Mitsis Hotel Norida Beach Review

Overall Rating

Kos itself it lovely. Hotel wise, the only good point was leaving!

Everything about the hotel.

By nature my wife and I don't complain, we'll usually put up quite happily with small glitches or failing standards and concentrate on the positives but on this occasion all I can say is that I wish this website had less than 1 point ratings.

We stayed at Norida Beach in August 2006 and were a bit disappointed on arrival. Our room was shabby, dull and equipped to perhaps a 2 or 3 star standard at best. The first thing we noticed though was the smell of raw sewage, and despite a number of complaints about this, the smell persisted for the entire 2 weeks of our holiday, both inside our room and on our balcony area.

We also noticed very quickly that the drainage in the bathrooms wasn't the best. If you had a shower immediately after using the toilet, you often got backwash flooding up onto the bathroom floor!

The next morning, imagine our surprise when laid there naked due to the heat, a maid walks in without even so much as a knock! Even saying NO, GET OUT resulted in her coming in and cleaning around us!

Food in the buffet restaurant was just about palatable, although it gave me an upset stomach twice that required a dose of Imodium. Our main complaint with the food was that this so called air-conditioned restaurant only seemed to have the air-con turned on near the entrance, so when you went to eat it was just unbearable.

Snacks were no better. Considering we were staying on something called an ULTRA all inclusive package, I had visions of a better class of food and service than we had experienced in Jamaica a few years ago. On the contrary, snacks were limited to a cling film wrapped crusty roll with a piece of sweaty feta, some dry cake or a hot dog. I ask you what exactly is 5 star about a hot dog!

The hotel also has an on-site Chinese restaurant, that you can book into for your evening meal instead of the buffet restaurant. Unfortunately in the 14 nights we were there we were unable to get into this restaurant and the reception staff recommended that we get up at 5am and book in with reception then. Seeing as we were on holiday, there was no way I was getting up at 5am!

Drinks were no better. In fact we were there during the busiest week of the season and there were queues at the bars that lasted 30 minutes or more at which point you were allowed 3 drinks per order and we would be given half pint glasses, three quarters full and the beer tasted flat or watered down. My wife was equally unimpressed as there wasn't a drop of brandy or Metaxa to be found in the hotel!

Also, you are provided with a mini bar in your room that is supposed to be stocked every other day, yet on our 14 night stay it was stocked 3 times!

It wasn't just drinks that we'd paid for and didn't get value for money, most of the hotels facilities were oversubscribed. During the 14 days of our stay we were unable to find a single lounger or sunbed by the pool or on the beach. We had to resort to buying inflatable Lilo's for use on the shingle beach, which didn't feel much like a 5 star experience to me!

Entertainment wise, this hotel was pathetic. I don't really find men dressing up as women that entertaining, especially not every night and because of the drinks situation, you couldn't even get drunk to help the entertainment become even remotely amusing.

Finally, the staff at the hotel were arrogant and just plain rude most of the time. When we asked for help on several occasions, we didn't get anything more than scowls and rude responses. On one occasion my wife asked for a packed lunch, provided as part of the ULTRA all inclusive package. She was 3 minutes late past the time to get your name on the list. The cut off time was 8pm and we asked at around 8:03pm. She was told in no uncertain terms that it was her own stupid fault for being late and that she couldn't order the packed lunch! Surely a 5 star service hotel would of just added her name to the list!

After our first week of hell in this hotel we spent a lot of extra money to hire a car and left first thing in the morning and returned only last thing at night. This was the only way we felt we could salvage our holiday, as the hotel was just disgraceful.

Overall, this holiday was very expensive at nearly two grand for two weeks and we didn't get to use any of the facilities that we'd paid for. The actual cost became just over three and a half grand once we'd hired the car and left the hotel for the second week.

As for the ULTRA part of their ULTRA all inclusive package, I can only assume that this is some sort of ridiculous joke.

If we'd of paid maybe £600 for the holiday, I wouldn't of minded any of this and would of happily hired the car and gone off site every day but at the end of the day we paid 5* Ultra all inclusive prices and received 2* bed and breakfast service.

Since returning, we have been in correspondence with Hotels 4U on a regular basis, who have basically done nothing to redress this situation. They have however admitted that the hotel is NOT 5* as we know it, rather it is a rating that THEY have given the hotel and that Norida have been given by some Greek authority. As such, they acknowledge that this hotel isn't of the standard it is being advertised and sold as.

Unfortunately the only other thing that they have repeatedly shown to us in their letters is that they couldn't care less once they have your money. We are now starting legal proceedings to get our money back.