Mitsis Summer Palace

This was my second visit to Summer Palace. The rooms and the food were fantastic as was the location which is why returned.

All the staff are amazing but we had a few in particular who I feel should get a special mention.

In reception we had the pleasure of meeting Dea, I was slightly disappointed with my room on arrival but Dea was able to move us to a more suitable room and went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable for the rest of our stay. She was so friendly and chatted with us every time we saw her.

In the Med we were served by Alexis. He made every meal enjoyable and would keep an eye to make sure we were topped up with drinks and not waiting too long for anything.

Juliana was also a pleasure to be served by in the Den. She remembered me from the previous year and would come and chat when she wasn't busy.

Arthur should have a special mention too as he made the best cocktails down in the Den bar and was so friendly. He kept his cool on so many occasions when we could see some difficult guests.

It's often the welcome from staff members that makes our holidays more special and we will definitely return to Summer Palace soon.

We booked this 5* hotel for our honeymoon and upgraded to a Sea Front room. The hotel location was perfect. Right on the beach, we could hear the waves at night from our bedroom. The room was lovely and well equipped although we did have to ring several times to get the mini-bar restocked. The balcony had a fantastic view but wasn't private at all. The bathroom with the huge walk-in shower was lovely and water pressure was great. The staff were very friendly and helpful. All that is positive.

Now to the negative, unfortunately. The food. The most disappointing part of the holiday. We were looking forward to buffet style food with lots of choice, both European and Greek. The buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner was poor and uninspiring. You had a choice for starter and dessert but the main course - both lunch and dinner - was ordered from a menu! I'd never heard of that in a 5* hotel before. You couldn't see what you were ordering so just had to go by the limited description. The timings were terrible. The first night we sat down and were given menus. We ordered, then went up to get a salad to start. Before we even got back to the table, the main course was there! The following day we didn't order until after we'd eaten our starter although the staff kept hoovering round us and asking if we wanted to order. The main courses were not great frankly. The food was nothing special and really disappointing.

If you didn't want buffet style, you could eat at a couple of other restaurants which we did. The Med was nice - portions small but ok. The Den - here you cooked your own food on a hot grill in the middle of the table. A nice idea - I booked it for 8pm but by this time it was so dark that the little lamps on the table did nothing to help so I ended up holding my iphone torch so my husband could actually see to cook! If you want to eat here, go early whilst its still light!

The second negative was the 'entertainment'. I put that in the loosest term as it was shocking. Nowhere near what I'd consider a 5* hotel to book and put on. There was no real where to hold any entertainment - it was just in a small area in The Den. One night there was a acrobatic act - the entertainer juggling dropped the hats so many times we lost count! and the skipping? I did better in primary school!

So a great location, lovely beach and staff but below standard food and poor entertainment. I would not book to come here again.