| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
carolyn holladay from barnsley travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 5 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2008 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location |  | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Myself and my family stayed in this hotel for 2 weeks and i must say this was the best holiday that we have had in a very long time.The hotel was very clean and kept tidy at all times.The staff in this hotel are very friendly and would anything for you if you needed help with anything.the
food was outstanding the children always had plenty to eat that they enjoyed there was not one day when they said they didn't like anything that goes for the adults in the group too.
The entertainment that was provided by the first choice reps was very good if you wanted a lazy holiday and just lay there you got to do that but if sunbathing is not your thing and you wanted to go and have something to do they provided you with entertainment throughout the day from playing games to having a poolside quiz its up to you what you get involved with.this was the same with the children there was something for them to do at all times from the kids clubs to pool fun.
The location of the hotel is a little further away from protaras than i thought it would be but you had shops,pubs,beach and a water park just a stone throw away.so the location for me was fine.
Click here for more information on this hotel, resort and region
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Claire, Levi, Mariah and Tyrah from Portsmouth travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was our second stay at the papantonia, we stayed here in 2005 and loved it so much we returned this year. The hotel has always had very mixed reviews and like others were a bit worried about what to expect. When we arrived at the hotel it felt like we had never been away! Everything was just as we remembered it and it was nice to see some familiar faces working there still. Our hotel room was basic but clean but basic doesnt bother us as we are hardly ever in our room on holiday anyway. No problems with air con and we had a lovely view of the pools and complex. Pools and pool area lovely, clean and spacious and plenty of sunbeds for all. The downstairs toilets actually smelt better than when we came 2 years ago! Hotel really quiet when we arrived although friends that we met when we stayed here last flew out that night so it soon became lively (there was 16 of us in total). Entertainment staff were great with both kids and adults, evening entertainment started with kids disco, then bingo then whatever else was scheduled for that night be it a show or something that required participation! we took part in all the entertainment and had loads of fun! The only downside was that because it remained quiet at the hotel during our stay, most of the daytime activities were cancelled as not enough people to join in. The restaurant staff were friendly and worked hard although the bar staff seemed very rude and miserable most of the time. The food was not as good as when we last visited although the breakfast was good with loads to chose from. Lunch did get a bit repetative so we just ate lunch from the snack bar instead of the AI buffet. Dinner was a bit hit and miss, had some good meals but then had other nights where it was not so good. Didnt use the lifts so cant comment on those. The hotel could do with a lick of paint but this did not affect our holiday in any way. All in all, we had another fab stay at the papantonia and would not hesitate to return.
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Rachel Evans from Wrexham, Wales travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Arrived back yesterday from a weeks holiday with my partner and 5 year old daughter, staying at the Papantonia Apartments between Pernera and Protaras, South East of Cyprus.
Had read reviews with regards to the complex, and we were a bit dubious before we arrived as they ranged from good to bad.
We arrived at the Papantonia following a 1.5 hour transfer from Larnaca Airport (only takes 45 minutes, however there were a few drop offs to various hotels on the way).
The reception/lounging area was pleasant, complete with internet and gameboy facilities (charge payable - not sure how much as we didn't use them), pool table and large flat screen tv. The receptionist was equally as pleasant and in no time at all we were opening our 1 bed apartment door with one of those credit card type keys (which played up on our first day, but had no problems afterwards).
The apartment was clean and we considered it to be spacious, however would agree there is little wardorbe space if you have full capacity. Air con is welcoming in the bedroom, although a little bit too noisey for me during the night. Could have done with air con in the lounge for the sake of my daughter during the night as it was pretty warm.
Maid visited every day apart from one day part way through our week. Beds made on each visit, clean towels and linen every other. The maid even washed a couple of glasses we had left in the sink, which we had intended on washing later in the day!
We had originally booked our holiday as self-catering, however we decided to go all-inclusive while we were there as we had heard Cyprus as being very expensive. It was definitely value for money (cheaper than the brochure price, so worth book while you're there and the added bonus of this is that the minimum is 3 days, so you can have a day off like we did and go and check out the food in the local restaurants (yes it was quite expensive, so decided to go all-inclusive for the rest of the week!). The downside you do miss out on the culture, atmosphere, sights and smells. On the upside it was convenient as we had decided while we were there, to enjoy our week relaxing by the pool in amongst the palm trees as the Papantonia is situated in a quiet location. Food was good, although oddly mixed some days and a little repepitive with regards to the deserts. Children are catered for e.g. beans, mashed potatoes, spag bol, chips, nuggets etc, etc. Local drinks (alcoholic and soft, water) on tap whenever you want. Bar snacks are also inlcuded.
The restaurant and bar staff did there job's well, and a few went out of their way to in terms of politeness and friendliness.
The Papantonia's location is ok. Pernera is a 10 min walk and Protaras is a 25 min walk. Pernera has a handful of restaurants, bars and souvenir shops and stretches over a broken 30 minute walk. Protaras is a much larger version. Taxis', buses and car hire are readily available though.
Childrens entertainment was very good and staff worked hard to ensure they were having a fab time. Adult entertainment was ok, if you're into that type of thing, however the staff worked very hard to deliver.
Would definitely visit again!
The Papantonia made our holiday!
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Cheryl Higgins from Rutland travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a friends holiday.
There were 3 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: I like many other people who had read bad reports, was slightly concerned as to what it was going to be like at the Papantonia! However, we were very pleasantly suprised and had an absolutely fantastic holiday...
The hotel itself is not the most modern hotel ever but it is clean, friendly and welcoming and the facilities are absolutely more than adequate. The rooms are fine, bathrooms not state of the art but clean and functional. We had a 1 bedroomed apartment and it was very spacious indeed, the lack of air con in the living area is a bit of a bummer as the kids or whoever is sleepingin there will get hot but if you shut the balcony doors when you go out during the day and at night and leave the bedroom door open it does cool it down considerably, to make the air con work all the time you need to put your tescos club card in the air con and electricity slot when you are out of the room as it it is one of those things that is activated by the card key for the room :-)
The pool area is really great. We were out there with about 30 other people for a wedding all staying at different hotels in the Protaras area and exceopt for the bride and grooms 5* hotel, our pool area was by far the best.
The nearest beach isnt the best but of you walk a further 5 mins max to the left if you are looking at the sea then this brings you to a lovely little cove. Nissi beach is absolutely stunning, it gets very busy but we got there not long after 9am and left at about 3 which was perfect.
The food at the hotel is fine, loads of choice and considering its the mass cooked buffet style thing, i think they did a good job and none of us had any complaints at all. The puddings were a bit odd but i think this is just a foreign thing in general, they dont really know how to do puddings!! There was always ice cream if you wanted it so that was fine.
The first choice team were great and the kids disco was brilliant, that was the highlight of my sons day! We didnt stay around for entertainment many nights as we had friends in resort but when we did it was ok, no complaints.
If you get a chance, do the under water walking, its one of the first choice organised excursions and it is just brilliant, even my 6 year old did it. The little aqua park in Protaras is great for under 8's, its only about 5 or 6 slides all round one shallow pool but it means us parents can relax on the sun lounger and know they are safe and you can see them at all times, we had a great day there and its only a short walk from the hotel. The big aqua park in Agia Napa is fantastic and well worth a visit but get there early as it gets busy! The Magical dancing waters show in Protaras is also really good for adults and children.
Penera is a lovely little village which is 5 -10 mins walk from the hotel and is really nice, we didnt really discover it until the last couple of days but wished we had found it earlier.
Overall a fab holiday at a fab hotel, grat value and we all enjoyed ourselves loads!
