Imperial Island by Louis Hotels

We have as a family been coming to this hotel for a number of years multiple times a year, however something has fundamentally changed.

Pro Most of the staff, one of the main reasons we return that staff are amazing and so hardworking. From Seif the lifeguard by day waiter by night, Mahmoud, Yossef, Mary the list is ongoing.

Ground, gardeners do a great job

Spa - I had to amazing massages there the ladies were great.

Location- Beach front and view is beautiful especially at sunset.

Refurbishment- The rooms are much better, look cleaner and more modern. The new furniture in the lobby and restaurant look nice but the are not practical. New sun beds are amazing. Clean fresh pool towel in your room every day when they remembered.

Bar and drinks - These were good, again staff amazing.

Cons Biggest issue I observed was the “quiet pool/adults only pool. It is very unclear on arrival what this pool is being marketed as. On the TUI website and the lifts in the hotel this states it’s an adults only pool. However other guest have seen signs that advise children who are suppered can use this pool. On my visit a week ago this pool was madness, kids jumping, screaming, people eating and drinking in it. Even after being asked not to as soon as the lifeguard turned their back people continued.

What I also observed is there were an increasing number of people who were either bed and breakfast or half board taking full advantage of the fact you can not distinguish guest between board type. These people were enjoying free drinks until staff got wise to this, raiding the snack bar and I mean hand full/ bags of food. Also while enjoying the sunset at the back of the hotel we witnessed locals leaving the hotel and getting in their cars in the car park next to the hotel.

The new bed were being used as baby changing facilities which I think is incredibly unhygienic and dirty nappies were being left on the tables and sun-beds until morning. People were leaving the pool in an evening leaving their towels on the beds rather than putting them in the dirty towel basket. Takeaway food being left around the pool until the next morning.

Restaurant - to the restaurant used to have themed nights so there was a variety of food, Mexican night was always a winner, however the food was very much the same nearly every night, lots of pork, veg and potatoes with a bit of rice and pasta.

During lunch time people often came into the restaurant wet in the swimming clothes and a towel, so the lovely new material chairs were often wet, or have food spilled that couldn’t be wiped, people sat at the tables with their feet up on the chairs. The floor was often wet as the kids would run in straight from the pool to the snack bar, food left on the floor while staff walked over this includes all the managers that pace up and down often telling staff off in front of guests, which I think is unprofessional, or on the odd accession put a yellow sigh next to it.

Room- The fridge was stock with water, two cans of pop, two carton of juice and two beers. Previously the water can pop was topped up every day now, only water it topped up, Night service, a lady come and bring chocolate and a card every night but slave bangs on the door and tries to enter the room before you get to the door, this was often as we were getting ready for dinner, so just used the do not disturb signs.

Lobby- The furniture look nice and modern but most was uncomfortable with no back support. Children were running up and down the lobby out one door in the other screaming.

I had spoken to many guest who had similar experiences which they discussed with management, but nothing was done, there was no follow up by management to see it anything had improved they then just avoid you.

Unfortunately this is not what I would expect from a 5 star hotel and the price increase. I understand the hotel can’t help the behaviour of guests, however they can manage it, but unfortunately the management here will not address any of it as they don’t want conflict or don’t know how to manage it, which is really disappointing as you are stuck in the hotel paying increased prices, with no one to escalate issues to. So you just stop talking to them.

Such shame this once was a great hotel

We were really looking forward to our stay here and based on the 5 star description and past reviews arrived expecting a lot. This was at best a 3 star hotel and left us very disappointed.

Pros (Kind of): Location is nice with an easy Boardwalk stroll into Pahos town. Very nicely kept gardens around the hotel front and beach. Be aware the beach is very rocky and had a lot of litter floating around the rockpools. The stack of abandoned pallets on the beach was a lovely touch. Room had been renovated and the bathroom was very well done with a walk in wet room shower. Rest of room had badly fitted coving, doors that would not shut properly and a very rough balcony paint job. Food was good and the chefs clearly took pride in what was served, a special shout out to the lady doing the breakfast omelettes, she does an outstanding job and was very friendly towards us. I would say though it was a lot of Pork dishes and it did get a bit samey but that is typical of an all-inclusive from our experience.

