Valana Hotel Apartments Reviews

We had a really enjoyable and relaxing time, mainly due to the friendliness and helpfulness of the family who run it. It's 2 Star accommodation but the rooms were spacious, beds comfortable, air conditioning efficient (at an extra charge normal for this rating), kitchen facilities adequate, shower good and balcony excellent. The pool was also very good with plenty of free sunbeds and umbrellas, bar facilities and restaurant good basic whilst a little expensive (exchange rate very poor at present). Good place from which to travel

I read awful reviews before I went (but after I had booked!) so feared the worst. It was lovely; away from the busy main road but close enough to walk to shops and restaurants. The owner and his staff did all they could to make our stay very pleasant. It isn't 5* but then you aren't paying those prices. Clean and well appointed. Caters for all ages. Large swimming pool and plenty of sun beds. Enjoy!

The one bedroom apartment was large with two single beds in the living room and two single beds in the bedroom. The beds in the living room did not turn into a settee, therefore there was no where in the apartment to relax. The reception staff during the day were brilliant, helpful and polite; night time was a different story. Did not try the food in the hotel so unable to offer an opinion.

The weather was brilliant the whole time we were there 30c, however the pool was like ice, too cold me adults only the children brave enough! This could be because the pumps not working, you would find dirt, leaves etc in the water. The whole place needs a good coat of paint and a lot of maintanence. Shower near the pool not working at all, tiles broken, curtains with holes etc. The hotel was built some 25 - 30 years ago and has not been updated or had any work done on it since.

We did have a lovely holiday because we spent very little time in the hotel.

The apartments were clean and spacious although slightly dated. The staff were helpful and friendly when we arrived, we paid for a late check out but on the day of departure we were told by 2 different members of staff that check out was noon so this was a waste of money. The entertainment was 2 nights line dancing and 1 kiddies disco in two weeks which we thought was a bit disappointing.

Limassol had a great variety of eating places offering good food at reasonable prices. We had lovely meals in Faulty Towers and The Welcome Inn Irish bar.

The Speed Bowl was a bright clean 10 pin bowling alley, which was not far away from Valana (we went by Taxi because the olympic rep could not tell us where it was)

This was our first visit to Cyprus and will be going back again but next time will hire a car as the trips were expensive and we did not have enough time to appreciate the places we visited.

Had an enjoyable holiday despite a few bug bears.

Flight and Transfers
The flights were very good, mostly on time and the food was good on the plane. Transfers to and from the resort were speedy and efficient. Olympics reps were very helpful, so I have nothing negative to say about them.

Resort
Limassol is not a picturesque holiday resort. It is a busy town, with lots of bawdy bars and restaurants on a busy road. There is virtually no beach, or indeed cafes or bars on the seafront. Having said that, the restaurants and bars are of a decent quality, and we enjoyed some very nice meals here. Go to Crusoes Place bar off the beaten track, the locals go there and it is good. If you have a family, you might have little to do, as there are not much in the way of entertainment.

There are strip clubs and working women on the street. Having said that, the streets felt very safe so I would not worry about that.
If you fancy a quiet beach holiday in quiet surroundings then do not come to Limassol - There is a lot of building work and traffic. If you just want a cheap holiday in the sun, then a few beers and a meal, then it is fine. the weather was very hot when we were here, on the verge of too hot, so I would avoid going later than June.
Cyprus is also very expensive compared to many other holiday destinations - The Pound prices tend to be the same as in the UK, but the Cypriot Pound is worth more than the UK pound by about 25%.

Resort
On arriving at Valana, the staff were very helpful. It is away from the road, so it is quietish. There is a big pool, with free loungers. There are always loungers available. One very annoying aspect is the locals who swarm over the pool in the afternoon - People who have paid to stay have to get out of the way, which seems unfair.
The apartments are very clean and spacious. Bathroom was tiny though. The accommodation was good though and you will struggle to get better elsewhere.

Valana is not a big resort, so the entertainments are poor, with occasional entertainment to a Peter Kay niteclub standard or line dancing. You would get bored very quickly if you spent all your time in there.

The Valana does serve food, at cheap prices. The quality does match the price however. Service was fast and friendly however.

If you are going on Excursions I would recommend the Cyprus night which was excellent.
The trip to Paphos was OK as well.

