"We travelled as a family of 5; 2 adults and 3 children aged 12, 10 and 8 (9 the day after we arrived).
🏨 First impressions
We got a private transfer from the airport and arrived at Cyprotel in around 30 mins. We arrived at around 9pm and was advised to go straight into the restaurant for dinner as the restaurant closes at 9.30 - this was very much needed and appreciated!
After being fed and watered (or wined!) check in was very straight forward with the lovely Levi, and we were directed to our room. This was a bit of a challenge to find in the dark as we were on the perimeter of the hotel, so somebody to help would have been helpful.
🛏️ Room
Rooms are basic, but super clean. Not particularly spacious for 5 of us, but fine as we only sleep and get ready in the rooms. We were given one pillow each, but the children brought their pillows from home so Hubby and I nicked their pillows as seconds!
Bathroom was spacious with a hand soap dispenser on the wall. Air conditioning was great and much needed, separate units in each room. We had a ground floor room with a patio and a table and 2 chairs, although there were 5 of us. There was a wardrobe in each room with shelves and drawers built in so plenty of space for hanging/storing clothes. There was a mini fridge and a safe, safe key given to us free of charge at check in. Housekeeping were due in 6 days a week (not Sundays) but they managed to miss us on either Saturday or Monday meaning we went 2 days without the toilet bin being emptied.
🍕 Food & drinks
We were all impressed with the quality and variety of the food!
Breakfast - amazing selection of fresh bread/bagels.
Hot food - Fried and scrambled eggs, beef tomato slices with cheese, bacon-esq type meat, mushrooms, beans, chips, hash browns one day.
There’s a pastry corner with croissants and a queue for pain-au-chocolats which are instantly taken when replenished.
Cold food / continental meats and cheeses (always pleases!) fruit, cereal, cakes and biscuits and real honeycomb.
Lunch - we always ate lunch at the snack bar. They had a great selection of Greek salad, tzatziki, prepared toasties which you just have to toast, cake and biscuits, then on the other side a number of hot options, typically burgers, kebabs, gyros meat, a veggie option, some form of pastry, and chips. With a fresh bread section in the middle. They also had ice cream (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and banana) and freshly made doughnut balls after 2pm which were a hit all round!
Drinks around the pool were slightly odd. The main pool bar, which you could walk up to one side and swim up to the other, served soft drinks and cocktails, had ice, and a self serve water dispenser. A separate bar served beer and wine, but had no ice. So to get water and soft drinks for the kids and a beer and wine you would need to go and wait at 2 bars which was inconvenient at times.
There is no à la carte restaurant on site.
🏊 Pools
There are 4 freshwater pools. One ‘quiet’ pool near the snack bar, the main beach-style walk-in pool with the bridge across, a small children’s pool with 2 slides, and the bigger water slide pool.
Pools were always clean. I’m an early riser so saw them being cleaned in the mornings. I was able to secure sunbeds each morning, although lots of people come and dump towels and aren’t to be seen for hours.
👧 Kids’ facilities
This is the most positive part of our stay - the animation team! None of my children have ever been interested in a kids club elsewhere, but 2 out of the 3 were keen to go to the kids club each day thanks to Meg! Alan also got them joining in, and Eva had a great energy for the dancing and aqua Zumba (Eh-Oh!) there were activities running each day including water volley ball, aqua Zumba twice a day, football and archery at 5pm (including others, but these were the ones my children were interested in).
Evening entertainment was sadly disappointing. Unless there was a show at the outdoor theatre (we saw one in the week we were there) the evening entertainment was around the pool area where you are left to sit on the sunbeds due to lack of seating, which is strange. There was a children’s disco each evening at 8.45pm, the main entertainment would start at 9.30pm. The one show we saw was a dance group from Tanzania and they were GREAT! Had all the kids on stage to dance at the end, really good fun.
The hotel is a bit off the beaten track, so a 20 minute ish walk into Faliraki. Leave the hotel and turn left, at the roundabout turn left, then at the lights turn right, and at the second set of lights turn right again. It was particularly hot the week we were there and the walk was uncomfortably hot (and the hair went wild in the humidity - think Monica in Barbados!)
🏖️ Beach
We got a cab to the beach one day as there was such a queue for the hotel shuttle bus. We went to the inflatable obstacle course on Faliraki beach and it was an hour of fun and belly laughs! The sunbeds we saw on the beach were €25 for 2 sunbeds and a parasol.
👨👩👧👦 Family-friendliness
This is one of the most valuable parts of the holiday! It was super family friendly. Activities to suit all ages from toddlers to adults. The atmosphere was both relaxed and busy. I would definitely recommend for families. The kids were entertained so we could relax!
😊 Staff & service
Staff were all friendly and seemed genuinely happy, apart from those in the snack bar. The animation team deserve special recognition because they genuinely made the holiday what it was! Whether they were part of the main animation team, or Club Jumbo (who are primarily for the French guests) they were all welcoming and encouraged participation. As previously mentioned, Meg and Alan were my children’s favourites!
💷 Value for money
We paid approximately £5k for 5 of us for one week all inclusive. Apart from the lack of evening entertainment, we were happy. Would we visit again? Not next year as I currently want to visit different Greek Islands, but maybe again in the future.
☀️ Holiday highlights
- Pink party - daytime pool party was great fun!
- Animation team - the animation team really give the hotel a happy vibe! Even Alan dancing on the bridge makes us smile!
- Faliraki beach obstacle course - great fun
- We took a 3 hour boat boat trip with Sealines, this was a great morning out and would highly recommend.
- One night we went to Majuro for their Greek night, this was a fun night!
✋🏻 Areas for improvement
- somebody to show you to your room upon arrival in the dark would be helpful
- In the room there was a tray with a kettle and paper cups. Tea, coffee and milk would have been a good addition.
- Patio furniture for the amount of people staying
- A bar serving all drinks and ice rather than having to visit two separate bars
- The main issue - Evening entertainment area - this was the hotel’s main downfall. To sit on the sunbeds in the evening is not ideal. Not sure why they don’t move the entertainment to the outdoor theatre, or provide more tables and chairs for the evenings.
- A larger shuttle bus or coach into Faliraki would be great. We ended up paying for a cab because there were so many people waiting.
- I emailed the hotel a month before our arrival to let them know that one of my children would have their 9th birthday during our stay and asking if I could buy a cake from the hotel or if they could recommend a patisserie in Faliraki, but unfortunately I did not receive a response. After housekeeping had been on the day, they came back with balloons, a birthday banner and a water gun which was lovely.
These are minor niggles. Overall, we had a great time and would recommend Cyprotel to families!"
