Sunrise Jade Hotel

We stayed at the Sunrise Jade for seven nights from 23rd September, half board and upgraded to a Deluxe Sea View room. 
We landed in Cyprus late in the evening and got to the hotel at around 22:30 hrs. We had a warm welcome from the lady at reception who went through basic hotel information, our luggage was then loaded on a trolley by the concierge and we were shown to our room.

Our room was 110. The room itself was clean, spacious and modern. There was plenty of space to put our clothes away. There is a mini fridge in the cabinet, in which this is stocked with water, a couple of beers, cans of pop, oj cartons and two small bottles of wine. These are a one-off complimentary gesture - the water is replaced each day. This was a nice touch. One sandwich was also left in the fridge as we had landed late and missed our evening meal - ham and cheese, as vegetarians this was no good for us. There is an espresso machine in the room, the Nespresso tap pods replenished daily.

I was a little concerned that the first-floor room would be a Sea View but couldn’t see due to the time of night and it being pitch black outside.

We had a comfortable first night’s sleep, the bed was spacious and very comfortable. Pillows were great!

When we woke the following morning we were very disappointed with the view. This room is absolutely not a Sea View and not worth the £250 upgrade. Photos are with the review, whilst I acknowledge the Sea can be seen, what you mostly see is the rooftop /walls to the restaurants. Not wanting to make a fuss about this and not wanting to pack/unpack or ruin our first day we got on with it. We were offered an upgrade to a swim-up room by the reception manager who admitted that we weren’t allocated the room we requested, we turned this down as simply did not want the hassle of moving and had made plans for that day. When I challenged about our room not being a Sea View we were told that it is in the contract as a Sea View room, just not a very good one!

First morning, we asked at reception for an iron. I found the member of staff to be a little ‘off’, and we were told that we couldn’t keep the iron for the week and had to put it outside the room once we had finished using it that morning. I was disappointed that a property like this would not be equipped with an iron and ironing board in each room, or to be issued one for the duration of our stay. One was delivered quickly, but this was very poor quality and not very effective. Fortunately, we had packed our hand steamer, so made use of this for the remainder of our stay and didn’t bother with the iron again.

On your first day, you are allocated a sunbed - this is a great concept as it alleviates the sunbed wars that you often encounter on holiday. The young lad in charge of this and the towels was really helpful and showed what beds are available. There weren’t many, but he discussed which got the most of the sunshine and so went with his recommendation. We had loungers at 505. We kept these for the week and were based near the pool. There is a QR code on the umbrella stand which you can scan on your phone and access the food and drinks menu; items are brought to you very quickly, and the staff are super friendly.

The hotel is in a great location; it is about 20 mins walk from the main Protaras strip. There is a boardwalk all the way along the seafront with easy access to the beaches along the way. It is really peaceful and a great spot to see the sun and the moon rising. As you walk out of the hotel grounds on the boardwalk, you can turn right and down some steps to a small pebbly beach and straight into the sea. If you turn left, another short walk will get you to some steps that lead straight to the sea. We recommend going down these steps early in the morning with your snorkel gear to see the turtles. There is a handy shop just up the road - The Donkey Kiosk! You can’t miss it; there is a huge donkey above the entrance. This had a vast range of items to cover our needs.

Overall, the staff are great; they are friendly and attentive. The team around the pool and in the Sage restaurant work very hard and long days. They still manage to be friendly and smiling throughout the day. The lobby bar staff were also nice; the two ladies on service here are again very busy but seemingly unphased by this and friendly. We did speak with reception on a few occasions, and although our initial engagement with them was positive, we did find them to be a little off at times and lacking warmth, not particularly helpful with requests.

We were expecting great things from the food. This is, after all, a 5* hotel; we are both vegetarian and can sometimes struggle when on holiday. Half board consists of breakfast, which is buffet-style, and an evening meal, which can be in the Sage restaurant— again buffet-style or one of the four restaurants managed by the hotel. Ginger Asian Fusion is on the first floor; in our seven-night stay, we could have used this twice; our food was covered up to 50 euros; any additional spend is then paid for by the customer. Drinks are not included. Reef American Grill is next door to the hotel; this can be used once and included a three-course meal— there is an additional charge for the steak. There are two further restaurants on the strip: a Brazilian Steakhouse and a Greek restaurant, but we didn’t use these. Food in Ginger was delicious; this is a really nice spot; we sat outside and cannot fault the food or service here. Staff again very friendly and attentive. In Reef, we were served by a guy who was really helpful; he himself told us he was vegetarian and gave us recommendations. Our food here was brilliant, service great, and we would’ve liked to have eaten here again.

Breakfast in the buffet was good. A pretty standard selection, the buffet is cramped together so can get a little busy and awkward to negotiate. You are taken to the table of your choice and offered coffee - our first day we had the standard filtered coffee that the staff come and pour for you; however, we observed others having different types of coffee and you can ask for these. We had various oat milk coffees throughout our stay. There is Prosecco available and fresh juice. It would have been nice to see some vegetarian/vegan-specific protein items as there were none.

