Mitsis Messonghi Beach

Nice location, private beach, really nice beach and pools. The atmosphere is relaxed, friendly, and pleasant, but there's slight room for improvement, probably with a bit more Greek music and entertainment. During the day, the animation team is good, but in the evening, there's a lot of space for improvement. The only show that was really enjoyable and looked very organized was the magic show in the amphitheater. Greek dance night was also nice but needs some improvement as the performance was poor with no synchronization and a 12-minute waiting time as the team had to change their costumes. The room is nice, cleaned daily, and I loved that the cleaner left the AC on all day to be pleasant when you come from the pool or beach. A few ants in the bathroom, but we had a ground floor room, so no issue for us. Also a bit dated with a noisy fridge, but nothing which could affect our comfort. Staff really nice, always with a smile. A few of them at the main bar in the evening were a bit grumpy but none rude or without respect, probably they were tired as the working volume is high; however, there's space for improvement. A special shout out for Zoe and Vasily (really nice guy) from the beach bar (next to the volleyball area), Nicoleta and Kevin from the main restaurant, and our favorite Natalie from Pergola bar (always with a smile and kind). Food nice but a few nights the meat option was poor, like only a few pieces of pork and lamb, chicken was missing a few days; however, we enjoyed almost all food. Space for improvement on seasoning food, in a few days and nights food seemed to be not salted. We were a group of 8 and 1 toddler. Things to do for all of us. Nice staff, nice place. Definitely recommended. A bit dated but I promise this will not affect your comfort. Reception staff all really nice. Pice match the expectation.

Our experience here was mixed. Initially we had a room in the Chloe block (River view) with an extra bed for our 6yo but this meant we couldn't open the wardrobe to access the safe... When we complained we were moved to a bungalow which was a much better set up - not actually bigger but the layout was far more sensible. Be aware some of the rooms have no lift access at all - you need to specify if that's an issue for you.

I agree they need far more sunbeds or to actually police their "policy" of not reserving before 9am/leaving for more than an hour. It was never enforced at all and if you needed shade you had to join the early sunbed reservation crew! We often had one single sunbed between three people. The pools also felt quite cramped and one lifeguard was very over-officious (and inconsistent with his rules).

The food - well, the buffet felt a little lacking in grilled meat. There was often fish however and plenty of different dishes in sauces. Be warned if you have picky kids, there is no pizza on the buffets - you have to go the pizza place and get that separately there - even on Italian night! The Greek night was great - if they just cooked that each day I would have preferred it to be honest. Do visit the crepe/ice cream gelataria - freshly made crepes! They were fantastic and worth the queue. Time it right and the queue wasn't too terrible to be honest. The mango ice cream was also amazing and in general it seemed high-end ice cream compared to other resorts.

Our main tip would be - find the second dining room! So you go into the main dining room, go along past the drinks and the toilets, through the archway and there is an entire second dining room with another set of exactly the same food! Much quieter and no queues. There is also the beach restaurant obviously but the menu is slightly more limited. We sometimes checked there first and decided if there was something everyone fancied or not.

Drinks - I was perfectly happy with the cocktails myself although I will admit they varied significantly depending on who was making them! The wine was also nice especially by Greek standards.... It is proper Pepsi/Pepsi Max and then generic for the other soft drinks. Take a water bottle (ideally an insulated one) for getting your water from the fountains then you don't need to queue for an empty glass.

Take beach shoes for the sands too!

Review of our stay August 2026:

This is, I think, the 12th time we have stayed at this hotel. This speaks for itself. We are a well travelled holiday with around 6 foreign holidays a year (I’m self employed and work like a machine so we can travel.) and Messonghi Beach/Mitsis Messonghi is the only place we return to year after year.

Rooms: We stayed in a beachfront bungalow which, as always, was amazing. Clean, spacious and with views across the sea and to Messonghi. Ive searched and searched for similar accommodation in Europe but never actually found anything anywhere near the same. I’ve put a video of the bungalow on here when we arrived if you would like to have a look.

Food: The food is great. There is so much choice during the day that we rarely went to the main restaurant for lunch. The fresh pizza and crepes are my favourite, the pulled pork barms and the butties from the sandwich bar are more than enough during the day. I haven’t been to an AI with that much choice. Yes, you may have to wait a short time but that is because they are literally making and cooking the food fresh in front of you. I’d prefer that than frozen pizzas and packet pancakes.

Drinks: These are typical AI drinks. I’m a Coke snob so will always buy some cans of Coke Light from the shop to enjoy but the Coke on tap is not unsinkable. In the evening I was happy with vodka and Diet Coke. We were on a family holiday so not interested in sitting around getting drunk.

Bars: We went over the river to timeoutboss for their popular cocktails and mocktails. They were absolutely delicious and you can see why so many people go over there for a night out.

Entertainment: The animation team go above and beyond to make your holiday the best it can be. There is so much going on around the pool and the resort all day that I only read two books in two weeks! (Compare that to three on our one week cruise a couple of weeks before!) The colour party and festival on our first day is probably one of the highlights of the holiday. So much thought, time and planning had gone into that so a huge thank you to Spyros and his team. Yanek, Liwia and Niko must also get a special shout out - their energy is fantastic.

Staff: The staff go above and beyond to help you here and they really are a credit to the hotel. Haithem on the guest relations definitely deserves a mention - always a wave and a hello when we walked past. Spyros is an absolute legend. Alex and his wife on the bar are always amazing. And I must mention Maria who I email asking question after question but she’s always so patient with me! Our flight home got cancelled while we were at the airport so we returned for another night and day. The staff at reception, Spyros, Haithem and Maria all went out of their way to help make a difficult situation much easier - this says so much about the hotel (and probably the Mitsis brand) as we were so much more than just another booking. It’s these little things that make the difference to your experience.

Trips: We used Soula Sakadaki like pretty much everyone else. Her trips are the best in the area and her personal touch and care are really what makes her stand out. We used Soula for our transfers and also for getting our son safely to the hotel when he travelled on his own. She kept in touch with me, him and the driver all of the way as she knew my anxiety was through the roof! Two of our family and three of our friends enjoyed the horse riding on the beach through her. Our friend’s little girl came back asking if she could now start horseriding lessons! I ended up doing the sunset cruise three times over the fortnight but absolutely loved it. The colours were unreal and swimming in the blue lagoon in the early evening was just perfect.

Watersports: I love the fact that this is on site and there is so much to choose from. Our kids (and dads) did everything from paddle boarding to jet skis with some fast inflatables in between! Make sure you plan some money into your spends for this.

Sunbeds: Yes, I got up early - but I do at every hotel we stay in but there were empty sunbeds dotted around. I would say that it is reasonable to remove towels if you notice that they haven’t been used for over an hour or so. I don’t agree with people putting towels out the night before and they should be removed.

Local area: We chose 75 Steps as the place to celebrate our son’s GCSE results - it is one of my most favourite places on earth and you really must book a table there while you are on holiday. Watching the sunset over the mountains while enjoying the most delicious Greek food makes the most perfect evening. We also ate in the Family Tavern, another favourite of ours. Only 5 minutes from the hotel and their famous orange cake is to die for. Scoop and Cone is another huge favourite of our family - yes, there’s ice cream at the hotel but this is a whole other level. It’s like a work of art - make sure you pop down at least once and take a picture in front of their legendary instagramable wall. We also went over the river to Mojo's for their famous burgers.

We have booked again for May half term and we are working out how to fit an August trip in around our other summer travel plans!

Another great holiday, lots of memories made and I can’t wait to return in 2027.