Aliathon Resort

Our family of 11 (three generations) (5 children age 3 to 12) had a week all inclusive and had a wonderful time. Firstly a shout out to ALL the staff at the hotel, as all made us feel welcome and provided a great service. The Holiday Villages (HV) entertainment and academy staff were all absolutely awesome and are a credit to themselves and our experience. The food throughout the week was amazing and we could not fault the choices on offer and/or quality provided. However, our visit to the off-site Greek Restaurant, as part of the all inclusive, was very disappointing and a complaint made the following day to reception manager. Although we had a terrific week the reason only given 4-stars on this review is:

1. The main lobby bar early evening/pre-dinner normally had the one barman on duty so there was often a queue to be served. This is a bar that provides premium cocktails, at additional charge, that the hotel promotes, and many, including ourselves, wished to have these cocktails. However the making of these cocktails from scratch is time-consuming and with only the one barman it was far from an efficient service. Hasten to add that this is the only bar area that guests were unable to serve themselves for beer, wine or soft-drinks too.

Finally - We stayed in the hotels 'Fishing Village' complex area buy the pools - The accommodation is not 4-star hotel calibre and therefore disappointing. The rooms are spacious but very dated and in need of refurbishment. The rooms still had 'self-catering' catering kitchen area but only thing used was the fridge so the area is wasted space. Understand that the kitchen dates back to times when self-catering stays at the hotel was a thing! If we go back then we would look at staying in the main hotel building where we understand the decor/furnishings are 4-star standard.

A family looking for a wonderful holiday for their children can not go wrong with the Aliathon Ionian albeit an acceptance of very average rooms in the Fishing Village accommodation.

This was our second time staying at this hotel (had such an amazing time last year we booked for this year whilst lying by the pool) but this time opted to stay in the Ionian building rather than the fishing village.

Room: We had a 1 bedroom suite entertainment side. Room was clean, airy and had an abundance of space and storage. One thing to be aware of the entertainment is loud and some nights it’s louder than others and doesn’t finish until 11pm. Also the bar is still open and people still outside after these hours so if you need sleep book road side. Noise didn’t bother us as we’re quite deep sleepers. Also there is only one lift direct to 4th floor and it can take a while to get to you. Quicker taking other lift to 3rd and walking up flight of stairs.

Pool: Ionian swim up pool - this is meant to be for Ionian residents only however during our stay we witnessed people with purple bands and no bands in the pool and getting served at the bar. Apparently the staff are not allowed to say no or challenge guests. Very poor response from management. This also meant the pool got very busy and very noisy very quickly! Certain people in swim up rooms faces were tripping them when other gold band members were in the pool outside their room - it was quite funny to watch the huffing and snide looks from those on their balcony to those in the pool. If you want a swim up room to be just for the rooms at the bottom then this is NOT the hotel for you.

We spent most of our time down at Faros pool which was quieter and less busy. Could go for a swim, a laze on the lilo and play with a ball no issue.

There is a very nice cold pool inside the spa building. Unfortunately no policing of this pool meant children were in and if you asked them to be a little quieter or move out the way you got nothing but a mouthful of abuse or deliberately kicked in the face when trying to swim. This was reported to the lady in the spa who asked them to leave but was also met with a mouthful of abuse. The clientele at the hotel this year was certainly different to last!

Sunbeds: there’s lots of them. Depending on where you want to sit you’ll still find beds at 10am so no need to get up at stupid o’clock.

Food; this is where I feel the hotel has went downhill (compared to last year). Pasta dishes were watery, food was cold if not at the restaurant as soon as it’s put out. The beans at breakfast were disgusting! The food was repetitive, not a lot of choice between pasta dishes and theme nights were disappointing. We ate out a good few times and I even had to get an emergency McDonald’s delivered for my son a couple of times. We didn’t bother trying the Mexican or Greek this year as done that last year and they were nothing special. Ate at the Italian which is not included in the AI and again it was nothing special. Last year there seemed to be more choice and better dishes on offer. And compared to the Ibiza HV the AI choice at this hotel is limited.

Also I believe there is a mangers BBQ - think this is really unfair to only have this certain weeks. We have all paid for the same holiday after all so it should be from May/June onwards.

Cocktails were ok - not the best. Paid for ones weren’t that much better either.

Entertainment: It was awful last year and worse this year - it’s probably great if you have kids younger than 8.

Location: the location of this hotel is perfect. Not too far from the airport, 10 min walk to the waterpark, 20min walk down to the harbour or bus stops right outside to take you to these places.

Plenty beaches nearby and if you like a sunset there’s also sunset point near the church which gives the Ibiza sunset a run for its money!

We had a good time away, I was definitely ready to come home. I’d recommend this hotel for families with really young children. Those with older children I’d advise looking at other hotels. Will definitely return to paphos but it will be one of the many nice hotels I walked by going to the harbour.

Okay, let's start the other way round. Setting the scene, we have visited a number of times, initially in the fishing village although laterally in the new Ionian rooms which we prefer. THE UGLY

• Wi-Fi - dreadful. Years ago, not a problem as people did not stream. These days, essential and who fully inadequate. Could not stream my favourite radio station in low bandwidth and even web sites cut out every five minutes. Needs to be urgently upgraded.
• Construction - at the back of the VIP Ionian pool they are constructing a new staff and laundry area. Most of the holiday the noise was not too bad although then they started a full day with a piling machine which whilst loud in itself, every five minutes there were huge five bangs as the screw cleaned itself right at the side of the pool. Whoever signed the contract to commission that during peak season must have been out of their minds. Obtained redress from the Tui rep who could not believe what was happening.

THE BAD

• Ionian pool and seats - is not monitored at all hence anyone can use the pool and sun beds which are reserved for the Ionian clients who pay more for the privilege. The live guard said he was not allowed to evict anyone so why bother to pay more when you can ignore the rules (one sign) and just help yourself with gold band people not able to get seats.
• Smoking/vaping - should not be allowed in restaurants with staff even handing out ash trays. I don't want his whilst eating as per most hotels these days.
• Dress code - there isn't one although the hotel suggests that people respect fellow holiday makers. Again, I don't want to see men with no tops and ladies in bikinis during breakfast and lunch. Most other hotels do not allow this.
• Speciality restaurants - bland, even though you only get two booking for ten days. Nice for a change although the themed Mexican night in the main restaurant was better than the Mexican restaurant in our eyes.
• Sun brollies - very hard to erect in a number of cases. Need additional holes to push up as staff had to help on occasions.

THE GOOD

• Staff - as always this makes your holiday. Very personable on the whole and make you feel welcome. Special mention to: main restaurant manger, Mr Tony, breakfast/lunch manager, Elena and her restaurant manager. Maria at the swim up bar who had my drink ready every time. Panos and Tenziu at the main bar. The reception staff and the unsung heroes like Theodovs, who changed your towels everyday and the two cleaners in the restaurants who nobody would pay any attention to. Management were very engaging, wanting to make your holiday special.
• Restaurant theme nights - as I said sometime better than the speciality restaurants. Some thought had gone into these and they were good. We also liked the meat selection upstairs in the outdoor area.
• Activities/entertainment - not something we joined in generally although the sheer scale of these will please a lot of families. Night time was all staff although on the whole decent without paying for outside acts.
• Breakfast/lunch service - despite the volume of people, very well organised, especially at peak times with staff very attentive and cleared away very quickly.
• Ionian rooms - still look modern and clean. I think we were the first people in the a few years ago although still impressive now and can recommend.

SUMMARY So, a number of management recommendations although we still enjoy and apart from the wi-fi (which must be fixed), just comments and recommendations to improve. We wil still be back!