Guest User
October 25, 2023
Firstly, we stayed at the Iolida Star which is part of the Iolida Beach hotel ( the beach side is, on the beach, the star side across the busy road). We were on 8th floor in a 1 bed apar**ent with lovely sea views. €21 tourist tax for 7 days ROOM- The apar**ents are basically furnished & a bit dated but adequate with a small kitchenette with hob/ kettle/ sink/ fridge. Tea & coffee facilities are listed but you need to take your own tea/coffee etc. WiFi in every room, TV has only 1 English speaking channel which is France 24 news so maybe take a tablet & stream if you fancy a night in. Beds were firm but comfortable with nice white cotton linen & towels. Not much storage for clothes. Apar**ent was cleaned daily and like the whole complex, was kept spotless. Good thick walls so little noise from neighbouring rooms during our stay. Remember as with most of Greece, used toilet paper goes in the bathroom bin not the toilet, their plumbing system cannot cope. Nice tiled , decent shower with plenty of hot water. POOL AREAS - MUCH smaller than they're made to look on TUI web site!! 1 pool in each side of complex with a toddler pool attached. Not heated, our main concern was the bigger pool (Star side) had a lot of green algae both in the pool and around the sides, as well as a brown scum line around the sides, whatever the cause ( suncream or other contaminants) it needs sorting out. Other than that, plenty of sunbeds/ parasols but, as I said, a small area so likely to be very cramped during summer months. BEACH- Narrow stretch of sandy beach with sunbeds & parasols which the hotel charge extra for €6 per day (2 beds & 1 parasol). Went snorkeling but other than a few small fish it was pretty dead, around 4ft deep until you are well out. FOOD- 2 restaurants, 1 for each side, Reasonably tasty on the whole, usual breakfast fayre cooked, continental, cereals, fruit & yogurts. The 1 toaster doesn't work properly & needs replacing. As previous reviews have mentioned, there is a coffee machine but it doesn't matter what you select it's absolutely disgusting so it's worth taking a small jar of your own!! Lunch & dinner, good selection but the BIG issue is that everything is luke warm at best except if you get it as kitchen staff are putting it out as it's cooling within minutes. I never saw any staff checking food temperatures. Fans & Aircon just make this worse & by the time your sat at a table the food is pretty cold. One little irritation is that the hotel have printed single use paper place mats, which are a) useless and b) are binned as the table is cleared, this must cost the hotel a fortune but more importantly it's costing the environment & a totally unnecessary waste of paper. Note to owners - just go with a nice clean table top!! They do provide 1 bottle of water on arrival which you can refill at either of the restaurant bars, saving huge amounts of plastic waste. ENTERTAINMENT- well, there was none at all day or night when we were there but I believe