The Olive Garden Hotel Reviews

The Olive Garden is in the middle of nowhere. It is not in Lardos at all. It is 2 miles from the village, which take half an hour to walk when its 45c, and it is 10 minutes from the beach walking. The hotel is in 2 blocks. 1 block was built this year and is simply furnished, typical Greek, but nice and new. Unfortunately they do have issues with electricity cuts and burst water mains, but nothing too obtrusive. The older block in the main hotel is old, outdated, small, hot and dirty. It was christened Cell Block H by many who stayed there. The bar is ok, although Georges who runs the bar charges you 50 cents to phone for a taxi, and then the taxi adds 2 euros to your cost from the hotel. And believe me, you will need taxis to get out of this hotel and away from Hillbilly Lardos. There is nothing there, except a couple of distinctly average restaurants, and a cheesy cocktail bar staffed by Welsh people. Its like being in the deep south of America down here, so head for Pefkos and Lindos for decent beaches, nice shops, good bars and restaurants and some life. Pefkos is the tourist spot, but has several very good restaurants: Enigma, Terpsis, The Greek House - all superb. Some have the traditional 8.90 euros 3 course menu, I would suggest avoiding these as the service isnt great, the food is frozen and reheated, and the places themselves are soulless. Pay more and get a decent meal in nice surroundings with people who care. Best bars: Eclipse for music and late nights, Pefkos by Night for air con and cocktails, Fuse Bar for good drinks and a great bar manager (Kostas). Lindos is spectacular, but avoid going into town in the day as its stupidly hot in there - over 50c when we were there end of June 08. However, the beach at St Pauls Bay is to die for, great for swimming and snorkeling, and is in the most stunning setting. Dimitri who runs the little beach bar at the other end to the wedding chapel is a gent who will look after anyone who makes an effort and visits regularly. Lovely Italian restaurant in Lindos just up the hill from St Pauls Bay, and make sure you go into 404 Bar and Pals Bar in the town for good music and entertaining bar staff. Lindos really is a special place, but Pefkos offers value for money. Buses around are cheap and reliable, the is a stop outside Olive Garden. We ate once at the hotel, the buffet was dreadful so avoid and get into Pefkos to eat. Hire a car for a few days and go to Rhodes Town, Waterpark, and Prassonisi.

I have just returned from a week at the Olive Garden, chosen mainly after reading reviews on this website, which were invariably positive. I have to agree that the owners and the rest of the staff went out of their way to be friendly and the hotel itself looks good from the outside with some well tended gardens,a nice swimming pool, and a pool bar that served good lunchtime snacks. However, be in no doubt that this is 2 star accommodation.

Of the five couples that arrived with us, three were asking to be moved to different hotels the next morning, even though they had to pay the difference in the brochure price. Our room was small, with mimimal furniture, which would have been be ok if it had been clean, but I dont think it had have ever seen a vacuum cleaner.But by far the worst bit was the bathroom. The shower rail was hanging on by a thread, as was the shower head itself, just below a massive occupied spiders web. The central floor drain had probably not been cleaned for months, during the course of our week the cleaners, who came in daily to do what I'm not sure, must have just mopped straight over it, leaving grime embedded all round it. Sorry if I sound paranoid about it but all I ask is that a hotel room is clean and comfortable when I arrive, in my opinion the star rating should reflect the quality of the facilities provided by the hotel, not the basic cleanliness of the rooms.
I must sound like a miserable gt but I am only telling it like it is. Admittedly when the sun was shining the next morning things did not seem quite as bad and by the end of the week we had got used to it.

The hotel is 500 mtrs from the beach but a 20 min walk to the shops and tavernas of Lardos, which is a pretty ,typically greek village. Apart from a small shop/kiosk on the beach there is nowhere else around to get a drink or indeed buy anything except in the hotel, which is a situation I think they take advantage of.
The drinks at the bar are as expensive as we found anywhere in Rhodes, and the fact that there is a television constantly on at one end of the bar,sometimes with sound sometimes not,and cd's playing at the other end meant that it was ok for a nightcap but I couldnt have spent a whole evening in there.

I would only recommend The Olive Garden if
1) You realise the accommodation is basic
2) You are happy to be in a remote location
3) You just want to chill out in the sun for a week with a book
4) You definitely do not pay full brochure price ( most people I spoke to were on last minute deals )
5) You are prepared to hire a car,or get buses and taxis to see the main sights, especially Lindos and Rhodes Town.