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wendy knowles from brighton travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a friends holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We were originally travelling to Limassol but were changed last minute to the Papantonia Hotel so we obviously had our reservations as this was not the hotel we originally booked but what a result.
You could not ask for a better hotel ok some of the parts of the hotel were a bit dated but remember this is a 3* complex. The all inclusive package was well worth the money we have travelled 3 times to Cyprus this being our 4th but this is the first time we have gone all inclusive and after this holiday I will never do anything else.
Yes the food does get a bit repetitive but the choice is fantastic and the deserts are lovely.
The pool was lovely I didn't see my children all day and the play area kept them amused for hours.
And now for the best bit the entertainment team, they were amazing I take my hat off to all of them they worked their behinds off Leanne and Sean were fantastic the poolside quizes had us puzzled everyday and the shows they put on everynight where very entertaining. There is something for everyone day and night and as for the Kids Mini Disco the dances will stay with myself and my daughter for a long time.
The only 2 things I can say bad about the holiday were nothing major but with the hotel rooms, we had a one bedroom apartment which meant the children were on sofa beds in the lounge and unfortunately only the bedroom is air conditioned and secondly there is not enough storage in the bedroom for 4 people. But other than that I cannot fault this holiday at all and will definately be booking to go again.
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Murphy from Nottingham travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Well! we have just returned from a fantastic 2 weeks at the Papantonia Hotel.To be honest after reading some of the reviews on here i didn't really want to go and our first impression was that the outside needed a lick of paint and i did wonder if the reviews would be right and it would not be very nice but our room was clean,air con was a bit dodgy for the first few days but a nice maintenance man showed us how to work it and the room was soon cool.
The food was very nice,towards the end it did get a bit repetitive but we never went hungry,staff very hardworking,polite and the bar man soon knew your room number, you did have to queue at the bar as they don't have many pumps and staff to work the bar but you just keep your eye on it and you can time it right and not have to queue so long but it wasn't a problem to us.
The children could go to the bar order food,drinks and ice cream and they were served with the same politeness as the adults.
We didn't use the pool toilets,we just went to our room if we needed to.
The entertainers were a laugh,Tami,Leanne,Sean and Kelly worked extremely hard in very hot conditions, my 2 also went to Wavelength with Rusty who was always good for a laugh!
Pool was clean and very refreshing on a hot Cyprus day!
Sunbeds were a little old and could do with being replaced but we didn't have to fight to get a sunbed,we sat in the shady grass area most days because it was very hot.
The entertainment at night was ok if you like to participate which my husband did and when we left he was Mr Papantonia!
The entertainers did alot of their own shows where alot of time and effort was put in,watch how high Sean gets his leg when they do the Can Can.
Cartoon Heroes was one of our favourites and the kids can even dance to it in the pool during Splash Dance!Agadoo was great and Kelly was a sport because all the kids wanted to flush her down the loo!!Agado do do ,flush Kelly down the loo!
Cash bingo is also played every night and the children can take part,which my daughter loved,she couldn't wait to wave her bingo tickets in the air..we even won which was an added bonus.
We had a really great holiday.
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Jayne, Lee & Sam from Accrington travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Well we have just returned from a fantastic holiday at the Papantonia and i am convinced that there must be two hotels of this name !! After reading various bad reviews of this hotel i can honestly say that we are astounded at the comments as we could not fault the hotel and it's staff.
Upon our arrival at about 5.30pm we were checked in very quickly and shown to rooms on the 1st floor overlooking the pool.unfortunatly my sisters room had a leaky pipe in the bathroom but within minutes she was shown to another room.We stayed in 1 bedroom apartments and they were spotlessly clean with beds made up in the living room for our child.No where was there any musty smells etc altough granted in places it is a little tired,however the holiday season in Cyprus is longer and the hotel isn't closed for very long to update things all at once but things are being done every year.We got quite friendly with the manager Maria- a very hard working hands on person who was there from 8.30 am to Midnight most days, who would bend over backwards for her guests.The rooms and pool areas very clean and anyone who was up for 7.30 am would see the army of people cleaning everything in sight.we saw the pool being cleaned and tested most days and didn,t see anyone with ear infections.The food was fine especially the meat,it was a bit repetitive but we always found plenty to eat.There was a different main dessert every night with the usual jelly,mousse,ice cream for the kids.The cheesecake is to die for and the pastries at brekkie delicious.The waiter,waitresses,bar staff always smiling and working hard but the bar service can be slow especially in the dining room at nightbut we alerted Maria to this and things speeded up-she even pitched in herself!The First Choice entertainers and kids club reps were a god send.Rusty from Wavelength became a firm favourite of Sams and he went every day sometimes twice.The entertainers are there from 10am to midnight and put on a full programme of activities every day for adults and kids but they don't pressure you to join in if you don't want to.The evening entertainment started at 8.30pm with mini disco for the kids followed by a quiz and bingo.At 10.15 ish it was showtime, Mr Papantonia on our last night was hilarious not to be missed.Leanne,Kelly,Tami,shaun,Rusty,Zoe and Sara(sorry if i've missed anyone) you were stars and made our holiday one we will talk about for years.Agadoo do do flush Kelly down the loo,we sang all the way home!!!!!!
We will definetly visit again but we are going to Rhodes next year.
Anyone due to go soon will have a fab time.Go with an open mind and remember you aren't in Britain so don't expect British things although Maria and her staff certainly try their best.
Thankyou Hotel Papantonia for a fantastic holiday.
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k.b and family from leicester travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed all inclusive worth every penny. Food good. Pool very good. Entertainment was good. Did not use kids clubs. Hotel was very clean. Pool toilets could have been better but were ok. Just outside of protaras but the bus was quite regular and taxis were good shops and resturants there were a few near the hotel. Just a short walk into the center about 15 mins along the beach. Quite busy in the center so location of the papantonia was good. Would go back again.
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Houston from Tranent travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a friends holiday.
There were 6 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We arrived at 9pm and were met by a friendly receptionist who advised us to leave our bags in the baggage area and go straight to the dining area, where we were able to have our first all inclusive meal. Food was great and we also had drinks a plenty which also included cocktails which is not mentioned in the brouchure.
Apartments were clean and we found the cleaner to be very helpful, as we had 2 teenage children in our party who liked to sleep late. we were concerned about ear infections as this was mentioned in a few reports, our teenage son did get an ear infection do not know if from pool but we went to the chemist bought antibiotic ear drops for £3cyp and this took care of it.
The food was varied and very nice the kids meals were similar every day, but the snack bar was fabulous with burgers pizza pasta chips omelets salads and more.
Location very near the beach but a good 20 min walk to the heart of protaras, the bus however was 80 cents each or taxi was £4cyp.
Staff were worked hard but very friendly and helpful.
Entertainment pool bar too loud and clashed with the entertainment music, one or other would have been better,however the pool quiz got us thinking every day, kids clubs were great although not very busy which made the entertainment at night mostly dvds.
If i were to visit Cyprus again I would have no problem coming back to this hotel.
Overall a great holiday.
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anne from newcastle travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: we went to the papantonia as this was our first rip to cyprus... the hotel was great and the enterainment was great and my kids loved it...the pools were great... food was nice in a different sort of way.....the weather was beautiful
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Gemma Hamilton from London travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff |  | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Just got back. We thought the rooms were a bit dated, but the cleaners tried to keep it clean. Although there was a constant smell of mould and damp. There was no storage so felt like we were living in a pig stye for 2 weeks as it was impossible to put anything anywhere.
