Grecotel Costa Botanica

First of all let me say that overall the experience at Luxme Costa Botanica was a mix of fantastic and mediocre.

When we arrived, the check-in was relatively stress free and we got upgraded as a bonus! We were staying in the Plato building opposite the second pool. In a family suite that had two separate rooms, one with a king sized bed and the other with a sofa and single bed. The space was fantastic and much appreciated, however the fact that there is only one a/c unit for the two rooms, proved to be quite tough. The second room with the kids beds in, was very warm at night. We had to ask on the second day for a fan in the second room, as it was just too hot for our daughter in the late evenings for her to sleep. Gladly the hotel obliged and provide us with a large fan that worked as good as can be expected.

For a family of 3, of two parents and one toddler this resort really is great. You have the area with farm animals, that my daughter was keen to visit every evening. You have the two pools which cater amazingly for young ones with their shallow pools and great water park. The beach is predominantly sandy and very shallow, so perfect for kids to enjoy. Plenty of kids activities through the days at the Aquapark centre. And the evening entertainment is fantastic. Plenty of singers, dancers and traditional music in place in the main Piazza Popolare for evening entertainment, which my daughter absolutely loved.

Food and drink are generally very good. A great selection of traditional Greek dishes spread across the buffet with selected themes over the nights provide plenty of options from day to day at the buffet restaurant. Kids and toddlers are catered for too, with plenty of kid friendly options available. It can get very busy at peak times, which the hotel clearly displays at check in, so be cautious of when to go if you don’t want to queue.

With our stay we were granted 3 bookings at their al a carte restaurants, Italian, Asian and Greek. The hotel had sorted our bookings out before we arrived, but with a toddler we re-booked them for an earlier time to suite her needs with no issue. However, this was one of our main issues with the hotel. The 2 restaurants, Nonna’s and Asiana provided some really poor customer service. Starters to mains were served relatively quickly to our table and were all delicious. However the issue came when we wanted either a drink or desert. Getting another drink was almost impossible, so we most of the time resorted to walking over to the main bar and getting one. Also at both restaurants, we were sat for at least 30-40 minutes after our main had been eaten to even be collected and cleaned up. We would ask for a desert order to be taken but only to take another 10 minutes for it to be taken. In the end we gave up with both due to our patience wearing thin and also our toddler becoming rather agitated with the time taken.

In addition, doing research for this resort before, I read a few reviews of mosquitos being a nuisance. In fairness they are around, but if you use a good deterrent then you’ll be fine. My wife, daughter and I were only bitten a few times between us, purely from the spots we’d missed with the spray.

We generally loved the resort for its beautiful setting, pools, beach, water park and entertainment. It really was top notch. And we’d be back in a heartbeat. But there were just a few things that let it down on occasions that meant it misses the 5 star mark.

We are only on day three and everything has been fantastic.Everyone has been so helpful from the taxi driver who promptly picked us up to the staff in fine dining for our romantic dinner last night.The only disappointment was England not reaching the World Cup final. I am looking forward to the rest of our stay I will review at the end .

It is a good hotel, with great services. I especially liked the extra activities, we went to an embroidery class and to a cooking one. They have there a Greek woman, Martha, who teached us how to make greek food and how to sew. She was wonderful, she helped us taste the Greek experience, an extra plus that makes us come again and again to Grecotel chain. They also had sports activities for the kids and a Kids club for smaller ones. These details added value to the overall experience - the food was good, the beach great and the evening atmosphere in the plazza very welcoming and fun. A downside may be the humid rooms, the one we were in had a specific smell, probably due to the humidity and not being used for half a year. But I highly recommend it, great place for a good vacation with kids.