"We are coming to the end of our stay at Selene Beach & Spa, and although I very rarely leave negative reviews, I feel our experience needs to be shared. Unfortunately, for a hotel with such a high star rating and so much advertised, our stay has fallen significantly short of expectations.
Firstly, the food has been one of the biggest disappointments. There is certainly a wide selection available, but quantity does not make up for quality. Much of the food feels quite low quality; for example, we regularly found the chicken dishes to be extremely fatty and bony. The desserts are particularly disappointing. They look beautiful and there is a huge selection, but unfortunately look far better than they taste. We found many to be either completely flavourless or to have a very strong gelatine-like texture and taste. In fact, on several evenings after dinner we chose to leave the hotel and pay for dessert at a nearby restaurant because we found the desserts at the hotel so disappointing. Considering we had already paid for an all-inclusive stay, we really shouldn’t have felt the need to spend additional money elsewhere simply to enjoy a decent dessert.
Another major frustration has been the sunbed situation. If you want any real chance of getting a lounger by the pool, you need to be up extremely early in the morning to reserve one. On holiday, the last thing you should have to worry about is setting an alarm or getting up at the crack of dawn simply to make sure you have somewhere to sit by the pool. It takes away from what is supposed to be a relaxing experience, and I really feel the hotel needs to find a better way of managing this.
The daytime entertainment has been okay, but the evening entertainment has been extremely poor. Several evenings seemed to consist of very loud EDM-style music continuing late into the night, while the organised “shows” were, unfortunately, of a standard far below what we would expect from a hotel of this rating. Entertainment is obviously subjective, but there simply hasn’t been enough variety or quality for guests who do not want a nightclub-style atmosphere every evening.
I do want to make it clear that we found the vast majority of staff throughout the hotel to be very pleasant, friendly and welcoming, regardless of whether there was a language barrier or not. Unfortunately, however, one particular interaction with a member of staff working at the main bar by the beach really let this down. When ordering non-alcoholic drinks, he repeatedly questioned why we weren’t ordering alcohol. What he didn’t know is that our reasons for not drinking are very personal, and we should never have been put in a position where we felt we had to explain or justify that choice. His persistent questioning made us feel belittled and embarrassed, particularly as this happened in front of other guests who appeared to find the interaction amusing. What should have been a completely normal drinks order became an unnecessarily uncomfortable experience. Regardless of whether this was intended as a joke, it did not come across that way, and I strongly feel management should address this with the member of staff concerned. Guests should be able to order a non-alcoholic drink without being questioned or made to feel uncomfortable about their personal choices.
What makes this particularly frustrating is that we chose Selene Beach & Spa because of its rating and the extensive facilities and experiences advertised. We genuinely believed we were booking a high-standard hotel where we would be very well looked after. I am not somebody who expects perfection on holiday, nor am I particularly difficult to please, which is why it is so disappointing to feel strongly enough to write this review.
There are positives to the hotel and it certainly has potential, but potential isn’t enough when guests are paying for the experience of a highly rated resort. Food, entertainment and being able to actually enjoy the pool area without competing for a sunbed before most people are even awake are fundamental parts of a resort holiday.
I hope management does not simply respond to reviews like this with a generic apology. These are recurring issues that require genuine action rather than acknowledgement. The quality of the food and evening entertainment needs serious review, and something desperately needs to be done about the sunbed situation so guests are not made to feel as though they need to compete for basic facilities that should be available as part of their stay.
Selene Beach & Spa could be a fantastic hotel, but based on our experience, significant improvements are needed for the reality to match the standard and rating being advertised. I sincerely hope management takes this feedback seriously and, more importantly, acts upon it, because guests paying to stay at a hotel of this supposed standard should quite reasonably expect better."
