Hello and welcome to my review on the Athena Beach Hotel, in Cyprus. In this review I will try to explain as much as I can about the hotel, why we chose the hotel and the area and what is available once you get there.
-Why Cyprus- Why choose Cyprus? As a family we have never really thought about going to Cyprus, as my Grandad served his national service there for 2 years. So all we really knew about it was there where the Turkish side and the Greek side, and they were always fighting. We know a lot of people who have been to Cyprus and they all gave it a big thumb up, but we never really understood what all the fuss was about. A year ago my dad, my sister and I done a scuba diving course in Malta so a big must for this years holiday was that we must go somewhere that has a good dive centre. We found the CYDIVE diving school on the Internet so we thought, that looks good and Cyprus sounds lovely, let’s go there. For people who don’t do diving there are lots of other stuff to do so don’t discard the idea straight away, more later on in the review.
-Where is it- The Athena beach hotel is on the Greek side of Cyprus. It is in the City/Town of Paphos and is very close to both the harbour and the airport. There are lots of restaurants near by and it is right on the sea, hence the name beach hotel. Paphos is on the south west of the island and the island its self is just west of Syria and south of Turkey, In the Mediterranean Sea. The location is ideal as it is close to the harbour, the hotel and you can get a bus up to the Old part of the town. It is right on the sea so you can enjoy sea views and a pint of beer (if you drink).
-The Constantinou Brothers – I shall refer to the constantinou Brothers as the Con Bro’s for this section of the review just so that it saves me writing it over and over again (its bloody hard to spell). The con bro’s are two brothers who bought lots of land very cheaply in Cyprus in the 70’s. Since then they have sold land to make hotels and cafes, and developed quite a name for themselves. After they had made enough money from selling the land for hotels and cafes, they started to build for themselves. Now they still own a lot of the land around Paphos and they have 4 hotels. Three of the 4 hotels are 4 stars and the other is 3 stars. The Athena and the Royal Athena beach hotels are both 2 stars and are next to each other on the sea front strip of hotels next to the harbour.
-Why choose it? – So, why the Athena beach? There are lots of hotels along the sea front that the Athena is on so why choose it over the others. The Athena beach hotel is a 4 star hotel with lots of rooms and plenty of facilities. It offers bowls, mini golf, a beach a heated indoor and outdoor pool and lots of unheated pools. It is perfect for kids as it has a big water slide, it has bars and lounges, you name it, it’s got it. Other reasons for choosing the Athena is that we got a package deal with first choice. There are loads of package deals for this hotel so there is something for everyone. The location is a key feature on why anybody would want to stay at the Athena and it is great. You can take a bus to the old town or the harbour, or you can take a nice walk to the harbour in 30mins. There are lots of great restaurants on the doorstep and the sea views are excellent.
-Journey there- As I think I have previously mentioned, we travelled with first choice. In the package deal we got the flights there and back. We flew from Glasgow airport and got a direct flight straight to Paphos, Cyprus. The check-in went smoothly and after an hours wait we were on the plane. I don’t mind flying but I hate the food. As soon as we were on the aircraft I could smell it, it almost made, me sick but I managed to contain my excitement and listen to the quick safety brief before take-off. Once in the air the captain announced that the journey would take around 4 hours and 55 minutes, not too bad as I have been further. Almost immediately after we were in the air the crew were coming round trying to sell headsets to watch the entertainment, me and my sister got a pair each as we saw that the outwards entertainment was looking quite good with “casino royal” and “happy Feet” playing. The head sets were slightly too big for my ears so they weren’t very comfortable but I could see the TV screen ok so I wasn’t complaining. After the second film had ended we were on the runway. It didn’t seem a long flight as the two films took up most of the time. We got of the plane and past passport control and we were waiting on our baggage with about 3 other flights so it was really crowded ( and some people obviously had forgotten there right guard). We got our cases and were pointed in the direction of the bus. The first choice bus took is to our hotel on the route of 7 others. It was a really short bus journey and was quite comfortable. When we were in the hotel we checked in and a porter came straight to us to take our bags to the room. So all in all the journey there was quite and painless, no jetlag and we were free to enjoy the holiday straight away.
