1. instructions for the safe in Russian (paid, 12 euros for the entire period of use)
2. key to the refrigerator (small volume, barely cooling, filled with paid drinks at restaurant prices, checked and controlled every day)
3. adapter for a euro socket (paid - 5 euros). Moreover, in the room there is one type of socket (three-pin), in the bathroom another (two-pin). Take it with you if you have any of them
4. beach towels. They were given to us without collateral, which we read about from previous reviews.
5. free map of Larnaca.
The guide will give you the schedule of buses to Larnaca.
There are no kettles in standard rooms, although it is written on all sites about the availability. Therefore, you turn to the bar, which is located in the lobby. There you will be given a kettle of hot water in your room at any time (almost a liter ceramic).
All even numbers overlook Lordos. The sea can only be seen from the balcony. In Lordos, a technical pipe is buzzing around the clock. It can be heard during the day, and especially at night. We reconciled, but if this is unacceptable for you, immediately refuse an even number at the reception.
The Russian-speaking young lady at the reception was seen only twice in a week. Therefore, if you do not speak English, we advise you to stock up on phrases that are necessary for you to be understood.
The hotel is decent, clean, quiet. True, once they saw a cockroach - it exceeds our domestic one by ten times in volume, it can fly - the picture is not very sympathetic : ).
During our stay, the air and water temperatures were very comfortable.
The water is cool in the morning - 21-22 degrees, in the afternoon up to 25, not lower. Air - above 30-32 degrees did not rise.
At this time it is easy to travel.
Car rental at every turn, but guides in hotels also do this. The car is rented for a minimum of 2 days with a tank of fuel, the minimum rental amount is 70 euros. You need to return it with a full tank. For comparison, excursions for 1 person in Cyprus cost from 60 euros and more. For two days we traveled by car to all the places of interest to us. I advise you to prepare before leaving, find maps, mark routes. Upon arrival at Larnaca airport, you will be offered free maps and guides, they will give you a large detailed map of the country with roads. Attention - cars are right-hand drive, traffic in the country is left-hand.
Tune in to the fact that the quality of rest will very much depend on you, how you organize yourself, what kind of recreation program you plan for yourself.
Unlike the all-inclusive holidays in Egypt and Turkey, there will not be the same care from the hotel staff and guide. And there are no such pickles in the hotel either. There is a decent breakfast, hot dishes (oatmeal, sausages, scrambled eggs, fried eggs), coffee, tea, juices, watermelon and melon, croissants, cottage cheese, dried apricots, raisins, cereal. Quite enough.
You can dine in the numerous nearby restaurants, you can in Larnaca itself (beautiful promenade, a huge selection of all kinds of food).
We strongly advise you to visit the Toodos mountains, see the Kikos monastery. A special place, such a trip will remain in memory for a long time.
In the area of the hotel, the sea is shallow, which is very cool for children, the sand on the shore is wet, gray-green in color. The beach is not very clean. Good comfortable sunbeds with mattresses and beach sofas with pillows.
The great advantage of the place where Sandy Beach is located is its remoteness from noisy resort areas, not crowded and peace.
We liked everything in the complex on vacation, we wish you a comfortable rest and get to know Cyprus.
Of the minuses, everything else.
Settlement - booked sea view, settled on the first floor overlooking the roof of the technical room. When required to relocate, the registrar said that this is the room with a sea view))))). Moved to the 5th floor for an additional fee.
Breakfast - more flawed breakfasts are served only in Israel! But at least there are fish! There is no meat or fish for breakfast here (one type of soy sausage and fried bacon don't count)! Two varieties of local cheese and porridge. Eggs are not fried! Only a ready-made cold omelette. From fruits - apples and grapefruits. There are no juices, it’s true that there is an automatic machine, but it gives out a very diluted parody of orange juice. No green tea. In short, sadness.
Cleaning - it makes no sense to talk about the Greek service due to the absence of such a concept. This hotel is among the champions here - room cleaning is poor, towels are changed to dirty ones, and they themselves understand the situation very well and therefore go without smiles and with sour faces. Beach with garbage, sun loungers in the sand. Faucets for washing feet did not work, had to use the shower, which is not very convenient.
Internet. Wi-fi for 10 euros per day. In the neighboring Golden Bay hotel - for free, and there are powerful routers, so I did not order this service. The speed is really useless but enough for mail. A woman from Moldova was especially amused - she works part-time here at a car rental agency, saying that there is more Internet in Moldova than in Russia. )))))
I got distracted. Let's go further.
