| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
naomi from swindon travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2006 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment |  |
| said: My husband and I and our 3 children[aged 5,8 and 9] spent a week at the hotel Louis Helios and went all inclusive.
We had twin rooms that were adjoining which was great to have the kids in their own room but still be able to keep an eye on them.
In total honesty,we had a brilliant holiday there. The hotel was keep very clean,food was varied and something for everyones pallet.
The menu rotates every 15 days so there is always something different,although there is always pasta ,chips and salad available at every meal time. The kids loved the endless supply of on tap ice cream!!
The hotel staff were very helpful and friendly and the entertainment team were always around day and night providing polo,keep fit,kids disco,bingo ,shows,kareoke,tennis and snooker matches ,amongst other things.
There is literally a 5 minute walk to the beach which is very clean with sun loungers,umberellas and water sports. Our kids were happy to play in the pools all day everyday though!!
Click here for more information on this hotel, resort and region
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Alex Casandros from Hale travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
Beaver Travel
on a 18-30s holiday.
There were 6 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This is the most disgusting hotel I have ever stayed in! As an 18-30s clubbing holiday we wern't expecting luxury but this hotel was abysmal.
When we arrived our room had been double booked and we had to wait 5 tired and hungry before being sorted with a less than adequate room - no hot water, leaking bath and shower, broken TV, rat droppings and wood-worm infested furniture. No air-con was unbearable and noisy at night!!
The food was less than satisfactory and highly repetitive. Flies swarmed every meat dish and I even found dead flies in my already half eaten salads.
The all inclusive "alcohol" wouldn't get you tipsy if you drunk 5 litres it is so watered down and tasteless and the bar staff have no idea how to mix a cocktail.
The pool area was equally as repulsive with broken tiles and often broken glass - extremely dangerous and saw a girl cut her foot one day. Pool itself was murky and not cleaned regularly enough.
The "animation crew" worked hard and were friendly but actually sucked at what they did unfortunately. General hotel staff were friendly but took a day and a half to fill simple requests.
Beach was ok, a bit to pebbly but we had a nice day.
All in all this hotel was one nightmare after another and I felt that most people in the hotel did not enjoy their stay as the queue at the front desk was caused by complaining guests 24/7!!
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Samantha Collins from Brighton travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
First Choice
on a 18-30s holiday.
There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: TAMPONS ARE BANNED IN THIS HOTEL! THIS IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS OF THINGS I'VE EVER HEARD! What a disgrace! It was actually a violation of feminine rights. I battled for 2 days with the hotel manager about this and got nowhere and was on the verge of leaving the hotel! This completely ruined my holiday, and as there was no where to dispose of my tampons I had to use my own carrier bag and dispose of these in the public bins - not a pleasant experience.
If you're gonna stay here (highly against my recommendations!), women take the pill well in advance - you don't want your period!
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Mr.+Mrs.Cooper from Bexley travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
first choice
on a singles holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: When we arrived our rooms were not ready one and half hours later.
We had to buy our own water, fridge in room was not full with either beer, water, lemonade.
The food was very poor. Not what I am used to for A/I. No carvery, omelets, pancakes etc. No cover on the bread, no milk near the tea urn, no teaspoons. (It did happened after I complained, but for one day only). At breakfast you spend time looking for cups, or sauces, spoon. Flies in the dinning room and the bake beans, hairs in the food. I told them, that staff should have hair tied back.
Entertainment was so bad, that words fail me(even the manager could not disagree) The children loved it, but nothing for the adults.
We paid a lot of money and did not get value at all. I have written a letter to First Choice.
Dress code was expected but never carried through, so therefore some dressed for dinner, others didn't bother. no-one said a word.
Drinks were watered down, only one bar staff on at any one time. No snacks, only sandwiches and biscuits,
This should had been a three star hotel and not A/I.
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Mr & Mrs Hunt from Basildon travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel and our room itself was very clean and comfortable.
The food was lovely although could be repetitive especially at lunch times but I suppose it is very hard to put out a varied menu on a buffet basis to please everybody.
The hotel was slightly further than the edge of Kardamena, it was a good 15-20 minute walk along a dusty beachside road which was frequented by cars, also fast motorbikes, scooters,quad bikes and beach buggies so you had to be very careful with your children not to get run over.
The hotel staff worked very hard especially the bar and waiting staff and also the cleaners (our cleaner did an ace job in room 817)
The entertainment was a bit of a let down especially as two of the animation team left before we arrived so the poor DJ and the sports entertainer had to join the animation team with no talent or they had no time to rehearse their shows and they were so embarrassed and awkward but that said I will give them full marks for guts. The kids in the hotel seem to like their animator - Charlotte. My 15 year old was bored - there was nothing for him to do.
