Domes Aulus Zante, Autograph Collection

“Great family stay, would happily return”

We have just finished up our week long stay at Domes Aulus Zante and we are already discussing returning. We saw some negative reviews prior to our arrival so we were slightly nervous but couldn’t fault our stay as a family with a 3 year old. Firstly the staff really do make the stay. From the col… lisää

We have just finished up our week long stay at Domes Aulus Zante and we are already discussing returning. We saw some negative reviews prior to our arrival so we were slightly nervous but couldn’t fault our stay as a family with a 3 year old. Firstly the staff really do make the stay. From the collection of bags on arrival, the waiting staff to the cleaners - everyone was extremely friendly and went above and beyond to help. The hotel itself is very clean and looks exactly like the hotels own photos. We stayed in a Tropical Serenity Retreat room which was perfect for us. It’s maybe on the smaller side but we did have the sofa bed out during our full stay so it’s not a full reflection of the room. Some people mentioned the rooms being a bit worn, which is slightly unfair. Being 4 years old, the black sinks do have scratches and marks on a few items but the rooms are clean. You won’t go hungry, the food is good. For more basic kids options, you probably have 3/4 choices a night. The themed nights (Greek night) was the best and should be more often. Best of all is the fresh grilled meat dishes and the salad bar which is very fresh. We only managed to book the street food and Asian A La Carte restaurants - both of which were good, especially the street food. The facilities and location are perfect for a family holiday, the beach being a 2-minute walk from our room. Also the restaurant right by the beach was ideal for drinks. The sea is crystal clear and very shallow going quite far out, ideal for kids. The beach has lots of sticks & shells but it’s a protected beach so this can’t be helped. We also saw some nesting spots right by the hotel. Right beside the hotel is a boat rental company called Laganas Boat Rentals-Laganas Zakynthos (separate review) which I really recommend. A couple of small improvements / recommendations that have been mentioned by others already. Firstly, the A La Carte restaurant booking system is not the best and clearly causes issues for some residents. We ended up being blocked from our account after booking two restaurants. I would recommend you double check all bookings with reception to avoid any disappointments on the day. Also the A La Carte restaurants (except the street food one) always looked very quiet despite it being hard to book slots. The main buffet is great so it wasn’t all disappointing but we were only able to book two of the A La Carte restaurants. The other improvement would be more towels as they are not always available and can take 30 minutes to restock. This happened on a few days where we had to go to the beach without towels to start with. One final point is, although the staff around the pool are very quick to clean up glasses etc, the same care isn’t always shown in other parts. The splash park often has items left for a few days and around some rooms there is the odd glass. Overall we had a fantastic break and would return to both this hotel and other Domes in the future.

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“Lovely relaxing break not quite 5*”

A lovely relaxing holiday at Domes in Zante, I don’t think we would return but has been a really enjoyable relaxing trip. Positives first, the rooms are clean, lots of sun-beds even late in the day. The food is fantastic, we were able to book the restaurants before we arrived so managed to eat in … lisää

A lovely relaxing holiday at Domes in Zante, I don’t think we would return but has been a really enjoyable relaxing trip. Positives first, the rooms are clean, lots of sun-beds even late in the day. The food is fantastic, we were able to book the restaurants before we arrived so managed to eat in them 6 times. We booked via email a week before and online on the website. Restaurant food particularly the Italian and Meze was delicious but all food was very good. We were lucky enough to see the turtle tracks on the beach, nests and swam with the turtles just off the beach so no need to book a boat trip. The sea is shallow until 50m from the beach and very calm. I was concerned the pool may be too small but it wasn’t even in half term which was excellent. The pool area has sunbeds, wooden sections for families with sunbeds and beanbags as well as cabanas at no extra charge. Cocktails and drinks were plentiful and good quality, we never had to wait long for a drink even at half term. Lots of towels, an initial rush at 10am but these are replenished throughout the day. Negatives - a huge negative for us is that people can walk just off the beach into the hotel with no security and people often did which I found a security issue with 3 young children. People from outside the hotel used to come to use sunbeds and get drinks. We did mention this whilst at the hotel on two occasions but they said they had no security to police it. We didn’t want to leave bags without someone being at the sunbeds and had to keep a super close eye on even our older children if they wanted to go and get a drink etc... I wouldn’t return because of this particularly with young children as anyone can walk in. Our bedding did have some old stains on (but it was clean), one duvet cover had a hole in it and we had a few holey bath mats which I wouldn’t expect at 5*. Lack of staff is a problem at this hotel, the ones that are here are mostly great there just isn’t enough. Drinks from the night before are still on the tables at breakfast time, a max of one (if any) collecting glasses around the pool makes it look more 3*. We only saw two gardeners so lots of big sandy spaces. The bathrooms are very small, it didn’t bother us but they are tiny. Wardrobes also small with no hanging space for long dresses. The bar is quite small with little outside seating but there is more seating outside the surfer canteen but the bar give you paper cups if you sit there. There is very little entertainment and finishes at 10pm, this was fine for us and our children aren’t bothered about a mini disco etc but might bother some. Also, it says there’s a 24 hour buffet, there definitely isn’t. There’s a fridge in with some sandwiches and salad for a few hours in the day but nothing later on. Overall though the above didn’t detract from our holiday, it’s a very quiet hotel for a relaxing time. If the security was better then we would return. We had a fab family holiday, I wouldn’t rate it as 5* but could be. I would say more 4* but could be improved with just more staff, glasses being collected and improved security which I feel could be easily implemented. Special mention to Maria who worked in Meze & Italian, the three guys in the surfer canteen and the older male waiter (sorry didn’t get your name) in the yellow fish. You truly provide 5* service.