-The rooms- As both me and my sister are now in our teens my mum and dad decided to get 2 rooms, we got 2 interconnecting rooms by 2 doors in-between that the porter unlocked from both sides, this is good as, if someone was getting changed the person in the other room couldn’t just walk in. The rooms were quite basic with a bathroom come shower room and a balcony. We never used the balcony as we were facing the road outside and felt it wasn’t a nice view. The bathroom was good as it had a big sink and plenty of space around it, it had a nice clean toilet and a big deep bath. There was a shower in the bath too. There were freebies in the bathroom too!!!! You got shower gel, bath foam, shampoo, a sewing kit, shower cap and a vanity set!!! But we soon realised that once it was gone, it was gone! They didn’t refill the bath foam which was a real bummer! Another bad thing was that the hot and cold taps were the wrong way round and we soon realised the air conditioning was the same. I.e. if you wanted hot water you would have to move it to the cold position! The beds were a good size and came with 2 sheets, but the beds were really hard and uncomfortable. But we made do. There was a lamp above each bed with its own light switch in the middle. In the wardrobe there was a free pair of slippers!!! And a dressing gown with a notice saying if you nicked it you paid for it. There was also an iron and an ironing board and a safe. To get the safe key you just had to go down to reception and ask for it. There was a TV in the rooms too with news cannels in several different languages but the news kept repeating itself day after day!! Hardly news at all! Over all the rooms were good but I couldn’t wait to get back to my own comfy bed!
-The Reception- Check-in at the reception was quick and pain free, the staff spoke good English and they obviously knew what they were doing. Checking out was the same apart from one member of staff started talking in Greek without realising it before seeing our blank expressions and quickly turning back to English, apologising. You could leave your room keys at reception if you didn’t want to hold onto them for the day, perfect as we were always out and about. The staff was friendly and helpful. When we asked for a bus timetable they picked one up straight away. There were also lots of tourist leaflets at the reception, for mini golf and the aquarium, among other tourist sights. We missed our first choice meeting the next morning but the reception staff passed on the leaflets and maps the first choice representative had given them. This was all very helpful as we were looking for a map that day in Paphos!! The reception staff were great and made the experience better as we weren’t constantly trying to get there attention and working out what they were trying to say.
-Breakfast- At last, a section on the food!!! My whole family were immediately surprised at how fresh the food in Cyprus was, none of this pre-prepared packaged stuff, proper fresh straight out the market food served everywhere. The breakfast was no different. The breakfast starts at 7.00 and finishes at 10.00, giving plenty of time in the morning. It was a buffet style service and as soon as you went in a friendly member of staff would show you to a table. On the table there was a pot of fresh coffee and hot water for tea. I wasn’t hanging around and went straight up to the food and got my first course of fresh fruit. And I have to say the fruit was great, really juicy and tasty, and I hardly even eat fruit at all. Second course, lovely, there was a cook making fresh crepes and fried eggs, I went over and took 2 crepes with a little squeezed lemon juice and sugar. I have to tell you they were to die for!! I ate them everyday! There was also a selection of fresh breads and a toasting machine. One of the big ones with the conveyer belt things. On a previous trip to Italy, I had set a toast machine on fire! Because I left my toast in for too long and it went up in smoke, but don’t worry I was careful not to do it this time as there were lots of on-lookers this time. Another cook was making fresh omelettes, you would go over and put a selection of what you wanted in your omelette into a bowl and then give it to the cook and say how many eggs you wanted and how runny you wanted it cooked, I don’t like omelettes myself but my mum said they tasted great and it looked like a good way to do it. There were your classic breakfast cereals with milk too and a selection of cooked foods. Orange or grapefruit juice was available from a machine (a mix of both done me well) so over all it was a great breakfast. I was absolutely stuffed after about 3 course of amazing food (wish I got that at home). A perfect opening to a beautiful day.
