Elios Hill

truthfully this place is something seen on social media which creates a total different impression to what it is. The aesthetics of the hotel overall can not be flawed in the slightest it is beautiful with the rooms being decently sized and modernly decorated, bar with an ocean view, warm lights surrounding makes it seem surreal until it actually comes to staying here. upon arrival we were greeted with a hefty tourism tax and for the price already payed to even be in this hotel you would think it is included. the train tracks no longer have what i saw to be an actual train on it but little golf carts instead to where the drivers where constantly driving recklessly speeding round corners etc which makes you think if a child was walking unattended with the speeds they were going something serious could occur! when we arrived into the room it had a mini fridge in it which only consisted of fake branded children’s drinks which are too carbonated to even drink and for a 5 star hotel you would think it would atleast provide branded drinks. There was never any towel wars for the sun-beds which was a good aspect but to what point of the whole pool experience. specific mass groups of the guests were constantly leaving rubbish all over the pool, acting in an unordered manner, spread widely amongst the pool and would give unpleasant looks if you got too close. barely any entertainment around the pool area expect a dance from the animation team in the morning and a game of hula hooping or something similar and a game of water polo which was heavily taken over again by these specific adults nothing exciting or actually amusing came from around the pool. the infinity pool held no supervision and was just pure chaos to which could be seen as unsafe as one slip from an unattended child could lead to a severe accident. there was one life guard to be seen throughout the hotel who i didn’t even see supervising at all times. the children’s splash park was very good but again not very enjoyable when many adults and unmannered children are all over it from the stairs, to loads of children coming out of the slides at the same time it was pure chaos! the main pool is also the only pool that played music and is not big enough for the amount of guests here. If the pool scenario hasn’t set a big enough example of what to expect the restaurant surely will. I read the food was supposed to be decent to where we was constantly greeted with fish and pork no high quality meat. the chicken gyro meat was not even made for a gyro yet just a full unseasoned chicken, bland and dry. when going to a five star hotel you expect decent quality food and i found myself to be more amused by pasta and sauce from the children’s section rather than the actual food. the scrambled eggs were mushy and basically water half of the time, every-time i attempted to try something new a bite would be taken and left because it genuinely was not appetising in the slightest. again some of the guests just made the restaurant experience unenjoyable children running all over chaotically, pushing people, putting their hands in the food then not taking it or faffing with the food, adults jumping queues constantly, looks given even when just walking to your table, children shouting and banging cutlery on the table while the adults just continue to stand there and talk totally un acknowledging other guests. we went to one À la carte and from there decided not to go to any others we had booked because it was utterly disappointing. we got the tiniest portion sizes as if we was at a michelin starred restaurant and to that the food wasn’t even tasty i got a chicken dish which was unseasoned and dry. There was only one beer on draft throughout the whole hotel, the ice cream was always dirty with all of the flavours constantly mixed together and didn’t even taste nice truthfully. there is an advertised shuttle bus to the beach but to no surprise only runs once a day. ants were in our room constantly. cannabis smells drafted variously throughout the hotel. It is very clear this hotel is understaffed, we had no table service in the restaurants and i have even recieved that in a 3 star hotel. Bins were constantly sharing a horrible odour showing suggesting they are not being taken care of. We had also lost our room key one night and instead of actually making sure it was us getting into the correct room they just handed over the key causing concerns for safety. Though there were some perks to our stay where we recieved decent quality cocktails from the cloud bar with very sociable and polite staff unlike the rest of the staff. nice sea view where you can sit out and we even had the opportunity to see some greek dancers one night. there was a crepe bar which did not even offer strawberry’s to go in your crepe but were edible. the reception staff were also always lovely. A lot of the experience was made worse due to specific guests and as i acknowledge that is not the staffs fault and purely a lack of mannerisms and expectable sociable behaviour from these people, the staff could be doing more to control these situations to make it more enjoyable. overall i would not return nor would i recommend this hotel to anyone. this was not the 5 star experience you would expect yet somewhere that is glamourised and turns out to be a total disappointment. unless you hold low standards for what your expecting with your money do not go here!

