My review is not about Rhodes, in general, but rather one particular resort we had the misfortune to stay in.

We took a late evening flight out to Rhodes direct from London Gatwick and arrived at the Rodos Village Mitsis around 3.15am. The hotel was deserted save for two reception staff and so the scrum to the front of the queue started, with a plane-load of tired holidaymakers - mostly families with small children - desperate for their beds. There were limited seating facilities in the very grand foyer - designed mainly for aesthetic appeal rather than functionality - and there were no welcome drinks (even a glass of water would have been much appreciated after the journey from the airport).

Luckily my son & I were one of the first families to check-in; we then had to find our way 'through the maze of the hotel to find our room. The lift next to reception didn't work so we trudged up two flights of stairs with heavy cases, not really sure where we were heading as instructions from the reception staff were hurried and vague. The stairwells echoed chronically and as we reached the second floor, we realised we could hear other holidaymakers making their way up the back of the hotel to the chalets. The corridors were very clean, pristine white, yet we were very self-conscious of the noise our shoes were making (carrying our suitcases because of the echoes).

We got to our rooms which were very clean. The room felt very cold but we were unable to fathom out how to make the aircon units throw out anything other than freezing cold air and there were no tea/coffee facilities. We climbed into our beds and shivered under the one blanket provided and tried to fall asleep despite the bangs and crashes from our fellow holidaymakers making their way across/through the hotel to their own rooms.

Breakfast the next morning was a lovely affair and our waitress was very helpful, despite the sea of grumpy faces around her. The food was of a good standard and we ventured our way out to explore the resort more fully. We walked down to the beach first of all - and that was a shock. The resort had not yet cleaned up the beach from the winter debris so it was full of glass and rubbish bought up by the seas. The beach bar was not up and the watersports were not available - neither were they for the duration of our week stay, which was the primary reason for my son and I choosing the Rodos Village Mitsis!

We soon realised that Rodos Village was certainly not all it made out to be. The majority of the bar staff were surly and no matter how hard you tried, you could not get served in the evenings without waving euros under their noses (with the exclusion of one lovely blonde barmaid, who was always smiling and very helpful). They also ran out of the most popular spirits/liqueurs and stocks were not replenished during our stay.

The entertainment - for both the children and the adults and night - was, in our opinion, very poor. The entertainments manager seemed far more concerned with his own image than our evening entertainment yet his staff did their very best to keep us cheerful, despite the inclement weather and the fact the hotel was permanently cold. One morning, a regular morning "class" was cancelled by the pool bar because (reportedly) the entertainments staff had had a late night, leaving lots of little glum faces.