We went out towards the end of the season (2 weeks before the close - end Oct) and given that everyone had worked all season they all were very polite, good fun and helpful. The room was tidy and when the fridge broke it was replaced within 3 hours with no fuss at all. The swimming pool was excellent and clean and the sea was only 50 yards from the pool. We let our kids (7 & 16) roam quite free around the hotel and never felt scared of losing them or worse. I would have no problem in recommending this hotel and plan to use it again as soon as we can.

Have just returned from 2 week holiday at the Rising Star. I really did not want to leave. The weather was fantastic and at this time of year you don't have to battle early in the morning for a bed as there are always beds available. The staff were very kind, especially one of the women from the bar. The entertainers were fantastic for kids and always had good activities on in daytime including water polo, lilo wars, killer pool and bingo. They also did great dances for smaller kids . Some of the best places to go to eat are the Yianna Marie restaurant, Anatolia and the Red Indian. The Sfinx bar was a fantastic night out. They have a variety show on from around 10 at night which is absolutely hilarious! The main strip has everything. The food from the actual hotel is also great but we decided to eat out. All in all, this was the best holiday ever and we are going again next year!

Just came back from the Rising Star Apartments on the 13th August 2008, didn't want to come home at all, everything and everyone outstanding, they had entertainment day and night. The restaurants are lovely, the Red Indian and Anatolia were the best and even Mr cod the chippie. Didn't find Protaras expensive, about 22 euros for a meal for 2 including starters, and Protaras is like Britain, no more travelling plugs, it's the same as our plugs. Would highly recommend it.

I have just returned 30 July 08.
I have been to the Golden Star and Rising Star for 11 years, and will continue, this is a great hotel and is being updated in October 08.
I have noticed that certain tour operators are trying to turn Protaras into another Ayia Nappa, I hope they don't as I love Protaras it is a great beach.
Holiday for families. Most guests are great but a few certain groups were very loud and drunk around the pool area and had no apparent respect for others, on reading this I am sure they know who I am talking about, but please do not let this put you off as future offenders can be removed.

Everything. Accommodation friendly staff good food at the Rising star apartments. Fantastic kids entertainment, brill location. Best holiday ever. First holiday that we didn't want to come home from after 2 weeks

This was a wonderful holiday experience. The location of the hotel together with the helpfulness of the staff made this a very relaxing and enjoyable stay. I would definitely recommend the Rising Star to friends and family and would most definitely go back there again.

A wonderful place to spend your well earned rest... Once you have gone the once you will back over and over again.

If anyone stopped on the top floor apartments over looking the pool and the sea could they email me the numbers of those rooms as we normally email the hotel a couple of weeks before we go to ask for sea view or pool view rooms.

Just returned from our stay at the Rising Star Hotel and it was fantastic, couldn't of asked for a better hotel, it was extremely clean. Rooms cleaned daily, fresh towels every other day, Air Con in the rooms which is much needed (and was free), great entertainers, I was there with my husband and our son and they really made you feel included. They have an indoor play area for little ones and an outdoor area with slides etc.. Hotel has an indoor pool and a gym, didn't see either as out door pool was all we needed and gym was closed as they didn't have an instructor to run it. Only negative thing I have to say about the hotel is that the food was a bit basic, ok for breakfast or lunch but there are much better places to eat around Protaras. We loved the Yana Marie Restaurant, the Meze they serve on a Thursday(I think) was great. For families, the Flinestone restaurant should be visited, great food and they have a play area for kids, Little Tikes Slides, play house etc.. Bouncy castle, cartoons on TV, things like that. Loads of lovely places to eat.
Hotel is situated right on the beach but we didn't go on the beach (sand was too hot to walk on!) just stayed around the pool and the entertainers made it really enjoyable for our son, he loved the mini disco. A trip on the Coca Cola boat is recommended, 2 1/2 hour trip, leaves from the edge of the hotel. Ayia Napa Water park MUST be visited (WaterWorld WaterPark), fantastic!!! (Don't visit the Protaras one, too dangerous from what we heard).

Really can't fault this hotel, highly recommended it!!

I have just returned from a week at the Rising Star and I was very impressed. I went with my partner and our 18 month old son. The hotel and resort really did live up to all the positive reviews. I was also impressed with their children's play room, it had slides, cars, play houses, play kitchens, even a play caravan! My son loved it in there as it was out of the heat.

We tried many of the bars and restaurants but only being there a week we did not get to try them all, there really is a great selection from local cuisine through to Chinese, Mexican and of course MacDonald's! Our favourite place to eat was the Yianna Marie Restaurant which is about 2 minutes from hotel. It had amazing sea views, huge portions and was reasonably priced. Our favourite bar was Floras Cocktail bar, Cocktails only £1 and we enjoyed the entertainment at the Rising Sun Pub.

