Kastambena Apartments Review

Overall Rating

The apartments are owned by brothers George and Stelios who are wonderful. They provide wonderful, fresh home cooking and run the bar each evening, always with a friendly smile and pleasant chat which helped to break the ice. The friendly atmosphere was certainly condusive to getting to know the other holidaymakers staying there at the same time, with new friends easily made. The apartments surround a small pool which was never overcrowded. Special themed evenings are another joy to be experienced. The apartments can only be booked through Golden Sun.

There isn't a great deal of entertainment outside the apartment complex within walking distance, although there are a few nice local restaurants.

The brothers who own the Kastambena Apartments in Kissanerga on Cyprus are wonderfully sociable, resulting in a warm and friendly atmosphere for all the guests. There are special themed evenings twice weekly, with fab food and entertainment. There are also some great little restaurants nearby. The best beaches are at Coral Bay, which can be reached following a short 50p bus ride. Soft, golden sand and beautiful clear water provide a lovely beach ideal for relaxing, which is also very popular with the locals. Refreshments are also widely available here. There is also a huge selection of watersports, suitable for all ages.
Taxis (24 hour) are also reasonable, and if you're looking for lively nightlife it costs about £5 (Cyprus) to reach Paphos, but again only 50p by bus. There are numerous bars, restaurants and a few clubs to choose from. The main nightlife can be found on Bar Street, with numerous offers of free shots to lure you into each establishment.
Along the sea-front, there is a wonderful, authentic Chinese restaurant called Chloe's which is worth visiting, if only to see the way the restaurant has been styled.
Cyprus is a lovely place to visit on holiday, and I would gladly visit again. There is so much to do - we visited the waterpark "Aphrodite" in Paphos which is great fun for kids and adults alike! There was also horseriding, with stables near the apartments in Kissanerga. Even as a total novice, the 2 hour trek was a great experience, and the views were fabulous.
Cyprus is also a great base to visit other countries ie. Athens, Turkey, (Israel and Jerusalem are accessible but currently trips there are on hold), and Egypt. We went on a 3-day cruise to Egypt for £120 (Cyprus) which included all meals and entertainment, and a visit to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo before continuing on to the Pyramids and the Sphinx. I can't recommend this trip enough, as it was definitely the highlight of our holiday, and a real bargain!

Members' Comments onMichelle.'s Review

• pete. on 17th Dec 2002

  I can agree with this review as I own a property in the area of Kissonerga (spelled correctly). The main road from Paphos to Coral Bay, passes through Kissonega and there are loads of restaurants on this road. I can highly recommend one called "SIENNA" its right alongside the Helios Bay Hotel on the border of Kissonega and Chlorakas, slightly expensive but well worth it, food is impressionable. Cyprus overall is a lovely Isalnd and I hope to move there for good one of these days.

• Dave & Kath. on 17th May 2003

  We can definitely agree with previous comments. Having stayed there a few years ago, and visited the bar several occassions since then, George and Stelios have always given us a warm welcome with good chat and with a good sense of humour. Anything we requested was given with a smile. We look forward to meetimg them again.

• Brian. on 9th Jun 2003

  I strongly disagree about the Kastambena Apartments. We travelled with Golden Sun and after arriving at 6am extremely tired from a nights travel. We were very disapointed with the cleanliness, the room had not been properly cleaned for sometime, there was a strong damp smell coming from the shower/toilet, Hairs on our bedding, and we were given an old blue towel each. The furniture was old and in need of replacing, the floor was far from clean, a chalky gritty residue was left which wasn't nice to walk on bare-foot. Paint peeling from the ceiling, Light fitting's hanging from the wall, Sockets not attached properly to the wall and grill's hanging from the wall-mounted air-conditioning (very dangerous for children).
  Also the air-conditioning isn't free, you must pay £3 cyp per a day for it. Luckily it wasn't to hot. So we didn't bother.
  After all of this my partner opened the curtains of the bedroom to be greeted with a rusty old truck rotting on the spare land to the side, along with large metal rusty frames, very picturesque. Also lots of broken sun loungers to the bottom of our window. We dicided to see what the balcony was like! At this time aproximately 6:15am we heard an engine noise. Looking out of our balcony we were astonished to find trucks parked underneath our apartment. These apeared to be Stelios's workers who lived in the apartments. Every morning we had a wake-up call apart from sunday.
  We had arrived with a family, and were curious of their opinions! I thought I'd wait until the rep came round at 9:30am to voice my opinion.
  We met in the restaurant area, to find the othe r family had the same experience. NOT CLEAN! We let them tell the rep first as they had small children, they got moved to another apartment, not much better!
  When we complained to the rep she wasn't interested she said we'd have to speak to stelio's. So we did. He seemed very surprised the room wasn't up to scratch. He say's that their were no more apartments available and just open the windows to get rid of the smell!
  The pool was another good one, full of grit on the bottom, covered with dead insects and leaves. A young lad who was staying actually cleaned the pool so he could swim in it. Not the staff!
  After 3 days our room had not been cleaned! We had to ask for our bedding and towels to be changed and bins emptied. The toilet bin wasn't nice after 3 days.
  The apartments aren't close to much!
  A bank! 4 or 5 restaurants! A chemist!
  If you wish to go anywhere you have a 1.5 mile walk ahead of you, down the hill to Coral Bay Road. Before you can catch the bus to the town/harbour/coral bay! Not good for the elderly!Especially back up the hill!
  I wouldn't recommend these apartments and are amazed at the rating on this site!
  I have pictures if nobody believes me!

• Gary26 on 27th Feb 2004

  Having stayed at the apartments in 2003, we found them to be exactly what we had expected! Arrriving there in the knowledge that we had not paid 5* prices, we found a suitable complex to use as a base for exploring the island. TRue its a must to hire a vehicle but they are available at excellent prices from £20 per day inc insurance. The bar and restaurant area is a wonderful and friendly place, Stelios and George the owners being extremely friendly people. If its a luxury holiday your after then perhaps you need to spend a little more money on your accomodation, this is not a complex where you can do things all day every day, but as I mentioned it is a great base from which to explore the island. Staying at the Kastambena saved us money! therefore we were able to hire a Jeep for the fortnight and go on excursions etc. Of course these apartments wont suit everyone, if your a little older and just want to staty around a hotel for two weeks then perhaps you could look in Paphos where the 5* Annabelle hotel will cost you around £1650 half board per person per week not inc flights, here you will find all the luxury you would want. As a family we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and our two children loved the place!