Grecotel Eva Palace Corfu — Hotel in Municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands

Grecotel Eva Palace (stay 17-23 August 2021)

This is not a 5-star hotel and we do not recommend a stay here. The main issues are: Inattentive and unwelcoming staff from check-in throughout the stay Wifi does not work (no internet most of our stay) Dated facilities Incompetent restaurant employees Hotel app through which reservations and services have to be booked is extremely slow and not intuitive Very noisy rooms - can heat all noises from hallways and neighbouring rooms; disrupted our sleep until very late at night and from very early every day Small gym which is a glass house without AC

Overall our stay was disappointing as the hotel has a number of issues listed above. Our experience in detail:

1. staff is not attentive and mostly not very friendly. It appears this is due to a mix or either attitude or poor training

2. check in process is poor as we arrived late in the day, yet our room wasn’t ready, and we were asked to wait for an hour without even so much as a welcome orange juice or similar. Whilst waiting we were also not told when the room was ready but had to ho enquire with reception

3. the hotel is dated and tired - from old worn towels and bed sheets, to chipping paint, to an elevator (the only one in the entire building) that makes outright scary noises and sudden moves while operating (I read on booking.com a guest got stuck for an hour)

4. Restaurant staff is incompetent and does not speak English beyond recounting the menu. In the A La Carte restaurant we were given a warm bottle of white wine, my glass filled to the very top despite an abundance of “that’s enough”s and “thank you”s and it took more than 30 minutes to get ice cubes

5. At check-in the ‘guest relations’ staff explains that guests must use the hotel’s app to book restaurant reservations and to book a slot for breakfast every day (saying it’s due to Covid restrictions). The app is completely dysfunctional and takes 5-10 seconds to respond and load a new screen after each action on fast internet; on the hotel Wifi it simply wouldn’t work

6. Wifi moves between extremely slow and no internet at all. I ended up using my mobile phone roaming during the entire stay. Staff wouldn’t engage when I complained about the internet connectivity issues

7. there is only one toilet facility other than in the guest rooms, which is underground and located next to the pool. It is a very long walk from anywhere other than the pool area and is disgusting to use in the evening during restaurant visit/dinner

8. Noise insulation of rooms is very poor (thin door and big gap between the door and floor (through which also an audible draught passed). The walls are so thin that we were hearing the family in the neighbouring room talk. Due to the open staircase we could loudly hear the clinking of plates and cutlery as late as 11:30 P.M. when waiters tidied up the restaurant

9. Sun beds both at the pool and on the beach are being reserved by guests with towels only (or even a newspaper or tube of sunscreen) and the sitting empty all day which makes finding a bed impossible, unless resorting to the same antisocial tactics. Hotel staff wouldn’t free up beds when asked, despite the official hotel policy that sun beds cannot be reserved (blocked) this way

10. No free water on the rooms. I’d expect one half litre bottle per person per night at any 5 star hotel

11. Most of the above points are unacceptable on their own; yet the hotel was also poor value for money, having been charged €450 per day for B&B

We did like the secluded beach that had a private feel. The sea is warm and calm in the bay. The hotel isn’t too far from the airport (25 minutes drive).

Overall we will not return to the Grecotel Eva Palace unless there is an operator change and a full refurbishment of the...

