Mayia Exclusive Resort and Spa

I would highly recommend 20:10 massage thanks so much Jodi

We recently stayed at Mayia Exclusive Resort & Spa in Rhodes for a special trip and honestly, we would return in a heartbeat. We chose Mayia for a relaxing getaway and it really delivered. It was our last little “hurrah” before having our baby, so we wanted somewhere where we could properly switch off, relax and enjoy some good food — and Mayia was perfect for that.

Arrival & Check-in

Our arrival was lovely and felt very well organised. We were asked for our passports and name before being invited to take a seat with a drink while the team completed the administration side of check-in.

Once everything was ready, we were called back to the desk, completed payment and were given our room key. From there, a golf buggy took us and our luggage directly to our room, which was a really nice touch after travelling.

The Room

We stayed in a swim-up bungalow and absolutely loved it. The room was very clean, cool and welcoming when we arrived, and it didn't take us long at all to head outside and admire our pool.

Having the shared pool directly outside our room was definitely one of our favourite parts of the stay. It was usually very quiet in the afternoons and there were plenty of occasions when we felt like we had it almost entirely to ourselves.

Food & Restaurants

The food was one of the highlights of our stay. We managed to eat at all of the restaurants and genuinely enjoyed the variety and quality.

One thing I would suggest improving is the restaurant booking system. On arrival, you are given access to the booking app, but by the time we checked in, all of the restaurants were already booked for that evening. As bookings can be made three days in advance, it would be great if guests could either be given access to the app before arrival or contacted beforehand to see if they wanted to reserve a restaurant for their first night.

The biggest issue for us was Flame Grill, the steak restaurant. It always appeared to be fully booked. I even went onto the app at midnight to try to secure a reservation, but it was already showing as fully booked, which was quite frustrating given that bookings are supposedly only available three days in advance.

Thankfully, reception were able to help us get a reservation when we explained that it was my birthday. We really appreciated their help, but it did make me wonder how many guests might leave without ever getting the opportunity to eat there. I don't think guests should need to ask for special assistance to access one of the restaurants.

Aside from that, we thought the food offering was fantastic.

We particularly loved the extra food options available throughout the day — the street food, healthy options, coffee shop and gelato. These were such a great addition because sometimes you don't want a full buffet meal. We couldn't manage a three-course meal in one sitting, so having gelato later in the evening became something we really enjoyed!

Drinks

We thought the drinks were excellent. I was pregnant during our stay, so I was drinking mocktails, and it was great to see that there were also non-alcoholic wine, sparkling wine and beer options available.

My partner enjoyed the alcoholic drinks and said they were generous measures rather than the small pours you sometimes get at all-inclusive resorts.

We also really enjoyed the champagne bar — definitely worth a visit.

Pools

The two main pools were lovely. I particularly liked that one was shallower than the other, giving people different options depending on what they wanted.

Neither pool ever seemed overcrowded during our stay, which made it easy to relax.

Of course, having our own swim-up bungalow meant we also had the shared pool right outside our room. This was probably one of our favourite features of the hotel, especially in the afternoons when it was incredibly peaceful.

Beach

The beach is very rocky, so I would definitely recommend bringing beach shoes.

That said, the water is incredibly clear and it was lovely to have the beach as another option when you wanted to get away from the pools. There is also a bar and food outlet down by the beach. We didn't eat there but did stop for a drink.

Spa

We didn't actually use the spa, so I can't comment on the treatments themselves.

The only negative experience we had was the level of promotion for the spa. You need to go to the spa to collect your beach towels, and while we were there we were approached quite strongly about booking treatments.

This continued for a few days, with the spa representative approaching us outside the buffet breakfast to ask again whether we wanted to book anything.

Once we made it clear that we weren't interested, she was perfectly polite and simply continued to say good morning, but we did find the initial approach quite pushy. It was the only part of the service that didn't really fit with the otherwise relaxed atmosphere of the resort.

Staff & Service

The staff were fantastic.

Everyone we encountered was friendly, helpful and genuinely made us feel welcome. There are honestly too many people who made our stay special to mention individually, but the level of service was consistently excellent throughout the resort.

Entertainment & Atmosphere

I'm not normally someone who gets involved with resort entertainment, but I was impressed with how much interest the entertainment team managed to generate.

There always seemed to be people getting involved and enjoying themselves without it ever feeling forced or intrusive.

Overall, the atmosphere was exactly what we wanted: relaxed, peaceful and easy-going.

Location

The resort is quite secluded, which we actually liked because we were primarily there to relax.

When we did want to venture out, the hotel was able to arrange taxis for us and we did this a few times. So although the location isn't ideal if you want to walk out of the resort into a busy town every evening, it wasn't an issue for us.

Overall

Our favourite thing about Mayia was simply how relaxing the whole experience was. There was so much choice when it came to food and drinks, and we loved all the little extras throughout the day — from the coffee shop and healthy options to the street food and gelato.

The resort manages to give you plenty to do without making you feel like you have to do anything. You can spend the day around the main pools, disappear to your swim-up pool, head down to the beach, grab a coffee, have a gelato or enjoy a drink at the champagne bar.

The two things we would change are the restaurant booking system, particularly the difficulty getting into Flame Grill, and the rather persistent promotion of spa treatments.

Other than those points, we honestly had an amazing stay.

We would definitely return in a heartbeat. This trip was our last little getaway before becoming parents, but we'd absolutely love to come back one day — assuming we can convince the grandparents to babysit! 😂

Mayia was exactly the relaxing, indulgent escape we were hoping for, and we left feeling completely refreshed.

Never go for the messages on holiday but decided to go for 'back, neck & shoulders' - absolutely brilliant, will book again before leaving - Thank you Lisa !!