ajamieson

Hmm. Either things have changed or I just got very unlucky.

No elite recognition whatsoever on my recent stay...no upgrade (even though front desk confirmed suites were available), no Platinum amenity and no late check-out (until I argued). There's no club, so no club access either.

In addition, I encountered some bizarre minor service issues...

- There are no irons or ironing boards available in the room or on request from housekeeping because of "safety reasons". We were told to use a wall-mounted mini-iron in the laundry room on the ground floor but it did not work. Even in a Four Points I can press a shirt so I don't see why this should be an issue in a Category 5 hotel.
- Our non-smoking room had ashtrays. This may just be a Cypriot thing, since everyone smokes, but...
- Minibars do not contain bottle openers and bottle-openers are not available on request; if you want a bottle opened, room service must take the bottle away, open it and bring it back. Alternatively, I can recommend the metal edge of the balcony door lock as a more convenient alternative
- There is no wireless internet, and the cable internet connection costs a rapacious 21 Euro a day and is agonisingly slow. And there are not enough spare cables. We had to wait a day to get a cable and, having got it, received a call from the front desk three hours later asking when we would be bringing it back!
- The crockery and glassware in our room was removed after the second day and never replaced. We only really had cause to use the glasses for water but it seemed a bizarre thing to do.
- There was a minimum stay of four nights throughout Easter even though the hotel turned out to be only half full. I checked SPG when booking (paid stay) and they said nothing was available for four nights because the hotel was "completely full" but they would accept a booking for five nights "in order to make it worthwhile walking other guests to another hotel". But during our stay, the front desk confirmed the hotel was little more than 50 per cent full. This turned out to be a bonus, since the poolside was quiet, but...very strange.

I did email the GM to ask about the upgrade and I got a reply from another employee saying we had been upgraded (despite the room being exactly as described on the reservation) and that no suites had been available (despite what the front desk agent had told us on arrival). I replied that I had not been offered a Platinum amenity and she promised to credit the points although this has not been done and my stay has not credited either.

Having said all of that, it is a lovely location and the attractive poolside areas make up for the ugliness of the main building. There is a fantastic complimentary breakfast for all guests and we found the restaurant and bar staff to be exceptionally pleasant and efficient. The food and drink prices were expensive, as you'd expect from a resort hotel, but not excessive for what was good quality food. There is at least one restaurant which has a dress code and excludes children, which is a welcome touch in an otherwise family-orientated resort. The little indoor pool has a nice steam room. The Elemis Spa looks amazing, but sadly the prices were well out of our league! The concierge was very helpful and Limassol is only 15 Euro away in a taxi. Overall, this is a nice resort. ^

A little tip for others: there is a shop in the residential area close to the hotel selling basic snacks, cola, beer, fruit etc. When you walk out of the main entrance gate turn left, follow the road around for about 200m and as it starts to climb a hill the shop is on the right hand side.

In full season, I imagine rooms in the Royal Spa Wing are slightly quieter than those in the main building. Made little difference in our stay because the whole place was so quiet, but the Wing is furthest from the childrens' pool

There are also no news channels on the TV. There is BBC1 and BBC2, which is great for British guests but I imagine very boring for others. The rest of it is Russian and Greek TV. No CNN or Fox/Sky News.