Golden Coast

"A decent resort in a generally quiet location. The calm was disturbed a couple of nights by some rowdy teenagers keeping us up most of the night, with resort staff not intervening, even though they became threatening when another visitor asked them to quiet down. Hopefully this is not a common issue. Otherwise the room is comfortable, great bed, AC/heating is efficient and silent. Long beach walk available from the resort in both directions, with several bars and restaurants in walking distance. Beach is OK but narrow, sand is not great. There are better beaches available. About 1.5 hours away from Athens (by car/transit). Tried the resort restaurant once; it is buffet style, very affordable but quality is below average."

"Just back from our holiday last week. We had two units via RCI, studio and 1br. First we were offered units that were partially refurbished but after a query at the front desk were were changed into units that were finished. Units had kitchenettes with most of the stuff you need for cooking (apart from a kettle) and the resort was beautiful. We didn’t take All Inclusive which was the right choise as other guests weren’t happy about quality of the food and we preferred to eat out anyway. A big disappointment, how ever, was the gym, or lack of. They are promoting the gym ”for all fitness levels” but it’s rather for elderly people. No free weights, just gadgets you pull with your own body weight. First 3 nights were spoiled by teenage hooligans that kept on screaming all throughout the night. The resort staff tried to control them without any luck. After they were gone everything went smoothly. The beach with free loungers was good, a little rocky for small kids but for adults it was ok. We also rented bicycles for a day for 15€. I would definitely go back again. A rental car is a must and there were plenty of parking spaces. We didn’t mind the French Clubs at the resort, had no need for them and still felt welcome. The cleaning was done every day and the staff at the reception were great! Very beautiful grounds."

"My wife and I went for two weeks all inclusive at this hotel, travelling with Jet2 from Manchester. The first thing to say is what excellent value for money this trip was, with total cost for 14 days including flights, transfers, accommodation and all inclusive food/drink was £200 a night between us, roughly the same as B&B only in many UK hotels. The organisation by Jet2 was outstanding. We were met by a rep at Athens airport, shown to our transfer taxi, and then met by a rep at the hotel. Similar happened in reverse on the way home. (Don't mention however the shambles that is Athens airport security queue). The hotel is located right on the beach, about 20 miles or so from Athens. It is fairly isolated, with the nearest shops being a mile and a half walk away in New Makri. The walk there however is along a lovely path right beside the sea, and there are some cafes on the way. My wife and I stayed very near here on our first trip abroad 40 years ago, and at that time did excursions to many of the main historical sites. We decided therefore this time to stay put, and other than my walks into Nea Makri we didn't leave the hotel. This was the most relaxing holiday we have ever had. The room was a decent size, although as others have said the furniture is a little dated. The mattress and pillows were very hard. The bathroom was excellent, with copious hot water at an excellent pressure. A kettle was not provided, but available for a small deposit from reception. The room was made up every day with excellent unobtrusive service. The food was the same in both restaurants and had plenty of variety. We ate huge portions of wonderfully fresh greek salad at lunch and dinner every day. There were meat, fish and vegetable dishes available at all meals. In my view the meats cooked in sauces like the chicken cacciatore or country sausage in tomato were excellent. The simple grilled meat like chicken legs, pork chops, and pork skewers were not so good, a little dry and overcooked for me. Deserts were plentiful and very tasty. I was disappointed that lamb was not available, and other than mince and burgers neither was beef. I am sure this was a way to keep costs down. Breakfast had a good variety of food, including lovely fresh fruit and greek yoghurt, together with lots of cooked dishes including excellent fried eggs. Considering the relative price of this all inclusive we had no complaints whatsoever about the variety and quality of food offered. There were three bars available, two out door and one indoor. On the occasionally very windy and/or wet days the indoor bar was open rather than the outdoor ones. The relatively cheap cost of the all inclusive package meant that the free alcoholic drinks were of the local variety. We found the red and white wine undrinkable, and the rose tolerable. None if this came from a bottle but rather from a tap. On my trips to Nea Makri I bought bottles of wine in the supermarket and there was no problem taking a large cupful into evening dinner. Better quality of wine is available to buy in the restaurants but I didn't see anyone buying any. There was a very good selection of cocktails available within the "inclusive" package. Tea, Coffee, hot chocolate and soft drinks were available for free all the time. Free snacks were also available at the bars at all times. This being the last two weeks of the holiday season (last week in September and first week in October) the hotel was not crowded. There are three pools, and the beach is right by the hotel. There is an excellent variety of outside seating, sunloungers by the pools and on the beach. Indoor seating is very restricted, which caused a small difficulty on the one wet day. The staff of the hotel are uniformly excellent. Nothing was too much trouble, and they were all very friendly and efficient. This applies to reception, bar staff, restaurant staff and housekeeping staff. Our only slightly negative experience was in the middle of the first week when a party of 200 teenage school students from Serbia arrived. At 2.30am they were partying in various rooms, and outside on a balcony, playing music so loud that it was rattling the window frames in our room. I got dressed and went to reception to complain (adding my name to their already long list of complainants). To be fair to the hotel they took appropriate action and there were no further disturbances on their remaining two nights, or with the next party that arrived soon after. I really feel the hotel needs to reconsider its relationship with the particular Tour Operator that organised these two tours. Because we were outside school holidays there were few children at the resort, and also few British people. The majority of guests seemed to be French, travelling with Tui. There was an organised Mamara Club providing activities for these guests, such as darts and line dancing. I am sure we could have joined in if we wanted. The hotel also offers a small crazy golf course, opportunities to play tennis and table tennis, and a couple of pieces of outdoor gym equipment. Bikes are available to hire, there is a small spa operation where you can pay for a massage, and a small water sports hire operation where you could hire a jetski, pay for a boat ride etc. In summary, this is an excellent hotel resort, offering excellent value for money. It is not for you if you want gourmet food, or top of the range drink, but for us it was perfect. If all you want is to relax and enjoy the September sun for a good price then this is the perfect place."