Elite Suites by Rhodes Bay in Ixia

The reviews for this hotel are outstanding and we chose it l as we wanted that 5 star wow factor, sadly this did not deliver that. This falls short of what I would expect (and have experienced) at other 5 star hotels. It misses that special touch. In the main, everyone was nice, but nothing felt overly special and there were various parts of the hotel that had seen better days. For context we stayed half board in a room with private pool.

Positives

Able to switch dinner for lunch if there were any days we planned to eat out

The food - huge portions and plenty of choice, very tasty and nicely presented.

The room, very modern, different lighting options and looks stunning, particularly at night. Bed is huge, super comfortable with a selection of pillows.

Negatives

Hotel is tired looking and could look loads better with minimal spend, a touch up of paint etc

Didn't clear the towels on some of the sunbeds in the elite pool over night, so they looked unavailable the next day, when there are only 12 available beds.

Rubbish on the floor, which didn't get cleared after 24 hours and bins overflowing.

The Elite Suites pool is boxed in so becomes a real heat trap and so feels unbearable to sit out in and sunbathe ( I love sitting in hot sun). but we found it hard to get beds at the other pools. The adults only section only have space for about 20 couples so that filled up quickly.

We had a room with a swim up pool but you don't get sun on the decking until after lunch.They aren't entirely private either, you can see certain parts of your neighbours area. They had a maintenance guy who would come round but would also just appear at the bottom of your pool with no warning, so again we didn't feel entirely relaxed.

The private pool has no bar or drinks service so you have to leave and walk to the main pool bar via a broken gate and a un kept pathway.The bar often only had 1 person serving so it could also then be a long wait.

Service can be slow for drinks, taking plates away etc... again just the things that usually make 5 star... well 5 star. We usually had to wait for them to set a table as there wasn't one available despite it being in the middle of service and not overly busy.

The cocktails were awful. Not only were they badly made. They were all tiny and cost around €10 each which felt like too much to pay when they weren't even nice. They were slow to re fill the mini bar in the room as well, so we have spent far less on drinks than we would have if they were available and/ or nice!

The steps to the tennis courts are very weathered and have seen better days. The net was broken and the area and equipment was was generally "well worn". Nothing close to 5 star.

We used the spa for a few hours, the area looks impressive but the jacuzzi wasn't very powerful and the steam room didn't seem to be working. It was a huge space but only steam coming out one of the 4 outlets so it never got steamy.

We asked about late check out or an alternative room to use for 5 hours, given we've just spent €5000 for 2 people for 5 nights and the answer was a solid no, but we could pay €200 for 3 hours which wasn't even enough time to cover what we wanted. There was no courtesty room option either for even 30 mins. They did however say we could use the showers in the spa area. Again I appreciate this isn't a given but high end hotels have always bent over backwards in this situation before in my experience. We did ask again (another lady) who was more helpful and offered an extension for an hour, so seems like the approach is a bit inconsistent based on who you ask.

The pool towels aren't easy to get changed, as you need to leave your old ones in the bath but the cleaning service generally came to ours around lunchtime. So again you had to seek out someone and ask to get them changed.

If you manage to get this for a reasonable price compared to other 5 star hotels then it's a nice hotel but we paid a premium and feel it fell short of our expectations. I would say this is a nice 4 star hotel.

The reviews for this hotel are outstanding and we chose it l as we wanted that 5 star wow factor, sadly this did not deliver that. This falls short of what I would expect (and have experienced) at other 5 star hotels. It misses that special touch. In the main, everyone was nice, but nothing felt overly special and there were various parts of the hotel that had seen better days. For context we stayed half board in a room with private pool. Positives Able to switch dinner for lunch if there were any days we planned to eat out The food - huge portions and plenty of choice, very tasty and nicely presented. The room, very modern, different lighting options and looks stunning, particularly at night. Bed is huge, super comfortable with a selection of pillows. Negatives Hotel is tired looking and could look loads better with minimal spend, a touch up of paint etc Didn't clear the towels on some of the sunbeds in the elite pool over night, so they looked unavailable the next day, when there are only 12 available beds. Rubbish on the floor, which didn't get cleared after 24 hours and bins overflowing. The Elite Suites pool is boxed in so becomes a real heat trap and so feels unbearable to sit out in and sunbathe ( I love sitting in hot sun). but we found it hard to get beds at the other pools. The adults only section only have space for about 20 couples so that filled up quickly. We had a room with a swim up pool but you don't get sun on the decking until after lunch.They aren't entirely private either, you can see certain parts of your neighbours area. They had a maintenance guy who would come round but would also just appear at the bottom of your pool with no warning, so again we didn't feel entirely relaxed. The private pool has no bar or drinks service so you have to leave and walk to the main pool bar via a broken gate and a un kept pathway.The bar often only had 1 person serving so it could also then be a long wait. Service can be slow for drinks, taking plates away etc... again just the things that usually make 5 star... well 5 star. We usually had to wait for them to set a table as there wasn't one available despite it being in the middle of service and not overly busy. The cocktails were awful. Not only were they badly made. They were all tiny and cost around €10 each which felt like too much to pay when they weren't even nice. They were slow to re fill the mini bar in the room as well, so we have spent far less on drinks than we would have if they were available and/ or nice! The steps to the tennis courts are very weathered and have seen better days. The net was broken and the area and equipment was was generally "well worn". Nothing close to 5 star. We used the spa for a few hours, the area looks impressive but the jacuzzi wasn't very powerful and the steam room didn't seem to be working. It was a huge space but only steam coming out one of the 4 outlets so it never got steamy. We asked about late check out or an alte