Olympic Palace Resort Hotel and Convention Center

Very Disappointing – Definitely Not a 5-Star Family All-Inclusive

Do not stay at this hotel if you are looking for a family-friendly, all-inclusive holiday. In my opinion, this hotel is 3-star at best. The only thing that felt 5-star was the interior and appearance of the hotel.

Food: The food was extremely disappointing. Breakfast was the same every day, and on several occasions it was served cold or lukewarm. There were around six different types of eggs available, but very little variety elsewhere. Lunch and dinner were bland, repetitive, and lacked the quality you would expect from a 5-star all-inclusive resort.

The chicken gyros in the Mexican restaurant were very nice, but unfortunately, that was one of the few highlights.

For families with children, the food selection was particularly poor. There was no dedicated children’s station, with the main options being fish fingers, chicken nuggets and chips — essentially the same thing every day.

All-Inclusive Package: There are also several things that I feel guests should be made aware of before booking.

If you are paying for an all-inclusive family holiday, you would reasonably expect ice lollies to be included. They are not. Ice lollies cost extra, starting from around €4 each. Even crepes are an additional €7 each, despite being advertised alongside the all-inclusive facilities.

The drinks were also disappointing. The cocktails came from pre-made bottles rather than being freshly prepared, which is not what I would expect from a hotel advertising itself as 5-star. The soft drinks also tasted very watered down.

There is a slushy machine, but it is only available for around an hour and a half each day. The pool opens at 10am and the slushies finish at 11:30am. This makes very little sense when the hottest part of the day is around 2–3pm, when children would actually benefit from having something cold to cool down with.

Pool Bar: The swim-up pool bar was another disappointment. On several occasions, staff refused to serve us at the swim-up side and told us to get out of the pool and go around to the other side. At other times, we were simply ignored despite waiting for a drink.

Entertainment & Children’s Activities: This hotel is advertised as suitable for families, but I found there was very little available to keep children entertained during either the day or evening.

There were no proper daytime activities for children. The only pool activity we saw was aqua aerobics, which lasted around 15 minutes.

There is also supposedly a “mini disco”, but this was extremely disappointing. There was no proper children’s disco or dedicated area. Instead, a speaker was placed in the tennis court area while hotel staff danced in front of the children for around 20 minutes — approximately four songs.

This was, without a doubt, the worst mini disco I have ever seen. It was extremely underwhelming and certainly did not live up to what I would expect from a family 5-star resort.

The main evening entertainment was held on the 8th floor and seemed to be aimed almost entirely at adults, with things such as Greek nights and opera performances. There was very little that felt genuinely family-oriented.

Staff & Service: Unfortunately, I also found many of the staff to be unfriendly and unwelcoming. At times, it felt as though we, as paying guests, were an inconvenience.

The exception was the cleaning staff. They were by far the friendliest and worked incredibly hard. Our room was kept very clean throughout our stay, and I really appreciated their efforts.

Overall: For a hotel claiming to provide a 5-star, family all-inclusive experience, I found this holiday extremely disappointing.

The hotel needs to be much clearer about exactly what is and isn’t included in its all-inclusive package. Having to pay extra for basic things such as ice lollies and crepes, combined with the limited children’s food, lack of activities and very poor entertainment, did not feel like a 5-star family holiday.

I would not recommend this hotel, particularly to families with children. I would never return. We were genuinely disappointed with our stay and, by the end of the holiday, we couldn’t wait to go home.

This is our 4th trip to Ixia but our first stay at this hotel. We usually stay next door at the now named Amus hotel, but thought we’d give the Olympic Palace a try and we have not been disappointed. The location is great for accessing Rhodes town (avoid public buses though!) and we enjoy the Ixia bars and restaurants. The sunset views from Olympic Palace are amazing.

The facilities are lovely, everything modern and clean. The room was spacious and the bathroom excellent. The atmosphere was mostly relaxed apart from a few bigger groups around the pool at times. We found the smaller pool furthest from the hotel to be most peaceful. We didn’t have trouble getting sunbeds at 10am every day. We played mini golf twice which was a nice bonus at the hotel, however some maintenance is needed on the golf course.

All staff we interacted with were friendly and pleasant, particularly the bar staff on floor 8 and a special mention to David of Pink Wave who was particularly warm, welcoming, friendly and full of positive energy. Usually I avoid “entertainment” staff as I prefer a peaceful holiday but the team here were genuinely lovely and not too “pushy” to involve us in activities. The evening entertainment we saw on the top floor bar was great - again, not my usual idea of fun but I really enjoyed it.

The food was the best we’ve had at a hotel buffet! Lots of choices for everyone and enjoyed plenty of variation of fresh food. Our only complaint was that we were expected to pay for table water, which in my opinion should be provided free of charge having paid for half board.

Overall we thought this was a great hotel and would recommend :)

Unfortunately, the food at this hotel is very disappointing. It often doesn’t taste fresh, is very dry and sometimes even smells burnt. Some dishes are undercooked, while others are overcooked and dry. The overall quality is definitely not what you would expect from a 5-star hotel.

The cocktails are also disappointing and taste completely different from what is described on the menu. They seem to be pre-mixed in advance rather than freshly made, and the alcohol used tastes very cheap. Again, not what you would expect from a 5-star hotel bar.

Another major issue is the lack of sunbeds around the pool. There simply aren’t enough for the number of guests, and you have to get up very early in the morning if you want any chance of getting one.

We spoke to a member of the hotel team about all of these issues. She suggested that, because we are ( Greek), we understand the food and its quality better than other tourists. As for the lack of sunbeds around the pool, her suggestion was simply to use the beach instead or to go early morning.