I stayed at this lovely hotel for one week. You just need to prepare, prepare prepare!…read more
It is in an excellent spot if you want nightlife right next to beach life. I don't do the nightlife stuff, so I was glad I was on a higher floor and not hearing as much of the drunken partiers as those on the lower floors. I was prepared for the noise, though I did not expect the drunken yelling to go on until 4am and 5am each night, however that is not the fault of the hotel, as they are located in a hot spot. So if you stay here, be prepared for the late night, early morning ruckus.
The room was very clean and is very spacious for 2 people. I had no complaints of anything. The bed was comfortable, I just asked for more pillows. Of course, there are only 3 television channels with English, so either bring a device if you want to view English or any other language television or movies. In addition, there was only one chair, which was not a problem for us, as we always sat on the bed, but may be an issue for some people.
Most hotels, even old ones have upgraded and you are able to plug your devices directly into the ports, however, our room did not have this. You need to have the European plugs and then plug your chargers into that. If you only bring your cord to charge your phone you will be out of luck! Also, the room only had 3 outlets (I thought there were only 2, one near the tv and one in the bathroom until we found another behind the chair). But with 2 of us and about 8 devices/electronics that needed charging, this was a bit of a hassle as we are always hesitant to plug in a device near water, that really left us with 2 outlets.
I was also prepared with my own wifi. They offer wifi for a fee but you can get Gigsky or any other wifi for your devices at a much better rate. I got Gigsky for my Ipad (which I could then pair with my iphone, at $18 for 2 gigs for 14 days which is more than enough for me. Gigsky also has other packages if you need more not to mention other carriers also have good packages, but I can't vouch for their reliability as I did not use them. The wifi offered by the hotel is expensive and unreliable, which I knew before I came and so was prepared.
The balcony is lovely to sit and enjoy the marvelous views. See pics. There were 2 chairs and a table out there. Spectacular views!
You are located on a very busy street with a nice grocery store on the bottom floor outside the hotel doors (not part of the hotel, but extremely convenient). You can get anything there from water to wine and chips to cheese (or crisps if your European like my boyfriend). Also, restaurants and pubs are just feet from the front door of this hotel, and Fish Alley (tons of restaurants) is less than a 5 minute walk. Shopping and souvenirs are also steps from this hotel. The marina is across the street and the beach is less than a block away. It really is in an excellent location. The bus and tram/train is about a 5-10 minute walk as well. I suggest taking the train from and to the airport. It will save you about $80 per person each way.
We had room with half-board for the week here; this includes breakfast and dinner. Of course it is buffet. They offer a nice selection for both meals. The food is quite good. Some days better than others. However, breakfast starts at 7am and ends 10:30am, which to me is quite early, then dinner starts at 7pm and ends at 10 or 10:30pm, which to me is quite late. So on my vacation, dinner is late, so I'm going to bed late after eating and then need to get up early in order to eat. I truly had an issue with that. Personally, I think breakfast should have ended at 11am and dinner started at 6pm. But that is just my opinion.
This hotel is considered a 4 star, but please make sure you are aware this is not 4 star American. It is 4 star European. It equates to a very nice 2 star USA hotel. So please be prepared for that. It is an absolutely fabulous hotel for the price, you can not beat that. For what it is and what you get, you are getting a great deal. I would even say you get more than what you pay for, for a 4 (2 in America) star hotel.
