Oasis Hotel Bungalows Rodos

Yes the hotel is dated and could do with a facelift and the bathrooms need to be updated. Yes some of the food is repetitive and menu could be varied. However, the hotel was clean, welcoming and set in beautiful gardens. The staff were amazing. Kind, considerate and attentive. Our room was cleaned each day and fresh towels provided every other day. The pool was cleaned regularly. The staff worked hard to ensure the guests had everything they needed. This is far more than some of the higher rating hotels. The hotel also provided a free shuttle to a beach in Afandou. This was a beautiful pebble beach with crystal clear waters. Pick up for return to the hotel was also provided and always prompt. We had a great time and this down to the surroundings and excellent staff.

I’ll start by saying I love this place, so quaint and beautiful. I read all the reviews and checked out the area before booking this place. I needed a flat area as I’m not over a slipped disk but walking is good for me if it’s flat. Many reviews mentioned the food and yes it’s not brilliant but there’s usually a fair selection so something is normally there that you’d like. Most people mentioned breakfast was the best meal, but for me it was the worst. But I switched to yoghurt and then bread with honey. The bread is not always fresh though and then they replaced the soft butter spread with a large block of what they said was butter but tasted like cheese. On to lunch and dinner, as I said usually there was something to fill your plate with, I liked the lentil and chickpea dishes and added meat. The only potatoes available were chips. On the fourth day of our stay, which is today, they got rid of the chickpea and lentil dishes, plus the chips. Instead oof 10 h dishes there were now 5. This included pasta, with what they called bolognaise which was actually boiled mince and apparently tasteless. Mixed frozen veg, a white sauce and 2 meats. That was lunch and tonight roughly the same. I just had chicken. Is was that or cry, which I may do anyway. As I said I love the place itself and if they found a chef who could cook I’d be back. The one person who works here who really impresses me is the guy who cleans the pool, gardens, does maintenance and looks after the pool area. Probably a lot more too, he works so hard. Maybe he can cook? The guy who works here who booked us in and showed us our room was also very helpful and friendly. I have three days left here and not sure I can face mealtimes.

This will be a long review, but stick with it as I will share the whole experience of staying here.

First impressions: we arrived very late to the hotel but they had arranged for the bar to stay open so that we could at least get a drink before being shown to our rooms, which after several hours of travel we were looking forward to getting into. The walk from reception to our room took us past the pool and through some lovely scented gardens. Once inside the room the gloss of our first impressions faded somewhat. The bathroom looked as if an elderly relative hadn’t updated it since 1978; the garishly furnished porcelain consisted of a blue bath, blue sink and an odd shaped blue toilet that I doubt you’d still be able to buy the parts for. At least it flushed, our friends in another room weren’t so lucky.

The bed was satisfactory, the lack of powers outlets less so. We had two. One was above the TV on the wall and the other next to a light switch outside the bathroom.

The Grounds: outside the front door of our bungalow we had a grapefruit tree. Round the back, limes. Throughout the rest of the grounds other well established plants included bananas, grapes, apples, and olives. The pavements are largely cobbled and there are large lawns with sun beds and shade, and plenty of areas around the pool for lounging. The grounds are well looked after and a pleasure to walk through. There is a fence at the rear of the property where in a field next door there are deer, chickens and a rabbit.

The Pool: what it lacks in area it makes up for in depth, with it being 3m at its deepest. The slope from shallow to deep is sharp and there is not a lot of space for non-swimmers to cool off in before they are on tiptoes. We stayed as they were about to close for the season so there was always plenty of space to sit around the pool, I suspect in busier times loungers adjacent to it might be at a premium.

The pool bar: this was unmanned due to a tragic accident to the person that usually runs it. Therefore you were allowed to serve yourself, which sounds like a dream but the local spirits they were offering were absolutely terrible. They all tasted the same and were half the usual ABV of branded spirits. If you had a degree in chemistry it was possible to use the soda machines and a combination of the various bottles to make something that resembled a cocktail, but by the time you’d taken it back to where you were sitting and had a sip from the very small glasses you were back to wondering what else you could make that didn’t just taste like Mr. Sheen and orange juice.

The food: Oh dear. This is where things start to take an unpleasant turn. Some people said it was the worst food they have ever been served and that the restaurant felt only three minutes away a film crew and a swearing Gordon Ramsey.

Its critics were less kind.

Breakfast is mainly dreadful with bacon that looks a bit like it’s never been anywhere near a pig, cold eggs, small frankfurter sausages…you get the idea. There isn’t a toaster that works so in order to get anything resembling toast you need to use a panini grill that on busy mornings has a queue stretching back to Lindos waiting to use it. It is handy for making toasties if you put a slice of processed cheese and some of the ‘bacon’ between two slices of bread. Hardly the breakfast of champions but it tastes all the sweeter after waiting 45 minutes to use the panini grill.

Lunch was a selection of mystery meats, chips, salad. Desert was a tray baked cake cut into small squares which to be fair was the highlight of most meals taken there. You served yourself wine, beer and soft drinks, but not spirits, meaning mealtimes afforded a break from the bottle with a ship on the label which could be whisky. Or possibly tequila. Hard to tell.

Dinner was lunch all over again.

Handily there is a decent restaurant next door that neatly demonstrates what can be achieved with basic ingredients when the chef hasn’t given up on life.

The location: there is a bus stop immediately outside the hotel which goes towards Lindos (40 mins,€4). Directly opposite across a busy dual carriageway buses go to Faliraki (15 mins, €2) and Rhodes (40 mins, €2.50) and they run very frequently. You’ll need to use them as the walk to Afantou is uphill, takes about 20 mins and it isn’t the prettiest town once you get there. Fakiraki is lively, Rhodes is pretty, Lindos hilly but worth the trip, especially if you take the hike to St Paul’s Beach.

The staff: on the whole they are very friendly and helpful. Sophia on the bar is cheerful and has a secret cocktail menu that looks impressive until you realise they are all made from the same spirits as the pool bar so you find yourself just asking for beer instead. There is no entertainment of any kind offered, so if you didn’t pack the playing cards it’s early nights all round.

Overall: look, this place isn’t the height of sophistication nor does it pretend to be. It’s a few hundred thousand euros of modernisation away from being truly amazing. Would I stay here again? Yes, actually; particularly if it was at the same time of year (late Sept/early Oct) as the hotel was quiet enough not to feel the need to put towels on sun loungers at 5am and the overall temperature wasn’t unpleasant enough to feel drained after being outside for five minutes.

‘But what about the food?’ I hear you say. Well, there was lots of it, nobody suffered digestive issues and if you were hungry enough it was adequate. If anyone from Oasis Bungalows is reading this PLEASE improve the buffet. It’s really letting down what could be a bit of a hidden gem.