This hotel was small so everyone got to know each other so it was a lovely and friendly atmosphere and we all looked out for each other.
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Mr & Mrs Smith from Norwich travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
Eclipse
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2005 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed in a 4 bedroom ground floor apt., very spacious and clean, although we did have visiting ants.
Hotel food was ok, although repetative, luckily I loved salad, there were some beautiful vegetable dishes,the rest of the party loved spaghetti bolognaise(served every day), but we did expect a higher standard for a a 4* and have had better at 3*, no childrens menu as stated in the brochure. Food covered in flies, not nice, not sure if the air. con. was on all the time as it could be very hot when eating your meal. Ice-cream scoop and the tub of water it sat in was constantly in use, but never taken away and replaced by staff, ok if everybody remembers to wash their hands before eating, same goes for the handling the loafs of bread.
Only snacks outside of meal times available were dried sandwiches consisting of tuna/cucumber, carrot/tomato/cucumber & ham/cheese + cake available for one hour in the afternoon.
Hotel is located a 20 min walk from Kardamena, main road too dangerous due to fast moving traffic and no path to walk on, the other route was along the coastal road, which also had no path, so you were constantly on the look out for traffic and tellling the children to be careful, safer to travel by taxi 5 euro.
Animation team worked really hard to entertain the clients, children enjoyed the activities, although these were a little repetative, aqua fit was great fun.
Pool was a little cloudy, could have done with a clean, and thankfully we were advised to set our alarm for 6.30am to reserve a sunbed, if not we would have had no where to sit during the day. The only bonus of this was to see the beautiful sun rise. Luckily near the end of our stay 30 more sunbeds did arrive.
The staff at the hotel were very friendly and worked flat-out to provide a service to all.
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Miss Hartman from Hull travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
First Choice
on a friends holiday.
There were 4 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: My three girlfriends & I were really disappointed by this hotel. It's certainly not a 4 star hotel or 'A' class, more like 2 or 3 stars.
The lobby is nice and posh but the rooms were really far away and near sewers that smelt a lot of the time.
In the evenings we walked to the town because it was so long to wait for a bus or a taxis, but the walk was really long, like half an hour or longer in high heels and the road was scary becos they all drive so fast there!!
We all liked the food because there was lots of choice but it got boring after a few days and often the same food was reused day after day which we thort was yucky.
During the days we got bored by the pool because it was full of babys and adults and the entertainment was rubbish!
This hotel was ok just to stay in but too expensive for what we paid.
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John from Dublin travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
Budget
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2005 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We met some very nice people and plan to keep in contact, we spoke to a around 11 families about their opinion of the hotel and hope we give a fair and balanced opinion
2 Adults and 1 Child
The brief: A good quality, family and child friendly hotel, with real children’s club with organised activities, relaxing and quite, close to beach, location irrelevant
Overall
The atmosphere and nature of the holiday dramatically improved from Wednesday the 20th of July when families and older couples arrived.
We felt very sorry for a number of people who had their holiday ruined by the strange practise of putting 18 – 30 (First Choice) holiday people (apparently on last minute unallocated overspill holiday deals) beside families and older couples.
Loudly returning very drunk from Kardamena at 3 to 4 am, arguing and shouting, kicking and slamming doors, and playing loud music, swearing and threatening they woke up children and adults, some couples had little or no sleep for ten days in a row!
Local rep and staff were not keen to get involved. When asked politely to keep the noise down the bad language and intimidation would begin. Only the threat of calling the Greek police had any effect.
On the 20th of July there was a change over of guests and this problem stopped.
Flies are a major hygiene issue, many reporting illness
Staff – Excellent
Very friendly, likeable, enthusiastic and efficient, worked very hard indeed, hard to suggest how this could be improved!
Hotel Layout – This is a 3 star not 4 star hotel
Small and intimate, lively, good for children in school holiday time
Very basic, little imagination used, dull interiors
Reception and dining area particularly poor
Pool is small and cloudy, needs a good clean, toilets are very basic
Sun beds are cheap and basic no padding
Loud and repetitive music played all day at the pool
Air conditioning in restaurants not switched on – very very hot
Accommodation
Functional, clean, basic and reasonable – cleaning staff very friendly and efficient (worked very hard in the heat!)