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“Disappointing Hotel”

We visited this '5 star ultra all inclusive' Hotel mid May for 10 nights with friends. All of us had some problems with the rooms, be it missing items, things not working, no storage! The good thing is we found the bed comfortable 😊 The bathrooms are tiny with no storage for personal items. Sha… lisää

We visited this '5 star ultra all inclusive' Hotel mid May for 10 nights with friends. All of us had some problems with the rooms, be it missing items, things not working, no storage! The good thing is we found the bed comfortable 😊 The bathrooms are tiny with no storage for personal items. Shampoo, body wash etc is provided but we didn't know so took our own. The food in the main buffet area was never hot, ran out quite quickly and was very repetitive. We tried all the a la carte restaurants (recommend booking at reception on arrival) the food was better with good portions. The actual hotel was ok but the grounds were dusty and barren, not like the lush green photos shown online. The cleanliness was questionable, cups left on tables for days, ashtrays left on tables full and tables not cleaned down. Staff did not seem very happy but were polite. There was no music at the pool due to technical problems, no animation team or activities. The grab and go food was minimal not like a proper snack bar but you will be ok if you like a tiny wrap to eat. Would not return and definitely would not recommend to anybody wanting a 5 star experience! I think we were there at the start of their season but that is no excuse, they should be up and running perfectly the second they open, we pay our hard earned money the same as people going further into the season so should receive the same 5 star experience.

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“Disappointed & expected more”

Just returned and feel the hotel is a 4 star rating at best. Good points: Lovely hotel Nice spacious room Beach & sunbeds Proper branded drinks Lovely bar staff main bar & pool Bad Points: Distinct lack of information about amenities from reception upon arrival (no map or pointers) Just one… lisää

Just returned and feel the hotel is a 4 star rating at best. Good points: Lovely hotel Nice spacious room Beach & sunbeds Proper branded drinks Lovely bar staff main bar & pool Bad Points: Distinct lack of information about amenities from reception upon arrival (no map or pointers) Just one pool on site and it opens at 10am & closes at 6pm (everybody out & roped off) It never an “ultra inclusive” as there’s no 24 hr food as advertised & only ONE walk in eating area for Breakfast & Lunch. So no s In nack bar for lunch, as advertised (gyros, pizza burgers etc) also no “live” cooking like omelettes for breakfast, carved meats etc. Food therefore feels very repetitive. The nightly “entertainment” finishes at 10pm normally a singer or a band. The lights get brighter & it’s like the end & goodnite just as the evening is warming up. It’s madness The main problem with the hotel is the 4 à la carte restaurant booking system. You book through the app once you get your room number. The system is totally FLAWED. We tried straight away & could only get the one reservation for the week for the last night of our 1 week stay! We kept trying & then managed to get a 9pm slot in another - very late & no good for a 12 yr old Basically in any other all - inclusive you get the opportunity to book a certain restaurant at least once during your stay but that doesn’t apply here. As if you’re lucky on the app you could book the Italian 3 times in the same week. As its first come first served. So you could miss out entirely on certain restaurants & for an “ultra all inclusive” that’s nowhere near acceptable as time & again having to visit the front desk to get a booking & told sorry “full up” on countless occasions. Not what I want to be doing on my holiday We also had a free 20 minute massage as part of our package, that was only given to us 4 days into our holiday, and then they were fully booked, so we couldn’t take it. Our minibar was supposed to have spirits and aperol spritz every day. We got this once. We did have a lovely holiday and appreciate that it’s early in their season, but there were certain things that were very disappointing.

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