Estella Hotel Apartments, Limassol

Estella Hotel Apartments is based in Limassol in Southern Cyprus where I stayed for 6 nights in late April/early May of 2009 with my cousin. The booking was made via Expedia.co.uk and worked out at approximately £200 for 2 of us sharing a twin apartment (just £100 each basically). Before I confirmed the booking through Expedia I went off and did a bit of research on the hotel to make sure I wasn’t getting something that was cockroach infested.
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Estella Hotel & Apartments is situated in the heart of Limassol’s tourist area. Everything we could possibly need was within a few minutes walk, e.g. a bakery less than 20 yards from the hotel to stock up on things like drinking water, bread, cakes, cheese, cold meats, yoghurts, etc. Newsagents, souvenir shops, restaurants, bar, all within 2 minutes walk of the hotel. The beach was a lazy 10 minute stroll away, 5 minutes if you ... more

Estella Hotel Apartments is based in Limassol in Southern Cyprus where I stayed for 6 nights in late April/early May of 2009 with my cousin. The booking was made via Expedia.co.uk and worked out at approximately £200 for 2 of us sharing a twin apartment (just £100 each basically). Before I confirmed the booking through Expedia I went off and did a bit of research on the hotel to make sure I wasn’t getting something that was cockroach infested.

The hotel’s website, although fairly basic in appearance, made the hotel look pleasant enough and I sent an email to the hotel asking what amenities were included in the rooms/apartments. I received a reply in very clear English very promptly and then started a chain of emails between myself and the very helpful contact at Estella, a lovely lady called Helen (who was away in Australia during our stay). I was much impressed with the professional and friendly responses I received when I queried about things such as a fridge being available or iron or hairdryer and nearby shops and how close the beach was, etc.

Having read brief reviews online about the hotel I decided to go ahead with the booking, there were some negative reviews online but not as many compared to most expensive hotels and for some reason I already had my heart set on staying at the Estella, so I made the booking through Expedia, although the hotel said I could get 20% discount if booked directly through them (which worked out roughly the same price).

It was also suggested that I book a taxi to collect us from the airport via the hotel rather than try to get one directly at the airport as it would be at least 10 Euros cheaper as the airport we were landing at (Paphos) was about 70km from Limassol where we were staying. On arrival at Paphos airport on 30th April we were met by a very friendly taxi driver who grabbed our heavier bags and easily carried them to the car. The journey to the hotel took about 40 minutes and it was nice that the car had air conditioning as arriving in a very warm Cyprus early afternoon after coming from a rather chilly London was quite a shock to the system!

EASE OF BOOKING: 10 out of 10

On arrival at the hotel, we found the reception staff to be very friendly and attentive. The reception area was tidy and welcoming and my cousin and I grinned at each other as we checked in, thinking that it was already a good start. From what I understand the hotel has about 50 rooms/apartments spread out over 5 floors. Our room was on the 5th floor with easy access via a lift. I must add here that the lift was very small and I imagine a wheelchair would not even fit in it, so not exactly disabled friendly. I also noted that there were only stairs to the reception with no slope for wheelchair access through the front or side entrance to the hotel.

During our stay we found that the reception staff were more than happy to give advice when we asked about visiting places. Special mention to Alan from Huddersfield who works the afternoon/evening shift on reception who was extremely friendly and helpful at all times, even digging out bus timetables for us and giving us advice on how to get to various sites as well as which side of the road to get the bus from and what to ask the driver for specifically.

Of course, I have to add that everyone else we dealt with at reception was very helpful, it was no trouble to lend us an iron and ironing board and hairdryer for the duration of our stay and even to supply the correct adapter plugs to use without us having to ask.

The reception area also offers details on available excursions within Limassol and to places like Paphos and Larnaca as well as laundry services, foreign currency exchange and car rental service.

RECEPTION: 10 out of 10

There’s always a niggling feeling that a hotel won’t be as nice as their website makes out with photos possibly being airbrushed to make the rooms look nicer/newer. When we walked into our room we gasped in delight and my cousin said out loud exactly what I was thinking “It’s even nicer than the website photos!” The curtains were drawn to keep the midday sun out and when we opened them we saw a lovely little south-facing balcony with a round table and two chairs to sit and relax at (I understand that all of the rooms have south-facing balconies).

The room had twin beds which were pushed together – we soon remedied that by pulling them 1 foot apart with no problems. Each bed had a bedside table beside it with drawers and a marble finish. There was a table by the patio windows also with a marble finish with 2 comfy looking armchairs to either side. The TV rested on a spacious table (again with marble finish) with a large dressing table mirror above. The “kitchen” area was nice and clean with a fridge (with small freezer section) and 2 hob stove with plenty of crockery and cutlery to suit our needs as well as a kettle and coffee maker with an eating area with two stools.

There were spare pillows in the spacious wardrobe as well as two spare blankets. There were a dozen or so plastic hangers in the wardrobe for us to hang our clothes on and within the dresser there were additional drawers to put clothes away too.

The room also had an air conditioning unit which we didn’t actually have any need to use during our stay as the weather, although warm, didn’t warrant using the air conditioner.