-The pools- There are 3 main pools at the Athena beach hotel. They are all around the one area and all have sun-loungers around about them. 2 of the main pools are out door pools. The first pool is a small pool but is fairly deep. It isn’t heated but is a lot quieter than the rest of the pools. It has a small paddling pool type pool next to it. The second outdoor pool is huge! It is separated into a big unheated side and a small heated section. Both have big steps going into the water. They also have big islands in the middle that are accessible from the pool side by a bridge. These pools have little circular sections with Jacuzzi type jets at the sides. I only noticed that one part of that pool was heated on the last day when my sister and I went swimming and I jumped in thinking it would be freezing! Next to this pool there is another small circular paddling type pool. Between the big out door pool and the indoor pool there is a big out-door slide, like in a water park. It is big and blue and has lots of water constantly flowing down it. I gave it a try one day and I got stuck halfway down!! I had to push myself down the rest of the way, so I think it is meant for little kids. The indoor pool is heated to about 27/28 degrees (it has a little poster with temps written on every few days) and I think that is the same as the outdoor pool. It isn’t very deep and is always crowded but is good for a warm swim. There is a Jacuzzi next to it but it isn’t that warm. Next to the indoor pool there is a spa. I will mention more about this later so please read on!! The bad thing about the pools is there are no lifeguards. This isn’t too much of a problem but if you have small children you might need to keep a closer eye on them in the water. You can use the lunch canteen to buy drinks for around the poolside and there are always plenty of umbrellas and bins. I think that the pools are really good but I think it would be better in the summer when it is slightly warmer water in the larger pool!
-The lunch- We were booked in the hotel as bed and breakfast so we only had the lunch there once. Another reason for this is that it was poor. The lunch is served like a canteen, were you pick what you want and either serve it yourself or the cooks will put a big dollop of it onto your plate. There was an ok selection to choose from but the salad looked the nicest thing there, unfortunately I didn’t choose it. I chose a burger and chips instead. What I got was a cheap meat on a burnt roll with horrible cheese and cold chips. I wasn't too pleased but I ate it anyway as I was extremely hungry. The other food all looked the same and a lot of what was on the menu board wasn’t there. The only good thing about the lunch canteen was the drinks. The drinks bar had everything from wine to coke. This was the bar that would serve the poolside as the poolside bars weren’t open as the season hadn’t quite started yet. All the drinks came in plastic cups so that you couldn’t get glass in the pools and there was plenty of ice and water. Over all I thought that the lunch was the worse food I had got on the whole holiday as everything else was fresh and beautiful. A big let down on the food side, but a good comeback with the poolside bar.
-The beach- For a hotel with beach in its name, the beach was disappointing. It was only about a couple of hundred meters long, made of obviously fake sand and only sporting a few sun-loungers, it wasn't up to much. The good thing about it was it was right on the doorstep from the hotel, and it was a private beach for that hotel. It was also located in a man made bay area so the water wasn't that rough. The sand was very smooth, but that’s because it was man made. There was plenty of shade in the form of umbrellas and in the summer time, I think, the little bars open up around the beach. All in all a pretty disappointing beach for a hotel with the word beach in its name. Would have expected better, bigger and longer. But it wasn't very busy so it has its up points too. Nice to feel the sand between your toes.
-The spa- My mum went to check out the spa one day when the rest of us went diving. We had been to a spa hotel last year so my mum had high expectations, in the end she didn’t get a treatment. Unlike other spa’s it wasn’t just a go into relax, you had to get a special treatment, like a massage or pedicure etc. Also the prices were a little on the steep side for her liking so she decided to go back to the room to chill out. It looked quite nice from the outside and the inside but not what she was looking for. All in all a good addition to the hotel. We didn’t know it was there until we got there and it always looked busy, even if we didn’t try it ourselves.
-Sports- There are several sports that the Athena beach hotel account for. Bowls Tennis And mini golf! All 3 were really good, or looked it.(never tried the bowls) The bowls is a major attraction of this hotel and is one of the packages you can go on. I have heard that bowls can be a very competitive sport, never tried it really (maybe I’m too young), although my gran and granddad play. There are loads of bowls courts and they were always full of people playing away. Onto the tennis courts, they were great. There are 2 of them and both are floodlit. They are a normal size and have good tight nets. The rackets were alright for a hotel and they had good quality tennis balls. The floodlights mean that you can still play until it is dark. The mini golf is good too, you get a putter and balls from the reception and just go round and keep score. It’s a really good way to spend some time in the sun. Also there is a big golf course just around the corner and another big mini golf course too. I have not been but I know their there!
