Santa Helena Hotel

We stayed at Santa Helena beach for seven days, from 13/7 to 20/7 in 2024. Our ground-floor two-room apartment had a terrace facing the pool area and evening sun. The hotel was very clean, with nice architecture, and there were good free sunbeds by both the pool and beach, as long as you bought something from the bar, which was easy to do. The restaurant had a good range of lighter snacks, excellent pizza and burritos, and nice dinner dishes. The tuna fillet was amazing, as was the souvlaki. The beach outside is nice, though sand instead of small rocks would be better, since the rocks get really hot. The seabed is fine sand and deepens quickly, but stays around 3-4 meters deep farther out. Recommended!

We stayed for two weeks and left with mixed feelings. The location was fantastic, but there are plenty of things the hotel could improve. It’s rated as an Apollo Mondo selected hotel, which suggests a good standard, service and location, yet most reception staff didn’t seem service minded. They looked as if they were having a bad day at work, every day. On arrival we didn’t get a warm welcome or information about our stay beyond a single A4 sheet. We had a double room with pool view in section 9. The room itself was a good standard, with two balconies, a small kitchen and decent furnishings, but it needed shelves and wall hooks for clothes. The main bed and pillow were good, although I don’t like sharing a duvet. Our kids said the two couches put together as beds could have been a little softer. A major minus: the sheets weren’t changed at all during our 14-day stay. The bathroom was small, with no shelves for toiletries. The shower had no pressure, and switching between the overhead shower and showerhead didn’t work properly. For those of us who like a morning workout, another big minus was that there was no warm water in the morning. Towels were replaced only twice a week, but after we told reception, we got fresh ones with every room cleaning. You had to get up early to claim sunbeds. The pool area was okay, but the pools were very dirty. I didn’t see anyone take pool samples or provide any other confirmation that they were okay. Guests weren’t allowed to bring their own drinks or snacks to the pool. The pool bar was a bit overpriced, and the waiters often got orders wrong or brought food that wasn’t ours. We were told there would be a light early-morning breakfast with snacks, coffee and fruit, but it didn’t exist. Bringing coffee to the sunbeds wasn’t allowed either. One waiter followed my wife to tell her so. The restaurant served good food, with a varied selection of hot and cold dishes. One plus was that the staff set tables for all 17 people in our family group every night. The gym equipment was worn, and the room didn’t look like the picture on the website. There also wasn’t a kids’ room, despite the website showing one. They’d turned it into an arcade room where everything costs extra. We’ll miss the location and some of the staff, but the service side of the hotel falls short and that’s why we gave it this score.

The hotel is right beside the beach, just a few meters from a swim in the sea, and public transport made getting there and back easy. We could also leave our rental car on the side street. The pool area is beautiful, and the restaurant food was excellent. I also liked seeing guests and staff leave water and food out for the stray cats. The employees seemed a little overworked, but they really did their best. My ground-floor room, number 503, looked worn. You could tell they had tried to clean it, though there were limits: yellow marks on the lampshades, bugs under the bathroom sink, and worn shelves with odd brown spots. My friends on a higher floor didn’t have bugs. We enjoyed our stay, but I probably wouldn’t book here again until it’s renovated.

Alexandros, the restaurant waiter, was a real asset. My boyfriend and I would call him a proper serviceman, and he was the reason we gave the hotel four stars. The bar manager was hard to get a smile from and seemed tired of the job and customers. She never acknowledged us while we waited at the bar. We presumed the general manager was walking around and meeting with the head chef and the bar manager. To me, the GM seemed to micromanage, which is a shame since the hotel has a lot of potential to be one of the best. The cleaning staff worked hard in the heat, and we hope they’re well cared for. The housekeeping manager said hello once and seemed to help the team. The rooms were small but fine, with no major malfunction. The kitchen could use an upgrade, though it had what we needed. We had a great holiday with sunny weather and enjoyed exploring the local cuisine, but Platanias felt a bit too touristy. We won’t come back, because of the hotel.