Labranda Marine Aquapark Resort

We arrived as a couple on 1st May to surprise family arriving a couple of days later. Unfortunately the weather was not great and was cold so needed heating on in the room. Our room was advertised by Jet2 as a superior room with garden view, it most certainly was not. Very small with minimal storage and bathroom very compact. The shower area is opposite the toilet and only has a curtain which allows water onto the bathroom floor. There is only one restaurant which is a self service buffet, you also have to get your own drinks. Our first few days the hotel was not busy, but restaurant staff still struggled to keep tables clear and the food topped up. As the hotel got busier this situation got worse and the food was often not very warm, felt like we were back at school. This was a shame as the variety of food was very good. As the weather was not good everyone had to cram into the reception/lobby/bar area with was extremely noisy, with unattended children running around and jumping all over the furniture. We witnessed several chairs and sofas being broken, the staff made no attempt to intervene. This is all a shame as when the weather is good the outdoor facilities would be amazing for families.

We booked this hotel as a group of seven in two rooms. Family of five in one was on first floor and spacious with plenty of room for all. However ground floor room for two was as big as a garden shed. The room was opposite the kids area where a space hockey game was played as late as 1 am most evenings. The room had aircon, clean and working. The bathroom however was very lacking. The drains stank all week. The large shower head was calcified and only sprinkling a little water out. Completely unusable. Clearly not maintained. I had seen so many TikTok’s showing how good this place was, what they don’t mention is how old the reviews are. The rooms are however cleaned everyday, even if they do start at 8am. The gym was a selling point for me however the equipment was once again poorly maintained. Make shift pins in the weight machines, the cables on one had snapped and repaired cheaply and this prevented full use of the machine. The other items were unusable. The entertainment was sadly lacking, with it being difficult to differentiate between the staff and kids! The mini disco lasted 15mins, same songs every night and the performances were lacklustre! Very poor. The shows were repeated every four days and some of the animation team looked extremely uncomfortable being on stage! Everynight there was a group of children of different nationalities that were all trying to have a game of football in a safe lit area to the side of the entrainment in view of parents. No issues, no damage and all inclusive! This was constantly being broken up and moved on a by the security guard Yannis. He kept moving them to an area behind the swimming pools, uneven surface, unlit and away from the safety of parents. Why !! They were doing nothing wrong and quite clearly there is no designated area for kids to play football that is safer . And then to top it off, the kids playground is also unlit as if kids only want to play during the day. This is unacceptable! The food is lovely, some great choices although I still think that people think the English only love pizza, burger and chips. The fresh cooked fish including Tuna was gorgeous, however the snack bar only opening at 1230 for a few hours seemed a bit disjointed. The dining hall is quite small and compact and would hate to think what it was like at capacity. Lastly the pools!! They are disgusting. I’m really surprised that the children playing have not come down with ear or stomach issues. Every morning the water is still cloudy from the day before. The amount of detritus floating in the bottom of the pool that isn’t cleaned or filtered out is disgusting, this included human waste. The area around the pool is only cleaned by those people who clear up after themselves or at 6pm when it shuts!! Not all bad though, well done to all the life guards at the top of the slides that made for many happy children and parents alike creating some cracking memory’s. Helping everybody make the most of the slides on a daily basis. Hope this gets to you as you make many happy children and adults alike. Thankyou. Tigaki is 3km away or 7.50 each in the hotel contract taxi. There is very little else by way of bus or taxi service so you are reliant on this if you want to visit. Also trips, beware that if you don’t want to pay for your holiday company trips, there are very few other companies that pick up from the white olive. It is a little out of the way. You have to make your own way which could be expensive. We enjoyed our holiday over the last 7 days, would we book again, probably not. Nice hotel, nice grounds, nice staff and food. Just looking a little sorry for itself these days. My advice, do your homework before booking.

We’ve just got back from a 7 day stay here. It was my first time taking my 13 & 11 year old abroad on my own. Kos is my go to island in Greece. I’ve been coming here since the 80’s & absolutely love it but this was my first time at White Olive.

Overall it’s a nice complex & I felt very safe being here on my own with the kids. Our rooms were swept & mopped everyday & fresh towels which was nice. The rooms were nice & the aircon was good & the staff were all pleasant.

Unfortunately I just thought a few things let it down.

I didn’t like the pool area. There was a wall around the pool so when sunbathing you couldn’t actually see your kids in the pool unless you got up super early to reserve a sunbed with a view to the pool which I didn’t want to be doing.

The women’s toilets didn’t have a lock on the doors so my 13 year old daughter felt uncomfortable & had to keep going back to the room.

The selection of food was great & we really enjoyed the breakfasts & pool bar lunches but I found the evening food to be very bland. I love fish dishes but every fish dish I tried was not nice. There was also a few nights when we went to get dessert & practically everything had gone & not replaced so we ended up just having fruit & ice cream.

Drinks were not great either. Alcoholic drinks were very watered down & soft drinks were like drinking a cup of syrup. I’ve been to other AI hotels where the drinks have been better & kids get free ice cream all day but sadly this hotel doesn’t do that. However the gelato bar was really good & although you had to pay extra it was very reasonably priced for what you got.

Also the sunbeds could do with an upgrade.

Overall it was a nice get away with the kids but for what we paid I know we can get better elsewhere.