The staff at the Rising Sun Pub are very friendly and was my sons favourite place as they made such a fuss of him! It was also the only place we came across that had a free pool table!

I would recommend walking a bit further down the beach to Fig Tree Bay as it is lovely there, not so rocky.

Overall this holiday was well above my expectations and would definitely recommend.

My holiday to the Rising Star was generally brill and I'm going again for the sixth time in July!

It was the best holiday ever! The apartments are right on the beach and in the centre of Protaras. I can not fault the Rising Star Apartments in any way, and I would most definitely return.

This was definitely the best holiday we've had yet. The children loved it. The room was well cleaned. The pool was very nice. The activities that happened both day and night were very enjoyable. This was an EXCELLENT holiday! Thank you for making it so enjoyable!

Situated in a quiet part of protaras but only 5 minutes to main area.
Very clean apartments, friendly staff. Plenty to do if you want to, but quiet grassy area with sunbeds if you want peace and relaxation.Excellent resort with plenty of restaurants, try Astoria (on the left walking up to the main street), excellent food.

We wanted a private balcony complete with tables and chairs at the Rising Star Apartments in Protaras, also fully equipped kitchen, complete with electric rings and small oven, toaster, kettle, refrigerator, bathroom suite with a WC, a telephone, hairdryer in the bedroom, and we also we had a safe in the room, giving us extra security and additional peace of mind. It was essential that the rooms had air conditioning, and also a TV that would receive Satellite channels from the UK. We got the lot!! And we were extremely pleased with the standards. All the equipment had testing certification showing up-to-date tests had taken place by independent electricians that were named.

One big problem was that my wife complained that everything was too easy for me when we decided to lie-in in the morning, leaving breakfast to our own making, and that all I needed to do was go out daily to the bakers, cheese stall and wine shop and get our daily breakfast. The hotels Orange Juice was so fresh, I got that too. In other words, I saw no bad points, and the hygienic standards were clearly addressed.

The food and the location were of excellent quality, in an air conditioned restaurant. The exercise equipment was of top quality too, and it was all well maintained. As well as a lovely tennis court for the aspiring tennis star, which is not me as I am now in my 60's, but it was a very well looked after court. While there were also children on the site, as a couple we were never bothered with them, and there was a children's activity centre that was fully and professionally staffed, so the parents could get away and have some R & R as well.

After basing the decision to visit the Rising Star Apartments in Protaras upon many of the individual contributor's comments to the holiday review websites, without wishing to sound too worthy, I felt it only fair to provide our thoughts so that your holiday turns out to be exactly what you want.

We were travelling with our 16 month old daughter, so the potential for possible upset was always going to be in existence, but I'm glad to say that the Rising Star Apartment's management did everything possible to ensure that our stay was as enjoyable as possible. And my review unashamedly focuses on exactly what it's like to visit this accommodation and resort with a young family.

Before our daughter's arrival, we'd normally have independently booked a holiday that would have less of a 'package' feel, however seeking reassurance in the safety net that a holiday company is supposed to provide, we booked this Summer's break with Airtours. Everything that we thought a holiday company, and resort accommodation, were supposed to provide was delivered by Airtours and the Rising Star apartments.

Before we left, I e-mailed Airtours and the Rising Star apartments directly to ask that, (i) a cot was in the room for our arrival (02:30 in the morning!), (ii) we were allocated a room suffering the minimal noise disturbance possible (thanks to the comments from other holidaymakers on the holiday review sites!), and, (iii) that we could have a highchair. I received an e-mail back from Airtours saying, "we have passed on the request but cannot guarantee..blah..blah", whereas I received a personalised reply from the manager from the Rising Star, and he is a guy to know if you want things sorting. He said that this was fine and he'd try and sort it all out. I must admit that having been to Greece and Turkey on numerous 'basic' self catering holidays, I was fully expecting having to return to the reception after checking in to ask where the cot was, but my cynicism should have remained back in England, as the cot was in place (with a fresh sheet alongside), and the apartment was exactly what we would have wished for. A massive main room (lounge, kitchen and dining room). A bedroom separated by a closing door (important when the baby needs to sleep in there whilst we're polishing off a few cans of KEO on the balcony! P.S. There were no mosquitoes whatsoever - hurrah!, before we moved the cot with her in it, into the main room when we chose to go to bed), and a bathroom complete with a bath and shower - not the shower halfway down the wall in a room with just a drain in the middle of the floor, that I've experienced numerous times before (and again, was quite quaint before we had the little one).

Anyway, the next morning, we received a phone call from the manager, apologising for not putting the high chair in our room, but saying that he had to charge £1CYP per day for this, and just wanted to gain our agreement for this before he sent someone up with one. After thanking him for this, and saying this cost wasn't a problem, there was a knock on the door signifying a high chair's arrival within 45 seconds. Great service, and just what we came to expect at this accommodation.

