Sun Palace

This was our fifth time staying at this hotel, and overall we’ve had another lovely holiday. We’ve always enjoyed coming here, and although this will probably be our last visit, we’ve made some fantastic memories.

The water park is absolutely amazing and one of the main reasons we keep coming back. Both of our children (aged almost 4 and 9) absolutely loved it, along with the evening entertainment. A special mention has to go to George, who keeps the water park facilities spotless. He does a brilliant job and works incredibly hard.

The room (806) was huge and perfect for our family. It had two bedrooms, a bathroom, two balconies, plus a third balcony off the kitchen area (although it was locked). The extra space made such a difference, especially when one of the children was asleep, as we could still enjoy an afternoon drink on the balcony without disturbing them.

We also visited the Mexican restaurant, which was excellent. The food was really tasty, and the service was incredibly fast. The snack bar food was a little repetitive, but it was always nice, and there was enough choice for everyone to find something they liked.

One evening, however, the main restaurant was disappointing. The pizzas were badly burnt, which was frustrating as that’s one of the only things our son will reliably eat. There was also no salad left on the salad bar during peak time. While we understand it was busy, the food replenishment really needs to be quicker.

During our stay we also booked a four-hour speedboat excursion from the beach around the corner, which was brilliant. Unfortunately, my seasickness got the better of me, but that’s certainly no fault of the excursion itself!

If you’re looking to explore the island, I’d highly recommend visiting Tsambika Beach. It’s around a 20-minute drive from the hotel, and you won’t be disappointed. The beach is beautiful, with crystal-clear water, soft sand, and it’s perfect for families.

Rhodes Old Town is another must-visit. It’s an unbelievable place, full of history, character and fantastic places to eat and drink. We also revisited some of the places that meant so much to us from our wedding here. Sadly, the restaurant where we celebrated has since closed down, and we weren’t allowed access to St Sophia Chapel to recreate some of our wedding photos, despite asking the security guard. Although we appreciate rules have to be followed, it was a little disappointing and, combined with the fact we’ve now visited five times, it’s probably why this will be our last trip to Rhodes.

We travelled with friends this time, which made the holiday even more enjoyable. The hotel offers great value for money—you really do get what you pay for, and it’s not an overly expensive place to stay.

Finally, a huge shout-out to the entertainment team and especially Andreas behind the bar. He’s an absolute credit to the hotel and, in our opinion, the best Greek barman on the island. (Not forgetting the waterpark pool bar guy!)

Overall, despite a few issues with the restaurant on one evening, we’ve had another fantastic holiday. We’d also say to anyone reading the reviews not to be put off by some of the negative comments. In our experience, quite a few of them seem exaggerated, so take them with a pinch of salt. Every holiday has its little hiccups, but we’ve always found this hotel to offer great value and a genuinely enjoyable family holiday.

Thank you to everyone who helped make our stay so enjoyable

The hotel definitely needs renovation. 4 stars, but very poor. The pools, water park, rooms, and restaurant are okay, but everything looks good only at first glance. When you look closely, you'll see dirt, exposed or broken pool infrastructure, mold on the doorframes in your room and slowly growing on the wall. The hotel doesn't get cleaned until after 7:00 AM, so if you go to the restaurant's opening, you're wading through plastic cups lying everywhere on the lawn and sidewalks. During the day, the staff does their best and cleans everything regularly, but the hotel should start cleaning earlier, because it's a nightmare in the morning. Room cleaning, however, is very cursory. We washed the toilet ourselves with our own disinfectant because it hadn't been cleaned even once, as were the sink and shower. The floor was swept clean (except for the terrace), the bed was made, and the air conditioning was on, which reeked of mold so much that we preferred to let it air out normally rather than use it. On our first day, we were assigned room 606, which, upon entering (and even before, just looking at the hallway and doorframes), made me want to cry. There was a terrible, suffocating stench of mold, a clogged sink with a broken stopper, a disgusting bathtub, and a flickering halogen light. Add to that a dirty terrace and the overall feeling of being in the cheapest accommodation you'd find by accident, but definitely not in a 4-star hotel. Of course, we asked for a change, but unfortunately, it wasn't available until the next day, so we had to spend one night in this awful place. The next room was quite nice, near reception on the ground floor, although the air conditioning also stank. The food in the main restaurant was mediocre. Sometimes it was hard to decide, as it wasn't always inviting. The themed dinners were quite poor. After reading reviews and checking the menu, we didn't try the a la carte options. The biggest downside was that many of the dishes got cold quickly, especially the pasta dishes—they were usually cold or lukewarm. The snack bars at the water park were very poor – the same old breakfast spread every day: scrambled eggs, sausages, boiled eggs, and sometimes gyros. The other one, by the small pools, offered fries, cheap hot dogs and hot dog buns, and hamburger meat every day, but no buns. The water park is its biggest asset. It has plenty of sunbeds, so finding one was easy even in the middle of the day, and a wide selection of slides. Unfortunately, the pool with slides for children is a downside, with poorly secured metal elements. The hotel's advantage is its location, close to the beach (sand with fine gravel, and a rocky bottom near the shore, but small pebbles, so footwear is not necessary). Sunbeds are available for a fee of 20 euros. It's close to the entertainment center of Faliraki and the bus stop.