Food
Buffet style, basic, limited choice (I hope you like spaghetti!) no child menu
We needed to go out to eat quite a few times
(Zia in the mountains is excellent, worth hiring a car to visit and the food was superb
Remote areas, paradise beach and water park are very good)
Packed lunch – very plain (small bottle water, dry ham sandwich, two fruit each)
Again flies are everywhere this did not occur in other hotels in the vicinity
Hidden Extras – not many €45 for hotel safe
Beach - Poor
Short walk from hotel down a dirt track and across a road (not busy)
Small, narrow and gritty, often dirty and littered
Sun beds are comfortable if a little the worse for ware
Children were ordered not to dig sandcastles on the beach (by a “nasty” man as the children called him) during one of the few activities organised by the kids club
Entertainment
Every night – Bingo 20 mins, Child Mini Disco 15 mins (same tape every night)
Comedy sketch varies every 14 days – adult in nature
Enthusiastic, committed and friendly, very loud
Other reviews (other sites) have complained about this, especially Greek night
We thought they did their best
Children’s Activities
Friendly and warm, good natured though very lax
Informal and unstructured, at first no activities
Supposed to operate 2 hours morning and afternoon – this was intermittent
Some incidents of children wandering off to be found unsupervised (This was not officially reported)
First Choice organised a Child Pub Crawl 9 to 15 years old (no alcohol), Most parents we spoke to thought that this was a daft example to set
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Paul Mickens from London travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
n/a
on a friends holiday.
There were 6 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2005 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: I stayed in the Louis Helios, with 2 other boys and 3 other girls and found that our stay was less that satisfactory.
The rooms were smaller than advertised, and had a distinct smell of onions emanating from them.
The food was ok at times, but i know of at least three occasions where a resident found a fly in their meal, and even then, it was not replaced with a new dish. The variety of food is also very limited, with the salad bar only containing the bare essentials needed to compose a salad. On three out of the seven nights we stayed, the salad bar had run out before we had even arrived for dinner.
The location and the staff are actually satisfactory, but there were many times when we found there was not a lot to do during the daytime.
The swimming pool, for example was constantly closing in order to be cleaned and repaired.
The drinks served at the bar are also less than adequate, because a lot contain watered-down alcohol and there is an extremely limited selection to choose from. Any other specific requests for types of alcohol come with a hefty charge that is scarcely justifiable.
In short, me and my friends thought we were getting a good deal from the Louis Helios, but infact we were left dissatisfied and feeling heavily shortchanged.
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Laura Szmitz from Kirkcaldy travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
Eclipse
on a family holiday.
There were 6 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2005 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Visited the Helios Beach as a family party ages 1,3,19,28,30,36,58 and 61. We found it great that everyone of us had a fantastic holiday, there was something to keep us all happy. The entertainment team work very hard but are not too pushy if you dont want to take part, although evening entertainment does rely on audience participation.
The staff within the hotel restaurant, bar and reception could not have been more helpful. With the hotel being quite small there is a real friendly atmosphere.
Even to the extent that on my sons 1st birthday the hotel supplied a cake and Momo and the rest of the entertainment team (Christina, Amy and Serb)really made it a memorable occasion.
The hotel food was slightly restricting on choice but found something enjoyable almost every meal time, especially the puddings. With ice cream available all day there were no complaints from the kids.
Had one slight problem with our room one day when we were becoming infested with ants, we reported this to reception and our room was cleaned thoroughly that very day...no more ants. Pool and public areas were also very clean and well kept.
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tony elmer from bolton travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis 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 Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: It would be fair to say that my family had the best holiday ever when we visited the Helios hotel. The moment we got there the staff were great.
The hotel is spotless always, and food was good, but a little repetitive.
The entertainment team were superb, Emily was a brill dancer and childrens entertainer, top class and Momo the head entertainer was full of ideas and really good fun.
The hotel is a 5 minute walk from the hotel and is well worth a day of your holiday.
We visited the hotel in May and we rebooked for August this year and can't wait to return. Just to finish off if you go you won't be dissapointed.
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Sue from Bristol travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
Eclipse
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2005 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Just returned from a week at Helios Beach with our 11 year old son. Animation team work hard to entertain the kids and adults alike.
Situated a little way out from Kardamena but a pleasant walk along the sea front takes you into town. Food was plentiful - even our fussy son found something to eat. Could not fault the cleanliness of the room.
Our only gripe was that the evening entertainment mainly consisted of audience participation quizzes, games etc. Greek dancers came in one evening.
