Golden Odyssey

don't really know where to start. One thing I can tell you is that there is a general rudeness among much of the staff. Most of the managers and staff who actually interact with you aren't particularly pleasant, apart from the Filipino cleaners, who always treated us with respect and were consistently friendly. At one point, one of the pool tables — which you pay €2 per game to use, which is totally fine — didn't have the white ball. After asking the bartenders (whom I don't think I saw smile once during our entire week here), they told me to go to reception. The lady at reception barely looked up and simply said, "What should I do? I don't have any balls here." At that point, as a man of principle, I asked for my €2 back. She then had the audacity to tell me that the pool tables are provided by an external partner and therefore there was nothing she could do. We're talking about two euros here, so obviously it's not about the money, but rather the attitude and principle of it. The same kind of attitude showed itself again on my last day. I decided to stop by the gift shop to get my girlfriend a souvenir and found a deck of cards with pictures of the island. Before buying them, I wanted to look at a few of the pictures. One of the decks was already open, so I carefully started to pull out one of the cards and immediately got yelled at by the older woman sitting behind the desk. She did realize her mistake afterwards and apologized, which I appreciate, but I still left feeling angry and honestly a bit violated by the whole interaction. The food isn't great at all. It's edible, but not much more than that. One of the staff members at the restaurant is quite nice and actually greets you with a smile, but many of the others seem to view the guests as more of a nuisance than people they're there to serve. The snack bar is also somewhat disappointing, and you can't get a proper drink before 5 o'clock. Beer and wine are self-served from taps between 10 and 5, in flimsy 2 dl plastic cups. I tried the wine once and didn't feel the need to try it again. Not exactly a high standard. The hotel itself has also seen better days. A lot of the equipment, slides, fountains, etc. feels worn and the whole place is starting to feel a little run down. The location feels like it's in the middle of nowhere, although the hotel does provide a shuttle to the beach every hour or so. We went there once, but as soon as we arrived we were immediately approached by people trying to get us to rent sunbeds. We chose to sit on our own towel instead and were then harassed about it. Mind you, it was around 5 in the afternoon and we basically just wanted to wet our feet and then find a nice meal in the city centre. You barely have time to get off the bus before they start asking you to rent a bed. It honestly feels like the hotel drives you straight into the jaws of the wolves, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is some kind of arrangement between them. All in all, I simply don't think this is a four-star hotel. The combination of rude and indifferent service, mediocre food and facilities that have clearly seen better days makes it feel much more like a weak three-star hotel. There are some good people working here, and the cleaners in particular deserve credit, but unfortunately they aren't enough to make up for the overall experience.

We paid for all inclusive to stay here, but were shocked we went to the main bar when we arrived and was told we had to pay for our drinks after 11oclock, then was told we had to pay a further £25 euros to use the safe which was in our room. Our rooms were very clean although the cleaner still comes into your room even with a "do not disturb" notice on your door.

The first night at dinner was lovely although not a great choice, but omg it never changed, it was the same food every night after that, just wasn't much to choose from and seeing the same every night we actually ate out for something different rather than chips, salad, pizza, the only things that we're different every night was the desserts,
The all inclusive drinks we're diabolical, little plastic cups that after 2 mouthfuls we're gone, even in the evening at the main bar you got little disposable cups, cocktails not until 5, ice creams for the kids only from 2.30 to 5, There were 5 pools which all baring one was very clean, the best one was in front of the water slides which was so much fun especially for the kids, the kids spash pool was great fun for the little ones but the pool nearest the snack bar was like greeny colour, The staff were very friendly and always had a smile.

Location: A little isolated but Kolymbia walkable in 20 minutes if you’re fit and healthy. There are also reasonably priced electric scooter and bikes for hire everywhere! Atmosphere: Generally, a family atmosphere. Kids seemed happy with what was on offer with different pools and slides. Rooms: We were given room 145 which didn’t appear on any of the hotel direction signs. The receptionist took us there. It was a huge room, on its own, with its own staircase, above the bar. Probably 3 x the size of other rooms with walk-in wardrobe, corner bath, shower, toilet, settee, fridge, 2 TV’s and a large balcony. We were lucky. The room was clean, modern and comfortable enough but some fixtures and fittings (cupboard doors etc.) could do with hinges tightening etc. The shower could do with replacing but worked ok enough for us to use it. Food: I’m pretty funny with food because of food poisoning previously at a different Greek hotel but it was always pretty fresh, hot, with no flies buzzing around and kept well stocked up. There was a reasonable selection but it did seem a bit repetitive. We used to pool snack bar for lunch which was the same every day. Burgers, chicken nuggets, fish fingers, chips and onion rings etc. Pools: The big pool was a bit cloudy when we arrived. There was also a bit of a drain smell in one corner of the pool area. A few days in, a child soiled in the pool. It was closed immediately and announced over the loud speaker but not rooed off and no signage. As a result, some people returned from day trips and had no idea, diving into a pool with a turd floating around. The next day, the pool was re-opened and noticeably clearer. The smaller pools seemed clearer but there were no organised activities at these pools. The kids loved the water slides and they kept them entertained for large parts of the day. Staff: On arrival late the receptionist wasn’t rude, but he seemed very abrupt and matter-of -fact. Restaurant staff were always pleasant and polite. Cleaning staff work really hard and tend to do a good job. Behind the bar, Demitrius was probably star of the show. A lovely guy who remembers names, remembers families and sees that everyone is happy. Would I go back? We never go to the same place twice, but if we did, maybe. There are clearly things that could be improved in terms of modernisation, facilities and entertainment but we had a good holiday, no huge complaints, wer were comfortable, we were well looked after, well fed and well watered. You get what you pay for and Greece in general does seem to be a little behind your usual Spanish / Canaries / Balearic resorts if that is what you are used to.