Car rental - here you are not Greece-Spain, there are no cars on the day of the order!!!
Book 2 days in advance! And they still bring not what they ordered! True, the prospectuses honestly warn about this. They do not have their own fleet of vehicles - your order is redirected to a larger company - hence the difficulties. Important. For the first time I encountered a local trick: if gasoline is usually used in a rental car according to the formula - I took a full tank and returned it with a full tank, then here they will take money from you for gasoline - like return it with an empty tank)))) it is clear that none of the tourists are empty doesn't get the job done. They charged us 35 euros for gasoline, like for half a tank (22 liters) of MMC colt. Of course, they deceived me, but I usually answer such things - that greed is always to poverty.
The roads are good, there is nothing special to see on excursions. There are no brochures in Russian. There are no Russian guides. Ruins and ruins, like in Crete or Athens or Tunisia or Israel... Maybe there is some interesting story about King Richard, but no one will tell you... Monasteries are another matter - all inscriptions and prospectuses are in Russian, many beautiful buildings and the splendor of the interior. You can buy monastic wine (good) cognac (flavored chatter with the proud inscription XO, but it will give a ride to lovers of metaxa) and grape vodka (I haven’t tried it, and I think it’s right, because I bought it earlier in Crete, and left it at the hotel - a rare muck . . )
Emigrants and servants from the Ukrainian-Baltic-Moldovian.
Here they are Russians. We are happy to live and work here. They consider Russia the asshole of the world as a collective mind and cannot understand where there are so many Russians in Cyprus and, most importantly, where the Russians get the money to travel to Cyprus.
And there are a LOT of Russians here. With the simplification of visa formalities, our compatriots hold a firm first place in terms of the number of tourists.
Sellers and waiters try to speak Russian, which is very funny.
Souvenirs. Mug plate magnet badges are carefully and not very well made at the factories of Guangzhou and Shanghai. Local - olive oil bottles, silver crafts, Lefkara embroidery (collective farm), and of course icons (which are better to buy in monasteries - there is a chance that the salary will not darken in a month).
Conclusion - Cyprus is a place to stay for those who have not previously rested in decent hotels with normal service.
Rest in a hotel is quite expensive, but in order to have a normal rest you will need additional investments: for transport, for dinner / lunch in a restaurant, if you decide to go somewhere, for other entertainment... You should not actively respond to beautiful photos and reviews « a quiet hotel for a relaxing holiday”, it is better to look for something in Ayia Napa or Limassol - this is where a Russian tourist should go. You can arrange a relaxing holiday for yourself anywhere, but finding communication is not everywhere... It will just be a pity for the money and time spent.
The service is excellent, the staff is very friendly, but! no one speaks Russian. If you do not speak languages, it is very difficult to communicate, you are expected to know English, it seems that no one is going to learn Russian, although the hotel has been working for Russia for a long time.
The evenings are terribly boring. The main contingent of tourists are elderly Germans and British. All entertainment is designed specifically for them: songs under -1 (in advertising it is presented as "live music"), Cypriot national evenings, that's all. Larnaca is far away, you can only get to the city in the evening by taxi. Near the hotel there are small roadside restaurants, where truckers usually stop in Russia. You will be lucky if you rent a car and entertain yourself.
The food is delicious, although the menu is monotonous. Breakfasts were just annoying: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, porridge - everything, and so every morning. Lunches and dinners are more fun: meat, fish, pasta, boiled potatoes, salads are offered to be made by yourself, from the ingredients presented. Wine, water, coffee is ordered from the waiter. Dinners are quite pretentious, be sure to change clothes.
Larnaca is 20 minutes away by bus/car. Shops are not encouraging, a standard set of resort towns. Lots of cafes, restaurants. You can go to Ayia Napa on your own for 30-40 minutes (I didn’t notice exactly), the bus runs - 7 euros, you can take a taxi 20-25 euros (as agreed). The beaches there are amazing! White sand, blue water! The only drawback is that the sea is very shallow, so you have to walk for a long time to swim.
The hotel has a typical beach for Cyprus: grey, trampled sand. Sun loungers, umbrellas - free of charge. The sea is wonderful, everyone swims with pleasure. Good entry: no algae or rocks.
