Olympia Sun Hotel

The area has plenty to do, and Faliraki centre and the beach are both around a ten-minute walk away. Buses to Rhodes Town are easy to catch from the main road, a five-minute walk away, though they get extremely busy from May to September. You can also take buses to Lindos and Antony Quinn beach for a couple of euros. The TUI rep was at the hotel almost every day, a lovely and helpful woman who answered our questions. A warning if you go out at night: street beggars with children may try to take things from you. We came in August, when it was very hot, reaching 40 degrees. A lovely bus driver brought us to the hotel, but things went downhill when we saw our rooms. They were dirty and dated, nothing like the renovated rooms shown on the website. The fridge was gross, there were bugs in the beds and bathroom, the room was generally dirty, and the sheets were thin, creased, and stained. The TV was broken, as was the mirror light and the lights above the bed, leaving us with just one working light. Paint was missing or chipped on the walls, and the balcony was covered in bird poo. For a family room, there were only two balcony chairs and one dressing table chair, not enough for us. We asked for clean towels, but our dirty ones were taken without replacements, so we went a day without them after getting covered in cream, seawater, and sand. The rooms aren't baby-friendly. The air conditioning was okay but switched off after a while, and we'd wake up sweating. The cleaners were lovely and chatty, though I heard a few people say their belongings had gone missing, so be aware. Staff were super friendly but did seem to expect tips. The pool and dining areas were kept very clean, a bright spot given the rooms. The pool was nice but overcrowded all the time, and adults kept going in and out of the kids' pool. Sunbeds were always taken by 8pm, so get up early if you want one. The snack bar had the same three things each day, and the restaurant served much the same food every day too, only changing it a little after about five days. There were only two baby chairs in the restaurant, so we had to seat our 12-month-old on a regular chair or hold him while we ate. If you do get a baby chair, be prepared for people to keep asking to take it. The hotel had lots of partygoers and teenage groups, with rowdy people in the halls early in the morning. The rooms weren't soundproof at all, so we were woken up. There weren't many children, and it didn't really seem like a family hotel. Entertainment ran until about 10:30pm, with loud music keeping the little ones awake. To get toward town, you have to cross a very busy main road at a blind corner. Cars there don't stop for anyone.

The entertainment team did their best. One night there was a breakdance show, and another there were three lovely singers. There's also a small playground, lifts for prams, and a room where you can relax and play snooker. Thank you to all the staff, especially Nicos and Alex! We'd worried about the three-star rating before booking, but the hotel was a pleasant surprise. The rooms were basic, clean, and cleaned daily. The food was very good, fresh, and had more variety than we expected. The location is great, close to the beach and Faliraki city centre. I read the reviews before our trip and was concerned, but I can reassure people that the hotel has been renewed and could even claim four stars. Maria and Tomas

In the end, the catering and cleaning staff were pleasant and welcoming. When we found a bug on the mattress and blood on the sheets on the second night, the cleaner couldn't have been nicer when we asked for a fresh mattress. The TUI rep came to deal with the bed bug and the clean sheets. Reception was another matter. Staff were rude and acted as if the room mismatch was our fault, even though we'd selected a family room and that's what TUI provided. The receptionist with the golden orange hair was useless and rude. Later, a different cleaner took over and asked us for a tip at the end of our stay, which I thought was very rude. The rooms look beautiful in the pictures, but what we got was far from that. The photos show newly “renovated” rooms, and you might not get the room you thought you booked. We checked in at 2am, and by the time we understood what was going on, it was too late to sort it out. Our three children were down the hall from us. We dragged a mattress into our twin room for our toddler and left the older children in their prison cell of a room. A balcony could face the car park, the back of the neighbouring building, or a courtyard. With luck, it might overlook the pool. The sea view was lovely in daylight, but at 5am younger guests were still gathering by the pool or shouting in the halls while we tried to sleep. There was only one employee on duty at night, so getting help then wasn't likely. If you're unhappy with the main building, they may move you to a second building with a nice view of the dirt car park. The food smelled the same every day. We had one night when it was actually decent and edible; otherwise, you'd be better off walking ten minutes down the road for a reasonably priced meal. For a family of five, eating out costs €100-€150 per meal. They seemed understaffed for the number of guests. The communal areas were constantly left dirty given the sheer number of guests and staff. The toilets by the pool, bar, and dining area stank of urine at all hours, and the floor was always soaked with it. The cups looked questionably clean. If you picked a glass at the snack bar, you could see they'd only been rinsed, with syrup from the previous drink left behind. The pool is too small for three full blocks of guests, and there were never enough sunbeds. You'd have to get up by at least 6am to claim one unless you wanted to be the person putting down a towel the night before. That was possible because the pool area wasn't cleaned in the evenings; the floor was sticky and filthy. The day someone used the pool as a toilet seemed to be the first time it had had a “clean” in ages. Tiles were broken, and the drains around the pool were damaged. The handrail was broken but usable. The children's pool was about three metres wide, with a wobbly rail, and the small splash pad next to it was broken for our entire stay. It looked as if it had been broken for a while before we arrived. There weren't enough shared spaces, so after dinner people gathered in the dining area while other guests were arriving for their evening meal. The patio by reception had just six chairs. You had to pay to use the snooker table, and a cabinet blocked one side of it. The unused reception area could have been a communal space with its sofas, but it wasn't near the bar or entertainment. For entertainment there was one woman with a laptop, with karaoke, live performers, or music bingo.

The restaurant was very clean, the food was lovely, and there was a good choice of salads. Stephanie and the other restaurant staff were especially nice. Our rooms were clean and the air conditioning worked well, but the pool was absolutely freezing, so we couldn't stay in for long. We arrived after a three-hour delay. The hotel is about 20 minutes from the airport, and Frank greeted us warmly and showed us to a tiny, basic, dated room with three single beds. Its balcony looked toward a rural mountain, and the patio furniture was old and rickety. I was travelling with my partner and 15-year-old son. I hadn't realized that a twin room listed as sleeping three would be just one room. I thought a family room meant the same thing, but apparently it depends on the country. I'd never encountered that before. Reception wasn't much help when I asked about moving to a bigger room and told me to speak with the TUI rep. He was dismissive at first, but after I explained the frustration and genuine misunderstanding, he suggested the manager. I didn't get her name, but she was understanding and accommodating. She moved us to a deluxe family room with five beds and didn't charge for the upgrade, which I was very grateful for. The snack bar mostly had gyros every day, with no ice cream or other snacks through the day, so it wasn't good for fussy eaters. In the week we were there, we had one amazing dance show, and the karaoke planned for the next night didn't happen. Greek music played practically all day, every day. The bar staff were rude and had no manners, which was a letdown after the restaurant staff. The lager was so weak it seemed non-alcoholic, and came in little plastic glasses. There was a good range of spirits and a few cocktails, though what you got depended on who was working. When I ordered Malibu and pineapple, one bartender put in the liqueur but left out the white rum. Bizarre. There also isn't much space in the restaurant or bar, so I can imagine that being a big problem in peak season.