Conclusion
Limassol is noisy, expensive but it is cheaper than other areas of the island, therefore if you want to come to Cyprus on the cheap then it may be what you want.
The people in Cyprus are also very friendly.
However, I would recommend spending a bit more and staying somewhere else.

I had read the reviews of this place - and all were consistent about cleanliness and being spacious. And the apartment was clean and very spacious! We had arrived about 2am and had booked 2 apts but on arrival found we had been allocated 1 apt and 1 studio, adjacent to each other. We took this up with the manager the next morning and instantly he said that he knew we were a party arriving late with young children - as there weren't 2 apts available together then we were given the studio, to keep us all together. He said that another apt would be available but in a different block. He added if we kept the studio then we could have air conditioning free (charged C£4 per nite -apt and C£3 - studio) and a TV for the duration of our stay (2 weeks) plus free breakfast for one week for the occupants in the studio! Nice touch - so naturally accepted as the accomodation was very clean.

The maid came and swept and cleaned everyday. The staff were very friendly and helpful and hooked us up with a mini bus driver who took us sightseeing all over Cyprus (Paphos, Lefkosia, Agia Napa, Larnaca) for a really good price. We've done loads of package tours b4 and were bored and fed up with the rip-off tours that the tour operators do and all their useless hype. So this guy was a breath of fresh air.

Valana is in a good location as it is set back just off the main road so u have the convenience of the shops, bars, restaurants nitelife etc within walking distance but without the hustle and bustle of the noise.

Limassol beaches are either pebbly or dark sand. we found a nice soft sand beach just across the road from McDonalds, there's also a kiddies funfair next to McD's. Bus stop is 10 min walk.

Good place to eat was the deli across the road from Burger King. Massive portions for roughly C£4. Recommend the chicken kebab!!

The Olympic rep wasnt really much use to us, so he didnt leave a good impression of Olympic to us - considering it was our first time travelling with Olympic.

Oh yeah not to mention, we flew out with Monarch - who charged us a whopping sum for excess baggage weight, charged at £4 per kilo - no lenience, even with kids!!

This was our first visit to Cyprus, and we were all truly impressed. We'll definetly come back to Limassol and stay in Valana again. The locals are really friendly and helpful, even the teenagers are well behaved!! We came in August and it was hot!

Valana apts, spacious, cleaned daily with fresh towels etc, but don't expect the maids to clean the kitchen area, buy some wash up liquid from supermarket and keep it clean and tidy, they will make the beds and clean the bathroom etc, nice balcony overlooking pool we had but don't expect that, we were lucky,

The staff are very friendly with the host Elle i think her name is, very good and watch out for the little pocket receptionist Alexandra i think she said her name was, she was lovely with a lovely lovely smile, the reception is manned 24 hrs and the pool was nice and clean infact we saw it getting cleaned out daily in the early mornings, there were 2 bars ( one poolside ) and restaurant inside and out, great night at the bbq held weekly with entertainment. The hotel and apts are set back approx a few mins walk from the main drag and i would reccommend this place to anybody

Best bars and restaurants we found were The Welcome Inn Irish bar, turn right and about ten mins walk, Shakespears to the left do great breakfasts and sunday roasts, Surfers good for bfast just before Shakespears, The Step Inn to the right, five mins can give you a nice night out with live music and karaoke till late, City Pride bar on the corner always packed out late so we avoided that, excellant food everywhere we eat really, £7.50 for 3 course meal at Alonis where you can get all types of International food was great value with friendly and efficient staff, even offer a free drink and sent us off with a snapps each and true to their word there were no hidden extras, also good food at Woodland, you'll eventually find them all just be prepared to walk a bit

a no30 Bus will take you all the way up to Old Town ( to the right ) for 65cents, takes over an hour to walk as we did so first day and back, if your there early sept then the wine festival is a must, it is on for 12 days and we went three times and every night was different, £2 entry, £1 for a glass or bottle which you keep then free wine between 8.00 / 11.00, again a 30 bus will take you there as it's on the main drag but check for buses back as it's a long walk if you miss the last bus, can always stop off for one in the 'Ship' as we did on way back , the castle is worth a visit and the better beaches are quite a way up nearer town, yes there are many bars and eating places along the drag but take a walk to the left too as some lovely places up that way past mcdonalds

we booked our tours with west end travel, a nice english lady called chrissie and she gives you discounts, we took the Paphos tour which was very interesting and enjoyable, a jeep safari into the Troodos mountains a must and the highlight for me, a thrilling donkey ride on the village culture trip, a must if you are looking for something different
all in all Limassol was an excellant base to see other parts of Cyprus from and with loads to do in Limassol itself, also has a nice waterpark for the kids i hear

will Definetly go back
Had a Great Time

We arrived in Cyprus at Paphos and beware. They are in no hurry to get your bags to you. I think we waited an hour (about four other flights came in at the same time) so as long as you are patient it is fine.