As per most other reviews, it really is beneficial if you're seeking a quieter life to be facing the rear of the hotel (towards the farm and the church on the hill), as you won't be disturbed by the noise from the pool and bar, and the entertainment that takes place in it until around midnight. The manager had sorted us with a room at the back that had a facing wall to the stairs (and as the lifts were so efficient, no-one used the staircase) and the outside, so I can't comment on other people's views that the walls were thin, because for us we were only disturbed by the dustbin men in the first week (at 3am), but this was only for a few minutes and then we crashed out again.

Whilst on the subject, 'yes' you have to pay for the air conditioning when you arrive (if you want it obviously). We'd just mentally added it to the cost of the holiday when we booked it, as it was such a prerequisite that it would be required (£70CYP for 2 weeks = £85 GBP). We did hear people complain about how hot the rooms were when we were over there (39 degrees every day), and we even had some people ahead of us at reception booking it just for their final few days, as they'd had enough of the heat, but obviously each to their own. We just wouldn't have been able not to stand sleeping at night!

The Airtours, My Travel and Escape reps were great. Pre-our daughter, we wouldn't have dreamed of staying where kids entertainment took place in our accommodation. However, I don't know whether we're just regressing to being one year old, but we thought the kids entertainers were great. They did half hour slots a few times a day, so it was never intimidating, annoying or overpowering, and they all came round for a chat to Ella's house (our daughter's UV tent!) without making us feel like we needed to become involved in all that was going on.

The pool has more than enough sun loungers, and there is a really great atmosphere by the pool. The grassed area is great for kids, Ella (in her bright pink UV wet suit, blue sunhat and pink fairy backpack!) and other little ones just wandered around, introducing themselves to everyone they met, and we felt comfortable just keeping an eye on her from afar - it was that kind of environment. You also had the option of either walking to the small beach just in front of the hotel (2 minutes) where you could make sandcastles and paddle, or walk a few minutes more round the bay to the main beach (although from afar it appeared to be sunlounger central).

The Rising Star was completely full of Brits, again something that would possibly have previously detracted from the feeling of 'getting away from it all' but it actually really helped with everyone being friendly to our daughter. In general, the whole resort spoke English and expected you to speak English. I know a little Greek (hello, good evening and thank you etc.), and I've never had such a positive response to my stutterings, simply because not many people make the effort. Try it, it's worth the smiles that you receive in return.

Protaras has a main strip that is situated about 5 minutes walk from Rising Star, and this is perfect, as you're located away from the main area but within easy reach. And the road that leads up to it has supermarkets and other bars and tavernas anyway, so you don't feel that you're out in the middle of nowhere. The main strip is again quite English tourist focused, but it does (just) still retain enough of the Cypriot nature to make you feel you're abroad. Many of the restaurants (I struggle to call them tavernas) have kids play areas, and they are very welcoming of families. There are more (karaoke) bars and theme pubs than I'd personally wish for, but if you go somewhere aimed at the (slightly more discerning) package holiday crowd, I guess this is a necessary evil.

There's a boat trip on the Coca-Cola boat from the Rising Star pier every day. We went on it and it is a good morning or afternoon out. You get to see Famagusta from a distance, travel up the coast and also swim in Cape Greco caves, where we pushed the little one off the back of the boat in her 'floatie' inflatable cradle, much to the amusement of everyone else. Just watch out for the jellyfish, as myself and a girl I met on the boat got stung, which is not too bad at all in reality (just a really sharp pain across the top of my foot for 10 seconds and then slight itchiness for a week or so), but I wouldn't have wanted it to happen to anyone who might have been freaked by it.

We also hired a car from one of the places in Protaras. £60 for 3 days, and we did what we weren't supposed to and drove across the border at 'Four Mile Crossing'. The hire car papers try and say that you're not allowed to do this, but the Rough Guide advised us that you can buy insurance at the border and this is what we did (£12CYP for 3 days). The hire car company would obviously prefer it if you didn't do this, but I believe you are legally allowed to. It's just that if you do have an accident, they struggle to recoup the insurance claim as easily as if you were in Greek Cyprus. We drove to the Troodos, Nicosia and Famagusta and it made our holiday. It was really great to escape the resort, nice as it was, for a few days striking out on our own.

In summary, fantastic accommodation with superb cleanliness (but without feeling like you're in a environment without a soul), great resort where you can make of it what you will, and happy holidaymakers to share it with! Enjoy!

We stayed at the Rising Star Apartments in Protaras the first week it opened in May 2004. We went back again in August 2005 for 2 weeks, and we are going again on the 23rd of August 2006. Can't wait! It truly is a fantastic place, especially for families. It's my little paradise!

Everything about the Rising Star was excellent, from the service to how clean it was everywhere, will definitely go back. Best holiday we have had in a long time, staff very friendly, excellent location as not ontop of the nightlife and right on the beach!!! Would highly recommend visiting!!