Athina Palace Resort and Spa

"Absolutely terrible experience from start to finish. We arrived at the hotel at 4am after travelling all night, only to be told our room would not be ready until 3pm the NEXT day. We had no choice but to sleep on sofas in the lobby surrounded by our suitcases, with no proper help, apology, or concern from the staff. When we finally got into the room, it was filthy. There was sand all over the floor, no towels provided, and bugs crawling around the bathroom. It clearly had not been cleaned properly before our arrival. The staff throughout the hotel were incredibly rude and unhelpful. Any time we asked for assistance or raised concerns, we were made to feel like an inconvenience rather than paying guests. Customer service was honestly some of the worst we have experienced. We also paid for “all-inclusive,” which feels completely misleading. Half the drinks and food options aren’t included, and unbelievably, even water at breakfast comes with an extra charge. The food throughout the stay has been awful. Breakfast was poor, dinner was cold, tasteless, and practically inedible, with flies everywhere while trying to eat. We also booked the à la carte restaurant hoping it would be better, but it was honestly the worst meal I’ve ever had. What made the experience even worse was how excluded we felt as English guests. The entertainment staff barely spoke to us around the pool and seemed to only interact with French guests. All of the games and entertainment were done in French, making it difficult for anyone else to join in or feel welcome. There are even different coloured wristbands — blue for French guests and white for English guests — which made it very obvious who the entertainment team approached and who they ignored. Overall, this hotel completely ruined what was supposed to be a relaxing holiday. Poor hygiene, terrible food, rude staff, misleading “all-inclusive” advertising, and an atmosphere where English guests feel unwelcome. I would absolutely not recommend staying here, especially if you are English."

"Never been a one for leaving a bad review but after the stay we had i just feel we need to. My poor partner had surprised me to what was supposed to be a holiday of our dreams for my 25th birthday present pushing the boat out a little more than he probably normally would and honestly I feel so sorry for him and just want to warn people of what they will be receiving if you do book this hotel. This hotel for reference is supposed to be a 5 star resort and honestly I’d rate it no higher than 2.5/3 stars at an absolute max. When we arrived we where shown to our rooms and although we cannot comment on rooms being bad as they where satisfactory what I can say is that if you have a disability or are elderly this is not the place for you. We were staying in room 121 which was approximately 5 floors down . Breakfast Lunch and dinner is served in the main dining room so to get to you needed to do about 5k steps . Not ideal when you wake up and are still half asleep jumping straight onto the stair master . Or vice versa if you need to go back to the room after eating. No lifts at all to accommodate for those that needed them. The “snack” area had cake, biscuits and very small pastries so hardly snacks .. Secondly, for a 5 star resort I’ve never seen such poor quality when it comes to the food . The meals throughout the day were served buffet style and honestly was a 4/10 and that’s at a push the food did not change and was the same thing day in day out. There where no nets on the food so I witnessed constant flies landing on food , children sticking there fingers in desserts then other people taking them away and not even realising . The food was cold on several occasions and absolutely lacked flavour . There were no alternative options for milk for people with allergies or intolerances and was warm when served so absolutely horrendous when paired with Cereal(which was also stale) a lot of the time people would just push in Infront of you which I thought was so rude. The drinks menu had no more than 5 options on and for alcoholic drinks you’d expect more. When flickering onto the next pages there where more drinks but you had to pay premium prices (2 pages included - there where 6 pages after for reference) my partner paid over 2 thousand pound for two people for 4 nights which is very very expensive in our opinion so to pay for other drinks should not be needed in anyway shape or form . Bottles of water and coffee also not available . The bars half the time were not open in certain places so you had to walk to other open bars just to get a drink. The cups they were served in where something you’d get from McDonald’s and when you did get drinks on a night they would come in the smallest cups the simplest of touches can make the world the difference . The staff half of the time had faces so miserable you felt sorry for them. There where a couple that where lovely however . I cannot stress enough how much me and my partner are so easily pleased so so so upsetting . We then asked for an iron and we were told an iron was not provided but a laundrette could do it for an extra charge!!! Wow by this point we couldn’t believe it and for the pure principle we lived on the same clothes we could get away with so we didn’t have to pay prices, again something you would NOT expect in a “5 star resort” . Aesthetically the place was stunning so maybe that’s where they get the figures from. The only stunning thing was the aesthetics and the weather there .. the only things between us we did happen to get right. 2 nights before the end of our stay we read up on the restaurants that where included with your stay and to switch it up we thought we would try them then having the same boring food on repeat. Upon asking reception they said “unfortunately we cannot book you in the soonest we have got is a day after you leave and normally you need at-least 7 days notice” just no consideration at all for people that have spent so much to be there just honestly wish we went somewhere else . Sometimes you switch things up to try but no wonder half the time people with what they know meaning if you go for a shorter period you will not be able to use these options . We ended up spending so much more money outside of the hotel which should not have even been needed in an all inclusive resort ?! We never go all inclusive as is as we like to move around and try places .. We did however find some amazing spots so we were glad as this saved the holiday . There is absolutely nothing near by this hotel entertainment wise so we were travelling out to try and find something to do. The majority of people were French and no one cared for the English or tried to even put anything in place . The “entertainment” hall is a small dark room with about 5 people in or less each night . Pools freezing cold. Even the small games they did have pool etc were out of order . This hotel had so much potential so was unbelievably sad that they had done nothing with the space as it did have beautiful grounds. We have stayed in places with less stars and honestly has been a better experience. Me and my partner ended up having an incredible time as I was extremely grateful either way and we made the best of our company with each other but I’d hate to think this happens to anyone else especially in the summer when the price doubles how?! I’ll never know . Very misleading please be careful . We would never go anywhere now without reading the reviews which we sharpish found . Every review has been 1 star for the last 2/3 weeks."

"Absolutely don't go here, you will need a holiday after staying here, we did a week and walked 51,000 just on the hotel area absolutely not suitable for anyone with any pain below the heart area, we booked for a relaxing holiday, we certainly did not get this"