We stayed self catering, but did try a couple of breakfasts. Wasn't too bad. Usual, cereal, cooked breakfast, fruit and cakes as much as you want!
Location was ok, just a short walk and you are in more of a bsy area.
I must say one bad thing about this hotel was the entertainment was a complete dismal. To be honest if we hadn't ventured to the hotel next door (The Marlita Beach) Every night. We would of had a really bad time. The entertainment there was absolutley brilliant, even during the day.
I would not visit this hotel again. I would def stay at the Marlita!
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mitchell from nottingham travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed bed and breakfast which was perfect. Cooked breakfast, fruit,cereal,salad and cakes!! Oh yes, they were gorgeous.
Hotel room was cleaned daily. Very clean room and friendly cleaners.
The location was a bit out of the way but we hired a car and spent the first week on nissi beach. A must have, it was fantastic. Clear warm sea, music and white sands with loads of water sports or games to play.
Hotel staff were a bit miserable but we never had to deal with them so not a problem really.
The entertainment was great. Steve is a nutter but so funny. It rained for 5 days and they did there best to keep moral up and played games with the kids.
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loll from midlands travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
firstchoice
on a 18-30s holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2007 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Papatonia apartments, fantastic spotless cleaned every other day, fresh towels daily if required.
Helpful staff, couldn't fault it at all I will be returning for definate.
Read bad reports before I left was dreading it, but I will praise where due.
Great for families or couples restraunts and bars 5mins away. Or taxi 4cyp into Protaras.
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sheena from surrey travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a friends holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: On arrival we were met by an unfriendly staff member who made us feel like we where keeping him up! After a long and painful check in it took 15mins for the lift to arrive to get to our room.
Room clean but no storage and had to remove kitchen draws to put clothes away! Room was located directly above evening entertainment that went on until 1am. Not much thought went into the allocation as we had 2 small children.
The food I would compare to a school cafeteira with many going down with food poisioning.
The maids did clean thoroughly but public loos a disgrace.
If you like Butlins you will love the entertainment. If you like banging on tables and getting wrapped up with bog roll on the stage every night, this is the right place for it!
Staff miserable and very obvious the season was coming to an end as they really could not be bothered. It was all an effort for them.
I would only recommend this hotel which I would rate as a 2 star if you are drunk all day and too oblivious to notice the sorry state of it all.
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Campbell from Stockport travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed at the hotel on an all inclusive basis. First impressions were that the hotel was clean apart from the loos at the pool which were not pleasent and smelt.
The food was great plenty of choice. children could help themselves which they enjoyed. The restaurant was clean but very hot. Breakfast and evening meals were served in here buffet style and never had to queue apart from for the very slow toast machine. The snacks at the pool were excellent all made to order the omlettes were expecially nice.
there are a few shops and bars in walking distance and we eat out at Chopsticks Chinease which was excellent.
The hotel staff worked hard and were always happy to help.
The entertainment staff were fantastic and the kids really enjoyed the mini disco and still doing the Cartoon Heros dance at home. They really did make this holiday and were the best we have come across in any other holiday we have taken.
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Smithy from Peterborough travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Disappointed that the hotel could not provide even a sandwich on arrival at 23.25pm. After hanging around at the airport awaiting other flight arrivals to be dropped off on our bus, the very minimal in flight meal had worn off and we were starving. Having our 18 month old daughter with us, popping to the local very noisy bar was out of the question, but top marks to the Polish bar staff at the hotel who gave us as much cows milk as we wanted on our AI package to ensure our daughter was happy overnight.
Pools are awesome - Did not notice any cleanliness or hygiene problems. We came across one instance of ear infection but this was clearly as a result of excessive underwater activity - I think if the kid had spent 5 days snorkelling in Peterborough regional pool he would have had the same problems.
Each night presented a different restaurant food theme - they try and vary it but there are a number of staple English dishes which had nothing to do with them theme (Roast Pork on the Greek night). I find with Buffet you get drawn to the same things and are not adventurous. I am certain if I had ordered from a menu I would have eaten more of the theme food, as the buffet presentation was very drab and you struggled to see what it was so nearly every one took the easy option (Roast Pork and Potatoes/Chips) then sat outside moaning about how they had had the same food for a week! - I would recommend eating out twice a week.
Room basic but spacious and most importantly clean. The Air Conditioning however is rubbish. It is supposed to be available 24 hours but unless you can blag a second room key card you cut the power off every time you go out. The cleaners are diamonds and as a result we got EXTRA lazy and started leaving a stash of babies’ bottles by the sink - each day the cleaners washed the whole lot up. It really made our day, as we were allowed to really wind down. We were on the front of the hotel and the local bar "The Station" provided at least four hours of un-interrupted Tribute bands, drag acts and Karaoke every night. We never visited the bar, but after a week we knew every singer and song on the karaoke and approximately what time they would come on - The special being a northern accented fellow who would belt out Suspicious Minds at around 1.00am each morning. For the first two days it was amusing - but day three onwards it was a nightmare and certainly a major talking point for people with young families the next morning. I know the hotel is a bit stuffed on this but I think they should try and house everyone poolside who have small children.
The bar staff deserve medals. The hotel industry is difficult but you never saw these guys and girls flapping under the workload and their ethics were brilliant - they simply never stopped - even in the slack periods they were keeping them selves busy if no-one wanted serving. I don't think I could even estimate how many hours a girl called Petra put in whilst we were there - and she was always smiling!
Kids Club staff very friendly. Mainline reps a bit strange as they seemed to know little about the resort. We suggested a couple of places we had seen advertised around Protaras and they could not offer any advice on whether the attractions were worth a visit. Also we got conned into a much higher spec car than we needed due to having a buggy - my fault really, but I can't help thinking the rep was trying to sell up the car groupage based on boot space. I have no idea how they get paid for these referrals.
Entertainment..... Leanne tried to be funny on day one by questioning the popularity of my surname. Crazy Carlie did a one girl show which was poor, Andy Pandy had attitude but kept his guard lifted around the kids which was good - Tammi was without a doubt the most talented. Overall the in-house evening entertainment was bearable mainly due to the AI bar - the outsiders such as the Robbie Williams act should have stayed at home - 1/2 hour act, including 10 mins of waffle. The daily pool games were quite a laugh, but the kid’s discos etc were atrocious, even our 9 year old got bored of Cartoon Heroes, Mimic Man etc being played every night.
I got a bit tired of some of the kids running around. It seemed they are looked after by there parents for 50 weeks of the year and the 2 weeks at the Pap are a license for them to run riot without any signs of discipline. The bar/reception staffs are working hard enough without having to keep fishing Pool Balls from the pool or stop the x-box being smashed up with a pool cue (Again and again) because it has allegedly swallowed a 50 cent piece.
Despite the mixed report, I have to say that it is the best family resort I have ever been to and we would have stayed longer. I will not visit again as we have done "Cyprus" now and are ready for another destination - however I will re-iterate this has nothing at all to do with the hotel.
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Sarah from Bexley, Kent travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a friends holiday.
There were 4 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: All inclusive was good for our group as the men enjoyed the drinking element - ice creams for the kids could have been better standard choc ices (dark chocolate) were all inclusive but if you preferred a different ice cream (say a choc ice with milk chocolate) you had to pay for. Most kids don't like dark chocolate - therefore felt this was a catch.
Hotel food was of a good standard with every night being a themed night but by the second week this was then repeated.
Snack Bar food was excellent.
Entertainment staff worked very hard and if it wasn't for them our holiday would have been a bad experience. The kids club (in particular Ziggy Zara) worked very hard and our 2 year old had the time of her life at club and the mini disco and even now we have to dance to "Cartoon Heroes" on a daily basis.