On first impressions, this hotel certainly delivers the wow factor. It is aesthetically very pleasing, and the hotel grounds and layout are beautiful, immediately giving you that five-star feeling. Unfortunately, that is where the five-star experience begins and ends for us. The rooms are modern, spacious and cleaned daily. There is a “mini bar” in the room, although on arrival this consisted of a couple of bottles of water and a couple of bottles of non-branded children’s soft drinks. These were not replenished during our stay, other than the water. For a five-star resort, we found this offering disappointing and, quite honestly, rather embarrassing. Food & Dining Having read so many reviews describing the food as amazing, we were really looking forward to dining here. Sadly, we were very disappointed. In our opinion, the food was mediocre for a five-star hotel. If you don’t like pork or fish, you will struggle. There were very few high-quality meat options, and some of the themed nights didn’t always seem to match their advertised theme particularly well. We often found it difficult to put together a genuinely enjoyable meal. We tried the Greek à la carte restaurant. My lamb was quite nice, but the chicken dish ordered by the others was dry and lacked flavour. There were two other à la carte restaurants, but after this experience we decided not to bother trying them. The buffet was, quite frankly, chaotic. It felt more like feeding time at the zoo than dining at a five-star resort. It was loud, overcrowded and stressful, with people pushing in and children running around and putting their hands into the food. My husband actually witnessed two children opening mussels and throwing them at each other before putting the remains back. Obviously, the hotel cannot be held responsible for every individual guest’s behaviour, but the lack of control and supervision made the whole dining experience extremely unpleasant. Dinner should be an opportunity to unwind, enjoy good food and have a conversation with your family. Instead, we found it stressful and overwhelming. There was also virtually no table service at lunch or dinner, and staffing felt minimal. Again, this simply didn’t feel like a five-star experience. Due to the mediocre food and the chaos of the buffet, we ended up eating out for more than half of our holiday. There is a crepe station at the main pool and a snack bar at the splash park. We did enjoy the crepes, and the children made use of the snack bar on a couple of occasions. The drinks offering was also disappointing. There was only one type of beer and wine served from a tap, with no branded alcohol and very limited options. For the price of the resort, we expected considerably more. The Pools The main pool simply isn’t big enough for the number of guests staying at the hotel. The splash park is great for children when it isn’t overcrowded. Unfortunately, we regularly saw children being left to do as they pleased — pushing, shoving and walking back up the slides, making it difficult for everyone else to enjoy the facilities safely. The infinity pool is a decent pool, but again, the sheer volume of guests made it difficult to relax and enjoy. Children were frequently left to run around without supervision. We didn’t use the adults-only pool as we had our 12-year-old with us. However, there were certainly moments when I was tempted to take her up there simply so we could have one peaceful pool day! She is better behaved and has considerably more manners and etiquette than some of the adults we encountered during our stay. The Guests Unfortunately, this is probably the biggest factor that negatively affected our holiday. A significant percentage of the guests, in our experience, were loud, obnoxious, rude and entitled and had no manners whatsoever so ever, with very little consideration for those around them. Their children often behaved in much the same way, being left to run around and do as they pleased. We saw guests walking around with bottles of spirits swinging from their hands, and on several occasions there was a noticeable smell of cannabis coming from some of the rooms. There was very little opportunity to enjoy peace and quiet. The behaviour of some guests made everything from sitting around the pool and swimming to dining and using the games room feel unnecessarily unpleasant. We appreciate that the hotel cannot control every aspect of its guests’ behaviour, but we do feel that more could be done to manage and enforce standards of behaviour in communal areas. Staff & Service It is important to give credit where it is due. The staff at reception and guest relations were fantastic — friendly, helpful and professional whenever we dealt with them. We also found the staff at the Cloud Bar to be excellent. We spent several evenings sitting outside, enjoying cocktails and playing cards while watching the sunset. This became something of a little sanctuary for us and was probably one of the highlights of our stay. The animation team were also friendly and always said hello, which was appreciated. The daytime activities around the pool were fairly mediocre. There was a morning dance followed by aqua aerobics, then around 3:15pm there was usually some sort of children’s activity, such as skipping or hula hooping, followed later by water polo. We didn’t use the kids’ club, so unfortunately can’t comment on that. Entertainment We enjoyed the entertainment at the Cloud Bar. We didn’t watch any of the entertainment in the amphitheatre because our child didn’t feel comfortable being in such a confined space with some of the other guests. Final Thoughts We paid a considerable amount of money for our stay and, unfortunately, we were left feeling very disappointed. There is no denying that this is a beautiful hotel. From an aesthetic perspective, it absolutely looks five-star. The grounds, architecture and rooms are all impressive. However, for us, a five-star experience is about far more than appearances. The food quality, drinks selection, service levels and overall guest experience all need to match the surroundings — and, in our opinion, they currently don’t. The hotel obviously cannot be blamed for the behaviour of every guest, but the lack of control over some of the behaviour we witnessed seriously affected our enjoyment of the holiday. Would we return? No. Would we recommend it for the price we paid? Absolutely not. in our opinion, there are significant improvements needed in food quality, drinks, service and the management of guest behaviour before it truly deserves that five-star rating.

