Towards the end of April 2001 we booked a late availability all-inclusive one-week holiday in Zante departing on 10th May. The holiday was advertised on teletext for £189 flying from Manchester Airport. After we had paid the booking fee, transfers etc. we paid £214 each. The flight from Manchester to Zante takes 3 hours 25 mins (the journey from my home in North Norfolk to Manchester Airport took 4 hours!).
We would be staying at the 2 star Hotel Alexander the Great in Laganas (Hotel Alexander, for short). This hotel is exclusively used by JMC guests and offers self-catering facilities as well as an all-inclusive option.
Zakinthos (also known as Zante) is the third largest of
the Ionian Islands after Kefalonia and Corfu. It is situated off the west coast of Greece and is no more than approx. 30km from the mainland.
We had booked the holiday with the intention of having a much needed break; getting away from the stresses and strains of everyday living and relaxing in the sun.
After booking the holiday, I had heard that Watchdog had investigated this Hotel after allegations relating to hygiene standards. Amongst other things, a member of staff had apparently cut himself rather badly, blood had dripped in the restaurant and it was still there a week later!
So husband and I went with fairly low expectations as far as the Hotel Alexander was concerned. We had decided that if we did not like the food, we had not paid a lot, so we could afford to eat elsewhere; and use the hotel as a base only – somewhere to sleep. Oh well, it was a cheap holiday, what the heck!
A short journey from the Airport, the Hotel is situated in a quieter area of Laganas away from the massive hive of commercialism, which consists of noisy bars, restaurants, snack bars and shops. Ideal if you are aged between 18 and 30; but even when I got tarted up to go on the town at night, I felt like someone’s granny! All these slim young things in skimpy clothing. Oh to be young again!
It is a 5-minute walk from the Hotel to the beach; the nearest shops, restaurants and bars are only a few minutes walk away.
The Hotel offers a large swimming pool, with the surrounding area chocker-blocked with sunloungers. There is a small circular pool for children plus a supposedly ‘adults only’ pool.
The restaurant offered buffet style meals. It was immediately obvious that insufficient staff were available to cope with the sheer volume of all-inclusive guests. Some of the members of staff were working 11 hours each day.
Breakfast consisted of a choice of orange squash, bread, sliced processed meat and cheese, cereal, jam, tea and coffee, and very occasionally hard-boiled eggs. Isn’t it always the largest lady (who could have done with missing a few meals) who complains about the lack of a ‘full English breakfast’? However, as she paid £505 for the week, perhaps she was entitled to complain.
Lunch in the restaurant could be taken from 12.30 until 2.00pm and dinner from 7.30pm to around 9.00pm. Although the restaurant was spacious, very often all the tables were occupied or if you wished to dine after 8.30pm they were piled high with dirty crockery and cutlery, uneaten food etc. Generally, there was plenty of food and it was of a good standard. Personally, I liked the salads that were available.
A snack bar near the pool provided alcoholic beverages when the main bar was closed and snacks such as burgers and chips at lunchtimes, plus tea, coffee etc. and ice cream in the afternoons. Why is it that some people were ordering bacardi and coke at 10.30 in the morning? Would they be knocking back the booze at this time at home?
The Hotel offered a large lounge and bar area. After dinner in the restaurant, we very often went for a walk along the beach or into town. When we returned to the Hotel at around midnight, it had the atmosphere of a working man’s club (not that I have been in too many, you understand) – a smoke filled room, very noisy, ashtrays piled high, tables covered with half empty glasses, nowhere to sit. At this point, we usually retire to bed.
Entertainment was provided most evenings in the lounge – karaoke, general knowledge quiz, 1960’s and 70’s music quiz (we nearly won this!) and a Miss Alexander competition. On other evenings and sometimes during the day too, football matches could be watched on a large screentelevision.
The hotel accommodation was basic but clean; twin beds with a separate toilet and shower and a balcony. I complained because the towels were not regularly changed; after this they were changed daily.
Our room was on the ground floor and at the end of a long corridor. It was very noisy at night and in the early hours of the morning, when the gangs of lads (and lassies) staggered back to their rooms.
Please do not get the impression that we did not like Zante itself – we loved it –so, if you do not mind, I will give my opinion ‘Swimming with the loggerhead turtles’ a plug here. This opinion, as the category says, covers the Hotel Alexander the Great in Zante.
~~Janna’s Verdict~~
I would not have been happy if I’d paid the full price for a week’s stay at this Hotel. A few people were very dissatisfied, but you have to bear in mind that it is only a 2 star Hotel, so what do they expect?
For the most part Hotel staff are friendly and helpful.
It is fine to use as a base for turtle watching and exploring the island.
********************
Incidentally, the reader of this opinion may be asking where the title ‘Do you have tattoos, drink a lot and watch football?’ comes from. Whilst on the beach we made friends with a Dutch gentleman who was of the opinion that the English have tattoos, drink a lot and watch football. I thought that this pretty much sums up the clientele of the Hotel Alexander the Great in Laganas (and I don’t just mean the men!)
Janna
~* additional information *~
This Hotel is available from JMC only (part of the Thomas Cook group):
www.thomascook.co.uk
or telephone 08705 666 222 Lines are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
very helpful by (98%):
not helpful by (2%):