We found our bus and made our way to Limassol. After 45 mins we were along the main strip beside the beach hoping our appartments were not going to be there (noisy).

We were pleasantly surprise with Valana. they were clean and spacious. The temperature was about mid 20s at night so we decided to go for the air conditioning. Because we had a one bedroomed appartment we had to pay £4.40 (bout £6 uk) per day. If we had a studio then it would have been £2.20. There was bad noise from air conditioning and it totally stuffed me up!

Our balcony door wouldn't lock so we told reception and within 24 hours it had been fixed so it was secure.

The olympic rep seemed to be a bit of a space cadet. We gleaned what information we could from him. We decided to hire a car. We could a nice brand new Diahatsu 1.3 for £30 each (including fuel) for two days. Tommy's car rentals was the provider of the car. But the company we used was Exodus travel.

Definately hire a car, you can please yourself what you do. We went to the Kourion and it was fabulous. The open ampitheatre is okay but go check out the ruins in the same area, they are truly stunning. We then went to tomb of the kings at Paphos, a bit disappointing but still very interesting, then went to Sanctuary of Aphrodite. We did all of this on a Sunday which is free for all EU countries (we said we were from Scotland but they had no idea where that was so we had to say England ........). We did all that in the morning then we headed to the beach beside Kourion and had hours sun bathing then up to the troodos mountains.

It was a very tiring drive with winding roads and definately needed the extra power in the car. Took 1.5 hours up but luckily took a different route home. went up to the monastery and it was just unbelieveable and worth the visit.

The next day got up early headed to Nicossia. To be honest a bit of a wasted journey although the shopping did look good. We went to the woolworths buiding and got some more details on Europes last divided city. We then drove to the border to see Famagusta - the ghost town. Don't do what we did. Go to Fig tree bay beside protaras. Take the glass bottomed boat there, you will get a much better view and feel for it. Fig tree bay has the most beautiful beaches.

London's Pride is full of locals. Even the valana pool at the weekend was over run with locals.

In the old town visit the castle and do the time machine. Its great fun and gives you some information on Cyprus also the sponge centre, lots of nice skin care stuff.

There are some really nice restaurants around the castle and they serve good food in a great atmosphere!

All in all would I go back to Limassol. No, but it was a good relaxing holiday which let us combine culture with relaxation.

Accommodation:
Olympic did us proud with the Hotel,we asked for 2 rooms next to each other and thats exactly what we received, despite only paying £150.00 each for the week.
The rooms were quite large with decent sized balconys. They were cleaned every day and towels etc.changed twice weekly. the Hotel had various entertainment nights including karaoke on a sunday. while we were there they also did Line dancing nights. The Cyprus evening was very enteraining with over 22 different dishes to try.
The Olympic Rep (Keith) was always available and turned up on time for his visits, and didn't pressure us into doing any trips.

Resort:
The Hotel was set back from the main drag which was a blessing as it can be quite noisy on an evening, especially the weekends when all the locals hit the town.
the main road has plenty of bars, clubs, restaurants and quite a few topless and strip clubs!!.
Most of the restaurants have set menu boards outside with various prices from
£4.95 - £7.95 for 3 courses (cyprus pounds).However some of the Main road Glitsy one's try to persuade you to buy more than you want, we got caught out at one. ( you learn from experience). A couple of restaurants we can recommend are The Green Corner - Turn left at the Main road, past Burger king and K.F.C and a bit further on your left just set back a bit you will find the Green Corner, nice chap speaks very good english as he had a restaurant in York and Scarbough a few years ago. The other one is behind the Hotel Pool, called the Thatched House, huge platefuls !
Limassol itself is a large city, nice castle in the Harbour area, some quaint little street running off from this part with lots of little craft shops etc.

If you do go to cyprus do try the local dishes, very tasty. also do try to speak a little greek, they do like it if you can
(it got me a free glasses case and strap) but most of all enjoy the friendliness of these people and the laid back lifesyle they lead, remember your on HOLIDAY.

Bon Voyage !