The rooms are clean and everything works. The maids try very hard, they are interested in the quality of cleaning, they will always give you an extra towel without any problems. The view from the rooms is not particularly inspiring, but not depressing either…
If we talk about the possibility of having a romance, then no problem. The Greeks resting here are always at your service, the guys are prominent, they reminded me of the Turks with their behavior...
I will not stay in this hotel again and do not recommend it. Although in 60-70 years it may be...
If you need wild entertainment and nightlife, then it is better to go to Ayia Napa. And lying on the beach and enjoying doing nothing here is just fine! For example, I have a crazy job, so I don’t feel like nightclubs at sea.
The rooms are normal, no tip left, always cleaned cleanly. The hotel was going to be closed for reconstruction for the winter, so it should be updated this summer.
On weekends, a lot of locals came to the hotel beaches, in principle, they did not interfere, there was enough space for everyone. In hotels, weddings and christenings are really held, but it is very interesting to see it, after all, a different culture, different customs.
I just fell in love with Cyprus, only greenery is not enough.
TOURS:
- riding donkeys (very fun, funny)
-we went on a boat along the island (I liked it, azure bays, sun, flying fish)
- of course, the monastery of Kikos + mountainous Cyprus (perfect, no comment)
-Paphos and the birthplace of Aphrodite (we went on an individual tour, a car 400 euros, an individual guide for 8 hours). Everyone who rode the bus complained that it was hard, hot, there was little time for everything. And we really liked it, we stopped where we wanted, watched what we wanted, dined in a wonderful restaurant not far from the place where the baths of Aphrodite are located.
- the capital Nicosia (nothing, of course, but it is very hot there, in the middle of the island, there is no sea coolness, there is nothing special to see there). However, the guide led the tour very well, she told very interesting things. If you go to the capital, take your passport with you, it will be possible to go beyond the demolition line, to Turkish territory.
*We went with Capital-Tour, to which we thank you for a wonderful vacation (the guides are very good, there were no overlaps).
The rooms are standard (old TVs, air conditioners are also old, a table, 2 chairs, a bedside table, a mirror, a wardrobe, all the furniture is old, a hair dryer, large light-fluorescent lamps). I didn't like that there was no full length mirror. There is only one socket in the room, adapters (necessary in Cyprus) cannot be taken at the hotel (although usually you can for an additional fee) you had to buy. The hotel lobby is large, but not very cozy. They save on air conditioners in the hotel in the same way as on everything else. It is stuffy on the floors, in the hotel restaurant, where breakfast and lunch are served, windows are opened for ventilation, a terrible feeling.
(there are two restaurants in total). In the second, dinners are held (minus low tables, uncomfortable to sit), if a wedding (which is celebrated at the hotel every weekend and crowds tourists a lot) wants to rent it, then dinner will be in a stuffy breakfast-lunch restaurant.
This hotel fully corresponds to 3 stars. The staff is terrible, unfriendly (a few are fine), indifferent, unloving all inclusive, they look askance, the feeling that you eat at their expense. Taking juice during the day at the all-inclusive bar is a problem, the bartenders are supposedly all busy. Terrible! The food is monotonous, by the end of the holidays everyone complains that they don’t know what to eat, the same thing every day. One kind of fish, meat, chicken, rice, pasta, potatoes. There are no salads. Fruits: watermelons, melons, kiwi, apples. Desserts are tasty enough, but the same for lunch and dinner every day, mostly oily, heavy for the heat.
The beach is nearby, free (for hotel residents), locals come on weekends (which usually do not interfere), but in this hotel the locals pay money, so while you are at dinner, they will throw off the towels and put the locals for money.
The pool is one. Beautiful, but during the day in the sun. From the schedule: breakfast 7-10 am lunch 13-14:30 dinner 19-21:30 snacks from 11-12 and 16-17, but they are usually not available. What is missing: -Animation in the hotel is not at all, only the singer sings songs (sings not bad, but the same songs from day to day). - No jacuzzi - No aqua aerobics. More cons: the hotel is sandwiched between Lordos and Goldan bay, the view through the windows is either one or the other, at night the noise of the working parts of neighboring hotels.
The beaches of these hotels are paid, so from all 3 hotels tourists go to Sandy Beach. More: The first time we were met by Atica Holidays, not organized. Especially the girl Anna, who meets tourists there, if you don’t call her in time and remind yourself of yourself, you might not catch the plane. p. s. Cyprus is heaven! But hotels should be chosen carefully.
sandy beach is not bad, it looks beautiful, but do you want to go back there? .