As for the pool - our experience was poor from a group of 7 - 4 of us were ill with ear infections (1 of which was hospitalised for 2 days), a swollen face (from chemicals in the pool)and an allergic rash (from chemicals in the pool)- which again another of the party was admitted to hospital for 2 days. During our stay over half the complex had ear infections - reps just say this is a common illness in Cyprus - but to us it was too much of a coincidence.
We can give the Santa Molina Hospital the highest praise - if only our hospitals were like it! We were treated like royalty during our hospital admissions and all the nursing staff could not do enough for us.
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Jeffrey from Edinburgh travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We arrived at the Papantonia after a short delay, checked in with ease. We had a 2 bedroomed apartment, great having air-con in the 2 bedrooms, alas it is not in the lounge, so those of you who sleep on the sofa beds are in for a warm night!!
On balance rooms are fine but for a party of 6 there was only one wardrobe!! You get clean towels 5 days a week which was a bonus. Maids were good, but dont leave any food around as the ants will visit you in their droves!!!
We booked self catering but after 5 days booked all-inc in the hotel at a cost of £16cyp for adults and £9cyp for children, was worth it as came home with money!! Apart from the "agnes sorkel soup"the food was what you would expect from a 3* place. Snack menu brill, not like other all-incs as they cook your snacks to order from the main snack menu!!
Bar staff great especially David, Petra and Kinga.
Location is not the best, but the brochure explains this. 10 mins away you have the Pernera strip of bars and cafes, main Protaras town is 25 min walk away and £6cyp, but cabs can seat 6, and you could barter for a cheaper rate, if you pick up a cab on the street.
As you will note from previous reviews, the hotel has had a problem with ear infections, this is still a problem this season. We would strongly advise you get ear plugs for all who intend swimming. Having said that the pool areas are without a doubt the best pools in Cyprus!
And you always get a sunbed!
First choice entertainers provide the day and evening entertainment. They work hard, some more than others.
Leanne and Kayleigh work the hardest by far out of the team of four. The kiddie reps also work hard.There are some shows provided by outside entertainers, would have to say that Mr magic should retire!! The Robbie tribute was nondescript. There is bingo and a quiz every night too and a mini disco.
All in all though, The Papantonia is a good choice, and if you take precautions re ear infections you will have a fab time!!
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Charlotte from coleraine travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were more than 6 adults and 6 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Papantonia hotel apartments; Food bearable - just, if you don't mind green bread and ants and are not worried about health and hygiene.
Hotel fine if you got the holiday cheap and like the smell of raw sewage and unruly customers.
The bathroom floods every time you use it. Beds crooked, sun beds ripped and in some places dangerous, so many things wrong with this place, attention to detail being one.
Disco equals the same three records for two weeks. Kids meals equals beans and chips for two weeks. Alcohol is not strong enough to numb out all the problems.
Fresh water pool equals scum filled chemical zone.
Lifts are hazardous zones to be avoided. Children’s play park is nothing more than a nursery play ground with the added extra of broken glass if you’re really lucky. Also watch for the same around pool area. Games area awful as at the top of rotten toilets and very dirty and I could go on. Best advice...don't waste your money.
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Paul Mifflin from Stoke on Trent travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: MMMM Where to start, All Inclusive booked in U.K. is an absolute MUST, unless you are loaded. Beer £2.20 STERL a pint, Snacks £4.50 STERL.
You can upgrade from self catering to all inc at £16 CY£ a day, thats about £20 STERL each, kids half that.
In the few bars and resteraunts near by you would'nt get much change out of £100 Sterl a day for feeding 2 adults and 2 kids, not including drinks and ices for the kids.
The snacks are cooked fresh for you, which we found better than prev all ins when its burgers stacked as high as the hotel n chips.
Good selection of snacks as well from burgers, great omeletes and tuna salads. My lady thought the snacks were better than the resteraunt food. Lunch served by the pool bar was limited choice especially for kids. Dinner was ok but again very limited for the kids. To sum up the food if like me you'll eat anything you'll like it, if you are a bit fussy (Like my Lady) you won't eat a lot. Appart from the good snacks!
Location, not Protaras, its Pernea, £4 CY£ by taxi for 4 people. 80cts by bus, kids free by bus. 25 min to walk to Protarus. There is a few supermarkets bars and resteraunts by the hotel and the beach is 5 mins away, 10 mins with kids in tow!!!
Hotel staff mainly from Poland, but Very Very Friendly and work there socks off! Could do with more staff on the bar at times but waiting for a few mins to get served was'nt a problem for me.
Entertainment. Its like X Factor mixed with the generation game. Again ALL the entertainers worked day and night and tried their best, have a few beers and they'll sound great.
OOOOHH the pool on the right as you look at them facing away from the bar needs a good clean. Scum line around the edge and my 7 year old was sick for 2 days having swallowed some water out of that pool.
Would I go to this hotel again, yes, but my lady would'nt mainly due to the expense of cyprus nothing to do with the hotel.
All in all we enjoyed the holiday and remember you get what you pay for.
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Ben from Suffolk travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: What a brilliant holiday!!
We arrived at the Papantonia at 2.00am and were checked in within 15 mins. We were all given a wrist band as we were AI. We were allocated room 107 which is on the first floor with a pool view.
The rooms were spacious and really clean. The main bedroom has air conditioning and two large single beds pushed together. Large wardrobe with safe inside. It also has 3 drawers that are large enough to fit t-shirts etc in.
Bathroom also a good size with bath, shower, sink & large mirror. There is no hair dryer in the room but you can hire one from reception for £10 CYP (returnable deposit) if you forgot to bring yours like we did..
Main room has a sofa bed, hob, fridge etc. Balcony has a excellent view of all 3 pools.
We personally found the food excellent at the Papantonia.
It was all buffet service and you could pile your plate up and then go back for more!
Breakfast was eaten in the main restaurant inside and had cereals, bacon, fried , boiled & scrambled egg, sausages, tomatoes, beans etc. Also cold meats and sticky buns if you wanted.
Lunch was eaten outside near the pool and consisted of about 6 different main courses, chips etc, plus salad bar and deserts.
Dinner was eaten in the main restaurant inside and also had about 6 different main courses, plus rice, potatoes, vegetables etc and the salad bar.
Their was also a kids section containing the usual nuggets, fish fingers, beans & chips etc.
Even though gentlemen are supposed to wear long trousers in the evening there were a few who wore shorts and I don’t think there was any problem, just a funny look from Jacob!
Drinks are served at the pool bar and you have to say your room number and sign a slip once you have ordered your drinks. They have Carlsberg, Keo & Leon on tap.
The ice creams described in the brochure are actually choc ices. If you want an ice cream you have to pay for it.
The pool area at the Papantonia is described as one of the best in Cyprus and you can see why. The pools are cleaned daily at about 7.30am in the morning and we didn’t see or hear about any ear infections.
The kids club and kids clubs reps are excellent. The kids club is in an air conditioned building set at the back of the hotel. Zara, Sarah, Suzie & Rusty are excellent with the kids. As we went in June the kids clubs sometimes only had 4 kids attending some sessions! They also take the kids for their tea in the main restaurant which gives us a nice break.
The reps tried really hard during the evening entertainment and did a good job. Leanne, Leone etc, well done! They did the normal kids disco at about 7.45pm, then a quiz and bingo followed by the evening show at about 10.00pm. The only poor show in the two weeks was the hypnotist who came to the hotel, couldn’t hypnotize anyone then blamed the audience for not trying hard enough!!!!
