Periyiali Konnos Villas Beach Resort — Hotel in Paralimni

The location (5-star), design (5-star) and concept (5-star in ambition but some issues in the overall operation) all make this resort so close to being exceptional, but it falls short on a few counts, and sadly that number has increased slightly since opening. ||Location: Konnos is among the most beautiful seafronts in Cyprus. It's a genuinely spectacular location and the photos actually don't do it justice. It's phenomenally beautiful and a top ranked environmental beach in the EU, close to the Cape Greco national park nestled between Napa and Protaras, which are both much busier tourist areas. A number of turtles visit the small beach every day from April to November. Over the past 20-years many smaller hotels have joined the legendary Grecian Park (5STAR resort at the top of the hill) and supporting industries local shops, restaurants (Spartiadis the pick of the bunch) and cafes (Grecos Bakery the best) have popped up around. There are also many uncompleted development projects (and you may include Periyiali in this to some extent given phase B of the development has never started on the car park opposite, temporary fencing around the water pumping station, etc). I understand this is due to ambitious exit price estimates for developers falling away since the clamp down on 'cash for citizenship scheme' has meant less foreign investment/to some extent burst the investment bubble for seaside real estate in Cyprus.||Design: The place is stunning. Everything about the design is exceptional, the functionality of the villas, the pools, the look of the properties, their cleanness, the garden areas it is all amazing. It really looks and feels like a luxury offering and ||Concept: The idea is phenomenal particularly if you are a family that want the benefits/convenience of a resort (daily cleaning, onsite restaurant, room service, concierge, security, concierge) but the independence of a private villa. Sadly, particularly during my second stay the resort doesn't quite offer what it sets out to provide here and falls short of expectations.||Issues with advertising versus reality: there are a few issues with the way it presents itself online versus what it really offers for example mentions of a business suite - there is actually a single conference room available for rental and when we went the operators were using it and the daily rate was exceptionally high so we ended up working from the villa. The fitness suite photo banner on the website includes a boxing ring which is quite funny as the actual gym is smaller than a boxing ring itself - they must have just used some stock images for this, coffee machines are in all the villa photos but you have to request these (then pay additional cost for each individual pod). ||One of the key attractions to a 'luxury resort' stay is convenience of an onsite restaurant and the first time i stayed the restaurant was incredible. We used it all the time to have dinners delivered to our villa, as well as lovely cocktails from the bar. This time the restaurant had changed from Aoratous Restaurant and the manager from the previous year (Andreas) along with some of the staff (in particular Yiannis was an excellent waiter) were not there any more. In fact the restaurant wasn't even open when we first arrived and we were not informed of this at all, which is quite shocking. Imagine turning up at a resort hotel to be told there was no restaurant onsite. Slightly more embarrassingly the concierge suggested that we download WOLT to arrange food... not quite what i had envisaged for EUR1,000 per night! The new restaurant Tetra did eventually open 6 days into our stay and the quality was much poorer and so was the value. One thing Cyprus is known for is its generous portion sizes, but don't expect that here. (ANNECDOTE: but here a portion of chips genuinely comes with 6 chips. We made the complaint to the waitress who said she would report back to the kitchen but we never heard anything back so savoured every last expensive chip!)||Presentation versus : I have an idea in my mind about what an offering from a premium 5 star resort is and although Periyiali meets it on many fronts (as detailed above) i found them to be very skrimping in attempts to upsell, for example washing machine tablets, coffee pods, beach towels all come at an additional cost where at most 5 star resorts you would expect these to be provided as standard. This was different the second time i stayed to the first time, which i can only assume is down to a change of approach for management to cut costs/drive profits. (ANNECDOTE: The best/worst example i can give is that after spending EUR 10,000 on a 10x night stay at a beautiful sea front villa, i was charged EUR 10 for not returning one of my key cards on the last day! It's not about the money, i just struggle with the principle of that). This sort of upselling/cost cutting is something one would expect this from a Travelodge/Premier Inn/other budget operator and really not from a premium offering. I also noticed that the cleaning which had previously been a daily visit from housekeeping had reduced from daily to 3-daily, possibly again due to the operator trying to reduce costs.||Service: the staff are top rate and very friendly and accommodating from the two gentleman who own the developer, all the way to the gardeners and pool maintenance. Everyone is so welcoming and it's easy to feel at home on the resort, they all have that Cypriot warmth that make this such a wonderful place to visit and stay. They have a whatsapp chat for guests and a helpful app and it all makes it a very modern and easy way to deal with issues or give feedback as it arises, which the staff do address to the very best of their ability.||In summary, the place benefits from possibly the best location the island could offer with close access to beautiful beaches, convenient amenities (only open in season) and the design and finish of the villa are phenomenal and the staff are its equal - a very lovely group of people. In these aspects the place is a genuinely 5-Star offering. The concept slightly falls short with a below standard restaurant and service versus other 5-Star resorts i have stayed at, some inconsistency with advertising versus reality and I would suggest calling ahead to make sure all of the amenities and conveniences you are expecting are/will be available during your stay. If you are after the look of a 5-Star resort you will not find much better than this but don't necessarily expect the feel of one in an otherwise a beautiful place. Slightly declining value for money between my first visit and my second visit and I would worry that this correlation could mean further...

This acommodation is a very mixed bag so I summarised everything into simple PROs and CONs

PROS very polite and kind staff Beautiful and well-kept villa with great swimming pool OK access to the beach (about 15 mins walk) Town offers great taverns and a nearby supermarket Free bottle of wine on arrival

CONS very unprofessional room service - took 2 hours and 2 reminding phone calls for them to deliver our lunch unprofessional restaurant staff - didn’t know which meals were gluten free and even asked us what we think (my sister has gluten intolerance) Only one working hotel restaurant during our entire stay Very small breakfast selection, one of the smallest I’ve seen (and if you want your egg anything but hard boiled you pay a lot extra) Air conditioning in half our rooms didn’t work, we had maintenance over twice and they insisted we must be opening windows for the AC to not work like that (we were not)

Overall this seemed to us more like a cool real estate development project...

Its location near the stunning beaches and nature trails offers an idyllic setting for relaxation. The villas are spacious and modern, featuring private pools, underground parking, and impressive smart house installations that add a touch of luxury and convenience.

The staff's professionalism and friendliness enhance the experience, with their attentiveness leaving a lasting impression.

There is a clubhouse with a restaurant (with direct to villa delivery), spa, fitness center, and easy beachfront access, making it a well-rounded retreat.

The beds were some of the most comfortable I had slept on.

The rooftop was a nice addition also however due to being windy during our stay we didn't use it. There is also a lift in the villa taking you to all floors from the basement parking up to the rooftop veranda.

It’s a perfect blend of comfort, luxury, and natural beauty.

I'd definitely recommend and would certainly want to...