Benitses Bay View Hotel

The food was awful, nearly the same every day, with no traditional dishes or fish, just poorly cooked vegetables and low-quality meat. I also doubted the drinking water they gave us. It tasted terrible, and on the day the hotel's water supply stopped completely, staff couldn't give us that water either. We had to beg for a glass, even with all-inclusive. The bar staff were extremely rude. When I went for a drink two or three times, they made me feel bad for using my all-inclusive. That service ends at 10 pm. One night, I left my drink by the pool for a minute and someone took the alcohol but left the juice at exactly 10. At 10:02, the man at the bar said I should have watched it better and that another guest must have taken it. I pointed out that some empty glasses had been taken too, but he ignored me and said there were no more drinks. Such a cheap trick. The pool also turned people's feet blue, which I hadn't believed until it happened. Getting to the beach was a struggle: the hotel is far away in the forest, and the shuttle only runs three or four times a day in each direction, with room for seven people. You could wait a long time, so don't come without a car. All-inclusive is hard to use if you want to spend time at the beach instead of staying at the hotel all day. For Bulgarians: don't come here with Bohemia. Besides the appalling hotel, expect mocking comments from the tour guide Lalka about us coming for fitness because of the walk up to the hotel, and no interest in people. She acts like you should be grateful she took you anywhere at all.

The hotel was beautiful overall, near the chateau, and there are buses down to the beach. But it wasn't quiet like they claim. There were lots of loud Polish visitors, and their children were noisy and kept jumping into the pool. The drinks tasted very cheap. The staff seemed to dislike Polish people, whom they said always got drunk and caused trouble. The rooms were small and looked dated.

We had a good stay and thought it was very good value. The hotel was clean and comfortable, with friendly, helpful staff and plenty of choice for meals and drinks. It's tucked among trees on a hill, so the setting is quiet, though there are lots of steps and it's not suited to anyone with walking difficulties. Steps were fine for us. The hotel offered a free bus down to the seafront, and you could catch buses to Corfu town and other areas. The Palace of St Michael and George was only a few minutes uphill on foot, with lovely views. We'd go again.

The one good thing about this hotel is the view, and it's very close to Anchillion palace. Otherwise, I really wouldn't recommend it. I'm British, and I hated the noise. Even though it's away from everything, I could hear guests banging and walking around, the air conditioning units, and constant banging from somewhere. It was full of loud European tourists, so it definitely wasn't a quiet stay. There were flies everywhere, apparently coming from the sinks and bathroom drains. I stayed two nights, don't drink much, and only paid for meals rather than all-inclusive, but still had to prove my meals were paid for. The food was like what I've had at other Greek hotels, and the coffee was terrible. They charged me a premium price for the free breakfast coffee.