The hotel is situated about 5 minutes walk away from the beach. There are several little coves at the beach were the kids played in the sea and it was only waste deep for them. If you turn right at the beach you can walk to Protarus along the dirt track and this took us about 25 minutes with the kids.
The water park in Napa is brilliant. We went on a Tuesday and it wasn’t busy at all. Book this through the travel agent in Pernera or just get the bus. We also went on a jeep safari around the south of the island and into the Trodos Mountains and also on a half day boat cruise. All the above were booked at the travel agent shop, owned by an English / South African lady.
Outside the hotel are two supermarkets selling English brands. There is also an English pub called the Station which shows all the football etc. The Station also serves Guinness, Boddingtons, Stella etc.
To finish, this was the best family holiday we have ever had. The hotel only has a 120 rooms so it is never over crowded. You never had to get up early to get a sunbed as there were always sun beds spare. Food was excellent, staff excellent, reps excellent & kids club excellent.
We had such a good time we have just booked up to go back in June 2007.
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Zoe Curran from Manchester travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: On our arrival at the Patpantonia our first impression was that it was clean and spacious however it was a typical 3 star hotel.
The staff at reception were very helpful and ensure you fully understood all aspects of your stay.
The hotel rooms are cleaned 3 times a week including towels and linen, but if you wanted to request them to change them more often they were happy to oblige at the reception desk. The rooms themselves were very spacious with plenty of room for the children to play.
The food in our opinion was very poor with very little choice although the menus were changed daily. As the hotel was a family based hotel I was surprised that they didn't cater well for the children with no child menus available. Snacks were available for quests throughout the day however this did not include items such as crisps were charged for. As for the ice cream we were limited to choc ices only which was very basic.
Entertainment was as expected as it was the beginning of the season very basic to start off with and as the week progressed it got better. Loads to keep the children happy with a mini disco for them before the main event. what a very friendly and helpful team of entertainers and kids club reps.
As a whole we enjoyed our stay and would come back but on a different basis.
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Kevan Egan from Manchester travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 5 adults and 5 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have mixed feelings about this hotel and will try to keep this report as factual as possible. In the first instance why this Hotel was described as a small family run hotel in the First Choice brochure is a mystery to me when in actual fact it is owned and run by the Tsokkos group who own literally dozens of hotels, villas, apartments, shops and launderettes on the island so you will be disappointed if you expect to find Mama behind reception and Papa behind the bar etc. Having said that Tsokkos Hotels Ltd appear to be professional hoteliers with continuous maintenance/upgrading programs being carried out.
On arrival booking in can be very awkward with everybody and their luggage being herded into a narrow main entrance/reception area totally blocking it to existing guests. On our departure all the guests leaving that day were trying to leave with all their luggage at the same time as the new guests were trying to enter and book in with theirs.(chaotic)
The apts. are an excellent size with good sized bed rooms and small kitchenette area in living room with pullout sofa bed. Unfortunately the main beds are ridiculously hard and uncomfortable. The rooms are cleaned and towels changed at least 3 times a week and the room cleaners are without doubt the hardest working members of staff at this hotel 10/10 to them.
The management and main hotel staff reception/dining room staff etc. we found to be a little curt/unapproachable.
The food was varied sometimes good and sometimes poor but generally only acceptable and I have no doubt if the very very slow toast machine is not replaced now it will cause a riot at breakfast by peak season! Bar snacks burger and chips etc. are available between meal times and many guests preferred this option to the main meals.
The only bar is under cover at the outside pool area. Jacob the head bar man was very professional and astute but there was never more than 2 bar staff on often only 1 with only 1 till and every item you have has to be tilled up and signed for even if you are all inclusive.
The hotel grounds we considered excellent with 4 various sized/depth pools and a play park for the younger children and plenty of sunbeds although very disappointingly there are no toilets at all on the ground floor inside or out. The only toilets are in the basement which is a quite dangerous trip down some sharp edge tile stairs and very slippy floors when wet after guests have used the pools so young children have to be escorted every time.
There is an excellent kids club which my young daughters loved and which allows you to have a parenting break and relax whilst your children enjoy themselves with qualified nursery staff.
The entertainment was basic but the entertainment staff were simply brill and can only entertain you if you want to be entertained so relax and join in we did and had a great laugh.
Our arrival unbeknown to us was basically pre-season with the season not starting properly until after the massive Cypriot easter celebrations which happened to fall late this year so most places were very quiet or shut.
In general our stay at this hotel would of been disappointing if it had not been rescued by the wonderful First Choice team who took us under their wing and turned our stay at the Papantonia into a fabulous family holiday never to be forgotten! So a massive thanks to them
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Patrick and Michael from Guildford Surrey travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First choice
on a family holiday.
There were 1 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2006 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Went as a last minute with first choice and was pleseantly suprised. The room was very large although the wardrobe was a bit on the small side. There was a medium sized balcony looking over to some allotments. The room was spotless and the chambermaid was lovely.
The towels were regularly changed. The appartment was well equiped with a kettle etc although we tended to eat out. They were waiting for the TV dish to be connected which was due the next week as the place had just re-opened.
The staff were polite and efficient. We didn't stop for the evening entertainment but it didn't sound great. Can't comment on the food as were self catering but it did appear to be chips with everything!
Pool area was spotless although water well chilly!
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big jim from hertfortshire travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choise
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 12 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Magic,best yet few hic ups but why moan....food great,hotel ok,entermainment good,staff fantastic, good all rounder,will be back
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Smiths from Birmingham travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were more than 6 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Typical 3 Star hotel, clean, decent sized rooms, air conditioned in bedrooms only, sofa bed in lounge for children so they had to sleep in with us as it got very hot.
Self catering but used restaurant twice, food ok but looked the same most days, snack bar great for chips, toasties, salads etc.
Pools lovely and we always got sunbeds whatever time of the day, plenty to go round. Was very nervous before departure about cases of ear infections reported as my 1 year old suffers badly with ear infectons, but she was fine and the kids spent almost all the time in the pool. Kids club very good.
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nicky from wolverhampton travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: When we arrived at the Papantonia we were very impressed until a couple of days into the holiday when bar staff were very rude to my husband.
The head of entertainment had a chip on her shoulder had no patience with children considering this should be family hotel.
Food and entertainment was appalling my kids were that fed up we had to eat out and find our own entertainment which then worked out a very expensive holiday consiering we were all-inclusive the holiday in total cost us 4,800. What a waste of money.
Would go back to Cyprus as it was a beautiful country but never go back to Papantonia.
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jones from england travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Well what can I say, the Papantonia has been our best holiday ever. The hotel staff are excellent and although from Poland they really do try and do the best they can for you. First Choice reps were great, the entertainments ok and the kids club reps especially the crèche one were five stars!!!!
Fantastic activities, great enthusiasm and life. Always smile and never look miserable (apart from 1!) entertainers were ok the team leader could do with lighting up a bit maybe it was the pressure getting to her, I don't know. All round a great time, and will be going back next year!!!
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Fiona Murray from Cornwall travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Fantastic two week stay. couldn't fault the all inclusive deal.
The location is good for families - who don't want to be near the louder nightlife of Protaras main strip.
The bar staff were all pleasant - but I think a little tired and waiting for the season to end, most were not Brits but had the basic language.
Hotel staff very nice - didn't really have to have any contact - as no complaints.
The entertainers were all British and were really excellent, always there to help and offer any advice. My six year old son was taught to swim in five half hour lessons by Dave, his confidence just rubbed off and my son is doing brilliantly.
