Elite Suites by Rhodes Bay

Bit of a mixed bag for us.  We took a suite with pool and garden.  The suite is a good size and the personal pool was bigger than I expected. The room functioned well enough especially the shower, bath etc.  Bed, fridge etc were good though TV didn't offer much for English speakers.   Food in the restaurants was pretty good too. Staff reasonably attentive and helpful (immediately replaced a broken garden chair).

However I felt the furnishings had been well used and the whole room and outside area felt tired and in need of an upgrade (as mentioned one of the chairs was broken).  As others have said the northerly aspect of the rooms and also external walls separating the pool areas means no sunlight reached the pool deck and little sunlight reaches the actual pool , at least in October.  The "garden" area did get some sunlight but it was little more than a patch of largely bare ground with sunbeds.  The Elite Suites with gardens are placed towards the front of the hotel which unfortunately is closer to a very busy and very noisy road thus also impacting any enjoyment of the private pool area. 

In contrast the hotel itself is clean, well appointed and seems better furnished than the elite suites.  The 11th floor had a really nice pool and restaurant bar with good all-day sunlight.  Indeed speaking to some hotel guests we were told that the hotel rooms had recently been modernised and were very up to date. 

Not saying we didn't enjoy the holiday,  we did,  but Elite Suites are not worth the premium for us

Our seventh stay at the Elite Suites and just as enjoyable as the other six! It is so quick and easy to settle into rest and relaxation. As ever the room was immaculate, meals in the Vakarola were superb and the staff were lovely. How anyone could find reason to complain about the Elite Suites is beyond my comprehension. Thank you Daria and your wonderful team for your care and attention and enabling us to experience another excellent holiday in Rhodes. All being well we will be back in 2025!

No idea why this has such good reviews. Worst 5 star hotel I have ever stayed in. facilities and experience more in line with a 3 star hotel. I am fortunate enough to have stayed in a lot of 4 and 5 star hotels and I have never left a 1 star review. So much so I tried to charge back with my credit card a certain amount to represent 3 star value rather than 5 star prices. The main gripe for me is this hotel is just an extension of a loud and resort style hotel (Rhodes Bay). Most facilities are shared. Rhodes Bay is a Brit abroad loud hotel. Far from relaxing.

I will quickly start with the good things: Lunches on the terrace were good, some lovely fresh Greek food and all the staff in that area were lovely/ couldn't have done anymore. Bedroom and bathroom was fine, probably 4 star level, clean room and generally not a lot to complain about with the room, other than the noise (will come on to that).

The bad...

Noise, noise and more noise. This hotel is far form quiet and idyllic that is is made out to be. Room was noisy, aircon generators for the horrible sister hotel are right outside the elite suite rooms if you are on the back suites. Constant noise. They also have the bottle recycling area behind these rooms, at all times of the night they would recycle bottles from the hotel, incredibly loud and would wake you up at 1am etc. The pools are not relaxing either, they blast loud music every day twice for at least 30 minutes for aqua aerobics in the sister hotel. The Elite suites pool is within 15 feet of the stage. So, incredibly loud music is unavoidable wherever you sit. Again, Elite suites is marketed to be relaxing and quiet... far from it. Final noise complaint, the hotel is situated on a very busy main road, so traffic noise is also the background of your days and nights.

Pool facilities, we used the elite suites pool as the main pool was shared with Rhodes bay hotel and looked like a 3 star hotel pool. Really tired and needs updated. The Elite suites pool while nicer still wasn't great. Even little things like over grown grass and cat poo not cleaned up for 3 days, staff taking calls loudly in the pool area... just not 5 star facilities or service. The beach as well is barely worth a mention. Pretty much on the road, not a nice beach with no hotel facilities there.

When I took the problems to the manager I asked if we could leave the hotel after 1 night and get a refund so we could go elsewhere. They were not helpful at all and didn't really seem bothered by my complaints. I was happy to pay for the first 2 nights and then leave so it gave me time to find a nicer hotel. They did not entertain a refund or partial refund at all. They didn't offer my any compensation. After back and forth over email they final offered us half price lunches, which was a very small gesture compared to the thousands we had paid on the hotel.

In summary, if you are used to 5 star hotels... this isn't a 5 star hotel. I have never had a less relaxing holiday, just so noisy. I was so excited by the reviews and photos, it really does look lovely on photos. However, it is a complete hotel 'catfish'. The Elite suites is just a small extension on the bigger Rhodes Bay hotel. I am amazed they are allowed to advertise it as a separate hotel as you just share all facilities with the Rhodes Bay hotel other than one small average pool area. Obviously will not stay here again and generally this area of Rhodes isn't very nice.