-The harbour- Ok so moving away from the hotel itself there is the harbour. You can see the harbour and the hotel on the flight to the island. The harbour is only 30 mins walk from the hotel or you can hop on the no. 11 (I think) bus to get there. Once in the harbour you can tell straight away that it is a tourist place. On the way there it is hotel after hotel and there it is café after café and restaurant after restaurants. Every one wants you in there place so there are people standing outside talking to you if you so much as look at the place. The restaurants and cafes are all very nice, and there is something for everyone. A quick walk along to the boats and you can find historic sites including a castle and roman houses with stunning mosaic floors. (shall put a picture on later). The plenty of cafes mean you are never short of food or drink, and ice-cream for that matter. There is even a Debinhams set of to the side, and other British chains. Opticians are everywhere, sunglasses and contact lenses are really cheap over there so they are never empty. There is a tourist information place and an aquarium too. The place is loaded with stuff, even the same old tacky souvenir shops. All in all the harbour is a great place next to the sea, we went almost every day and never got bored of it.
-Diving- Finally a section that I love! As I mention a few times before my dad, sister and I love diving and we found a great dive shop in the middle of the harbour. They ran a refresher course in the morning, morning dives and afternoon dives everyday. This was perfect; equipment hire was fairly cheap so we didn’t hang around booking up 5 dives. The refresher course was the first, just to get things back into our brains. Then a cave dives in the after noon. The caves were spectacular, at 12m they weren’t deep and they were more like swim throughs than real caves. One of the caves had roman pottery stuck to the top of the caves. Apparently they got there as when a roman ship crashed on the rocks, the pottery fell out. The pottery contained fruits than when decomposing gave of gasses so the pottery rose to the cave ceiling!! Our next dive was a day trip to lachi, on the other side of the island, we done 2 dives, and our mum came too as a non diver. After the afternoon dive on the day trip we got lunch at a superb restaurant, just opposite the boat, at the start of the harbour. We had a superb Meze, Which is loads and loads of dishes to share, a bit like Spanish tapas but more. The last dive was a wreck dive that only me and my dad went on. We went on a boat but couldn’t find the location, even with 2 guys I the water, one being dragged by the life ring. I was sick so got chucked into the water as soon as we had found it. We went down and there was this huge hull of a cargo ship. The ship was blown up as it had ground on the shallow water in the 70s. it was amazing, there was bits of ship everywhere and since it was my first wreck dive I could contain my excitement. The engine was literary falling out of the engine room and you could see everything. Truly amazing. If I had the chance I would defiantly go back to cydive and do some more dives. The instructors were amazing and really friendly
-Old Paphos- You can get a bus up to the old town of Paphos and it only takes a few minutes. Once you get there, there isn’t much to see. Most of it looks like a building-site and the rest is flats. There are a few designer shops dotted around and there is the big market. I would say the market is the only reason worth going. We got a huge hand embroidered table cloth and napkins for much less than you would pay at home. And well that is about it, about old Paphos. Nothing to see. We went up and got the bus back down within an hour.
-The EU- Cyprus is soon to join the European Union, so there are a lot of things that will change. The currency is the Cyprus pound at the moment but they will soon change to the euro and have already got the price in euros on most bills. Also a lot of regulations for boat hire and car hire etc will change so I say, go while its still different from the rest of Europe.
-Conclusion- The Athena beach hotel is a four star hotel, and it deserves it. It has a perfect location and has plenty of facilities. It is perfect for couples, families and weddings! It has a beach pool and even water sports close by. It is perfect for access to the harbour and the old town. Plenty of cafes are near by. The pools are amazing and the slide is great too. I love this hotel and I will hopefully be going back. This hotel gets the 4 star rating from me as well. The lunch and the beach putting down the rating, other than that it’s perfect.
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