We would definitely stay here again, our room was at the rear of hotel and nice and quiet, not sure if the rooms over - looking the pool and entertainment area would be as quiet - but then the air conditioning drowns out most noise.
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Debs from Southampton travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel is fine for a 2/3 star. My daughter got an ear infection 2 days before we were due to fly home and was hospitalised on the day we were due to fly home so my daughter and I stayed for an additional 4 days at the Santa Monica clinic which was fine, doctors etc great - BUT the holiday reps did not come and see if we needed help as technically we had "finished our holiday" - thanks a lot first choice reps -
Anyway re the hotel - It could do with a bit of work in communal areas especially the poolside loos - very dark and dingy - not safe enough to send children to on their own, no other loos apart from those in your room. The cleaners were lovely and did an excellent job.
The food was very good for adults - lots of choice and the snack menu was excellent we often had this at lunch time - pizzas, burgers, omelettes. Kids choice a bit limited - would have been good to offer pasta dishes.
Location is a bit of a way out and I wish we had gone to the other end of the island such as Papho
Hotel staff were ok but very overworked I think.
Entertainment staff were absolutely awful - same show every single excrutiating night.
I would not go back to hotel becuase its a big world out there although I would like to visit Cyprus again.
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Mandy Newell from High Wycombe travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice Families
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have just returned from a 1 week stay at the Papantonia hotel apartments and I must say what a dissapointment. We booked this holiday with First Choice families about 3 weeks before we went hoping for a cheaper deal, as the free child prices were no longer available it ended up costing us the best part of two thousand pounds.
Where do I begin. On first impressions of the hotel it didn't look that bad but the reception area was terrible. There wasn't even enough room for everyone inside the building to check in which ended up in a large queue forming outside the building. We checked in and proceeded to our room.
It was on the third floor via 1 of three lifts that felt very dodgy and at times broke down. The rooms themselves were ok not great but liveable. Twin bed for me and my partner and a sofa bed for my 7 year old daughter. There was quite a nice kitchen area with working hobs and a standard size fridge. The bathroom was dark and dingy and the toilet seat was broken. As the sewage system is not great all toilet paper must be placed in the bin provied.this was not the best as the maids only emptied it 3 times in the week.
The maids were not great either. If its maid day don't leave anything on the floor because they throw it all on the beds. We had paid for a late checkout on the last day till 6 the maids came when we were out during the day and threw everything everywhere.
The pool area was ok. Spacious with a lagoon style pool a deep oblong pool and a kids pool. The pool area itself was clean although there were a lot of cases of ear infections as to which my partner is now off to the doctors with ear ache. Luckily I and my daughter escaped this.
There is a bar near the pool area serving cold drinks to customers. This is also the same bar that serves guests when they sit down to have snacks. The drinks were limited with only about the choice of 5 cocktails of which the pina colodas were always lumpy and curdling.
The only toilet available to hotel guest, pool, evening, lunch, snack, dinner time were in the basement of the building, dark and dingy and really not safe I don't think for children to go to on their own, quite annoying when my daughter needed to go every half hour.
Now the food, what can I say, what a disappointment really would not recommend this hotel but if you do end up here certainly do not choose the all inclusive option.
The food was so repetitive with a lot of breakfast left overs being used in the lunch and dinner dishes. Chips every day this was the only potato option, the choice of one or two vegetables, a fish dish and a meat dish usually pork. Even the olives were horrible. Puddings were just as bland, a choice of about 4 which consisted of jelly, cold rice,flavoured mousse and crème caramel if you were lucky. It got to the stage where my 7 year old even asked if we could eat out as the food was always the same. If you’re prepared to live on the snacks menu which seemed to be the safest option, cheese and ham toasties you'll be alright.
The entertainment was ok, not our cup of tea but my daughter enjoyed it so that’s all that mattered.
The reps were all friendly and the kids clubs ok but I felt not always enough. Bingo and a mini quiz every night before the entertainment got a tad boring.
Enough said I think, please bear in mind this is my personal reveiw Cyprus is a gorgeous place and I would highly recommend it, I have been here 4 times in 2 years and will return many times again, but to this hotel, never.
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CLAIRE from COVENTRY travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
FIRST CHOICE
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: In all honesty this has had to of been one of our most enjoyable and relaxing holidays.
The pools were splendid. One of my daughters did complain of ear ache. Though when I got here home a trip to the GP confirmed it was not an infection and was a common symptom of jumping into the pool to much.
The food was very good in our opinion. We thought that the restaurant catered well for children compared to other holidays in our past. Plus the bar staff come around your tables at night and take your order for drinks. Meaning that you do not have to Que all at the bar every time.
The cleaning staff were average. They forgot to leave us towels on a couple of occasions. We had one problem in our room with ants but saw no cockroaches.
The Location is a bit far out. There is only a handful of bars around. If you want to go into Protaras wait at the bus stop and it wont be long before a taxi driver pulls up and haggles a cheap fare with you.
The hotel staff were great. Apart from one who was dismissed with allegations made about him. Which I will not mention as it was a good hotel. The dining Room and Bar Staff worked hard 11 hours a day 6 days a week.
It did take a few reports to reception about our Air Conditioning leaking, before it got sorted.
Well an the Entertainment part. We always do Kids Club holidays so don't expect miracles from the Team. This though was the worst ever performances we had ever seen. With about 4 nights of dull Karaoke. As for the Kids Club. My girls did not like it. They gave up going after about 3 nights. Though We thought it was good how they took your kids to dinner giving you a bit of time out to eat.
All in all We loved the Papantonia. We certainly would not be too worried if we were to end up here again.
As with one of the earlier reports. We were also there when some certain incidents took place. Your kids ending up waving in the background on TV because the local news team arrived is not what you expect.
Though luckily these events took place near the end of our stay, and feel that they should not cast doubt on your holiday.
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Ann,Alex and family from Bury travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Hotel Papantonia Protaris Cyprus
On first impression this seemed a nice Hotel, but we were soon proved wrong. We stayed on an 'all inclusive ' basis which we have done for the past 3 years at various places in Greece without any problems this proved to be a mistake at this Hotel.
Food was OK but they ran out of Ice cream for the kids and more importantly wine for myself when asked when they would be getting more stock they had no idea I asked if I could buy some from across the road and keep it in their fridge but was told NO. Luckily after a number of guest complained to the Manager they did get some. I reported it tour rep who was most uninterested and walked off half way through the conversation. The queues were long as there is only 1 bar.
As with a lot of others the children got ear infections but luckily it was the day before we came home and I decided to wait to get them treatment. My husband got a tummy bug which seemed to have just started going round the hotel and one of the reps had just been taken in Hospital with it.
The entertainment team tried but they were not the best
A lot of people were saying things had been stolen from their rooms as well although nothing was taken from ours.
We certainly would not go back here again as a couple of other incidents occurred one which traumatised my 9yr old Son but not the Hotels fault.
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mackinder from colchester travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a singles holiday.
There were 5 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: If you like Haven you will love Papantonia but please read my report.
I have just read the last two reports posted and agree with everything they say, but just want to add my two penneth!
Food repetative but edible. My youngest son ate nothing but donut for breakfast and pizza for lunch and tea as he is very fussy.
Hotel cleanliness, on the face of it reasonable but we saw at least two cockroaches and the toilet plumbing left alot to be desired, the systerns were nearly all hanging off the walls.
Pool area clean, but the water, where do I start.
