Наш отдых в отеле "Азия " Our stay at the Asia Hotel

We rested at Azia Resort & SPA from 22 to 29.07. 09. In Cyprus for the first time, but before that we were in Turkey 3 times in 5 stars (in Rixos Belek now it is Papillon Aysa, in Papillon Belvill and in Letoonia in Belek), so there is something to compare with. We traveled from the ICS Travel operator, the flight was operated by the Transaero airline - without delay, on schedule, everything was clear. The guide Olga met us at the Larnaca airport, handed out envelopes with information on Cyprus and excursions to everyone, and immediately told us: “your hotel is very far away, in Paphos, I don’t have the opportunity to come to you, we work in Limassol, here is my phone number, if what are you calling. Of the excursions, you can only have donkeys, everything else is on an individual program. Then, after thinking, she added: “Even donkeys on an individual program, think up, call. ”
Of course, we didn’t want to go anywhere, the mood was spoiled by such hospitality, as if it were our fault that our hotel was so far away, especially as it turned out, four more groups were traveling with us on the bus, whose hotels are also located in Paphos. But the return transfer from the hotel to the airport was carried out by a wonderful girl Lena, who came to pick us up in her car, talked about Cyprus, traditions, sights, other hotels, etc. , the conversation with her was very interesting and pleasant. It is clear that she is a true professional. Thank her very much!
It takes an hour and a half to drive from Larnaca to Paphos, about an hour in 3-4 days we were in Azia. The hotel is amazing! Very beautiful, refined, cozy with a magnificent thoughtful and unobtrusive decor, fresh flowers everywhere, even in the room. By the way, the symbol of the hotel is a lily. It took a very long time to choose exactly where to go in Cyprus, all other hotels seemed small and uncomfortable to us.

Azia met our expectations, everything looks exactly like on the hotel website (www. aziaresort. com), even better. Upon check-in, we were given a room from Premium Club Rooms, although we bought the usual Blue Room, they said that this was a gift from the hotel, but we still did not understand how these categories of rooms differ. The only advantage is that guests who live in Premium Club rooms can go to the so-called from 15:00 to 17:00. bar (in fact, it is a large room with sofas, a computer with Internet access and a TV) and drink tea, coffee, juices with muffins and cookies there. Here is self service, you take everything and pour it yourself and for some reason you have to take the keys to this room to the reception, we went once and didn’t go again. In general, there was some relationship between the room you live in and the hotel services that you can use for free. The room was clean, fresh, there were fruits and a bottle of wine on the table - a compliment from the hotel, there were bathrobes and slippers on the bed.
The room is very pleasant - light-coloured walls, tiled floor, a balcony door sliding up to the ceiling, a glass table with twisted legs created a feeling of air and flight. All with taste. Also in the room were two armchairs and a TV, of the Russian channels only ORT. The air conditioner is individual, it was possible to set the desired temperature yourself or turn it off completely without pulling out the cards. Near the entrance to the room in a special branch there was a wardrobe with open shelves, a full-length mirror, there was also a safe - free of charge, and a minibar - paid, everything is very expensive, a half-liter bottle of plain water cost, I think, 2.85 €. The bathroom had a bath with shower, shower and even a bidet! A full set of toiletries, packed in a basket, then some milk soap for irritated skin was also brought. 4 small and 4 bath towels, two small napkins, everything changed twice a day. Wiped down once.
The balcony is quite large, with a floor vase of flowers, two sunbeds, a table and two chairs. The view from the window was on the garden and the church. Very beautiful. The hotel grounds are amazing! Green grass, fragrant flowers, palm trees, various plants, everything is very well maintained, clean and pleasantly pleasing to the eye. The pool is quite large, clean, variable depth, one bar (paid) was in the pool, you could swim up, sit on chairs in the water and drink, there was also a call to this bar from land. There were enough sunbeds, although many were occupied, beach towels were issued on cards on the 0th floor near the SPA, you could change them for fresh ones several times a day. The staff is smiling, unobtrusive, politely ask how you are doing, wish something good. Few of them speak Russian.
When checking in, they called some woman, it seems, a maid, an Armenian, she explained herself with difficulty and answered questions, and when I asked if we could take an adapter to the reception, she did not understand me at all. By the way, the adapter was given, without any collateral. Another of the Russian speakers was the bartender Sergey, the barmaid either Romanian or Ukrainian, one waitress Nina in the restaurant, and two maids Irina and Lisa. Irina helped us figure out the services of the hotel, what is included in the price, what is not, she quickly called someone and told everything in normal Russian. This is the minus of the hotel, that there is no hotel guide who will tell you about everything, we had to figure it out ourselves. They say that in Cyprus some TV channels are even paid. In Azia, for example, a liter bottle of water served for dinner costs 3.15 €. Wow! It's water, not beer or freshly squeezed juice!

