mitsis have recently purchased the MB and were offering deals at the end of the season. That's where the good news ends.
We have visited Corfu five times over the last forty five years and in the main enjoyed the Greek hospitality.
However, we would not return or recommend the Messongi beach hotel.
This is the tale of 'two hotels.....'
One being the old original MB which had Messongi Beach above the front door and the other being the French designated linked hotel with Welcome in three languages above their door.
This is a large sprawling complex and you are given a sheet of paper with the names and opening hours of the bars and restaurant. When I asked at old MB reception if there was a map available I was informed that Mitsis has instructed staff not to issue it due to changes. We were advised to take a photo of the map on the wall in the main reception.
Funnily enough a map was readily available at the French reception.
Location -
Fantastic you can see why Mitsis purchased this hotel, large spacious ground with potential for more growth. We were informed that during our stay there were over 3,000 guests. We went during school term but were amazed by the number of 'feral children' left to run riot by their parents. The hotel has been extensively extended to include what appears to be a French section with it's own reception desk, dining room, bars, and outdoor seating with undamaged seating and entertainment areas. The entertainment area was unused as all the entertainment e.g. kids club was on the older site next door. The beach is poor and you would need beach shoes to walk on it.
Food
The food is buffet style Bain-maries, help yourself with a small section for grilled food and omelettes etc., satellite sections for cheese, cold meat and salads plus another for fruit, cereal and pastries.
You are guided to the 'main' restaurant 'Pagoda' in the old building where the food is lukewarm and the plates are cold, this was consistent throughout our stay which was more disappointing considering that it was constantly extremely busy. They also insisted on leaving all the doors open and this invited every wasp in the area to enjoy the free food.
It was not unusual to see a family of wasps at each section, no attempt was made by staff to deter them.
After 3 or 4 days we were made aware by fellow guests that there was another restaurant 'Ulysses' accessed by a small door at the end of the MB restaurant not sign posted and the door is hidden behind the toilet entrance. Everybody called this the French restaurant as it was above the French reception. Low and behold Hot Food and Hot Plates, less cramped, air conditioning and it's own bar and no wasps (no feral children either). We never ate in the main MB restaurant again.
You could also eat in the smaller satellite restaurant behind the spa, it had less choice but was quieter. You could also eat pizza or pasta between noon and six pm (these were basic but ok) or Crepes and ice cream in the main bar area between ten am and early evening. We lived off Crepes and ice cream for our lunch.
The choice of food was average to good considering the variety and nationality of guests, it was just a disappointment that the standard varied so widely between the two restaurants.
Bars
Again we will split this between the old MB and the French hotel area.
Old MB main bar- two staff serving, not unusual to see two queues of ten guests waiting to be served with plastic 'glasses' day and night. Again our old friends the wasps were in evidence. The bottles of spirits all had free pour optics on them for speed. There was usually a wasp stationed on every one. I did not go one day without seeing a member of staff stung on the hand.
The patio / entertainment area adjacent to the bar only had two chairs per table at best, the chairs were old damaged plastic wicker style chairs which constantly snagged clothing. Metal chairs were set up on either side of the stage area and inevitably were used for the tables. It didn't help that 'gran and grandad' moved three tables and twelve chairs together sitting at each end guarding them whilst the family went to dinner. Returning over an hour later.
There are several small quieter satellite bars dotted around the complex usually with one efficient member of staff and no queue, it was sometimes quicker to get a drink from these bars rather than the main bar then walk back to you table (if you managed to get one). This patio was used for the nightly Kids Disco approx. 1 hour of very loud biennial music and screaming feral kids. Hosted by the entertainment team who never found the volume control during our 14 day stay.
French Bar in the main reception area of the newer hotel section both in and outside
- what a difference, three staff, no queues, drinks served in actual glasses, no loud music, no kids disco. Outside seating with four undamaged chairs per table. Calm and welcoming.
Pools
Five pools in total. Four small satellite pools and one main pool with water slides etc. The four smaller pools are clean, quiet and away from the main activity pool, which has slides, music and hosts the entertainment team during the day. All pools are overseen by a vigilant member of staff. You get a beach towel each in your room initially and these can be exchanged for clean ones at the spa as desired. NO sunbed wars, this might be different in high season.
Rooms
There is a choice of rooms available when you book. Main building MB, Riverside block MB, bungalows sited between the beach and the main building, apartments near the estuary and of course the newer blocks around the French section. Is there a theme here?
We stayed in the Riverside block requesting a top floor room three months before and again with a second email three weeks before departure. On arrival we were given a mid floor room, it would appear that the ground floor is for families and guests with additional needs. This was changed when we pointed out that we had made a room request. On arrival at the room we found it only had one wardrobe and no other storage of any kind. Fortunately a member of the housekeeping staff showed us two vacant rooms further down the corridor. A quick visit to reception secured one of these rooms.
The rooms are basic to say the least, they are in need of modernisation and refurbishment, apparently Mitsis have plans for this upgrade to start later this year. However, this is still advertised and sold as a Mitsis hotel and having talked to two separate couples who are Mitsis mentors (ten plus stays with Mitsis) both couple felt the standard was far below the Mitsis standard and planned to make their views known on returning home.
Beach bungalows. These actually look like campsite toilet blocks. I was made aware of two couples requesting a move out of them.
Apartments. Backing onto the estuary. These buildings look very smart indeed.
Bathroom
Very basic, very small with a bird bath sink designed by someone who has never had to wash or shave at the sink with the addition of a small glass shelf under the mirror which restricts access to the sink and the hairdryer is level with your ear.
Shower - very small corner unit. sliding door access is tight and I'm a size 10 UK and I struggled. When you try to turn round in the cubicle you cannot avoid hitting the mixer tap resulting in a change from warm to very hot or freezing cold. Towels changed daily whether you wanted them changed or not. If you didn't want your bed linen changed you placed a card on your pillow (this is now standard practice in most hotels). However, when we wanted the bed linen changed we hid the card and left the beds unmade, the bed linen was not always changed. The shower tray, sink and toilet were never cleaned. Neither were the mirror, bin lid or glass shelf.
Mirrors.
The only full length mirror in our block (Riverside) was in the lift. The mirror above the dressing table is okay if you are standing. When you sit down it is above head height. Obviously designed by a man. Probably the same one who designed the sink.
I actually spoke to two members of the guest relations staff located in the main reception at old MB and put to them all of the above comments. I was advised to email messonghi.guest@mitsis.com. I suggested to them to manage by wandering around and see for themselves what the hotel is really like."
