Narcissos Waterpark Resort

Not long returned from a father & son trip for 2 weeks. Honest review.

• Lower pool does get busy early & you struggle for loungers after 9am. There is always loungers at the waterpark & it’s more quieter up there too, there isn’t anywhere to swim in the waterpark though. The slides are fab, we had a blast.

• The room was nice & very big. The fridge came in handy too. We had a kitchenette but never used it.

• The afternoon food was great in the restaurant, the fresh made pizzas were amazing. The evening food seemed to lack variety, it was pretty similar every night. Plenty of grilled meat though. The salad was no where near on par with other 4* hotels I’ve stayed before. The Pan Asian & BBQ Night was great. Desserts weren’t great either, it was mostly stuff packed with cream, barely anything with chocolate. I’d recommend eating out twice a week, it’s not too expensive in Protaras.

• Bar staff were great, a nice variety of cocktails are included & the iced coffee was great too.

• The bus stop outside is only 10 mins from Protaras strip, the beach in Protatas is very busy all the way across. The steps directly into the sea outside the TUI Blue hotel are great & it’s the bluest water on the whole beach. Whenever we went to visit the beach, we went there every time. We spent time at a small lagoon (shingle) beach called Palm Tree grotto. All this can be found easily using Google maps.

• The beach across the road from the hotel was accessible by walking through the staff apartments that’s next to the abandoned hotel. Both Nisia & Green Bay Beach were small but lovely all the same with nice sand.

• The evening entertainment as a whole was lacking & that’s mainly because the kid’s disco (which plays the same songs every night) & the nightly Bingo both take up a decent chunk of the evening. The real entertainment doesn’t start until 10pm which is disappointing because the bar closes at 11pm so make sure you get a few drinks in before then. The entertainment booked was great though when it eventually started.

• All staff speak great English.

• There are lots of cats around the hotel & most are friendly. There are 2 shiops just outside the hotel & they sell cat food.

• The only English Channel was Comedy Central (which was great for us) but obvs not everyone would agree. We enjoyed nightly South Park, Malcom in the middle & American Dad.

• The hotel has a luggage room & a shower room downstairs (-1) in the lift, they have lockers too for your passports if needed so you can make the most of the your last day.

The only negative thing I feel I must point out was one of the restaurant managers. (small guy with glasses) Openly shouting & berating the staff who were clearing/prepping tables, they work 3 shifts per day & they work damn hard & hearing the way this man spoke to them was appalling & extremely unprofessional. The other restaurant manager was lovely (big guy with glasses)

Overall, I wouldn’t say it’s 4* but I’d say it’s better than a standard 3* which fits with the amount we paid for a 2 week stay. The water park is the seller & travelling with a 13 years old lad, it’s the main reason I booked. I’d visit again but not within 5 years.

We spent a week there at the end of August.

The hotel is very average. Our room was a double, so it was quite spacious and had a small balcony. Unfortunately, it was only cleaned once during our stay, and we also had a cockroach in the room.

Food: Good choice and generally well prepared. The dining area staff were always friendly and helpful, which was a definite plus.

Pool area: Far too small for the number of guests. Most of the sunbeds were already taken before 7am.

Water park: Not very big, but enough to keep small children entertained for a while.

Noise: There was loud music by the pool, to the point where you had to shout to have a conversation. The evening entertainment was also very loud, and there was no quiet area where you could sit and relax after dinner.

Reception staff: Unfortunately, this was another downside. The female reception staff were quite unfriendly and unhelpful, which made dealing with any issues rather unpleasant.

On the positive side, there are a few lovely beaches in the area, which are great for swimming and snorkelling.

Overall: We did have a reasonably enjoyable time, but we wouldn’t choose this hotel again. For the price, you can find better hotels with a higher standard. If you enjoy a loud, busy and lively hotel, you may have a good time here. However, in our opinion, it is definitely not a 4-star hotel — I would rate it around 3.