Apollonion Asterias Resort And Spa

“Fab stay”

We had a fabulous stay in August. The staff were lovely, the room was really nice albeit not the biggest, and the facilities were all great. The kids club at the pool was excellent with a great team, and the food was great. We hired a car from Mercury next door which was really convenient and gre... lisää

We had a fabulous stay in August. The staff were lovely, the room was really nice albeit not the biggest, and the facilities were all great. The kids club at the pool was excellent with a great team, and the food was great. We hired a car from Mercury next door which was really convenient and great for seeing more of the wonderful island.

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“Great hotel”

Firstly, thank you to the management and staff for upgrading our room to a Junior Suite - my brother-in-law had one booked for himself and we were upgraded to be near him. We had a fantastic room overlooking a garden to the main pool and across to Zante; much appreciated. The hotel, which, becau... lisää

Firstly, thank you to the management and staff for upgrading our room to a Junior Suite - my brother-in-law had one booked for himself and we were upgraded to be near him. We had a fantastic room overlooking a garden to the main pool and across to Zante; much appreciated. The hotel, which, because of its layout, is more like a holiday village, is a 5-minute walk to Xi beach, where there are a number of beach bars that serve snacks and hire out sunbeds. The beach itself is very narrow - very pleasant laying on a sunbed with the sea lapping underneath. The town of Lixouri is a 2 Euro bus trip away, with Argostoli then a 25-minute, 3 Euro, ferry trip from there. Even though we were there in the last week of the hotel's season, the staff were fantastic - all very friendly and personable, with a lot of smiling. Service in the bar was sometimes a bit slow - but we were on holiday, so what's the rush?! Individual staff members could be seen at breakfast, then at dinner, then at the bar - they certainly put the hours in. Wish I could remember all the names, but Stamatina (?) was particularly good. Evening entertainment was low key, often provided by the Animation team - Nini and his colleague; again, they certainly put the hours in and Nini was hilarious. Well done to them. There was a saxophone player one evening, who was great. There were film screenings each evening, but we never went. We were All-Inclusive and the selection of drinks, including cocktails, were plentiful; if someone wanted a premium drink, they were charged for. A bottle of water was provided in the room, with replacement bottles available from the bar. There is a snack bar open to 5pm each day - an excellent selection available, with wine, beer, soft drinks on tap. We didn't use the restaurant for lunch but the evening meal selection was great - and everything was so tasty (especially loved the pork belly!). The food was so good I actually tracked down the restaurant manager and head chef and thanked them. For a 5-star hotel the restaurant was more like a canteen - bright lights, self-serve, paper napkins, no table-cloths. That would be my only negative comment about the hotel - but not a deal-breaker. Would we go back? Planning on doing so already! (but maybe 2025). Nothing to do with the hotel: we flew on a package with TUI - all was good, except the transfer from the airport to the hotel: coach to Argostoli, unload luggage, wait for ferry, carry luggage on to ferry, 25-minute trip to Lixouri, carry luggage off ferry and onto coach, then to hotel. Took some 2-hours! Why the coach didn't drive onto the ferry, I've no idea!! Assuming the trip back would be the same in reverse, we hired a taxi - only to find the coaches drove onto the ferry for the return trip! However, we got to the airport before them so were close to the front of the check-in queue!

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“Nice accommodation ... but oh ... the food”

Despite what I’m about to share, overall, we enjoyed our stay in Kefalonia which is a lovely place to visit. We booked 7 nights half-board via the Tui website & arrived at this resort, tired and hungry after a long journey. Reception checked us in and shared the rules for booking a spa treatment ... lisää

Despite what I’m about to share, overall, we enjoyed our stay in Kefalonia which is a lovely place to visit. We booked 7 nights half-board via the Tui website & arrived at this resort, tired and hungry after a long journey. Reception checked us in and shared the rules for booking a spa treatment (48hrs advance notice required) and dining at Greek and Italian a la carte on-site restaurants (24hrs advance notice required). Altogether, it wasn’t a particularly warm greeting, but then we weren’t informed by the Tui website the resort closed for the season in a week’s time. Tui, please openly disclose this in future. Of course, it was season’s end but the reception and waiting staff with some exceptions, appeared exhausted and disinterested, presumably after a long, hard season. We were then directed to the Delice ‘all-day’ snack bar for something to eat – it closed at 5pm. Ahem…and the waitress was fully disinterested. This resort is listed as 5 stars on the Tui website. It’s not and here’s why…. 5 stars implies excellence across all domains: accommodation, food, facilities, comfort etc. It’s true that the resort is on a large, attractive site, well designed, comfortable and the rooms well serviced daily but, and here’s the main issue, the food … oh my goodness. Both our breakfasts and evening dinner were a major disappointment. Pastries were overcooked daily. Steamed vegetables and main dishes were unappealing with a clear absence of Greek food. Five stars remember. The food certificate at reception is a safety certificate, not a food quality one. There is a difference. We shared our disappointment with the Tui rep but were surprised how defensive she was, claiming it’s not her experience the food is disappointing as she’d been dining here throughout the season. Tui, please understand one thing: it’s not the rep’s opinion that’s important but those of fee-paying guests. The rep's response was unexpected and embarrassing for us. The rep even claimed to dine at the hotel ‘incognito’ but being Greek herself and presumably well known by the hotel staff, this point seemed odd. To be fair, the Tui rep did communicate well via the Tui app and informed us she’d shared our concerns with a hotel ‘office manager’ some two days after our arrival. However, at no stage thereafter were we approached or contacted by any of the hotel staff to discuss our concerns. Surprising and disappointing. However, dining out at some of the excellent restaurants in Lixouri to compensate was a treat using our hire car, but this added unexpected costs to the holiday. Since our return, we've shared our experience online with Tui who compensated us with a token for our experience … a £15 Costa/ pizza voucher. I'll leave you to ponder that one. In summary, we weren’t expecting a 5 star resort to ignore earlier food complaints which were raised back in August 2023 by another TA reviewer. Do look at the hotel’s response to my review and ask yourself … does the hotel response address our concerns or do they come across as defensive, suggesting ‘alternative rooms could have been arranged’ (as they suggested to a reviewer complaining of food quality back in August 2023.) How would that have helped with food? Some previous reviewers have been met with an odd hotel response such as, “how can we offer poor service when our positive reviews and certificates of excellence say otherwise?”. That’s a fair point but food quality may not be a priority for everybody. As for Tui. They are rated as poor on the Which? Best Holiday Providers and on the evidence of our experience, this sadly appears to be the case. We won’t be returning to this resort or travelling with Tui again.

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