Hotel Lydia Maris Reviews

This is probably the easiest review I've ever had to compile. Firstly we used on the beach to book our holiday, booked for the mikri poli hotel in Kolymbia and ended up at the Lydia Maris as the Mikri Poli was overbooked. SO you've been warned.

Resort - Kolymbia resort is basic, if you like dirt and half finished buildings then you must visit. The beach at the north side is like a building site and after reading some reviews other folk must be very easily pleased....the place is a tip with nothing to do for kids or adults.If this is what you want from a holiday then get going to this resort, must sya the tree lined main street is lovely but it stops there.

Hotel - The Lydia Maris could be mistaken for Fawlty Towers. The food is basic, I had a birds nest in my room air duct, staff miserable and dirty , rats and mice on the wooen decking around the pool, drink is watered down and the cheapest local brews they could probably find, 1 litre of the vodka they had behind the bar was 3 euros in the local supermarket ! I seen things I could'nt put on the internet for fear of legal proceedings.....please do not go unless you wnat to cliam compensation for a crap holiday. Oh by the way enttertainment was done on a shoestring budget by great kids who deserved a medal for their efforts.

This is a GREEK hotel. It has a 4 star rating and by Greek standards we would say that it was. We booked the week before we went and paid £1400 for two weeks ultra all inclusive (hotel, flights and transfers)Worth every penny. First of all we would go back and we have both been to Greece many times (our first AI). The hotel is mainly used by German tour operators and is probably not right if you are looking for a real party. We wanted two weeks to 'chill' and that's what we did. You do have to get up early if you want to pick your place by the pool however when the beds around the pool have gone there are plenty around the gardens. We got up at 7am! (not usual) but had our pick of the beds to put our towels on! By our second (week 24th sept) it was much quieter. Yes the Germans do put their towels out early and not use them all day but we just beat them at their own game! At least you are up and getting the Sun.

The food was excellent and We like 'Real' Greek food. There was always a stampede at the start but we had a great laugh, people watching. There was always enough food so we just waited until the crowds had finished and then had a leisurely meal. It often paid because the second lot of food was hotter. The Greek night was so busy that we did have to get our table early on the second week but again the food was Fab.
Drinks are available from 1000-0100, you can help your self to soft drinks, Wine and Beer all day. If you want to drink late you would have to go out of the hotel.

The rooms are basic at the moment but are being renovated at present and the one we saw was lovely.
If we go again we would book it ourselves via the Med hotels.com and get flights seperate. A taxi from the Airport is around 23 Euros.We pre paid our Taxi for £80, we were told that when you tell a Taxi driver where you want to go they show you a card with a tariff so you can't get ripped off! A great place to chill out, eat more food than you could ever need and drink loads if you want to. We felt that the lack of English was a bonus as we had heard that AI are sometimes a bit roudy!

on arrival we felt that we had been transported back to the 1960S,the hotel looks fab on the brochure but in reality is tired.

the food was boring and luke warm, the drinks were fine, the snacks consist of buns with cheese and ham, and are limited.
you have to be very quick to beat the 90% germans to any of the cakes at teatime.

Get up at 3am to put a towel on your sunbed to stand any chance of one.

the entertainment if you can call it that is again limited and in german.

the main bar closed lights out in the main hotel at 10pm ,althiugh drinks available at the pool bar outside.this was in high season!

the resort of kolymbia is busy but just the usual bars,not much for kids here.

tsambika beach is about 5 mins drive and is fab and sandy. 7 euros for 2 beds and worth it to get away from the germans.

rhodes town is beautiful and we visited several times.

rooms at the lydia maris were clean, but i would not go again,
and the club next door was rubbish too, free entry for residents and free drinks but only about 3 people in there as all the germans go to bed at 10!

Well, we took a risk buying on teletext and it paid off! The hotel was very good - plenty of food but perhaps a little more variety would have improved our eating experience! Still, we did go out and eat locally a couple of times, but, you've guessed it - the food on offer was just more of the same!

There is a weekly entertainment evening, however the owner (don't give up your day job!) insisted on joining in each time with a prepared list of Greek songs which he presented to the musicians. On both occasions he managed to virtually clear the room within half an hour (this guy's got staying power even if he can't sing). Still if you fancy a good chuckle (along with many of the other diners) go along!

The facilities in the hotel complex were as described. The free watersports appeared to be at the discretion of the employee ";on the beach";. He did not keep to the hours as advertised, and the safety boat was not present all of the time (hence he would not allow me to take out a windsurfer). Two out of the five pedalos were damaged, but the serviceable ones were fun to use.

It took only some five minutes to walk to the nearest beach which is prodominantly rocks and shingle, although the (better) alternative with much more sand was about ten minutes'.

It was possible to eat as much as one wanted from breakfast time (07:00 - 10:00) through lunch (12:00 - 14:00) to the evening meal (18:30 - 21:30. At all other times the pool snack bar was open from 10:00 until midnight. As I said earlier the food was fine, but somewhat repetitive.

The free bar was also open from 10:00 to midnight. The hotel nightclub was advertised as being open every night. In fact from our second week it only opened three nights. Still, entry was free to hotel guests (and only 7 Euros to others)and most drinks were free. I fail to see how the place makes a profit, apart from being an add-on to the total hotel ";experience";. I should also add that from my clubbing over the years, this club (called Pergamo's) was not bad at all!

So, as far as the hotel is concerned, it delivered well in most aspects and we had little cause (apart from niggles as noted above) for complaint.

We did feel that the 50 euros charge to retain our room until midnight after we had checked out at noon was excessive, but the hotel readily provided us with keys for the fitness suite to shower and change on our last evening, so no complaints there either.

Another good point in this hotel's favour is that it is predominantly patronised by Germans. Hence the high standards! The usual towel=sunbed problem has been niftily solved by the management by making it ";verboten"; to place a towel on a sunbed between 20:00 and 10:00. Hence, no problems. Do bear in mind, though, that the entertainment is directed towards Germans. Having said that, they do love a game of bingo! Most of the room TV channels are similarly in German, but there was Sky available in the bar.

There are plenty of bars and restaurants in the town (hotel is less than a minute's walk away from the centre). For a more ";local"; experience, visit ";Nisiko's"; Beach Bar by the harbour.

To finish, I can categorically state that I WOULD visit this hotel complex again!