Gaia Royal Hotel

Hotel was good also rooms were good...beach was fab and pools were good and clean. hotel was in the middle of nowhere but had plenty on site saying that it was nice to have an evening trip to kos town which was a welcome break. Not many British people but plenty of germans some which were quite rude but most were fine. Had a week stay which was probably about right but wouldn't return because of the location. Huge problem with mosquitoes not helped by cleaning staff leaving doors open when cleaning I never normally suffer to many bites but suffered around 35 single bites so be prepared. Generally a good break.

Just returned after a 2 week stay at the Gaia royal. Let me start by saying that this is no way a 4 star hotel which is what it was advertised as. From the minute we got off the coach we were disappointed. We arrived at about 1.30 in the morning, at the front of reception there’s steps and a ramp up either side. So we had 3 suitcases 3 hand luggage bags and a pushchair with a 2 year old. There were 2 members of staff stood at the top they didn’t help us with our luggage instead watched us make 2 trips into reception. So we got booked in and given 3 small bottles of water (the last ones all holiday no bottled water put in fridge very strange for a 4 star hotel). We then got put in a golf buggy along with our luggage and driven to room 263, where the member of staff off loaded them onto the pavement leaving us to do another 2 trips down the steps to our room. Once inside the room we discovered it was nothing like the lovely modern fresh rooms advertised on the Jet2 holidays website (see attached pictures) but more like a bedsit. Unfortunately the hotel was apparently fully booked so couldn’t change rooms. So we got into the bed and I honestly thought it was a divan base without the mattress on it was so uncomfortable. There was 2 half an hour mini discos in our 2 week stay and that was all the entertainment, as other reviews have stated you are in the middle of no where so the nights were long and very boring. The food was as you’d expect in any AI hotel nothing special and very repetitive, the plates were put out wet?! The glasses were filthy stained or just none available so 90% of meal times drinking out of the kids plastic cups. The only staff member in the restaurant that made any attempt with us was Maria none of the others said anything as they cleared the table was very awkward. The bar only serves in the kids plastic 250ml cups unless you’re paying for your drinks, so if you want anything other than soft drinks/ beer/ wine/ basic spirits excluding vodka you’re paying!! The least inclusive all inclusive I’ve ever heard of, let alone been to. If you miss a set meal time you’re going hungry or off to spend more money at the shop as there isn’t any pool bar snacks like any other hotel, they did put out a tray of left over croissants/ pain au chocolate from breakfast which were stale, they also had what looked like off cuts of bread with ham & cheese, no hot snacks between meals like any other all inclusive. You are also in the middle of nowhere so no escape. However I must say the grounds are lovely and pools are brilliant. But not enough to compensate the rest of hotel. The beach was also lovely but had to pay for your sun loungers and drinks. All in all if you’re going here expecting a 4 star hotel you will be disappointed.

Positives: -Dimitri on reception was very friendly smiley and welcoming -most staff were attentive and helpful -rooms were spacious and clean and I have no complaints about them -beach is beautiful -pools are nice and plenty of choice (kids pool is great as same depth all round but it is bloody freezing) -food was fairly good most days however would’ve been nice to see more choice for kids -kids reps were lovely and kept our 6yr daughter occupied day and night -loved all the cats that were around, mostly friendly and a lot have their ears clipped meaning they are strays that have been spayed or neutered by a local charity. We bought 3 bags of cat biscuits from shop on site and fed most of the cats most days although I often saw waiters/waitresses putting food down for them also which was nice to see. -cocktails are lovely and selected ones are only €3 between 7pm and 11pm -mosquitoes not as bad as what people made out. My daughter wasn’t bitten once. I came home with maybe 15 bites which is nothing compared to previous years. Do go prepared though. We took 3 plug ins, 2 roll ons for our daughter and 2 sprays for us. I’d only use roll on in future as still contained the all important 50% deet and didn’t smell or taste awful like aerosol and was fine on my daughter Negatives: -Location was a massive problem. The hotel is literally in the middle of no where. Taxi to kos is €27 each way and although the journey was lovely in an air conditioned taxi I wouldn’t have wanted to do it on a hot sweaty packed bus however this is an option and is only €3.20 each way -don’t agree that beach bar is extra expense as are sun beds considering beach is owned by hotel and same bar staff and drinks are used on it. Although not expensive I would expect this to be included in all inclusive. At the beach bar a can of coke is €1 and a large beer is €2 (in a can) cocktails are €3 all the time where as at the pool bars they are €6 unless it’s “happy hour” - signs everywhere saying no reserving sun beds but this isn’t enforced by any staff which is a shame. No point having rules of you can’t or don’t enforce them -hotel was full of Germans some of which were very bloody rude!! However my daughter played the whole holiday with two little German girls who themselves and their families were lovely so I’m aware this doesn’t apply to all of them and not the fault of the hotel. -me, my daughter and my husband were all sick for the first half of our week holiday. Sickness and diarrhoea. We were unable to leave our rooms to see a doctor and contacted our rep when we were better. I cannot say what the sickness was down too but a few others on the resort also suffered the same. My tip would be drink bottled water only, avoid fruit and salads as washed in tap water, don’t have ice in drinks -housekeeping staff always left our balcony door and windows open and our door unlocked which was very annoying as we keep them closed and locked due to valuables in our room so would have appreciated them leaving it as they found it. -stay away from the zoo as that’s where I got bitten most. It’s really quite unnecessary anyway and doesn’t need to be there Overall we had a lovely family break. I wouldn’t return just due to location but apart from that if you go prepared and knowing what u will/won’t get included in your all inclusive you’ll be fine. The hotel doesn’t deserve most of the negative reviews it’s got at all so give it a chance