Overall, we had a wonderful week at Eva Palace and we would definitely go back. We were on the all inclusive/Comfort package and found it to be largely great value for money. | |Positives: |- The hotel itself and the grounds are beautiful, quiet, clean, well-maintained, leafy, and with plenty of places to relax. |- The rooms are big, generally very clean, and definitely quiet. The bathrooms are fab, and the aircon works great. |- The staff work so incredibly hard and are friendly, efficient, and accommodating. We especially loved talking to Maria at La Contessa, she is wonderful and so funny and charming, and recommended a beautiful wine that we adored.|- The beach area is truly the stuff of dreams, a sheltered bay with crystal clear impeccably clean water full of friendly fish, plenty of shady or sunny spots with an adults-only section depending on what you prefer, it's quiet and peaceful, even with plenty of children in the family beach area. We went there every single day. |- The food is generally fresh, flavourful, and varied at the buffets. We had one free a la carte meal in our plan, which we used at La Contessa which was absolutely gorgeous.|- As our flight was in the evening, we asked for late checkout and it was granted straight away. ||Negatives:|- The wifi is atrocious in the rooms. Strangely, it works perfectly well down on the beach and at the pool, but once you go into the main hotel building you're out of luck. We both ended up buying a Greek e-sim so we could use the data in our room.|- The food, while delicious and mostly very fresh and high quality, got a bit repetitive. I was surprised at the lack of fresh fish/seafood options given the location of the hotel - one night there was finally some fried calamari on the buffet and it was stale, cold, and swimming in oil. I also noticed that there signs indicating that a lot of dishes used meat and fish that was previously frozen, which I feel there is no excuse for in a 5 star hotel. I asked the chef why on earth they would use frozen meat and fish, and he made some excuse about seasonal availability, which didn't really convince me. ||Some tips: |- There is free shuttle bus to Corfu Old Town a few times a day, but it books up quickly, so if you want to go into Corfu Town, make sure you book as soon as you arrive. We arrived on a Wednesday night, and the earliest available slot we could get for 2 people was the Sunday morning. |- There is also a free shuttle boat service to the other Grecotel properties around the bay, and as advertised, you CAN use the beach at the Imperial - but the less-advertised reality of that is that it is a €50 charge for two sunbeds for the day... |- We found that people did get up early and 'reserve' themselves a pool lounger or beach lounger with their towels and belongings, but as we were there in September it wasn't hugely busy and we still always got a great spot that we were happy with later in the morning. However, if you are fussy about where you want to be for the day, you'll have to go down at least before 9am and reserve a spot. |- If you're having the buffet, go early to breakfast (before 9:30am) and late to dinner (after 8:30pm), when it's quieter. |- If you're on the Comfort Package, your package extends to 5pm on the day you check out, so you can comfortably book an evening flight and you will be able to get lunch/drinks/snacks until you leave. |- The hotel is full of stairs everywhere from the entrance to the beach. If you have any elderly people or those with mobility issues, there will be parts of the hotel they won't be able to access easily. There are lifts, but they are very slow and only cover the actual main...

We didn't go to Eva palace to find fault but after so many issues and being the worst holiday I've ever been on,it's like going back in time to the 90s for the most part.||You can see this hotel has had some investment just not enough.||felt like a 3* with a 5* reception area.||||We wondered if it was Greece's answer to 5* as Corfu feels somewhat behind the developed world but after seeing the other 5* sister hotel we realised this hotel is just dated||Upon arrival we found Pubes in bed along with a large yellow stain Had to change the bed ourselves as staff wouldn't do it at 1am as it wasn't his job||Hairs on floor,sinks,bath upon arrival||||We were given a makeshift room for 3 only suitable really for two, clearly just been rearranged alittle but this left no where to plug kettles & coffee machine in other than the floor walkway we asked for a little table as it was in a dangerous place he didn't bring as it wasn't his job, told us to ask someone else🤷||Some lights didn't work in the room||TV had poor signal (2 channels available)||Room was set for 2 not 3 missing glasses,cups,coffee, slippers and dressing gown etc||the third set didn't arrive even though we asked||Half bottles of body lotion left from previous guests usage||Overall finish of room is tired||||Entertainment was poor||||Rude shopkeeper .||The shop was closed when we wanted to use during normal opening times no reason given.||Shuttle bus unavailable for most of the times we requested as it's complimentary it books up instantly for the week||taxis ordered through the hotel are more expensive than the standard cabs we were getting charged nearly double||||Two tiny lifts only holding a few people servicing 6 floors and a whole load of outdoor villas, waits were sometimes 10+ minutes to use,we were on the top floor so wasn't walkable for me,it became a joke so we timed it||Nearly cut my foot around pool on many broken tiles||We were given a new room after a few days and a free meal in the a la carte restaurant for the inconvenience,we left most of this as it was either tasteless, burnt or cold||The new room was better,but certainly not good,many of it's own problems similar to above.||The food in the buffet restaurant was mostly good||Doesn't have 5* amenities,it's night and day when you see the 5* sister hotel 5 minutes walk away it has a better finish,more to offer eg we had a shop selling Cornettos they had a Gelataria serving speciality ice creams 😂||Loads of the facilities offered on there app are off site at other hotels.||A car is a must in this resort,get the mega insurance package||||We wanted to go home on day 4 as we'd had enough of this hotel||Good bye to Eva palace and good riddance||||Rooms||Old tired rooms from 1996||||Nearby activities||The airport home||||Safety||Many broken tiles around the place,fire doors don't close||||Walkability||Not disability friendly loads of stairs often slippy Miles from anywhere||||Food and drinks||Do yourself a favour and eat at barbacoa in dassia, much better in every aspect.||||Mixed quality ||Breakfast Buffet overall is fairly good , quite alot of basic items.||some items straight from a box like bakery items.||Waited around alot for particular items often while the rest of my breakfast went cold ||Ala carte awful||Evening buffet good but overpriced for what is available €55 per person, we had overcooked salmon and dry pork chops one particular night,but most of the basic salad items etc were acceptable buffet items||Definitely not five star food though||||Hotel highlights||Great...