Esperides Beach Hotel, Rhodes

...Across the road to the Esperides is Rhodes only Water Park. It is open daily from 09.30 to 18.00 and in July and August it is open to 19.00. Admission costs are Free for toddlers (0-3), Children 3-12 15Euros, Adults 20 Euros. It is paked out with every water shute, slide and ride you can think of and is a great day out. They supply life vests for children at no extra charge. There are plenty of shower rooms and changing rooms, and restaurants and ...
...CONCLUSION

Hotel Esperides is run at a high & professional standard. It is heaven for the children, I never once had I'm bored from either of them, or 'what can I do', they are on the go constantly, leaving mum's and dad's time to have a well earned rest. The facilties are A1, the cleanliness unbelievable and I highly recommend this hotel for one and all, but especially for families. Would definitely go again, and again, and again.
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Let me start with why I picked this particular hotel, having two children aged 8 and 10, (7 and 9 at the time) it is important to choose a hotel where they are going to have plenty to do, thus enabling me and my hubbie to actually have a holiday, if your a parent you'll know what I mean.

Located in Rhode(Flying time roughly 4 hours from London Gatwick), here is where it gets tricky, some will say it is in Falaraki others in Kalithea, in actual fact to this day I am not sure, as Falaraki itself is around 2 miles away in one direction and Kalithea is 2 miles away in the other direction.

The Hotel itself is all-inclusive and rated 3/4 star. I will just point out at this stage, that the photo provided by Ciao is totally accurate.

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The Hotel is situated on the beach itself, with its own pier. It has 560 rooms which are situated in three seperate blocks, and each block is well provided with lifts and staircases. The hotel itself is situated in a very flat area, and with it having lifts is very accessible for wheelchair users. Set in beautiful landscaped gardens, the hotel has it's own private section of the beach (which is shingly) which is well euipped with sunbeds and parasols (at no extra charge). The only charge for the sunbeds is if you require a matress to place on them and this is charged at 2 Euros a day. Personally though the sunbeds themself were comfortable enough without the need for a matress.

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ACCOMMODATION

Rooms come in either Doubles or Family Rooms. There is an extra supplement for the family rooms and also if you wish a sea view. As all the rooms in the hotels either look out over the swimming pool, gardens or sea, I feel this is an unnecessary supplement to pay for. All rooms come with a bathroom, with a bath and overhead shower. There is controlled air-conditioning operational in the rooms from the 1st June until the 30th September, a fridge, a telephone, a Television (greek channels mostly) and a balcony or terrace. The rooms were plainly furnished, scrupiously clean. Our family room consisted of a double bed and bunk beds, but was roomy enough for the four of us. There was plenty of storage space, and the rooms were cleaned brilliantly, and towels and sheets changed regularly, so no problems there whatsoever. The balcony was supplied with a table and chairs, and it was also possible to hang a washing line there so I was well pleased armed with my string and pegs. My only downer was no kettle, so take one if you like to make one in the room.

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FACILITIES

The grounds homed two large swimming pools, one freeform, and a children's splash pool. There are lovely sun terraces with sunbeds, as well as extensive gardens also supplied with plenty of sunbeds. The only problem here was that the German's were getting up around 5.00 in the morning and claiming their sunbeds, by the time you got down there at 8ish all the sun terrace sunbeds had gone. You could still get the sunbeds in the gardens, but if you wanted to sit by the pool you had no chance. It was quite normal that the sunbed's would become free around lunchtime, as this was when they set out on their walks and tours, this was a downside but heh, the beach was always in abundance of sunbeds, so coped okay. It can sometimes get a bit windy on the beach, but this was generally welcomed as it was so hot (July).

There is a large supermarket on site, which we didn't find expensive and was handy for odd bits and pieces like the newspaper, but beware there is nowhere on site to purchase any medical items, so make sure you go well armed with all the usual medicines, first aid items you could possibly need.

The Reception is very large and is manned 24 hours a day. Here you can hire your safety deposit boxes, which requires a security deposit as well as the usual weekly fee. The staff here are very helpful and friendly and always on hand for any advice or help.

