Afandou Bay Resort Suites

This is a lovely, small hotel but it could be so much better. As others have said, this is not a 5* hotel nor is it very family friendly. Upon arriving at the hotel, we were disappointed to realise that our family suite was on the 1st floor (room 203), not ideal with an 8 month old baby in a pushchair. The barman took us up to our room and helped us with our bags but there we discovered there wasn’t a baby cot as requested, there had been two beds made up on the sofa for our 8 year old and 8 month old. The man on reception advised that the cot wasn’t on the booking. Our agent advised to contact the hotel directly for any special requests, which I did and I requested a cot on the 11th April 2019. I showed the man the email received back from the hotel acknowledging my request for a cot to be provided on the 12th April 2019 from [-] [-] and he still was dismissive. He went off to find us a cot after being asked if it needs to be done now or can it wait until the morning? He arrived back with a travel cot which had a hole in one side. There was no mattress just a thick brown blanket in the bottom and a sheet - you could feel the metal bars of the cot base through the blanket never mind it being unsafe and a suffocation risk for the baby to sleep in loose bedding. We asked for a mattress for baby, to be met with shrugs. The barman eventually went to find a mattress for us which was ill fitting to the bed and left a 10cm gap at the bottom of the bed. It took almost 2 hours for our baby to be safely accommodated! Housekeeping found us an undamaged cot and replaced the first the next morning, however the mattresses were still too small for the base. We were only allocated with one room card as they don’t like the air conditioning being left on as it runs up electricity bills. We Eventually got another card upon the 3rd time of asking as our baby’s skin had not reacted well to the heat and we needed to keep the room cool. Room facilities were good but not quite as advertised. There were no “coffee making facilities” as advised on Afandou bays own website, not even a kettle (again not ideal when travelling with a baby!). We advised reception of this who sourced a kettle for the room. There was no hotel information books in the rooms as one would expect. There were two large balconies with a view of the sea and the road outside. A couple of times, there weren’t enough towels in the rooms and reception swiftly provided them upon request. Housekeeping staff were very friendly and great despite this minor issue. The family suites looked to be previously self catering units. As a family it would be ideal for the sink in the dining area to be working and not with the tap removed and covered with a piece of wooden worktop. Having to wash baby cups and feeding equipment in the bathroom in the same sink that the soiled baby clothes were washed in is quite frankly disgusting and unhygienic. Who knows what would have happened if we weren’t provided with a kettle to sterilise the sink! Restaurant food had a good choice of food which was varied daily but was generally cold, uncovered and subject to flies. Staff were not swift with tea/coffee requests for breakfast. No designated no-smoking outside areas so we were subject to choking cigarette smoke. Swallows were nesting in the lights above and bits of bird nest fell onto our food never mind the potential bird droppings- staff seemed disinterested about this. The “baby chairs” (Highchairs) we’re not cleaned between services and neither was the floor. Waiting staff mostly were scruffily dressed and wore trainers - not what you would expect of a supposed 5*. Pool area was clean, the pool toilets were not. Children’s play area was in direct sunlight so couldn’t be used throughout most of the day as the slide and swings were scalding hot. The jacuzzi was not working on the pool and there was no information as to if/when it was going to be fixed. Only on one occasion were there not enough sun loungers by the pool but this wasn’t an issue for the rest of the holiday. Hotel was very quiet, close to the beach and sea. There is not much to do at the resort of Afandou Bay if you don’t want solitude. We did not see the train on any occasion which supposedly picked people up to the hotel to take them into town so you can get a bus to Faliraki/Rodos/Lindos so a hire car would definitely be recommended. Fresh fruit was provided around lunchtime and brought to our sun loungers which was a lovely surprise. There was no entertainment throughout the duration of our stay. The supposed ‘Greek night’ on Thursday was cancelled due to the wind and the musician of Saturday reception seemed to have no idea that it was even on despite being advised by reception of the entertainment a few days earlier. Reception staff ladies were smartly dressed, generally helpful and pleasant. I believe we also saw the hotel manager who did not dress the way a manager of a 5* hotel would dress. The barman wore a smartish suit but with trainers. Hotel seems to be run with a minimal number of staff on a shoestring budget and not to a 5* standard. We have stayed at other 5* hotels in Rhodes, we previously stayed at the Atlantica Imperial resort down the coast in Kolympia 18 months ago, we were thoroughly disappointed with the quality of the Afandou Bay Resorts Suites. Had we not been found a mattress on the first night and provided with a kettle we would have checked out and found somewhere else. If travelling as a family with a baby/ young children I would definitely consider other hotels and would not recommend this one at all.

This was our second stay at Afandou Bay resorts suites after having such a fabulous holiday last June . We didn’t regret booking the same place ! What a beautiful hotel! We stayed 1st to the 11th of June , as soon as we arrived we were recognised and given a lovely warm welcome by the staff. The restaurant manager ‘Athenios ( I hope this is spelt correctly ) and Anthony made us feel so at home! We enjoyed breakfast and dinner , the food was always good and offered a vast amount of different dishes . Natalie and Johanna were fantastic restaurant staff for newbies , well done! We loved the meals at the pool bar for lunch , very tasty and great service. The rooms again were always beautifully cleaned and well equipped for your basic needs . The maids are superb , the only gripe I’d have is once the clean towels smelt a little unsavoury but these were soon changed . We didn’t take part in the small entertainment at the bar but I’m pretty sure they had karaoke one evening which sounded great, other than that a few nights with a live singer/ piano player on the seating area outside .. very relaxing if you want a chilled holiday with little noise in the evenings. Great for couples , and older guests. There were a few guests with young children and toddlers which seemed great if you wanted a safe small complex , otherwise there is little entertainment for children here. Gorgeous pool , always clean and offered plenty of space to swim when we stay. Beautiful beach €10 for 2 for a sun bed and umbrella. Try the cocktail bar ‘ Sundalia’ it’s stunning at night . Lastly - in hindsight hiring a car would have been a good idea to visit different parts of the island as there is so much to see. There is a bus stop outside the hotel with a bus stopping at Faliraki and Rhodes Old Town , you must go! Overall fantastic holiday and we will return again! Many thanks to all the staff for making our holiday so special!