Absolutely loved Kos and would go back to this hotel. In fact have just looked at booking again for 2006 but disappointed to find it is not available through Eclipse Direct.
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widdowson from derbyshire travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
eclipse
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2004 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Me and my sister and our familys in which we have a 10 year old 8 year old and a 4 year old visited this hotel in september which is a time of year that we have never taken our holiday before, so we was a little aprehensive.
But to say that i have had a fantastic holiday, the staff was lovely, hotel was very clean, yes the hotel is a little way out of kardamena but we found that very nice, the holiday was very relaxing and the fact that the hotel isnt to big made everyone so freindly.
The animation team where great they are the best we have had so far, they go out of there way to make you feel welcome. we made some great friends there and had some great evenings outside on the patio. All in all we had a great holiday and cant wait to return.
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John Bainbridge from South Shields travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
First choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: How First Choice rate this as a four star hotel is beyond belief. They must have rated the hotel by the bedrooms as these were the only good thing about this hotel.
The hotel bars were run by three waiters covering 14 hour shifts, they had to collect glasses and tidy tables on top of serving drinks.
The restaurant was a disgrace, everytime you stopped moving the flies were at your food, even crawling all over it at the self service counters.
The air-con was not switched on until half way through breakfast and it was red hot, the flies had a field day.
The brochure says the hotel is on edge of Kardemena, more like 15 minute walk.
I've saved the best till last .
The entertainment team, they tried I suppose but just aren’t up to the job. If you don’t have young children your best off going into town or going to bed early.
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G Stevens from West Midlands travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed at this hotel in August and had a fantastic time. It is ideal for families who have booked all inclusive to stop the kids from spending a fortune.
My children asked for nothing. The only money spent was when i offered them money to buy treats from the shop, but we could of easily come home without spending a thing! The children had a holiday of a lifetime and we all came back wanting to go again. Two weeks wasnt long enough! The Animation team were fantastic and extremely helpful and friendly. The food was fine and lets face it after two weeks of eating whenever and whatever you like you are bound to get fed up by the end. We found the drinks strong enough and free flowing wine, beer and pop in the restaurant was excellent. thanks to all the staff and see you soon!
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robert collinson from chester le street travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
air tours
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2004 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: travelled to this hotel with regret, as soon as i walked in i new. no pictures on the walls, restrant in the reception,food very bland nearly the same choice every day, and drinks i had to go and buy a bottle of vodka as the drink in the hotel was weak very weak.
rooom was clean and spacious that is the only part with no complaints.i dont know if it was bad luck but also very very windy. will not be returning.
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AMANDA from KENT travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
.
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2004 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Went there for one week.
Food good, but not a great lot of choice, although nice. No snacks between meal times though.
Alcohol was a bit watered down I think.
Children's club great, twice a day.
Good children's pool.
Good daytime activities for the old and young.
Rubbish music, same old tapes, bring some with you.
Evening entertainment 1/5, not great.
Location, not good, a good 20 min walk down the dirt track to the beach.
Staff, superb, we had a motorbike accident in the mountains and were nearly killed. Doctor came to visit us at hotel daily.
We met some great friends there though. Would visit the hotel again if it were located elsewhere.
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Bob Forde from Liverpool travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
First Choice
on a friends holiday.
There were more than 6 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2004 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We travelled with a party of disabled people (wheelchair users)to this hotel in June. Facilities for disabled were very good, plenty of ramps around the complex. Rooms a little on the small side but mostly manageble. Staff were very good and all enjoyed the entertainments. Very good for children and bar staff and restaurant staff very friendly. Location a bit out of the way and requires a taxi ride to the town centre which is very pleasant and gives you a break from the all inclusive nature of the hotel. Only down side was the food which is ok but a bit repetitous, apart from Greek night when the food was excellent. Pool is small but very nice, drinks are normal watered down version as in most all inclusives. Would recommend it as a pleasant and safe choice, especially for wheelchairs/prams etc...
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Bennett from Plymouth travelled to Helios Beach Hotel Louis with
eclipse
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2004 |
rated the Helios Beach Hotel Louis as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: just returned from the Louis Helios and we had a really relaxing time. Very clean and very friendly and helpful staff. Food was good and usually spoilt for choice! The entertainment was very basic but still had good fun as the "animation team" worked very hard to get people joining in. Because its not a big complex there is a very friendly atmosphere with everybody staying here. You cant help but do the 'club dances' at the end of each evening. Nothing seemed to be to much trouble for the hotel staff. I would definetly go back!!!
Special thankyou to Anna and Andreas and Rafella
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