SPORTS

There are so many to name but here are a few, there was Mini-Golf, Beach Volleyball, Pedaloes, Table Tennis, Tennis Courts (which were floodlit), a Mini-Gym, French Bowls, Canoes, Aqua-aerobics and many more.

CHILDRENS ACTIVITIES

This was where I found this hotel quite unbelievable. There is an animation team that work from 10 to 10 providing entertainment round the clock and they are brilliant for keeping not only the children entertained but you also, and there was no pressure for anyone to join in if they didn't want to. There is a hotel run children's club where the children can go certain times of the day, which varies, and they play games, do activities, competitions etc. There is a well-equipped children's playground, a Carousel, Bouncy Castle, Bumper Cars, a mini Water-Park where there are water slides, a Games Arcade and even a Nature Park. However whilst most of these are free, the water slides cost a euro, and be warned once the children go on these, they do not want to come off. The good thing about the slides are they are not at the main pools, they are situated at the side of the beach. As well as this, in the playground in the afternoon, popcorn and candy-floss are in abundance and do not cost a penny(thank god).

FOOD

Being all-inclusive I was abit wary about whether this was going to be a load of old rubbish. I was wrong, the food was absolutely lovely. Everything was buffet service, but there was something for everyone. A Pasta Bar, Salad Bar, Fish Servery, Carvery and so on, everything was so fresh and the restaurant was incredibly clean. Nothing run out, and if it did it was re-filled immediately, no waiting around. There is also a special Italian A La Carte evening that the Hotel do, this can only be attended once during your stay and a dress code applies (ie trousers for men, no shorts etc) but it is something different. The only downside I can say is that by the second week the food does seem repetitive, but saying this, you still couldn't fault anything about the food.

There is also a beach taverna, where you can get snacks all day(free), and a cafeteria.

Ice-cream in on tap throughout the day for the children, as well as cakes for us.

BAR

The all important word for a holiday. What can I say free drinks served from 10 in the morning till 2 the following morning, The bar staff are all so friendly and will whip you up cocktails in a flash. There are an abundance of bars including on the beach.

The staff in this hotel cannot be faulted in anyway, they are all so very friendly, the hotel is kept spotless, you could literally eat off the floor it is that clean, something you don't see that often.

SOME FACTS IF YOU GO HERE

A taxi from here to Rhodes Town costs 11 Euros, but it is a great place to spend an evening out.

A taxi to Falaraki (only for the young, discos in galore) 5 Euros.

There is a bus service every half an hour outside the hotel which takes 30mins to get to Rhodes Town, 10 mins to Falaraki, and costs 1.7Euros.

There is also an air-condtioned bus which takes you to Lindos and costs you 3 Euros each way, compared with a Taxi which is 29Euros each way. Lindos is well worth a day-trip, it is a lovely oldie worldy town situated on a steep hill and its beaches in the bay are out of this world.

Across the road to the Esperides is Rhodes only Water Park. It is open daily from 09.30 to 18.00 and in July and August it is open to 19.00. Admission costs are Free for toddlers (0-3), Children 3-12 15Euros, Adults 20 Euros. It is paked out with every water shute, slide and ride you can think of and is a great day out. They supply life vests for children at no extra charge. There are plenty of shower rooms and changing rooms, and restaurants and bars galore. They have 35 certified life guards so safety is of an essence here.

Another hint is to go to the jetty on the beach and see a man named Paul, he arranges trips etc for you for half the price of the tour operators and they are exactly the same trips.

Dimintri's Bar just down the road from the hotel is also highly recommended, it is a really warm and friendly establishment.

CONCLUSION

Hotel Esperides is run at a high & professional standard. It is heaven for the children, I never once had I'm bored from either of them, or 'what can I do', they are on the go constantly, leaving mum's and dad's time to have a well earned rest. The facilties are A1, the cleanliness unbelievable and I highly recommend this hotel for one and all, but especially for families. Would definitely go again, and again, and again.

Finally, we payed £1.900 for the four of us, this was including, plane meals, airport taxes and the supplement of a family room. 

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