Laganas, Apollo Apartments Review

Good Points
I have absolutely nothing good to say about this hotel.

Bad Points
Lack of cleaning. No English speaking member of staff. Lack of safety. Lack of self catering facilities. Guns being fired all day. Complex bar closing at least 3 hours early every night. Pool filthy .

General Comments
On arrival our original room at the Apollo Apartments was filthy. Blood was smeared across the bathroom walls, the bed linen and towels were marked and stained. Both mosquito screens were torn and therefore useless.

The cooker did not work and there was no crockery or cutlery. The door to the room was not secure, even when locked we only had to push against it to gain entry. We were eventually moved to the rooms across from the main block and although they were more secure and slightly cleaner safety was still an issue. The lights on the stairs leading to our room were only switched on when we asked. This meant every night we had to find someone, which was not easy as the bar closed about 11 pm most nights, to switch them on. From 7 am till 10 pm guns would be heard close to the complex and on some occasions men would be shooting on the only road between the complex and the town. The fire alarm near our room was hanging off the wall and the extinguishers were so rusty that I would have been surprised if they worked at all. Pool safety was another concern; the pool inspection hatch was left opened and unattended on several occasions even when small children were playing around this area. The pool itself was filthy with an oily film across it most of the time. The steps for getting out of the pool were in a poor state of repair and I witnessed many people having difficulty using them. As we booked a self catering holiday we expected the rooms to be equipped for this. The cooker consisted of a badly corroded hot plate with only one of the two plates working. One small pot with which to cook with, which we could only fill 1/3 of it as there were 3 splits around it. Having pointed this out on the first day of our 14 night stay we were still waiting for a replacement when we left. On several days our rooms were not cleaned until 7:30 pm or 8:30 pm if at all which meant the bin in the toilet was overflowing as we had no replacement bin liners to clean it ourselves. The bathroom window wouldn't shut letting an endless supply of mosquitoes into the room. The toilet seat was split in several places and was not secure (we were still waiting for a replacement when we left). The only English speaking member of staff left a few days after we arrived making it difficult to communicate our problems with the management. Even the Thomas cook rep had problems asking for things on our behalf. When I booked this holiday I took great care to ensure we were not going to be in a resort that was aimed at a young and lively as this was meant to be our honeymoon. I was told from several sources that lagans would be perfect for us and that it had the best beach on the island. You can imagine my surprise when we went to a squalid, filthy, infested beach with hard compacted sand (due to the Lorries that used it at night). The main street was full of bars and clubs catering to the young and lively crowd. It was impossible to walk along as dozens of drunks were falling out of almost every doorway, never mind the foam parties that drenched us as we walked by. When talking to other couples and families they had been told the same thing as us, that it was a great place for them. Most of us felt that we had been misinformed. Without hiring some form of transport we would have been held captive within the complex. Our final night was by far the most terrified I have ever been abroad. It seemed that nothing was out of the ordinary. 10:30 pm with the usual gunfire but this was about to change. Shots started to rain down on the complex, hitting the roof and unfortunately hitting one man sitting on his balcony and another man by the complex bar. I phoned the Thomas Cook 24 hr emergency line and was told by the rep that "there is nothing we can do "even though we would have to wait out in the open for 2 1/2 hours for our transfer to the airport! There was no way we were prepared to wait outside when shots were being fired at the complex. I had no option but to phone the UK emergency number for Thomas cook who were shocked by our treatment by the reps on the island. Only after the UK office talking to the island reps did they agree to visit us. We wanted to be taken to the airport or any other safe location straight away but we were told that it was not possible. We were allowed to stay in our room but only after a very long and heated argument with the management, who then made repeated attempts to remove us before the transfer to the airport (sometimes getting quite physical). The whole experience has left us shocked and disgusted with Thomas Cook. These are our main complaints as to list every incident would take forever.