Sabina Hotel

We had a really relaxing, pleasant 10-night stay. The staff were so friendly and helpful, and the hotel is close to the beach with nice restaurants nearby. Rhodes town takes about an hour by bus. I’d happily come back and recommend staying here.

The staff were really friendly, and our room looked onto the garden. Breakfast was good and kept us going until our afternoon gyros, even if it wasn’t anything fancy. The nearest beach is Theologos Beach, where the wind and waves are good for kitesurfing and other water sports. Make time to sit down at Cantina Smaragdi. The owner is one of the kindest people I’ve met, and the food is delicious. We tried pork souvlaki and had plenty of frappes. One thing to know at Sabina Hotel: air conditioning costs €5 per night, payable at the start or end of your stay.

The hotel food was okay, and the price was reasonable, I guess. The place could be nice with more investment, but it doesn’t match the photos or what you might expect. The town itself feels almost deserted, and Theologos, 5 km away, also seemed poor and empty. I kind of liked the feel of it, but paying €10 for a Greek salad in such a forsaken place still stings. There aren’t many restaurant choices. Billy's Place was the nicest, with a good menu and number smoothies, which are rare on this island. The bathrooms are ugly, with tiny showers and curtains. There’s no insect screen on the balcony, so nights can get really hot. With the balcony open it would be cool at night, but there are no nets, and it feels like they want you to pay for air conditioning. Breakfast was pretty poor. They had beans, cooked vegetables and other lunch-like soufflé dishes that nobody wants for breakfast, plus tomatoes, paprika, cucumbers, bread, eggs, plain green olives, some feta, three kinds of pastry and some jams. The glasses are tiny, and don’t get me started on the plates. The pool was okay, though a bit old and oddly designed. The loungers were fine, but their mattresses were dirty. The rest of the garden felt deserted too. Instead of seeing the sea from the main view, you look at a neglected, crumbling building that used to be some kind of restaurant. The beach is rocky, steep and windy, not good for swimming. The power plant is off to the left, and sometimes you can smell the irritating pollution. It feels like the place itself shouldn’t be a tourist destination. Get up and put some effort into this place, Greek dude!

It’s a basic but nice hotel, and the transport links make the location workable. We had a pleasant stay in general, but the pool bar experience means we won’t come back. We ordered fries for lunch and waited around 40 minutes, getting more frustrated as we were hungry and every other table had been served, including people who arrived later. After 55 minutes, we left without eating. We were feeling ill after going without food for a while, especially after being in the pool. Drinks are also extremely expensive. A drink that costs €2 at the shop is €8 here. The service was appalling, poor, disappointing and embarrassing.