Mareblue Beach

This complex has many strengths, beach fronted, spectacular views, nice swimming pools, good choice of food but it is NOT a four star complex, so don’t be fooled by the initial impression you will receive from the beautiful Reception and Bar area. We arrived at approx. 9.20pm, after a very long transfer of almost 2 hours, tired and hungry. We were met by the Reception Staff and informed about the room tax, the extra charge for the safe, the extra charges/deposit for the towels plus the extra charges for WiFi. We have had many All Inclusive holidays before but have never been hit with so many extra charges. Granted we did get the towel deposits back but still it was an up-front charge. We were then offered a free cheese and ham toastie at the bar. Other AI’s have offered us a little more than this when arriving late. (Dinner service only stopped at 9.30pm too.) We did not receive any information about the layout of the complex and where everything was situated. It was only by chance we found the TUI information board downstairs to the right of the main Reception doors. You will also find a toilet there too. There is a gate on the left hand side of the largest swimming pool which will take you to the two beaches. We found the one on the left is the larger of the two and the nicest. You will find the other smaller one by turning right out of the gate. The lack of communication was terrible. There were many other extra charges still to come, for example the children’s Popsicles was 1 euro, some of the snacks/meals by the pool, even an after dinner cappuccino coffee was 2.50euros. Mythos (Greek beer) was 2.00euros, why when this is a local Greek beer? We just couldn’t believe it. The cocktails on the AI were also a big let-down, only four of them and they were terrible. To us this was NOT the All Inclusive that we are used to. Would it not better for the providers to offer a Half Board or Full Board options? At least then the extras would not be so much of a shock to guests as some were to us. The room WiFi charge is 35 euros for three devices for a week. We wanted to keep in touch with our family so we opted for this. DON’T BOTHER……It did not work for longer than 5 minutes at a time. Just use the free connection in the Reception Area which works sometimes. It’s as though they switch it off and on when they want to. We informed the Reception Staff at the end of our holiday but she just said “thank you it’s good to know these things.” We’re sure she had been told this many times before. We also paid extra for a sea-view in the Moneypenny building, room number 2719. We think this was one of the refurbished rooms mentioned in some of the other reviews. The sea-view was beautiful but the room itself was small, not very clean and very basic (one plastic chair to sit on). We had twin beds with big dips in the middle, very uncomfortable. The maid service consisted of a ‘quick’ tidy of the bed, emptying of the bins and a maybe a wash of the floor, and no maid service at all on Sunday’s which we think is awful taking into consideration the toilet paper bin situation. The bathroom looked like it had never had a good clean and I found residue soap scum from the previous occupants in the soap tray confirming my suspicions. The shower head jets were all blocked up with lime-scale, making the shower spray out everywhere. The toilet needed a good bleaching as it was stained, all in all not very nice and a big let-down for a ‘supposed’ 4 star hotel. Oh and take something for mosquitos. There were loads of them when we were there and everyone was getting bitten quite badly. The hotel didn’t take any action either as other beach complexes we have holidayed at did. The tea and coffee making facilities was a laugh. I found a big hair inside the kettle, probably because it was kept under the hairdryer which was fixed to the wall above. Needless to say we didn’t use it but I removed the hair and boiled the kettle for the next guests. There are many, many steps around the complex which we didn’t find mentioned when booking. The beach is across the road and we loved it but you have to pay 8 euros a day for two beds and a brolly. The hotel description of being a ‘beach fronted location’ could lead you to think that it’s their private beach, it’s not. The pools were nice and had plenty of sunbeds around them. The location was very small and quiet, which we prefer but for us as a couple we found this complex a bit too noisy, perhaps a little too big for a quiet beach holiday. We feel Mareblue Beach would be best suited to families with young children as the entertainment team worked very hard to engage the children. Try the two tavernas by the beach – they serve really good food especially Hellas, the one on the corner and the owners/staff there are lovely. We took a trip to Albania which we found very interesting but prepare for a very long day, 7.15am pickup and we only got back at 9.10pm. We thought it was well worth a visit though. All in all we felt a little let down but made the best of things, We will not be holidaying here again.

We have just returned from a fantastic holiday at the Mareblue Hotel. We are a couple in our late 20s/30s and had the most relaxing, enjoyable holiday.  The complex itself is beautiful. We spent the whole week at the Relax pool which is for adults only. The bar there was lovely and the bar man, Konstantinos was a very hardworking, friendly guy.  The main restaurant always had so much choice, including several 'show cooking' sections. Breakfast was my favourite meal with freshly made pancakes, fresh omlettes and so many other choices. It was by far the best food for a Greek All Inclusive I have ever been to. The A la Carte Restaurant, Olives, was superb. The setting of the restaurant is overlooking the sea and you get a great view of the sun setting. I highly recommend the Pork Shank. Make you book this on arrival. The staff all work extremely hard and all very friendly, particularly the entertainment team.  They have a jam packed entertainment programme. The evening entertainment by the pool bar was great, unlike some of the naf entertainment at other hotels. The dancers and shows were great fun. There were quite a few mosquitos around in the evening, so make sure you wear mosquito spray!  We also joined in some of the day time entertainment such as the beach Volley Ball and darts. These were well organised and good fun.  We both had spa treatments at the hotel which were so good, we went back for a second treatment. Highly recommend it. Overall, I really ecommend this hotel to couples, families and groups.