Our stay at Elios Hill Hotel We had a really enjoyable holiday at Elios Hill overall, but for us it falls short of being a genuine 5-star experience. There are lots of things to like, but also a number of small issues that, when added together, made it feel more like a very good 4-star hotel than a 5-star one. We were fortunate enough to receive a room upgrade, which was fantastic and very much appreciated. Our room itself was clean and comfortable, although on a few occasions it hadn’t been made up by the time we returned from the pool in the afternoon. Not a huge issue, but something you wouldn’t really expect from a hotel aiming for 5-star standards. The biggest issue for us was the behaviour of some other guests. There were frequently overflowing rubbish bins and mess being left around communal areas, and some families seemed to have very little consideration for other guests or the staff. Children were allowed to run riot, food was left everywhere, there was queue jumping and, on occasions, staff were spoken to quite rudely. Obviously the hotel can’t control the behaviour of its guests, but better management of these situations would have made a difference. The main restaurant was often extremely busy and noisy, particularly with children. We also witnessed children putting their hands all over the food on the buffet, which was unpleasant to see. That said, the range and quality of the food itself was consistently good, and there was always plenty of choice. We tried the Mexican restaurant, which unfortunately was disappointing. The service was very slow and the food was overcooked. The Asian restaurant had lovely, friendly staff who were attentive and welcoming, but again we found the food itself disappointing. One particular incident really highlighted some of the issues. A young child cut their lip around the infinity pool and there was quite a lot of blood around the pool area. We reported it immediately and the lifeguard dealt with the situation brilliantly and professionally. However, despite reporting the blood, the area wasn’t properly disinfected afterwards. Eventually, other guests ended up cleaning it themselves rather than the family involved. We reported this again, but still didn’t see anyone come to properly disinfect the area. For a hotel of this standard, that really wasn’t good enough. There are, however, some definite highlights. The Cloud Bar was excellent. It had a great atmosphere, the bar staff were friendly and welcoming, and a special shout-out to Vlad, who really went out of his way to make us feel welcome. He was a real credit to the hotel. The evening entertainment was varied and interesting, and overall we enjoyed it. The circus show in particular was fantastic and one of the highlights of the holiday. Unfortunately, even this was somewhat spoiled by the behaviour of some guests, with children running across the stage and sitting on the steps, while seats were effectively being “reserved” for large groups who hadn’t even arrived. We ended up having to sit right at the back, only to see some of those supposedly reserved seats remain empty. Again, this isn’t necessarily the hotel’s fault, but better management of the situation would have improved the experience considerably. We also booked two excursions through our Jet2 representative, both of which were excellent additions to the holiday. The glass-bottomed Nemo boat trip was fantastic and is something we would highly recommend. We also did a day trip to Water City Waterpark, which was great fun and provided something for the whole family. Both excursions were well organised and gave us a lovely break from the hotel. The new infinity pool is a fantastic addition. We ended up spending most of our pool time there, partly because it’s right next to the children’s slides, which was ideal for us. We spent about an hour at the main pool but found it extremely overcrowded and hot. It made us wonder what the pool situation must have been like before the new pool was added! Overall, we had a good holiday and there is a lot to like about Elios Hill. The food in the main restaurant was good, our upgraded room was lovely, the new infinity pool is excellent, the Cloud Bar was a highlight, the excursions were fantastic and there are some genuinely brilliant members of staff. However, the overflowing bins, cleanliness issues, buffet hygiene, overcrowding, inconsistent room servicing and the lack of management of some guest behaviour prevented the hotel from feeling truly 5-star for us. A very good hotel with some excellent facilities and staff, but there are a number of details that need addressing before we would consider it a true 5-star experience.

