Benitses, Regency Beach Hotel Reviews

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Good Points: . Excellent staff, particularly some of the waiting staff who perform well if you break the ice with them. Head receptionist is very professional and helpful.
. AI means AI
. Kids Club were very good, our son was quite at home
. Hotel facilities generally good with two separate kids pools
. Evening entertainment was well done & nice to sit out on the roof terrace
. We found the rooms quite acceptable, although the face lift amounts mainly to a lot of white paint on the walls and furniture. The bathrooms look very nice with marble on the walls and floor

Bad Points: . The hotel is a long way from habitation. It takes 45 minutes to walk to Benitses. The beach is quite narrow and pebbly, so you don't get the secluded beach experience. Therefore getting a hire car is a must as there is a lot that's worth seeing on the island - we would have gone stir crazy if we had not done this
. The main coast road runs past the front of the hotel and you have to be very careful crossing the road to the beach or going to your car. The noise is not a problem due to the double glazing and noise of the A/C at night
. The air con broke down three nights when we were there and the heat was unbearable
. There is a problem with the drains/septic tanks. Quite often there was a stench of sewerage out the back of the hotel on the way to the pools or up on the roof terrace during the evening. We never found an explanation, although some guests may have found it hard to accept the Greek requirement of not flushing toilet roll etc.
. The restaurant manager insists on kissing every woman as they come into the restaurant. My wife did not appreciate this unwelcome attention, but found there was very rarely any way to escape!
. My son cut his foot twice in the small kid's pool - I suspect sharp tiles
. Avoid the 'fruit juice' and 'coffee', neither of which lived up to its name. The wine can vary depending on the box they are using - persevere, you may get a better batch
. My son lost his toy dog and it turned up in the hotel laundry - we had to hunt to find it!

General comments: I think the first thing you should consider before choosing the Regency Beach Hotel in Corfu is whether you are suited to an All Inclusive (AI) package. It certainly has its advantages, as you could spend a whole holiday spending very little cash at all. However if you are an adventurous type you will soon find the regime quite restrictive, and certainly over a two week period it becomes very claustrophobic seeing the same old faces in the same environment.

Those looking for the authentic cuisine experience should look elsewhere - this is mass catering which can never match the real thing. This becomes very apparent when you branch out and eat out side at a small taverna and marvel at the culinary experience. That's not to say the food is bad, as most of the time it is good, but rarely excellent.
Things you should do:

. Get the bus (only 95c) to Corfu Town (second Blue Stop up the road), it's a real jewel with excellent architecture and shopping
. Eat out at a proper taverna, especially if you have never been to Greece before
. Go to the sandy beaches on the western coast. Agios Georgios (Southern end) was our favourite.
. Drive up into the hill villages, they are charming
. Aqualand is excellent fun and great value. The food queues are horrendous, so take a packed lunch
. Go to Benitses in the evening, it's actually a nice place
. Go snorkeling, the fish are great

Conclusion

This may paint a poor picture of this hotel, but it is absolutely fine if you like this kind of thing, and particularly if you just want to lounge around, eat, drink and have your kids cared for. We had a good holiday and made some good friends.