TUI BLUE Caravel Resort & Spa

This was our 5th Return to the Caravel expecting 11 nights of relaxation as we always had before. Food was good as usual, we noticed changes to the way water was served in the restaurant not from bottles, as previous guests had suggested a self serve supply as they had to wait too long for service nice touch stainless steel caraffes. Unfortunately day 4, I was struck down with a gastric illness and spent most of the next 3 days in the bathroom. Day 7 my wife was taken I'll with sickness and diarrhoea so severe she was rushed to hospital where she spent 3 days recovering. Hotel staff and Tui reps were very caring and helpful. Her stay in the hospital was traumatic as they would not supply her with water, i had to bring it in for her and another patient. Hospital charges covered under the travel card but on call Doctor charged us 500 euros for her services. Not going back.

This was our first time in Zakynthos, Tsilivi. Since we like the TUI Blue Adults Only concept, we chose Caravel for one week. It turned out that it was a waste of time and money! When we firstly arrived, the male receptionist seemed very stiff and stressed, kind of aggressive approach. When we checked in to our room, we noticed several things not working - the weak AC, the shifting and unstable shower hot/cold and the door-lock seemed to get stuck, the door-hand to the toilet kind of loose. When we reported this at the Reception, they seemed mostly annoyed and their attitude was like "you're just going to stay for one week, so don't complain". The male receptionist, in particular, seemed not to care at all and behaved very macho towards me, as a woman. We also spoke to two other guests during our stay, that had experienced the same rude approach from this receptionist. The food at the restaurant was usually similar, and also cold. The food didn't taste that much, either to be honest. It became boring, so the Culinarium was a better option. The sunbeds were okay, but tired and worn out. This was also supposed to be an Adults Only hotel, but families with kids were around the hotel area when the beach close supposed to be only for the Caravel guests. Nobody in the staff said anything. We only heard the Fitness instructor point this out during her Aqua Fitness classes by the pool. Sara, the Fitness instructor was overall very professional, strong and inspiring, and we loved her classes! What a woman! She saved our one week of holiday at this Caravel hotel! We both as a couple are very into training, and when we saw that the gym was left careless, with old machines - we only had Sara's Fitness classes to enjoy! She also generously let us to borrow the barbells and weights on the platform, when no classes were scheduled. We wish her lots of joy and all the best! Tsilivi overall, was small for us. Tight with space on the side-walks, very crowded and not that fancy! Very few restaurants we enjoyed with good quality of food. The standards were quite low. We don't recommend this hotel, nor the village Tsilivi to spend your holiday. There are other places that are much better standards, in every way!

This was our third visit to the Caravel. We were not disappointed. For the first time we were placed in one of the outside buildings. We had asked for a quiet room and that is what we got. I had mentioned to the booking agent in Woking that it would be our 59th Wedding Anniversary whilst we were there. When we arrived there was a cake and a bottle of Bubbly in the fridge. How kind is that? There were one or two challenges with the room. The first being a long way from the water boiler a lot of water was wasted waiting for it to run hot. Such a waste when water is so precious. The lift broke down and as I have mobility issues this was a challenge. We were on the first floor. It was however, repaired the next day, just as the lady on Reception said it would be. The standard of cleanliness it above reproach. The chamber maid and all the staff are superb. 'Miracle Man' on Reception answered all our questions instantly. The seats in the lounges are a little tired but we always found somewhere to sit. The entertainment was so good. The drinks ample and of good quality. The food on offer was superb and very varied. If I wanted to find fault, we stopped having lunch in the outside Snack Bar as the wasps were prolific but short of artificial wasp nests there is little that can be done about that.Lots of nece walks around for those who are able. Plenty of sunbeds. Not sure why anyone chooses a swim up room as they are a waste of money. They are in the shade for most of the day and apparently the water was very cold. Thank you Caravel and all its staff, a great holiday.