After reading the great reviews on this site we thought we would sample the tastes of the Olive Garden Hotel. We were welcomed by the hosts Peter and Diane, who are both lovely. All of the staff at this hotel are friendly and welcoming. I have never been to a hotel that is so friendly. This also reflects on the guests. We booked this holiday through Thomson and were sold this as a 'bed and breakfast' package. This was not strictly true as you were only given bread rolls and jam, tea, coffee or orange juice so be aware if you are expecting more. (No fault of the hotel this is due to Thomson).The hotel cooks excellent breakfast though - but this is of course at an extra charge - luckily the prices are very reasonable.
The hotel itself is very basic, and we were quite surprised at not having any kitchen facilities in the room, although the rooms were cleaned daily.

Lardos village is about 15 mins walk away but about 6 euros in a taxi. Wouuld recommend Roula's it is a lovely restaurant - you must visit as the food is devine. If you like a bit of cheesy music visit the yamas bar. The beach is 10mins walk from the hotel, but is very pebbly. Pefkos and Lindos are near by, but not close enough to walk to.

All in all we had an enjoyable holiday - hotel not in a brilliant location if you wanting to be central to everything in Rhodes, but if you are wanting to be looked after really well by Peter and Diane and to have a relaxing chilled out holiday then do visit.

Olive Garden Holtel is run by two great people Peter And Diane they make you feel welcome and part of their family their hotel is very beautiful with outstanding gardens the a lovely pool area where you can get a snack or a meal. the beach which is 10 minutes a way and is shingle and in the sea very pebbley so you need to put somthing on you feet to go in to the sea.

the lardest town is about twenty minutes walk and have some fabulous restuarants such as roula,s and rooftop and valentina,s three great places to eat at nighttime there is a bus service which will take you to all the towns

Just returned from the best holiday we have ever had,thanx to hosts DiannaandPeter who were really friendly as are most people in the town of Lardos.Bus service is very good ,very cheap to get around,easier if you hire a car,you get to go to all the best beaches,try Tsambika,Charaki,Prasonisi where two different seas meet,loads of water sports!.Restaurants, we used Roulas most nights fantastic food,good company say Hi to everyone from FredandWilma Flintstone.Drinking bars we found Yamas Bar, Cheers to Maria,Lorna,LoukasandGeorge who made us very welcome,the square was so pretty so laid back,with a lot of greek hospitality plus a bit of modern life.

Go and RELAX,enjoy yourselves.Taxi is a good way of travel if not a touch expensive but you can get to most places easily.

One complaint!!!!!so very sunny so very hot but thats what we go for take plenty of sun cream and a hat.ENJOY!

The Olive Gardens is a very good base to see all the wonderful sites that Rhodes has to offer . Accomodation is basic but clean and the hotel staff can not do enough for you. This has to have been one of the friendliest hotels i've ever stayed in . Lardos village is about 15 minute walk away whilst the beach is about 10 minutes in the other direction and not that nice of beach it is very pebbley. The bus service is about the best way to travel round the island and cheap too theres a bus stop outside the hotel .

We had such a good time that we will going back again this september which is first for us we never really go back to the same place twice.

Peter and Diane are the perfect hosts at the Olive Garden. We had one slight problem with the room size. We felt like we had been put in the broom cupboard for a week. You could not have swung a kitten let alone a cat in the bathroom, unfortunatly there was no other rooms available so we had to remain where we were. If you visit do not stay in rooms 101, 201, 301. Very small!!

Lardos village has some great tavernas, try the Old House restuarant - this is three storeys high and the waiters are really friendly, the lamb chops are fabulous!!! Also Roulas, try the lamb pie and Valentinas, excellent menu, so much to choose from!! The weather was great for mid September. We had a great time on our week away, would definatly go back and stay in Lardos ( wouldn't travel with Thomson's again, their service was awful!!!)

We went to the Olive Garden in August 2005 and the weather was brilliant. Our room was spacious and very clean with an outstanding view from the balcony and the weather was very hot at the time we were out there so the air conditioning made everything so much more comfortable. The swimming pool was clean and the pool bar was excellent for a mid day snack and drink. The restuarants and bars in the village of Lardos were brilliant Memories Cocktail bar was excellent for entertainment and football matches on Sky Sports. The restaurant food in Lardos
was out of this world and the staff were only too happy to help.

Ladies you will love Rhodes town if you like to shop til you drop and the best part is that your platinum credit card doesn't take a hammering because the prices are reasonable.
Agathi was the best beach ever and the sea is great for snorkelling. The goats that roam around the place in Rhodes are hilarious especially when they try to jump in your jeep (as we experienced).

We had a brilliant time staying at the Olive Garden and Peter and Diane made our stay so welcoming we didn't want to leave.

We hope to return soon because the barman and his friend were even hotter than the weather (Me and Laura are not going to say names 'cause we want to keep them all to ourselves!!)