Akti Imperial Deluxe Resort and Spa Dolce by Wyndham

Unless you arrive determined to find fault, it’s hard not to enjoy a holiday at the Akti Imperial.

There really is something for everyone here. If entertainment is your thing, there’s a full team keeping guests occupied throughout the day and into the evening. Want the beach? There’s a private beach with its own bar. Prefer a pool? You’re spoilt for choice, with four or five pools, including an indoor one.

There are plenty of sunloungers too. Unless you’re determined to have that exact one in that exact spot, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding somewhere by the pools or on the beach.

And bars? They’re dotted around the hotel, serving everything from good coffee and soft drinks to alcohol-free options and a comprehensive range of alcoholic drinks.

The food

The choice of food is impressive.

There are five à la carte tasting-menu restaurants, covering seafood, grill (meat and fish), Italian, Greek and Asian cuisine, with multiple courses. The main restaurant offers an enormous variety too — fish, meat, vegetarian and vegan options, along with Greek, Italian and Asian dishes, hot and cold choices, salads and, importantly, a frankly ridiculous selection of puddings.

There really should be something for everyone.

But the jewel in this hotel’s crown isn’t the location, the food or the facilities, it’s the people.

The restaurant staff were unfailingly polite, helpful and considerate. The bar teams were fantastic too, particularly given the pressure they sometimes came under from some remarkably demanding guests.

One of the things that really stood out for us was the attitude of the staff throughout the hotel.

The cheerful chap who refilled our minibar every day was always friendly and helpful, and our cleaner was absolutely brilliant — hardworking, kind, friendly and clearly took pride in what she did, the reception team are super helpful and the team on the tours desk were both helpful and a font of knowledge.

Small things, perhaps, but they make a big difference to a holiday.

The hotel sits right on the western coast of Rhodes, so you’re straight onto the beach and the warm Aegean, with all sorts of watersports and activities available if that’s your thing.

If we had one criticism, it wouldn’t actually be about the hotel — it would be about the behaviour of a small number of guests.

Despite being asked, some people simply wouldn’t sanitise their hands. Others would push past you to get into a lift, continue loud phone conversations when other people were in there, handle food or other items and then put them back, or swear loudly with children standing nearby.

I realise that makes me sound terribly old-fashioned — and, to be clear, none of it spoiled our holiday. But some of the behaviour genuinely left us astonished.

The hotel itself? We had a lovely time. It’s comfortable, well organised, has an enormous amount to offer and, above all, the staff work incredibly hard to make sure you enjoy yourself.

Would we go back? Absolutely.

Fotini was a miracle worker. Fabulous 👌

First family holiday with our 5 month old - ended in disaster, we left 3 days early due to sickness going round the hotel. You would think with an outbreak there would be more cleaning standards but there is not. There is charge to take food to ur room, so you either don’t eat when ur sick or go down and spread it 🤢. Definitely hot spot this hotel for the bug - spoke to loads of people in the hotel who have all had it. 100% avoid at all costs