Cons: Arrival, Our flight was delayed and we arrived at around 1am, we were the last drop off so had a tour of the other 5 star hotels in the area, each one the guests were greeted with beverages and what looked like several staff helping them with their luggage. We got to our hotel and nothing, a person did eventually come out and help with one of the suitcases but we were not offered a drink at all. We were handed a clipboard to fill in instead of being spoken to, It felt like we were an inconvenience arriving so late, and we then had to take our own suitcases up to the room. We were not shown to the lifts and had no welcome talk about the hotel or what was on offer. Not a five star service. Décor; The hotel had clearly had a quick coat of paint and in some areas, you could see where its rushed. The room balcony had unpainted areas around the top, clearly longer extensions on the paint roller didn’t exist. The central hotel area does not have aircon, the lifts felt like Sauna’s. The ground floor had mismatched floor tiles and many that were badly chipped. The finish inside a couple of lifts with stuck on tiles at the bottom looked very badly done. The cheap concrete tiles around the pool had been painted and it was coming off everywhere, it covered the bottom of my foot when I got out the pool and I had to pick it off, classy. All Inclusive? We were not sure what was included and what wasn’t, we were often accusingly asked if we were all inclusive when ordering drinks leaving unsure as to why, were we ordering something we shouldn’t? I still don’t really know if some things are charged for, why not use bands like everywhere else to show we were all inclusive if the hotel operates separate board options. Dining Room; No dress code, often had people walking around in swimming costumes and sitting on the fabric seats, they were often soaked and when we complained one day we were just given other wet seats. The seats were a cream colour, and most were stained. It had no atmosphere, it felt like a canteen, no table decorations and placemats that absolutely stunk of printer ink. We would always be seated and given fresh water but then it was luck if you would see anyone else to be offered a drink. A few meals we were offered nothing; all-inclusive water it was then! We saw management telling off other members of staff frequently and they just always seemed to be grumpy. This hotel seems to attract unruly children, my daughter who is 7 was shocked at what was going on with other children running around, grabbing handfuls of food and at one point we had them pushing past our chairs and screaming, this added to the canteen feel so matched in perfectly. Swimming Pool; Lots of dance aerobics with very loud music all day if that’s your thing. People smoking all around so we had to leave the pool often as it stunk. Some areas around the edge broken and tatty, one area under the palm trees had a build up of bird poo that was not cleaned throughout the week. Again drink service was slow and we ended up going and getting our own each time. Entertainment; Sorry but this was terrible, the team clearly work hard but it was not our sort of thing, it’s located in what can only be described as a dark plain cinema room. It felt hot and kids were running up and down the stairs continuously screaming, the two bar staff members were overwhelmed and when I got up after 15 minutes to order a drink I was rudely told it was table service, I explained we had been sitting for ages with no service and when I asked for a cocktail, he tutted and made something that didn’t resemble what I asked for. Evening Bar; Just a single one inside the hotel lobby, no atmosphere and very slow drinks service, I went up to get them most of the time to be told its table service, OK then do it, can only assume they are told to be slow to minimise people drinking too much due to cost. Every other hotel along this area had outside bar areas, live music, pretty lighting, this hotel has none of that and when returning of an evening it felt depressing and just sad. We spent most evenings wandering the boardwalk looking at everyone enjoying the five star experience at other hotels.

We are lucky enough to have stayed in a lot of hotels, and this was by far the worst, we will be complaining to EasyJet as its false advertisement as a five star. For those people who rate this five stars, please understand there are much better hotels out there. And I know the response will be we are making improvements and we are building a new waterpark next year, great, its not a five star in the meantime then, is it?