Mitsis Norida Beach

Myself and my daughter have just spent a week at this hotel and were expecting a 5 star resort. Sadly this wasn’t the case at all. We have stayed at far nicer 4 star hotels and we were extremely disappointed. I will start with the positives. The creperie was excellent and also the freshly made Pizzas in the restaurant but be prepared to queue. The drinks were okay and the soft drinks were branded which was good. Now for the cons. The hotel is very dated and the public areas are sparse and need renovating. We had a family suite as myself and my daughter wanted separate rooms as I snore. Don’t be fooled by the wording. This was far from a suite. Very small and again run down. Balcony was nice and large and the view was lovely but holes in the floor and needed maintenance. The beds were comfy but no turn down as stated and no making of beds, just a sheet folded at the end. Our room was up a steep hill and when we asked for a lift on the buggies one of the drivers was rude and was always outside smoking. My daughter felt uncomfortable as he made us feel that it was an inconvenience taking us so we started making the trek up the hill from day 2. There was however one driver who was lovely and went out of his way to pick us up and take us if he ever saw us. I wish I got his name as he was lovely. Huge queues at the bar at night and queues to get in buffet restaurant. Food very samey and not much choice. Needs to have bigger stations to cater for so many people. Didn’t try the À la cartes so can’t comment on them. This seems to be an Italian tour operator’s hotel called Bravo as most guests were Italian and the entertainment was Italian. Forget getting a sun bed round the main pool as sun loungers all reserved despite a sign clearly saying no reservations. We managed to get beds in the Bravo pool which also allowed other guests. Sun loungers were wooden but many broken with damaged wheels and stained cushions. Also please be weary of room service. My daughter wanted a pizza one night as we didn’t go for the evening meal. We expected one of the beautiful handmade ones that she loved. Instead a barely warm microwave pizza with cling film on was delivered and we were charged 10 euros. It was a cheap shop bought one and was totally inedible so went straight in the bin. I’m sorry for the long post as this is the first bad review I have ever written before but I want people to realise the impressive hotel website isn’t a true reflection of this average 3 star hotel. Wish I had gone back to the Atlantica beach resort in Kos as that’s fantastic and is only rated a 4 star. Will definitely not be returning.

We had a long travel day after a complicated and stressful booking and were greeted at reception upon arrival by a rude member of staff that seemed like we were majorly inconveniencing him by simply trying to check in, to the point we had to go back for our wrist bands after seeing everyone else wearing them and not being given them in the first place.

We then got to our extremely basic, not 5* looking room to find that our TV didn’t work, the towel rail in the bathroom fell off any time a towel was put on it or taken off.

The food in the main restaurant was okay at best, very limited and super slow moving lines. The front of house for the restaurant was lovely however and was the one of the very few plus points about the whole holiday. The cocktails were made with the cheapest alcohol and pre made syrups and never receiving the same drink twice. If you liked the drink you had before then you best realise quickly you’re not going to get it tasting like that again. The line for the Villagio bar at night was excruciatingly long, spending half the night queuing up after bar staff collecting glasses and taking orders continued to look at our empty glasses and walk straight past. Not to mention the one member of staff on the bar calling me “pale” and laughing at the fact I had “no colour”.

They state on a sign by the pool that sunbeds cannot be reserved before 9 am, so when we came down on day one and found every single sunbed was taken by 8:30 we were pretty surprised. But on day 5 when I came down at 7:30 to find there was still only a handful left unreserved it left me amazed. There was also kids running round by the pool shouting and screaming all day every day, the noise isn’t an issue but the lifeguards didn’t seem to care the slightest that they were running full speed on the wet tiled floor. They spent all day hovering around the mojito bar laughing with the bar staff. The pools were unbearably cold and we couldn’t go in for more than 10 minutes at a time because of literally shivering in there. The jacuzzi seats in the one pool, at max only half of them worked.

The lines for the pizza on the beach were stupidly long, often standing there for 10 minutes at a time. Not to mention the broken wooden slats to walk on on the beach which were a major safety hazard.

My girlfriend injured her hand at the hotel and upon telling the reception staff about it at checkout they couldn’t have cared less by literally saying “oh okay” and moving on with her day. She was extremely unhelpful and unbearably rude. It came across almost as if she was trying to goad me or provoke me. The same member of staff was also no help whatsoever with a big problem we had at checkout and again seemed like I was inconveniencing her with the problem, not trying to help. Not 5* service in the slightest and no service with a smile.

Also if you’re not Italian or booking with Bravo Life then I wouldn’t bother booking at all. The staff seem to bend over backwards for you if you’re wearing one of their wristbands but if you’re not you seem once again, like an inconvenience, or, what seemed to be most of the time, just don’t speak to you at all.

All in all me and my (injured) girlfriend see this holiday as a waste of time and most importantly a complete waste of money. I paid my hard earned money for a 5* experience with most of my holiday spent waiting in lines and experiencing awful customer service. To the point we actually went home early. The best time we had on the holiday was when we explored the island and got out of the hotel, which was actually recommended by the bar staff at the villagio bar! Which I think speaks volumes about the hotel and our holiday experience.

I’d avoid at all costs!

We are just leaving and wanted to leave a review. This is our 6th Mitsis hotel and we started 5 years ago with the Blue Domes. Honestly we will be booking again and recommending to everyone. The team here can’t do enough for you. We had a sea view bungalow and the views were magical. The reception Team work so hard and nothing was too much. Soritia (hope spelling is correct) was so helpful. The à la carte restaurant open for lunch is such a welcome treat and our only sadness is saying goodbye. We joined in water gym and ate in all the restaurants. There were minimum hick ups but everything was swiftly dealt with. We loved being invited to a wine tasting as we are on a higher level membership now that includes this and what a fabulous touch. Ermonela and Jorges in the à la carte were just incredible and have been here for many years. The lovely touches of a saxophone playing and afternoon tea area were so lovely. As for the crepes and pizza I think we will be dreaming about them for a bit longer but the diet starts when we return home. The place is spotless which is so nice and the grounds are well looked after. We honestly can’t wait to return!