Then we found cheaper water in the store behind the hotel, and when on the penultimate day we went to the city on our own, then in the Papa Antonio supermarket 1.5 liters cost 0.47 €. A salad of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, a little chicken meat and a crumbled egg costs €8.50 at the bar. So, HB (half board) may not justify itself, in Turkey you drink to yourself, eat and do not think. Breakfasts in Azia are held downstairs, a buffet, the food is delicious, fresh: scrambled eggs, beans, olives, mushrooms, all kinds of cheeses and sausages, bacon, muffins, croissants, fruits, muesli, nuts, etc. For every taste. Very good juice, it's not diluted vile Jupi, like in Turkey, but the taste is similar to our J7, with traces of pulp on the glasses, there is orange, tropical, multi-fruit. There was always enough food, if something ran out, they brought it. Dinner was upstairs, you have to climb the steps of the amphitheater. Dinner à la carte, buffet on weekends only. All drinks (including water) are paid. Offered salad, soup and hot.
We chose from two dishes: a salad like this or that, a soup like this or that, etc. There was something else for vegetarians, and there seems to be a children's menu. Here you need to know a little English, at least within the framework of a school course, in order to approximately be able to understand what you will eat, the waiters cannot explain anything. Everything is beautifully served, and the truth is like in a restaurant, quiet, calm, decorous, there is no hustle and bustle, as in Turkey. The food was not bad, there were mussels, fish, meat, chicken, but it was somehow monotonous: salads almost always consisted of lettuce leaves, mashed soups are similar to each other, fish, chicken or meat seemed to be undersalted, something was missing in taste . In the end, this food was fed up, I wanted more variety. For dessert, a buffet: fruits have always been apples, peaches, melon, watermelon, grapes, pears. From sweet - 3-4 types of cakes.
The service is not fast or slow, it was annoying to sign the bill every time, this is so that on departure you can pay for the drink. The hotel also has such a system: you can replace dinner with lunch (although we did not see anyone having lunch) and vice versa, and it is also possible to eat from the Ala Carte menu, here you order for 11.5 € per person. free, if you exceed this amount, you pay extra. As for the beach and the sea, this is the main disadvantage of the hotel, because the sea is close, nearby, but there is no descent to it, only a platform overlooking the sea with umbrellas and sunbeds, and then a cliff. I had to go to the sea. On the right side, about 6-7 minutes from the hotel, there was what we called the “wild beach”. A grandfather was sitting here and waiting for someone to lie on his sunbeds, then he came up and asked for money-mani 2.50 € apiece. This beach has excellent sand, but it was impossible to enter the sea at all, because.
shallow, very far away and constantly rolling waves one after another, scary and dangerous. There were also large stones, water flowed into them, you could sit there, but you want to swim. On the left side of the hotel, a 10-minute walk was the St. Georgio and with him there was a beach (sand ground with small pebbles) for everyone, free of charge, only there were no sunbeds and there was nowhere to take them, only if you go to the territory of St. Georgio, which is nearby and not fenced by anything, and take a free sunbed. I think the hotel was selling places. The water in the sea was clean, transparent, a breakwater was made, i. e. they fenced off the area for swimming with large stones and the waves did not interfere with swimming, did not flood the face, there was a bridge into the water, but you can go over the stones, everyone swam with small children . The people were on the beach, but no one interfered with each other, they did not lie on each other, there was no noise. There are also many water activities here - bananas, parachutes, boats, etc. The road to the beach was not tiring, because.

we walked along other hotels, it was like the Embankment, where you can walk in the evening, the paths are beautiful, different flowers and grasses grow. Only a small piece of the road to the beach was like a wasteland, but it did not bother. The climate in Cyprus is very pleasant, hot, you can get burned, but there is no hot heat like in Turkey, there is no such strong sticky humidity, it is very good to walk in the evening, a slight coolness after dinner, a breeze, the air is filled with the smell of the sea, iodine and flowers. The guests of the hotel were mostly from Israel (one of the days there was an Israeli wedding at the hotel), many English, there are Cypriots, Germans, Koreans, many with children. There were few Russians in the hotel, together with us we counted 3-4 more companies. In general, such a feeling sometimes developed that we were alone here resting, at least in the photographs there are almost no people really visible.
To be honest, the hotel is a bit boring in the evening, there is no animation - neither during the day nor in the evening, although they promised, in general it is a very quiet, peaceful place, a relaxing and contemplative vacation turned out to be what we wanted. So, if you like drive and vibrant night life, think about whether it is worth going to Paphos and to this hotel specifically (although they say our compatriots find where they can dance on the tables on the first day). Good luck to everyone in choosing a hotel for your holiday!