Three of us had ear infections, my 9 year old has still got his 8 weeks(3 lots of different drops and 2 lots of anti-biotics) later. When John got his, we asked at reception how to get to the nearest doctor, they said they would call one for us, great service we thought. The doctor came and said he could not see for wax, John would have to go to the clinic. He then called an ambulance which arrived in a few minutes. He drove for about 20 mins to a clinic where they syringed his ear and sent him back with drops, medicine and pain killers. We were charged £50 (our insurance policy excess). The doctor returned a few days later to check up. At the time we thought this was great service and wasn't bothered about the cost, it was one of those things. A week later our 9 yr old had exactly the same treatment, we couldn't understand how he could have wax. I went to the clinic with Joseph and there was no wax, but they hurt him poking a sharp tool in his ear. When we spoke to other people, it seemed that there was not a single family who had escaped without at least 1 of them getting earache. We also discovered you could buy the same anti inflamitory ear drops in the chemist in protarus for about £2! It cost us £100.
There is in our opinion a real scam going on. There is not enough chlorine in the pool to break down the bacteria from each day so it was building up. Joseph is a member of Colchester swimming club and swims 3 times every week, so he is used to the water, he had never had an ear infection before this, and has not been able to swim for 8 weeks and still for the next 2 at least. Aaron waited to get home for his treatment!One good thing, the pool was perfect temperature!
Location quite close (through other hotel) to reasonable beach. Good water sports, jet ski, doughnut, flying fish, parra sending and a huge bouncy castle in the sea £3cyp for an hour or £5cyp all day, well worth it. Be warned, my daughter bruised her tail bone on the doughnut ring and she is still in alot of pain. You also need to be strong to hold on to the flying fish!
If you walk into protaras, go along the beach path, it is prettier, cooler and takes about 15 mins instead of 30 along main road.
Hotel staff were lovely (one saving grace). Very hard working and always friendly and polite.
Kids club a bit boring, colouring, games and playstation-you can do that at home, but it is air-conditioned so that's a bonus.
Entertainment is a bit naff, but they work hard and the kids loved it.
Although I have moaned alot, it was our first family holiday abroad and cost just over £4000 for all of us, we all had a great time. It is not a good place for late teenagers, ours had a great time but only because they met a great bunch from Stockport and they all went to the clubs in Protaras every night and swam all day.
Weather was great. 34 degrees on arrival rising to 38 a day or two later and being 45 when we left, but going out of school holidays, it wasn't too busy and you could cool off in the pool. There was always a cool breeze. Don't put towels over balcony unless they are tucked in, ours blew off on the first day and was never recovered.
It is worth doing all inclusive as it is only about £200 more than self catering and it is worth it for the soft drinks during the day.
All in all it is like a Haven holiday but with guaranteed sunshine. Bingo, Quizzes etc. If you like Haven you will love Papantonia. Just beware of ears.
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Peter from Banbridge travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Well, just returned from Papantonia and now we are all recovered from our long journey. Therefore, before I start, just to tell you that people have different standards and I am only going on personnel experience.
Having used the package holiday system for the last 15 years or so, we have used German, Dutch and Italian tour operators (had been working in mainland Europe for a few years). This may be the turning point for us to try other options of holiday’s, and leave the package system behind.
Well, on with the report:
Rooms are clean with bed linen and towels changed every 3 days. We had a bit of a problem for the first 3 days with the air-con, the staff were very helpful and provided fans until the parts arrived. Not much room on the storage side but ok. Good fridge and cooking rings. We were in the main block with a pool view. This has 3 floors and we were on the second floor. The building as a whole is in “an OK order” but I would like to think that a refurbishment is due soon. Two big pools and a small kiddies pool with lots of sun lounges around for all.
This was our first (and last) experience with all-inclusive. All I can say is: “Do not waste your money”. The food was very bland at times; we started to eat out every second night (this was the only way to get the kids to eat the main meal of the day), breakfast and the snack menu was OK. As for the drinks, do not be fooled by the local Vodka or Bacardi, as this is a family site I will not describe what they taste like. The wine would make excellent vinegar for a salad (it cost about 50cents a gallon in the local shop). If you are not all inclusive, you can upgrade for CYP£16 for adults and CYP£9 for children (per day). The Hotel Staff are 1st class, many young men and women from Poland who work very hard and speak excellent English.
The entertainment team did the best of a bad job, and I give them a pat on the back for trying. The entertainment was inadequate for adults but very good for the kids.
The Reps do the normal stuff on trying to sell you the odd excursion. This is very simple, do not buy from the reps, the mark up is unreal, and we went on an excellent boat trip and hired a jeep for a few days. You will see small shops that specialise in selling these excursions and Hire cars, we saved CYP£20 on the hire car and about CYP£15 on the boat trip by using one of these shops. Shop around, lots of deals to be had.
I do not wish to put any family off there holiday (which may already be potentially booked), but advise you to bring some kiddies antibiotics, ear drops and ear protection. While we were staying at the Papantonia Hotel there was 35 reported cases of children with ear infection (my little girl being one of them). Having chatted with some of the other families in the hotel, there must have been another 20 or so un-reported cases of ear infection. Now, at one stage during our stay you would have thought that the hotel was an annex to the local health clinic. I saw a doctor (more than once in a day) in the building almost everyday we stayed around the hotel and an ambulance normally taking someone away. We met some of the families who had children that ended up staying in hospital for a couple of days. The pool was tested more than once. You will get a textbook answer off the Reps (remember these Reps are not Mums and Dads). I want to set a scene: I want you to imagine the Hypnotist character (Kenny Craig) from Little Briton, “"Look into my eyes, the eyes, the eyes, look into my eyes not around the eyes, the eyes... the eyes... into the eyes, 3.2.1 you're under...it is not the pool, it is your child as they have not been in the water all year and this is what happens if your in the pool everyday going underwater, this is common and happens all over the resort”….after the count of 3 you will not remember ….1.2.3”.
The Reps need to understand what was going on here; the pool should have closed for further inspections in my opinion. It did not end there, I also found out a number of adults were getting ear infections. Never in all my time have I heard a lot of nonsense from a company Rep, basically, blaming people for going under water. We went to a local doctor, who wanted CYP£35 just to look at my little girl. But I was not happy looking at the state of this doctor, I would not even present our pet cat to this man. We were lucky the antibiotics kicked in, we went into Protaras to the chemist to buy ear-drops. Therefore, my advice is to go prepared. My girl was not in the pool for about 5 days, she now has fully recovered. All I can say about this is as we left; new cases were coming in fast and the hotel still refused to see that this was an issue.
Overall, we still enjoyed our holiday and will be going back (not to Papantonia). Cyprus is a very hot place and the local people we met, were very good to us and made us feel at home.
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sue from London travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
first choice
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Hotel room was excellent, spacious apart from cupboard space.
Food was ok but not enough variety. Also was given a specific time in the second week for evening meal depending on which floor you were staying on. We had the later sitting which was not good for our five year old daughter.
Biggest problem was only one bar for everything, soft drinks, coffee, alcohol, ice-creams etc. Very long queues in the evening and we went out of season!!!
Pool area excellent and always got a sun bed no matter what time.
All the evening entertainment was outside. I was a bit concerned about this but it was great because there was a childrens playground next to it. If the children were bored they went into the playground and you could watch them.
The childrens club was good and my daughter enjoyed the disco. They had certificates for the winners of games at the disco, which were not very well organised and the same children were winning all the time. They should stick to a structured disco or ensure each child wins a certificate during their holiday.
Would not go back again with only one bar, limited food and also toilet facilities during the evening.
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Kelly from Bristol travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2005 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: My boyfriend, my 11 year old nephew and I travelled to this awful hotel on the 4th May 06.
