I didn't know quite where to place this review for this hotel so I thought this was as good a place as any. With a possibility of a larger audience to read.
What we booked with First Choice was a Fourteen Night All Inclusive Package at the Hotel Papantonia, Protaras, Cyprus in October 2004. The cost was £679 each for two adults and one free child place - if we flew out from Stansted but we couldn't have a free child place if we flew from Gatwick. Oh well, Stansted is handy only just up the road - willing to try something different - afterall a plane is a plane doesn't matter which airport you fly from.
This was our first visit to Cyprus as a family unit.
We flew into Larnaca from Stansted
with Thomas Cook at 09.20am arriving in Cyprus during the heat of the day and boy was it hot, a cool 31 degrees when you consider the UK was a cloudy day with a temperature barely just touching 15 degrees. As for the inflight entertainment they do provide it but you have to pay £2.75 for the pleasure of purchasing dodgy headsets but then when you have a two year old to entertain throughout the four hour flight - it is much better to provide your own entertainment. Our Airport transfer time was much less than stated in the brochure. We arrived at the hotel just after 5.00pm where we were presented with our room keys and our all inclusive wristbands.
The Papantonia is one of Protaras' better kept secrets and is well worth the three star rating. Our Studio for the duration was spacious and clean but the only downfall was the tiny wardrobe (and I mean tiny) in the corner and we lived out of our suitcases for two weeks. Other than that our room was fine - a small kitchenette area consisting of a sink and a two ring hob and fridge, a dining area, a sitting area and a bedroom all thrown into one. Our view from the balcony overlooked the back of the hotel which consisted of the two large swimming pools and two children's pools and the windmill feature in the middle, although if you looked sideways you could actually see the sea.
The All Inclusive Package was great and a must for families with young children. Breakfast was usually taken on the poolside terrace and consisted of fruit juice, full english if required or the usual continental croissants and iced donuts which were "to die for" and disappeared very quickly. Lunch was also taken by the poolside terrace and consisted of salads, and hot meats, fish, pasta and chips followed by desserts and fresh fruit if desired. Our Evening Meal was taken in the restaurant area and again consisted of soup, salads, hot dishes such as pork, chicken, fish and pasta. Followed by desserts and cheese and biscuits if so wished. Ice cream was also to hand if wanted. Children had their own special food corner. The restaurant held themed evenings too and the food was very plentiful. The hotel had one bar which was poolside. Video games and pool table area, one computer with an internet connection which cost CYP .50 for twelve minutes. A huge villa at the back of the premises houses the supervised playroom for the children.
The Animations Team that provided the entertainment on the complex were a little loud at night time and could be heard throughout the complex even if you didn't want to listen you didn't have much choice. They did provide good children's entertainment and a mini-disco most evenings finishing off with "The Court Of King Caractacus by Rolf Harris!". All entertainment took place outside and no doubt the surrounding hotels could also hear it. After sampling the entertainment within the complex for a couple of evenings we decided to find our own entertainment elsewhere within the resort and had lots of enjoyment in doing so. A word of warning - the animation team all seem to ride mopeds and did have a habit of parking them next to the stage and not in the designated car park area. Many of the younger children gathered around this point at night time just before the mini-disco, lots of them too young to have any road sense - and the Animations Team are old enough to know better.
The Papantonia is literally a five minute walk to the beach - not a major beach - a quiet sandy beach - not golden sand - more like demerara sugar to be precise. You can get a beach brolly and two sunbeds for the day for CYP 3.75 - we spent most of our time here as it was a really shallow bay and safe for the children to play on with not having to worry about them 24/7.
In Summary - the Papantonia was the relaxing holiday that we were looking for and since returning home we feel more relaxed and are looking forward to returning in the not too distant future.
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Oct 18th, 2004
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