The bathroom was rather average with the bathtub itself looking like it needed updating but nonetheless it was very clean. I was not impressed with the pressure on the shower head and found myself missing my super posh shower at home especially as the shower head could not be adjusted so one had to actually hold the shower in one hand which was rather awkward. The sink area was spacious enough for all of our toiletries and being 2 women on holiday we had a LOT of these!

One of the things I had read on a review of the hotel which slightly concerned me before arrival was that the hotel was noisy, i.e. guests coming back late at night making lots of noise. I am a light sleeper and was somewhat worried about this possibility but in all honesty I can’t say I heard any noise from other guests in the hotel when we were in our room throughout our whole stay. The only noise we heard was very irritating motor bikes late at night – Limassol seems to have lots of clowns who think it’s clever to rev their engines on their bikes at all times of day and night, this was a source of much annoyance for me even when we were out during the day wandering around the town.

All the rooms have direct dial telephones and easy access to reception by dialling 0 and satellite TV with remote control. Maid service was regular (6 days a week) and the maid was as charming and helfpul as the rest of the staff in the hotel.

ROOM AND BATHROOM: 8.5 out of 10 (1.5 points lost for bathroom)

The restaurant was very quaint and not overly busy apart from the first night we arrived. There was a barbeque on for only 12 Euros per head and the food was delicious and plentiful. Breakfast is a continental buffet style and costs just over 4 Euros and is available until 10am each day. There was a good selection of cold meats and cheeses as well as boiled eggs, croissants, butter, margarine, jams, a variety of fruit juices and tea and coffee as well as toast. If you want breakfast later than 10am you can order it as a plate of food although we always managed to go down before 10 so we didn’t experience the “a la carte” breakfast. The lunch and dinner menu is very reasonably priced, e.g. you can get a burger and chips with salad for around 5 Euros and a mixed grill for about 10 Euros which is very filling. I had a chicken burger one day but was not overly impressed with the quality of the burger but the mixed grill was fabulous. The restaurant staff also double as the bar staff and are all extremely friendly and efficient. It was no problem for them to explain items on the menu and unlike some restaurants I experienced in Cyprus I did not feel it was a chore to catch the waiting staff’s attention when necessary.

From what I understand during the summer months, the restaurants hosts a weekly barbeque which is extremely good value from personal experience of the barbeque we had on our first evening after arriving.

The bar had a good selection of alcoholic and soft drinks as well as cocktails at reasonable prices compared to other hotels I’ve stayed in. There was no time that I had to wait more than a few moments to get served as the staff were always perfectly attentive to the customers even when it was busy, for example on the last day we were there; there was a football match on and still the bar staff managed to be completely on the ball and serve everyone quickly and efficiently.

The bar area had a pool table which seemed to get used a fair bit and there was a large plasma screen for customers to watch TV in the main bar area as well as a smaller TV in the entrance area to the hotel which were we advised we could change the channels if we wished to whilst waiting for our taxi on the last day to take us to the airport.

RESTAURANT/BAR: 8 out of 10 (2 points lost for the dodgy chicken burger)

The hotel has a lovely swimming pool outside with deckchairs aplenty. Even at the busiest times there were deckchairs available, although being rather worried about sunburn we did not go out at the busier times which seemed to be between 11 and 2pm. We mostly went out after 3pm to avoid getting too much of the midday sun. The pool is very clean and there are parasols all around the pool in case you want to relax in the shade. The bar staff are happy to give your drinks in plastic glasses to drink by the pool for health and safety reasons. There is also an outside bar by the pool but this was not open when we were there but which I assume would be open later in summertime. The garden area by the pool and just outside the indoor restaurant is very pleasant to sit at and have a drink or meal in.

SWIMMING POOL/GARDEN AREA: 10 out of 10

Estella Hotel & Apartments is situated in the heart of Limassol’s tourist area. Everything we could possibly need was within a few minutes walk, e.g. a bakery less than 20 yards from the hotel to stock up on things like drinking water, bread, cakes, cheese, cold meats, yoghurts, etc. Newsagents, souvenir shops, restaurants, bar, all within 2 minutes walk of the hotel. The beach was a lazy 10 minute stroll away, 5 minutes if you walk fast! The hotel also has its own car park at the rear. Bus stops to all major sight-seeing locations in Limassol were also just 2 minutes walk from the hotel at the most.

LOCATION: 10 out of 10

Overall I can’t really fault Estella as we really did enjoy our stay here and not a single member of staff were any less than extremely friendly and very helpful at all times. I am happy to give Estella Hotel Apartments a strong 9 out of 10 and highly recommend it to anyone wishing to stay in Limassol for a few nights or more due to the extremely reasonable prices, excellent location and very efficient and friendly staff.

OVERALL RATING: 9 out of 10

OTHER INFO

The hotel’s website is located here: http://www.estellacyprus.com/

The full address is:
Estella Hotel and Apartments
3 Christaki Kranou Street
P.O.Box 52022
CY-4060
Limassol
Cyprus

Telephone: +357 25 321922
Fax: +357 25 314860 

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