Gloria Maris Hotel Suites & Villas

Very nice place to stay To relax in a beautiful setting The lady boss is super kind Staf very helpful Very good food Cleaning staf very helpful If you want to stay in Zakinthos with beautiful setting , go there Beautiful bar with nice music If there is anything not ok for you just mention it and they will arrange it

The photos and description make Gloria Maris look like a modern 4 star boutique adults only retreat, but the reality is very different. Most of the property is outdated, worn, and disorganised, and parts of it were an active building site — we were woken at 8am by demolition hammers with no prior warning. Our room although generally clean had dirty surfaces, old towels, and a cleaner entered despite the “Do Not Disturb” sign. Breakfast was repetitive and far from 4 star quality, served in a dull room with rather unwelcoming or non English speaking staff. Service overall was indifferent, with the exception of receptionist Zoe. Several elements included in our package were simply not provided: no welcome bottle of wine, and the boat rental credit was unusable because no boats were available. We eventually received compensation, but only after raising the issue. The location is stunning, but the hotel fails to deliver on almost every other promise. It relies heavily on photos that don’t reflect reality. Needs major renovation and a complete rethink of service standards.

Terrible hotel AVOID!!!Absolute nightmare the moment we arrived! We stayed here in 2020 and always wanted to return but when we did eventually return 5 years later we were absolutely shocked at how run down the hotel became. 1: Rooms Firstly my room I originally booked “Junior Suite Sharing Infinity Pool” through the Gloria Maris reservations was not available on the day I arrived even though it was confirmed available to me over email. The receptionist tried to investigate with reservations staff what the mistake was and turns out the reservation staff never added the room reservation to the booking hence why on arrival our room was not available! We were told that our room we requested and paid for would be available the next day so we were given an alternative room to stay in for the night. This “spare” room we were put in was a dilapidated version of the Junior Suite Sharing Infinity Pool. Within 20 minutes of us arriving to this room while unpacking the rain outside began to flood the room via the roof, above the door to the room and under the sliding glass doors at the front of the room facing outside. We rang reception to which they tried to move us to another alternative room that was not affected by the rain. The new room we were moved to was a downgraded room right beside reception, we were told we would only need to stay for 1 night until our room originally booked became available the next day. Fast forward 3 days we still did not get to move into the room we paid for. The reception explained the room was still booked by other residents even though we were told it would be available on day 2 of our stay! We basically had to wear the same clothes we arrived in over the next few days (which were drenched from the rain when moving rooms on night 1) as reception requested we leave our heavier luggage in the flooded room until the room we were supposed to be staying in became available, this room was closer to the dilapidated room and meant the staff didn’t need to carry our luggage up to higher level of the hotel and back down on the day the room would be available! We eventually got into our requested room on day 4 of our holiday. We paid for 2 weeks in this room B&B which came to over €4,000, and we lost 3 days of what we paid for as we were downgraded to a cheaper room for the first 3 nights. We requested the hotel to refund us the cost of the difference between the more expensive room we were supposed to be in vs the downgraded room we were given during the 3 night stay which was a fair request and we were refused this refund!! The only offer the hotel was willing to give us as an apology was a free boat ride which were all cancelled due to the weather so that was never going to happen! Or 1 free meal or drinks for 1 night! Absolutely insulting! 2: Hotel We noticed the hotel became very dilapidated throughout between the main lobby reception, the floors inside and outside had visible signs of destruction over the years and not been maintained especially the decking. The timber decking was very dangerous around the pool area and walkway to the lower level of the hotel to the beach, this was a trip hazard and very dangerous to walk on. The spare room we were put in night 1 that flooded should never have been offered to residents as it is clearly not safe to stay in. The structure in general was very dangerous with visible signs of cracks in the walls and ceilings to which the rain came through like a waterfall and flooded the room. The stink of mildew/damp in the room on entry was a clear sign this room is continuously flooding throughout the year and no maintenance of this room was ever done. The room was missing the basic items that it was supposed to have such as light bulbs in the bedside lamps, towels, coffee machine, only 1 set of robe and slippers! On day 4 of the holiday when we eventually got into the room we originally booked we noticed the room still flooded from the rain coming in under the door and sliding doors to which we ended up having to use our hotel towels to dry the floor and keep the flooding out as the staff were not available to come down to dry the floors when we rang reception. The door of the room locked from the inside which was very dangerous so if my partner left with the key I was locked inside once I closed the door! This is a serious hazard especially in the event of a fire! Twice I had to get reception to come down and open the door for me when I got locked inside. The staff said they would get maintenance to come and fox the door, that never happened so we were stuck with a dodgy door for the entire hotel stay. The shared infinity pool was filthy with signs of no maintenance in the form of the water filters clogged with leaves and dirt. The plants/weeds/trees were never maintained and obstructed the view of turtle island which is such a shame as it was not like this when we stayed here in 2020! The view of turtle island is the selling point for this hotel and you can’t even see it now! Through the entire hotel the sunbeds, parasols and furniture showed signs of wear and tear, broken seats and sunbeds, also very dangerous and should not be left poolside. We spoke with other residents staying in the rooms next to us and they all had issues with their rooms flooding from the bad weather. Nearly every resident staying in the Junior Suite with Shared Infinity Pool had to be relocated to a different room which ended up been a downgraded room. 3. Food and Drink The food was such a let down from what I remembered it to be when we stayed here 5 years ago. The breakfast buffet was cold and not as many options as there was in 2020. The eggs and meat were all cold even though they were stored in the heated plates but the staff were obviously not turning on the power/gas to keep the food heated so basically if you wanted a hot breakfast you had to be there by 7am to get it fresh off the pan! The food in the restaurant and bar was also a let down. Very small portions and very expensive for what you were getting. For the entire 2 week stay we ate outside the hotel and found much nicer restaurants/cafes that were better value. Iv noticed the hotel owner has clearly not been maintaining the hotel grounds, pool and rooms but is happy to charge outrageous prices for the rooms. It’s such a shame such a beautiful hotel has become so dilapidated! If this hotel was inspected by engineers or health and safety it would be closed down to the public!! We were very disappointed in our recent stay here and we will not be returning.