We paid for all inclusive package, we had to pay for milkshakes, ice cream and had to sign for every drink we ordered. The "snack available until midnight" is a cold spam & cheese sandwich which had been prepared earlier that day and left unwrapped in the fridge. The food options were so poor we only attempted to eat 1 evening meal here out of our 7 night stay. We ate out of the hotel every evening. The lunch menu was satisfactory, but we mainly ordered chips and salad.
The pool area was lovely, but the rooms were very basic. our room was cleaned only once, I visited the local supermarket and purchased various cleaning products and cleaned the room myself, helping myself to clean bed linen and towels.
The hotel female manager was very helpful and apologised for us not being happy and said that she had many other dissatisfied guests to see.
The lift was very dangerous we became stuck on more than 3 occasions during our stay here.
The lunch cart and the children's entertainment only begin when the hotel gets busier, as we were the first Bristol flight out of the season, we did not see what we paid for until the day before our last day, the reason for this is that they do not waste food or staff / reps entertainment for only a few guests / children.
I feel as though my nephews first trip abroad was not as good as he/we expected it to be and that the First Choice Brochure was very misleading. I will not be visiting this hotel again.
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Carrie from Reading travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We arrived at midnight. I thought our room was basic but clean and it was kept that way. The pools were great and our kids spent most of their time in them.
The food was good and cooked well with a good variety. Drinks were strong and when ordering a vodka and orange juice there was as much vodka in the drink as orange juice.
The staff were hard working and friendly and we even managed to get the barman to smile on a few occasions.
The hotel location was OK but the beach which is a very short walk away was quite rocky. We hired a jeep for a day and took a trip to Fig Tree Bay which was lovely. There are two supermarkets and a few bars very near and a few minutes more you can find more shops. The bus stop though is quite a walk if you want to catch it into the main Protaras town.
The entertainment was very good. We joined in the Aqua Aerobics which was more of a laugh than serious exercise. We joined in the Water Polo and my son played football. Drew was great he really got people together and my son and a few others were have a bombing competition in the pool and he joined in. He always done things to the extreme and always made us laugh.
We went to the waterpark at Ayia Napa and it was great.
I think we were all Brits at this hotel. We got to know a few which made it more of a laugh.
Would we visit this hotel again, yes I think we would. Even though I have never gone back to the same hotel again.
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ian from Newcastle travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The Papantonia hotel is small compared to others but this just means that it's not crowded round the pools, bar or dinner tables.
The Hotel itself is very clean and all the staff are friendly with the majority of them speaking enough English to understand you well enough. The swimming pools are excellent, 2 good sized ones with a 'baby pool' and a Jacquizi (excuse my spelling).
There are plenty of sunbeds and as it is a pre-dominatory English hotel (I would say 98% of the guests were English) then you don't have to get your Towels on a sunbed at 4am plus there's enough beds to go round for everyone. Even though I said the hotel was relativly small (120ish rooms) the grounds are quite big.
The food was very good and as we were all inclusive we could eat anything at anytime (almost), the only reason I didn't give 5 stars is that there was only 1 childrens choice at lunch & dinner although it was always an 'English' dish.
The location is perfect because it's only a 1 minute walk from the beach, there are 2 supermarkets outside with bars and resteraunts within 5 minutes but it is a quiet location and very suited to families.
The Entertainment was excellent for the children, Krazy Katie and Silly Sam do a great job and you do lose the kids for hours on end which is really nice. For adults (or anyone left round the pools) there's a full days program including Aqua aerobics, Volleyball, Killer darts, Killer Pool, Water volleyball, Football etc etc and the entertainment is managed by an English firm called 'Premiere' with Drew being excellent.
If you want a recomendation then how's this...
We got back on Sunday and we booked up to go back next Summer to the same Hotel today (Thursday). I've never gone back to the same hotel in my life - I always want to go somewhere new but this was such a good place. Cyprus is really nice, very suited to the English and 35+ degrees each day!
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Debbie,Mick,Ricky&bradley from Nelson,Lancs travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2004 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Papantonia was great,the staff were really friendly & worked really hard.the meals wre great & the beer run nicely when ever you wanted it.during the day there was plenty of activities,but at the night time the entertainment wre poor.the location was ok as you could walk into protaras in 15-20min & pernera in 10min.
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Donna from Liphook travelled to Papantonia Hotel with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2004 |
rated the Papantonia Hotel as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Great two weeks holiday! Chhildren,( two boys) aged 8yrs and 9yrs, thoroughly enjoyed themselves and joined in the activities as and when they felt like it.
Hotel, small complex friendly and very clean, situated not far from the beaches, it's worth taking a walk into Protaras along the coast, likewise it's worth turning left and walking along the coast too, many small sandy coves, with beautiful warm, clear water.
We also hired a car for a couple of days, shop around for prices. We hired our car £25 (Cypriot £'s) per day all incl. except petrol 4x4 Suzuki Jimmy.
We visited Annita's viewpoint at Dherynia. Actually ended there by mistake in the first place! Well worth it.
My friend and I decided to go to the Sunday market in Larnica return cost £3, market not up to much, but our bus driver was really good. Our return trip was back along the Green Line, and we ended up at Annita's, this trip with all it's history made up for the dreadful market.So once we had hired our cars, decided that it was worth taking the rest of the family too.
Getting back to the hotel... the First Choice reps are really friendly and helpful.
The Animation Team worked really hard, activities going on most of the day, and they worked until late at night. Not an easy job, I'm sure, having said that, the entertainment was ok but don't expect glamorous shows or professional entertainment.
The children are well catered for, and looked after well. There is an air-conditioned, clean building for them to meet in at certain times of the day, where they have to be signed in and out.
Swimming pools are clean and warm, the surrounding areas are spotless too. No rushing to get the towels on the sunbeds. Very often I would be the first down to breakfast at 8 am, love my bed normally, but the sun was shining brightly too nice to stay in bed, and I found myself alone, or sometimes with one or two others.
We were all inclusive, the food was excellent. Breakfast was probably the least of our favourites, but there was a good choice, taken al fresco! Likewise lunch, this was buffet style and again taken al fresco, good choice again. Dinner was taken in the restaurant and was also buffet style, excellent range, menus were not repeated over our two week period. Snacks were also available, superb choice, children really loved them. They were able to go up and ask for a menu, find a table, sit down and order their meal independantly. This was great for my husband and myself, gave the boys a bit of freedom, but at the same time we could watch them from where we were lazing in the sun!
Although only one bar serving drinks, the wait was never too long, again the children could go and order alone, and sign for their beverages/snacks/ice-cream.
All staff very friendly, well except one maybe, who was definitely a bit odd... perhaps we just didn't get to know him!
Rooms very clean, and the maids tidied our rooms beautifully, well worth leaving a tip for them. Not enough drawers, otherwise, adequate and comfortable room.Children slept in the lounge/dining room, nice to have seperate rooms, which are hard to come by. Bed linen and towels changed regulary, always clean.
Noise levels hardly noticed any, despite there being a fair few young ones around.
Lifts were a bit problematic, but the engineer was always being called out to sort them out, children did mess about with them sometimes, but a little word with the reception staff soon sorted that little one out.
Overall felt like we had a fantastic holiday, at a really good price, we booked Sept '03 paid around £1900 for the two weeks all incl. You can up-grade to all inclusive, I think it is £16 per adult per day £8 per child per day, I assume that this is Cypriot £'s too, so maybe worth booking in advance with your tour operator. Would love to go back one day, Protaras is a lovely resort, not built up like some of the other areas around the Island.
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