The Island Hotel

We have just arrived home after a week at this hotel. Having read the reviews regarding the food, we amended our booking to B&B only, and I’m so glad we did. More on this to follow. We arrived quite late and were shown to our room quite quickly. It’s never good arriving in the dark, but, immediately realised it was a dark room, with trees infront, and a tiny sea view. We had paid extra for a sea view room but felt disappointed what were given. We spoke to Olha the Manager of the reception the following day. She was extremely helpful, but as the hotel was full we were only offered a suite as an option to change, but the following day. It was a pain living out of our suitcases for 2 days but worth the 50e a day extra for a beautiful suite, and with 3 adults, was perfect. Lovely and spacious, with a double balcony and 4 poster bed. The hotel grounds are beautiful, and the decor inside the hotel is modern with a contemporary twist. There were 3 pools, and a small shaded pool. We chose the ‘Relaxing Pool’ as it was quiet, and no smoking. However, this wasn’t the case, people regularly smoked around the pool, and didn’t seem to care that it was supposed to be no smoking. No staff member challenged this, despite it being their rule. We never saw any of the pools being cleaned, and you couldn’t see the bottom, which isn’t the best indication of a clean pool. There were white bits floating around, which I wasn’t too sure what it was. I didn’t venture into the pool despite the very hot weather. The infinity pool had white pebbles around it, but these were green. Again, not clean. The tiles around the pools were dirty, and on a couple of morning there were plastic bottles lying around which I can only assume were from the previous day. I never saw the tiles being cleaned as they do in other hotels I’ve been to. Pool/beach towels could be changed daily in the spa, but always seemed a battle with the staff in the spa, who were reluctant to exchange towels. Restaurant - You had to wait to be seated. We were a family of 5. The staff were extremely rude, and refused to put tables together. It wasn’t allowed!! Most days we were offered 2 tables of 2 and my daughter expected to sit on her own. Again, this felt like a battle, everyday. A couple of the waiters were pleasant but many appeared to be smirking, especially after we were told we couldn’t all sit together. We did observe other guests having tables put together for them, by staff members, which was contradictory to what we were told. There was only one of the restaurants open, which was the buffet resistant. Non of the Al la carte restaurants were open, which is one of the reasons we chose this hotel In the first place, together with good reviews. Where did it go so wrong? Breakfast Buffet - All of the food was served cold, and on many occasions the heat was turned off. Eggs were ok if you asked for fresh ones. No omelette station but omelette was offered but pre cooked. Limited chloces, no fresh fruit/bananas other than melon, and tinned peaches. No granola and just a couple of cereals on offer and a few pastries and cake. The Greek yogurt was quite nice so that is what I had each day. The coffee in the machines was awful, very strong. As we were B&B only not sure on the evening meals but a couple of returning guests told us it was the worst it’s ever been. The bar staff were nice, and always pleasant. We didn’t eat in the bar but the food we saw coming out looked lovely and the menu was varied. The beach - located just over the road which was good, however, the sun loungers were dirty, old, and so uncomfortable. Desperately needed replacing. The beach was dirty with an abundance of cigarette ends in the artificial sand, and the thought of these between my toes didn’t cut it for me. The sea was ok, but very rough due to the meltemi winds, which peak around August. Outside the hotel, there were lots of nice restaurants, but, the area was neglected, and needed serious attention. It wasn’t pleasant walking around, and part of the road eroded and dangerous due to no sea defences. The local government really need to look at this, and a serious cash injection is needed. We asked for a late check out, but were told it was 150e for our suite, or 30e to shower in a room with 45 minute slot. We were offered to shower for free in an outdoor block which was filthy dirty. I have photos. This wasn’t an option for me as with a newly replaced hip, I was scared of falling. I have photos, but, are far too bad to post on here. We informed Olha, and again she was brilliant and sorted this out for us. She is an absolute asset to the hotel, professional and understanding. I could actually see her making changes to the hotel if she was given half the chance. She manages the reception perfectly and is customer focussed. This hotel could be so very different, and much better, it needs changes, and needs them quickly. It’s a shame as the grounds are beautiful but there’s just so much wrong with it. TUI sell this hotel in their Platinum Range, 5 Star. 5 Star it really is not. They sell the hotel offering Al la carte restaurants, there aren’t any, only buffet. The hotel in my opinion is 3/4 star. The grading needs to be looked at by TUI as what they are selling and advertising really isn’t what the customer gets. Completely miss sold. I hope the Hotel Manager sees my review, and also TUI as really they need to do something about what they are advertising. Despite my review, we enjoyed our holiday, but this could have been so much more.

