Castelli Hotel

Felt so welcomed, good atmosphere, good food and drinks. Definitely worth staying there!

I’m very disappointed with the stay here, the reviews gave me high expectations, but I can’t understand why it has been given such raving reviews. It’s a very average hotel and I wouldn’t stay there again or recommend it. It’s in no way a 4* quality hotel or experience. I’ve stayed in various 4* adult only, all-inclusive hotels and this is by far the worst; a 4* rating is generous, the hotel is definitely more of a 3*. People note that the staff are very friendly and attentive, the receptionist staff and owner are yes, but all the wait and bar staff are not (more on them later). In every other 4* I’ve stayed in, we’ve always been helped with our bags – even in some 3* hotels – and there is no elevator here, meaning we had to lug our suitcases down/upstairs ourselves, so help would have been appreciated. The rooms were decent, a little small but average. Not the cleanest and we found there wasn’t much counter space, so we didn’t have much room to put stuff down. The swim-up pool was great, but the bed was right next to an overgrown bush, so in the mornings we would have to wipe away lots of bits and bird poop – they don’t clean these – would have been perfect if they maintained the bushes. The bathroom was a washroom, very small and compact. Under the sink wasn’t super clean. There are two newer buildings a couple minutes’ walk from the main hotel; the rooms here are much nicer but it’s not close to the bar, so you’ll have to walk a few minutes up to the hotel, through the hotel and then down to the bar. They could have at least made a gate through to the main pool area…Though the room was lovely and modern it STANK of sewage constantly; it was really disgusting and off-putting being in there. We had a room in the main building and friends had a room in one of the outer two, this is how we can compare/share details on both as we would visit theirs. Main issues:

• Drinks. While we knew the alcoholic drinks would be local, all other 4* hotels have served branded soft drinks. This is not the case here; all soft drinks are local too. The coffee is terrible and this is the first hotel I’ve been to where they don’t have a barista coffee machine and use instant coffee for iced coffees. The drinks were a major disappointment for me; I didn’t make use of the all-inclusive and went to buy my own in the stores.
• Coffee. I mentioned this briefly already, but this was so disappointing. They just have a coffee machine in the restaurant and one down by the bar, but no barista made coffee. I wouldn’t expect a decent coffee here at all, or tea for that matter. When we asked for iced ones, they made it with instant coffee, which is a bit ridiculous (though I noticed other places in Zante do the same). They ran out of syrup ingredients and didn’t replace them, just said that was it. I don’t think any 4* hotel should be using instant coffee.
• Food. The food is very tasty and good quality, though very salty. The restaurant is very small, so there isn’t a lot of variety. They do try with allergens; however, they don’t seem to be very aware of cross-contamination. They had the gluten-free section almost right next to the bread…our GF person stuck to all the gluten-free foods but still came back sick (they have coeliac disease).
• Staff. The male waiters were very rude and had little to no manners, they’d just push past you, no “excuse me” or even an acknowledgement. There were also a couple of male waiters who made us feel very uncomfortable. One of them would call out to the other, say something in Greek and point at me whenever I walked past…they would stare at me when I was eating and made me feel generally uncomfortable whenever they were around- one of them would join a third at the cooking station and both stand there and stare at me. My friend felt like it was a burden every time she ordered a drink, they were rude and abrupt – she felt just as uncomfortable around them as I did.

Other points to note:

• There is a hole right above the toilet by the pool, probably nothing but you never know these days.
• They don’t seem to ever wipe under the mats on the dinner tables, just on and around them quickly, not thoroughly.
• My friend seemed to get a UTI the first day of using the main pool, so we stayed in our swim up room after that and she was fine. May have been a coincidence, but the next day the water looked questionable at the main pool, so that’s why we stayed at our pool from then on.
• It’s also worth noting that some of the swim up rooms are directly outside the entrance to the hotel. There is little to no privacy in their pools, so I’m glad we weren’t there at least.
• Welcome drink is lemonade.
• Hotel owner spends most days and nights sitting in the lobby greeting people.
• Fridges – ours was so cold it froze drinks, our friends one wasn’t cold enough and our neighbours one didn’t work at all.
• Our kettle was rusty inside, so we didn’t use it.
• Turn-down service was nice, and they’d leave a chocolate on each bed.
• Damaged flooring just covered with a basket.

I probably sound very snobby, but the photos and reviews made this seem like a very luxurious hotel and it just wasn’t. If you are looking for that type of hotel, then to avoid this one. I’m so disappointed and disheartened that I spent my money to go there and not somewhere else; we were hoping for a luxurious and relaxing stay. If you just want a bog-standard hotel and experience, adults only, then this place is great; otherwise, take your money elsewhere. If this was just a 3* hotel, I wouldn’t leave a review, as everything I mentioned would have been expected. But a 4* hotel should have much higher standards than this one does. Photos attached: hole above toilet, sink, “bathroom”/wet room, swim-up pools at entrance, bush overhanging loungers, damaged floor with basket.

In short, a brilliant hotel that I would highly recommend.

In long; When we first arrived, we received a very warm welcome from the reception team and of course, the owner Mr Spiros.

My partner and I stayed in the swim-up junior suite opposite the olive grove, and for us, the almost private pool truly made the holiday. The room also featured a hydromassage shower; however, when all functions were in use, the water pressure was reduced. That said, the shower itself was very spacious.

The buffet food was very tasty, with a good selection of fresh options that varied daily. Meal times were well organised: breakfast from 7:30 to 10:00, lunch from 12:30 to 14:30, and dinner from 19:00 to 21:30. We never had to wait for a table, which made the dining experience relaxed and convenient. The waiters were very attentive and clearly worked extremely hard throughout our stay.

The staff could not do enough for us and were always happy to help with any queries we had. They made us feel genuinely welcome throughout.

There were a few areas of the hotel that may have benefited from a bit of TLC however nothing that negatively impacted our holiday.

The hotel is about a five-minute walk from the strip, far enough away to avoid the noise while still being conveniently close.

There were daily activities, along with evening entertainment, which provided plenty to keep us engaged.

I would recommend taking a look at the hotel’s shop, which offers a lovely selection of local gifts, including olive oil made from olives grown on site.

Overall, it was a delightful holiday, made all the more special by the hotel, and we can’t wait to return again next year.