I spent a wonderful 10 days in October at the Tui Blue Caravel with my partner. Although the weather wasn’t always great (there were a couple of very rainy days) it was a lovely holiday. -THE ROOM We were in room 620 (View from room 620 (Double Room with Limited Sea View and Balcony) which has been refurbished but has a wet room bathroom not like some of the newer rooms. There is a bit of wear and tear in the room and our door handle was dodgy. The room is clean and has a minimalist feel. There is a plenty of storage space as well as a safe and a fridge. The fridge is stocked with Pepsi, orangeade, lemonade and two big bottles of water, it also gets periodically replenished. There is a TV but there are only 3 English language channels and they are mainly news based. It would be nice if there were some more English channels for the rainy days. As mentioned the bathroom is a wet room style, there is a slight problem with the drainage as the shower does occasionally cause the plug to overflow however there is another drain near the toilet at the water diverts too, its still a strange set up. I would have liked a bidet in the room as toilet paper is discarded in the bin in Greece and this would mean using less toilet paper overall. -FOOD The hotel has 3 places to get food from in October the main buffet restaurant, the snack bar and the Cullinarium (a la carte) restaurant which you can visit once for free during your stay. The main buffet has plenty of options to choose from both meat and vegetarian. In the evenings the central section tends to be mainly vegetarian food. All the food is labelled so you know what it is and has allergen markers for refrence. Although this is a great system there were some items that said they were “minced meat” but with not reference of the kind of meat. It would be useful if the labels said if they were lamb, beef or pork as I don’t eat beef for religious reasons and avoided dishes that could have been beef. The desserts were amazing and I definitely ate a large amount of baklava each day! On some evenings they also wheel out a chocolate fountain! You will most likely also encounter on of the many hotels cats wondering around during food service, the black one who we dubbed “hotel manager” tends to be the only one who comes indoors, he is well behaved and tends to just walk around the dining area but doesn’t tend to bother guests. If he’s not there he’s usually napping in the hotel bar. We only visited the snack bar once on our first day as we had just missed the lunch service it had a selection of sandwiches, salads, pizzas and sides, useful if you need a snack or arrive post lunch like we did. The culinarian was a delightful treat you are asked to select four courses (soup, appetizer, main and dessert) The portion sizes are refined but it feels like the right amount of food, a welcome change from loading up a plate at the buffet. The gazpacho was probably my favourite dish it was very refreshing and flavourful. There is also a table set up near the buffet restaurant during the day that has cakes, breadsticks, fresh fruit, dry fruit and roast chickpeas to graze on. -FACILITIES There are plenty of spaces to lounge by the pool, on the beach and or sit in the bar and enjoy a drink. The hotel staff are very attentive and there is a huge cocktail list to select from, the mojitos were great! The pool is a 1.4m deep and in October was colder than the sea but once you are in for a few minutes you don’t notice the temperature. The only down side was the amount of wasps around the pool on hot days, they were evening following the staff around. They were particularly attracted to the sweeter cocktails like the pina coladas. On the advice of another couple we purchased some eucalyptus and tea tree spray to repel them which helped. As mentioned, the crystal clear sea tends to be a better temperature that the pool and it is accessible via a staircase to the beach. The hotel also owns some sun loungers on the beach. You can go surprisingly far out before the water starts to get deep, some parts are rockier that the others but I am still amazed at how clear the water was! There is a Spa on site and its run by the very friendly Maria, who is extremely knowledgeable about the treatments and loves a chat. I had a body scrub my Nora who did an amazing job and my partner had an upper body massage which really loosened him up. You can also use the steam room, sauna and indoor pool (26°c) each day but you need to fill out a form at reception before doing so. -ENTERTAINMENT On our first night we were subjected to someone badly singing karaoke (butchering every single song and not giving up the mic) for most the afternoon and during the dinner service which made us worry that that was all that was on offer but thankfully we were wrong. Wednesday is Gala night which consists of fireworks and an Elton John tribute act. As we were there toward the end of the season there wasn’t a lot of entertainment on due to the hotel heading towards one third capacity, but they tend to have a singer or local musicians when they have entertainment. There are also things like water aerobics and yoga on offer throughout the day. -NEARBY The hotel is in a quieter part of town, there are some shops nearby where you can pick up souvenirs and snacks. The wooden bus stop where tui excursions sometimes pick you up from is a 5 minute walk away. If you continue up the road you will eventually come to a mini golf park which is rather fun before entering busier part of Tsilivi / Planos. -OVERALL We had a lovely time here the staff were great the facilities were good, the drinks were plenty. The hotel needs a bit of TLC and they do need to something about the wasp issue but I would definitely recommend this hotel and come back again in the future.

I had a full body massage and a facial. Nora was exceptional and really professional and I felt very at ease throughout a long session. Very much appreciated and would definitely recommend. I feel great.