Adamou Gardens

The apartment was in a good location and quiet for most of our stay, with friendly staff and two pools just ten steps away. The block has a lift, while the main building is down the hill, either on foot or by car. You'll need a car since it's not on a main bus route. Pathos harbour is a 10-15 minute drive, and Coral Bay takes around 15-20 minutes.

The kitchen had useful equipment, though basic things like oven gloves and tea towels were missing. A rubbish bag hung from a hook, and by day four ants had spread through the kitchen, even though it had been cleaned the day before. Neither apartment safe worked: the first had a key snap in the lock, and the second had batteries with corroded cords. I asked for it to be checked, but by day five no one had come, so we had to carry all our money around with us. The shower was over a bath with no curtain and very little pressure. It took 40 minutes to fill the bath, and I got a better shower at the harbour. My daughter cut her leg on the pool, after my son had pulled more than 100 tiles out of its bottom. We got an apology and what was called a first aid kit, just cotton wool and small plasters. There was no other help, and someone said it had happened to another family the week before. We had to move apartments after the first night, from one that was dirty to a better one. The only person who was friendly was the man who moved us. The residents made us feel unwelcome, and we were woken late at night and early in the morning as they came and went to work. We arrived at 2am and waited 30 minutes for someone to show up with our room details, after having to call them. We had three children with us. The sofa bed for my 15-year-old was yellow, stained, and had leeches crawling on it. There was no bedding that night, and the reception guy had disappeared again. We had no towels, and even buying water meant a 20-minute walk. There isn't a shop or restaurant onsite, and this isn't within walking distance of shops as the listing and reviews suggested. You need a car here. The apartments are rooms sold off individually to locals, so it feels like living in their home space rather than a holiday complex. The ads and photos don't match what we found. We came because a friend had moved here, but we'd never book it if we'd known it was a residential area rather than a holiday hotel. Evie's safari was the highlight of the holiday. It was the most welcoming part, and we spent most evenings at his family-run pub. We would come back to this part of Cyprus, but would stay in town. This was my first holiday in 19 years, my kids' first, and also our honeymoon, and the misleading information spoiled it.

The place was in complete disrepair. Only six months earlier, it had been a regular hotel full of tourists, so I can't understand what happened. When we went into reception, a group of black men were taking down the windows. They saw us, let the windows drop from the third floor, and ran off. It felt like something from an apocalyptic Netflix series. I'd never seen Cyprus like that before.

I stayed 11 days in a studio, and it was crawling with millions of ants. They were on the kitchen counters, in the bath and sink, and even in my food. The cleaner didn't come for five days, and I had to beg for toilet paper and for her to clean. The sheets needed changing and the bins needed emptying. I couldn't switch apartments because the place was full. The nearest bus stop is a half-hour walk, and Lidl is about four miles away. I was exhausted, and this wasn't worth the £500 I paid. I wasn't happy there at all. You're better off staying in a four-star hotel.