Avlida Hotel Review

Overall Rating

The pool
The waiters and waitresses, most of whom were Polish

See below...

If the Avlida Hotel in Paphos was refurbished recently, as stated in the Libra brochure and on the website, the people who refurbished it should be shot. The entrance was lovely to look at, but further in the hotel, the carpets, rooms, furniture and fittings were scruffy and dowdy. Our toilet was not screwed to the wall, so flushing it was exciting, and our bath was painted, badly, inside, which made it very uncomfortable to have a bath. The shower worked well, but the water was variable, and having a shower was fine as long as you had it cold. There was no Sky TV, and the tiny TV provided was fuzzy, and there were only two channels, both Greek.

The air conditioning did not work, neither in the rooms or in the main hotel reception and public areas, and although we told reception, they just shrugged.

The so-called entertainment was laughable. It was an older man singing strange Karaoke and not even knowing the word. There was no disco or other entertainment. There was some lacklustre Greek dancing once a week, which was very poor.

Some reception staff were unhelpful, and some older staff were surly. If you complained you were treated like a leper, or told you were being awkward. We had to summon the tour guide, as there were so many things wrong. They are all quite minor, but they mounted up. We asked if we could be moved, but she decided to ignore that. She did go to see the manager though, and he did have a higher profile after that, but nothing changed. Our tour guide said the manager would come and speak to us personally. I am still waiting. The tour guide also did not let us know about our return transfers, and I only found out at the time of departure, having called her several times. The excuse was, she forgot!

The crisis in Lebanon was a worry at the time, and we were disconcerted one day to return from a trip to find the hotel full of refugees. Not the kind you imagine, but well dressed and enjoying a holiday. You could not get served at the bar, and the restaurant was very overcrowded. They were treated with great reverence, and they had notices telling them what was going on. None of the paying guests were told what was happening, and whilst we all had every sympathy with these displaced 'Australian Nationals', so we found out later, it would have been polite to let us know, even if it was just by posting a notice to us, as to what was going on.

I could go on. Being true Brits, we gritted our teeth and did have a good holiday and found solidarity with other complainants. Oh yes there were many. Some complained once and got short shrift. In all fairness, one can do without it on holiday. Many others were treated like us and were ignored. I guess that is a good philosophy; ignore them, they go home soon.

We had returned to Cyprus with a view to possibly buying property there, but after this holiday; no thanks.