The evening meal buffet is themed, a different theme each night. Again, this was lacking in vegetarian options, no specific protein options, and we found that the buffet was poorly labelled and during busy periods found myself getting in people’s way trying to study what we could or couldn’t eat. On the Sunday evening, it was Cyprus night - I was hoping there would be some good meat/fish-free options. There were not, so I asked at reception if we could eat elsewhere. We were told that this was not possible unless we were to pay for it ourselves. We then tried to plan ahead and try to swap the Greek and Brazilian restaurants over to the Reef as we knew we could eat well there. This was clearly a problem and we were told by staff that they would speak to a manager for us and to come back the next day (we did but this was never sorted for us).

Staff contacted the Chef for us and directed us to go back and he would tell us what was vegetarian or could make something alternative - this was a nice gesture but made me feel a little awkward as I didn’t feel comfortable giving requests. My expectation was that there would be sufficient items to cover our needs or for the Chef to come to speak with us away from the buffet. We went back into the restaurant, and the Chef pointed out a few bits that were vegetarian. I stated that things were not labelled well. He suggested we could have two of the pasta sauces. One being tomato, the other a puttanesca sauce. I asked the chef serving these again to make sure there was no meat/fish - I was told there was not, so I had the puttanesca sauce with pasta. I later found that this is a sauce made with anchovies. 
We then made do with what there was. It was disappointing as we had expected so much more. Don’t get me wrong, if you are a meat or fish eater, I am sure that the food offered would hit the mark for you, but for us, this was significantly lacking.

On our final day, we had lunch. This was free due to missing the first night’s evening meal. This is a good gesture, so we went to the Sage, where you can have a three-course lunch ordering from the menu. My partner ordered a Cyprus platter - this was marked as vegetarian. It became immediately obvious on tasting one of the dips that this was a fish item. We asked the waitress if the dip was fish, and she was told it was. We then engaged in a bizarre dispute with the waitress about what is or isn’t vegetarian, with the waitress insisting that vegetarians eat fish!! My partner was close to being sick. The staff were then a little off with us, and we could overhear them talking about us. When we paid for our drinks, the waitress did acknowledge that we were right and that the menu is not labelled correctly. We were told to speak with the head chef.

We subsequently went to reception and asked for the head chef or a manager. We were told none were available. Again, we felt that this encounter was a problem for them. I suggested we go back out to our lounger and someone come to find us when they were available. However, they told us the Maitre D would come out now and talk to us, and he would report back to the manager and head chef. Andreas, the Maitre D, came out. He acknowledged he was aware of the issue. We had seen the waiting staff talk to him whilst we were in the restaurant. At no point did he apologise. He tried to insist that vegetarians eat fish eggs, which is ludicrous. This was far from a positive experience. We informed him that the menu is clearly not correct and that the restaurant was serving non-vegetarian dishes purporting to be vegetarian items. We found his level of customer service to be appalling. I also made him aware of my previous issue with the pasta sauce and the lack of proper labelling or indeed factual information. This really impacted our final day and our overall experience of our stay.

In summary: Great hotel in a great location. Overall, the staff were great and work hard. Sadly lacking though with a few of our engagements as noted in the main review. Food - not great for those with dietary needs. Poorly marked-up items and lack of transparency.

We would have returned to the hotel had it not been for the issues with food and how this was managed by the staff. This is a real shame as we thought we had found somewhere to return to each year.

We just got back from a 7 day visit and can 100% recommend this hotel. We arrived about 2am but were given a lovely relaxed welcome and our bags taken to our room . We had a sea view on the 5th floor which was worth the extra £. Our room had a huge bed, slippers, robes,teas,coffee, some water,and beer and wine. The water is replenished daily . It was spotlessly clean throughout our stay and I really looked forward to the 6pm chocolates delivery !! The assigned sunbed system is brilliant, and we swapped once. It takes away the daily stress on finding one and you get fresh beach towels daily. We loved all the food, and went to the Reef Bar and grill and Ginger restaurant. The booking system for these is in reception and very easy. I think the buffet system evening meal in the Sage restaurant was our favourite though as we could try lots of different dishes and lots of amazing desserts. We were full board as we spent most days at the hotel , and lunch was great too and worth the full board cost. Our favourite was the burger and fried and the carbonanra. There's always healthy and indulgent options with all the meals and lots of fresh fruit available. We aren't really drinkers but enjoyed a cocktail one evening pool side under the full moon . Lovely! We went to the donkey shop to get large bottles of water every day to have at our sunbeds. The small cove in front of the hotel gets busy with boats about 10am so go as early as possible if you want the chance of seeing turtles. Get some swim/beach shoes as its very rocky. Its a lovely swim area even if the turtles aren't around. All staff are so helpful and polite and the whole hotel is relaxed and clean, and never felt overcrowded. We walked down the board walk every evening, and you realise how tranquil the Jade is once you get into Protoras. The town centre has nice bars and shops for souvenirs and general day to day things. We got a late check out which was definitely worth it as we weren't picked up for the airport until 830pm. The only negative we found was the noise from other rooms doors banging or furniture movement. I would take earplugs if you are a light sleeper.
We will definitely visit again. X