Beautiful hotel, but unfortunately very disappointing overall There are definitely some positives to this hotel. The setting is beautiful, with stunning scenery and lovely, well-maintained grounds. Our room was clean, well presented and comfortable. The staff were generally polite, and I particularly want to mention the reception team, who were very helpful and accommodating. Unfortunately, for the amount of money we paid, there were far too many negatives. The biggest issue for us was the behaviour of some of the other guests. I don’t want to comment on nationality because this isn’t about where people are from; it’s about behaviour. Some guests were extremely loud, didn’t queue, allowed their children to run riot and showed very little consideration for other people. It had a major impact on our enjoyment of what should have been a relaxing holiday. One of my biggest safety concerns was the complete lack of lifeguards around the pools. With so many children using the pools and water park, I found this very concerning. The drinks were another disappointment. We were welcomed with drinks that I can only describe as kids’ pop from the fridge, and even the supposedly premium drinks were far from what I would consider premium. The orange juice was essentially cheap orange squash. We were also caught out by a €300 room tax for 10 nights, which we weren’t expecting and felt should have been made much clearer when booking. There was no waiter service, and the main restaurant was extremely chaotic. At times, it was more like a zoo than a hotel restaurant, with deafening noise and children running around. I witnessed children putting their fingers into the chocolate fountain, and on another occasion I saw two children opening mussels and throwing them onto the floor. There didn’t appear to be any staff intervention or anyone controlling the situation. The omelette queue every morning was easily 10 minutes or more, largely because some guests were taking three omelettes at a time. Basic buffet management could have made a huge difference. When we first arrived at night, the restaurant tables were still covered with food and used plates. Unfortunately, I didn’t take photographs, which I now regret. The infinity pool itself is beautiful and in a fantastic location, right next to the water park. However, it was constantly full of children with inflatables. Personally, I think an age restriction would make this area much more enjoyable and would allow guests to actually appreciate what is supposed to be one of the hotel’s more relaxing areas. The infinity pool bar was also disappointing. It only serves beer and wine, so if you want a cocktail or spirit, you have to walk all the way down to the main hotel bar. The beach shuttle is another disappointment, as it only runs once a day. For a hotel of this size and price, I would expect a more frequent service. We also experienced an issue with cannabis smoke coming from another room, which wasn’t particularly pleasant. The pool entertainment was, in my opinion, shocking. I can’t really comment on the animation team as we didn’t experience much of it during our stay. Overall, this hotel has huge potential. The location, scenery, grounds and rooms are genuinely beautiful, and the reception staff were excellent. However, the overall experience simply did not match the price we paid. The biggest problem wasn’t the hotel itself — it was the behaviour of some of the guests and the lack of management around it. Better control around the pools, restaurant, queues and general guest behaviour would make a massive difference. We spent a lot of money on this holiday and unfortunately left feeling very disappointed. If you’re paying a premium price and expecting a premium, peaceful experience, I personally don’t feel this hotel delivers value for money.

Perfect location - 20 mins from airport Beautiful hotel - staff lovely and always looking busy. The very best staff were in the Cloud Bar, all of the guys up there are amazing! Lifeguard on Waterpark amazing with the kids, Waterpark great and bar up there is great with chicken nuggets, hot dogs, Greek salads, ice cream, pit of watermelon etc for everyone. Al a carte restaurants amazing. We were there 7 nights and ate at all of them. All 3 were out of this world but Asian restaurant by far the best and the staff were fantastic. No sunbeds wars at all and fresh pool towels everyday. Food beautiful and plenty choice and plenty room. Only exception is some parents who let their children run riot to put their hands in chocolate fountains etc. Think some parents could look after their children possibly a little better or teach them some manners. You could see the staff bothered by this also, not fair to them as they do such a good job. My only gripe would be that mini bar could be stocked with branded drinks lukewarm Pepsi, Diet Coke etc rather than local brand stuff but still nice to have it restocked daily. Rooms are very nice and cleaned to a high standard. Hair dryer good. Slippers also provided. Plenty wardrobe space. Cocktails at cloud bar at beautiful and the entertainment brilliant. We really enjoyed the saxophonist and live singer, Greek dancers were great too. Football area, some rides, pool table and air hockey etc for the kids. Adults only pool up the top is gorgeous with its own bar and snacks up there. Grounds are meticulously kept. A very happy family leaving and we would certainly return.