We have just returned (August 2026) from a week long holiday at The Island Hotel part of the TUI Platinum range 5* range of hotels. After reading many poor reviews of the hotel before travelling to the hotel we had already expressed our concerns regarding the food and staffing issues cited by many people who had visited the hotel over the last couple of months to a TUI customer services manager who eventually agreed to change our upgraded half board option to bed and breakfast only which I have to say was the best decision we made as the food was extremely poor.

Breakfast at this hotel is ok if all you want are cold meats, cereals yogurt etc. if you are looking for hot options, then this could prove disappointing with food luke warm at best! I reverted to having Greek yoghurt for my stay. I occasionally had a fried egg on toast but had to ask the cook to make me a fresh egg as the ones standing didn’t look very nice at all as they had been standing for a while. Even the omelettes had been standing for ages.

We spoke to a couple from Norway who had visited the hotel 10 times (said they were VIP guests and knew the hotel owner personally) who said that this year would be their last as the food was dreadful. The lady had complained about the cold food to the buffet restaurant manager who said that it wasn’t his responsibility to which she said she said well whose responsibility is it?? They said that the standards of service and food had been falling for a while. They cited staffing problems with only one of the original staff they knew remaining in the buffet restaurant. Staffing is clearly an issue at the hotel and the service therefore suffers a result of this.

Upon arrival we were shown to our room 515 which was supposed to be sea view (paid for the upgraded room). We were very disappointed that this was barely a side view at best certainly not what TUI had described. It smelt musky also so I complained and whilst the hotel reception staff said they could not do anything I asked to see the reception manager the next day.

The reception manager Olga (think I’ve probably spelt this incorrectly) was very understanding and very polite and helpful and said she would show us an alternative room which had just been vacated. This was in the main hotel building and was more like the upgraded sea view room TUI had sold us with a lovely direct sea view. She was extremely helpful and a real credit to the hotel! She appeared to be constantly changing rooms for guests including my sister, her husband and my niece. They were allocated a room in the same block as our original room albeit the floor below, again supposedly a sea view paid for upgraded room and there was a huge tree blocking any side sea view which made the room very dark and depressing, musky smelling and certainly not what you go on holiday for!

With regards to the à la carte restaurants described by TUI. They are not open! Only the buffet restaurant and main pool bar/restaurant again very disappointing and one of the reasons we changed our upgraded booking from half board to bed and breakfast. This is a real shame as the hotel could be so much better but clearly a lack of reliable quality staff has resulted in this.

The hotel grounds and pool areas are lovely however, I did not see the pools being cleaned and there was green staining covering the white cobbles around the infinity pool. In fact, one trip adviser review said that this has turned her white bikini green and it had to be thrown away! The relaxing pool was a lovely quiet area however again, the pool did not appear to have been cleaned and tiny white floaty bits could be seen around the pool edges /steps. Again, such a shame and very off putting.

This hotel therefore is definitely not 5* and currently is probably a decent 3/4* at best. It has the potential to be a really lovely 5* hotel as I said, previously the setting and grounds are lovely, the hotel areas reception etc are nice and contemporary but staffing issues and quality of food, unavailable à la carte options really are letting it down. Would I return, No and could I honestly recommend it - unfortunately NO.

Mandy M.