Great holiday in Cyprus

Written: 13 august 2013
Travel time: 3 — 12 august 2013
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For a relaxing holiday; For families with children; For recreation with friends, for young people
Your rating of this hotel:
7.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms: 8.0
Service: 8.0
Cleanliness: 8.0
Food: 8.0
Amenities: 7.0
Great holiday in Cyprus. It's worth visiting once in your life. The Silver Sands hotel lives up to its 3-star rating. Comfortable enough. The main plus of the hotel is that it is located right on the seafront at 50 m. Excellent beach, clean sand, clean and always warm sea. Blue Flags 2013 for the cleanliness of the beach. The Mediterranean Sea is the cleanest and warmest.
The hotel pros: a small clean room, which has everything you need for a comfortable stay. After renovation. Comfortable bed with a good mattress, quality white linens, comfortable pillows. Separate bathroom with bathtub. There is always hot water, good pressure. Each room has a TV, refrigerator, air conditioning, an electric kettle with cups and glasses. The air conditioner works great. Each room has a balcony. Do not hesitate to take a room with a side sea view. The Inland View rooms are a view of the courtyard with the units. It's better not to take them.
We had a room on the 4th floor with a side sea view, 426. The view from the balcony is excellent. There is a table with chairs on the balcony, it's great to drink coffee or tea...and look at the Mediterranean blue-blue sea.

The food is good, we were never hungry. Breakfast for 4 balls, lunch for 3 balls, dinner - an honest 5. Always a good selection of salads, fresh vegetables, fruits, ice cream, cakes. In the morning - eggs in 3 cooking methods, bacon, ham, sausage, very fresh cottage cheese, yoghurts, potatoes, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, muesli, milk, jams, bread. Drinks vending machines: tea, coffee, cappuccino. Water, juice. Do not take sausages - nasty. Lunch (they say Lunch) - lots of greens, vegetables, fruits, soup, several types of side dishes, chicken in sauce, and McDonald's options (nuggets, burgers, battered fish). Drinks are charged separately.
Dinner is just great - several types of meat: pork, lamb, veal, chicken (juicy tender pieces), a lot of fresh and steamed vegetables, seafood, sweets, cakes, ice cream. Drinks for an additional fee. Coffee - 2.5 euros (in Cypriot), homemade wine on tap - 3.5 euros. We had half board (breakfast, dinner). Sometimes we took lunch at the hotel (lunch) for an additional fee of 9 euros per person. You can change dinner for lunch (take a voucher at the reception). But it's better not to do this - dinner is much better and richer in the choice of meat.
The service is very good, attentive friendly staff, ready to solve your questions. And if you learned 10 words in Greek, then just super. The terrace where the restaurant is located is very cozy, everything is white, the ceiling fans are working, the breeze is blowing, it is not hot. You dine right on the seashore by the green lawn.
All day long you can luxuriate by the pool on comfortable chaise lounges of 3 types: just chaise lounges, chaise lounges with thick mattresses, double and triple chaise lounges (just double beds! ) with a canopy from the sun. Very comfortable. Especially in the August heat, you escape in a wonderful shade. Sun loungers by the pool free of charge. On the beach itself, for a fee for all hotels, all vacationers - 2.5 euros for 1 sun lounger, 2.5 euros for 1 umbrella. You can save a lot. The hotel is right on the beach! You lie by the pool, walk 20 meters and swim in the sea. You come back to your grass again. Super! There is always free space by the pool.
The entry into the sea is gentle, sandy. But be careful - there are stones, small reefs! Or wear special shoes for swimming or go along the wide "path" where you can walk barefoot into the sea.
Between the hotel and the sea there is a wonderful promenade for pedestrians only. In the evening, the air is fragrant, the breeze, the smell of the sea.

On the other side of the hotel 100 m Protaras street with small shops, cafes, taverns, souvenir shops. On the corner (up and to the left) is a wonderful Rossos bakery, where there is always a wide selection of fresh pastries, cakes 1.5-2 euros, freshly squeezed juice (orange, carrot) 2.5 euros per half liter, hot sandwiches with a filling of your choice (ham, halloumi cheese, vegetables ) about 3 euros, milkshakes 3.5 euros. You can have a light lunch there or take it to your room. And sit on the balcony, enjoy the sea. There is also a supermarket on the left corner with a promise to Save Money. Indeed, the prices are normal, the choice is not bad.
We took excursions not at the hotel, but on the recommendation of tourists in the Kariatis travel agency (Afrodite tour). They have the same excursions that our tour operators offer 40 percent cheaper. If ours offer the Grand Tour of Cyprus for 80 euros, it’s about 42. Larnaca - St. Fiokla Monastery - Nicosia we went for 38 euros per person, not 70 euros, as our hotel rooms offered.
Wonderful trip to Nicosia - Kykkos Monastery - Troodos Monastery 38 euros. Kariatis has its own buses, sea boat, everything is very decent. The cost of the tour does not include lunch. We had a good meal at a nearby restaurant. From 8 euros per person. It depends on the appetite.
The trip to Larnaca to the Church of St. Lazarus, the archbishop's palace and the Church of St. John the Theologian in Nicosia was very pleasant. And the monastery of Kykkos and Troodos in the Troodos mountains left an extraordinary impression.
On the trip you need to take comfortable shoes, water, sunblock (intense sun), dark glasses, a hat and even an umbrella (from the sun).
Delicious Commandaria wine and Zivania vodka are sold in the shop of the Kykkos monastery. Inside the monastery itself, in the icon shop, the choice and prices are better than in the wooden shops below.
In Protaras itself there is a small oceanarium 13 euros, a show of dancing fountains 26 euros (at Kariatis the price is 1 euro cheaper), a museum and a wonderful church of St. Elijah on the mountain ( bus 101 to the stop.
Cavo Greco and left on the hill) or walk to McDonald's and then left and left again. The church of St. Elijah in Protaras is open all day, on Saturday 19.00 pm.
In Paralimni, a 10-minute drive, there is the church of St. Nicholas (bus 101 to the stop. Golden Coast hotel), located right on the seafront in front of the hotel. Liturgy at 9:00 am on Sunday. The bus runs every 20 minutes, the ticket is 1.5 euros.

Cons of the Silver Sands 3 * hotel: corridors require repair, for using a safe 2 euros per day, for using a refrigerator 3 euros per day, a deposit of 10 euros is taken for towels (returned after return), a deposit of 5 euros for an adapter to electrical equipment. But this is typical for many 3* and 4* Cypriot hotels. The doors to the room and bathroom are old. The renovation done in the room has not yet touched the doors. At the corner of the street in the bar until 2 am the music plays very loudly, it interferes with sleep. And you can’t change the number on the other side, there is a view of the refrigeration units. So you choose between a good view and silence at night.
In terms of price - quality is good. Although holidays on the islands are usually more expensive than on the coast. 9 days in a 3 * hotel in Cyprus in Protaras cost us as much as 14 nights in Montenegro in a 4 * hotel in Becici on the same half board. True for early booking.
But these small flaws did not prevent us from having a great rest and enjoying Cyprus! This is an amazing place where you want to return again and again!
Translated automatically from Russian. View original