Konstantinos Palace — Hotel in Municipality of Karpathos

This time, we chose the beautiful Greek island of Karpathos for our vacation and stayed at the Konstantinos Palace Hotel in a quiet bay. Upon arrival at the hotel, we were warmly welcomed by the receptionist and given a chilled towel to refresh ourselves. We were a little disappointed that other clients from other travel agencies received a welcome drink, but unfortunately, the Czechs did not. We had to wait two hours for our accommodation, so at least we could go for breakfast. After two hours, we were finally able to check into our rooms.

Room: Our double room with a side view of the sea was nice, clean, and had a sufficient view of the sea. The bed was comfortable, but quite small for two people, and my husband and I were constantly bumping elbows. In a five-star hotel, I would expect a king-size bed, not a 160 cm bed. The bathroom was nice, but it was a bit worn and there was no door to the shower. A shower curtain was installed, but it didn't stop the water from the shower, so it was all over the bathroom. The bathroom cabinet was falling apart, as was the bathtub (a massage tub, but we didn't try it due to its condition). Our room also had a large terrace, but it could have had larger and more comfortable seating instead of two small chairs and a wobbly table. The room was cleaned perfectly, with clean towels and sheets every day and everything tidied up nicely.

Hotel: The hotel lobby was neat and clean. The reception desk was always open, and the staff were always friendly and smiling. We were pleasantly surprised to find that many of the staff were from Asia, but they were all very friendly and helpful. The hotel has only one restaurant, although it is advertised as having two, one buffet and one à la carte. We couldn't find the second one. There is also a small shop in the hotel, but there is not much in it, and the opening hours are also strange (8am-2pm and 6pm-??). The hotel has three outdoor pools, which were beautiful, clean, and had perfect views. The sun loungers were always available and comfortable. The same was true on the beach, where you could always find a free spot to lie down. Every day, the beach was tidy, raked, and clean. On the very first day, we were thrilled that there was a QR code on each umbrella for the beach menu and two employees who brought your orders, but it's a shame that you can't order and pay directly via the QR code, it would be easier. The drinks and beach food were fantastic. They really didn't skimp on us, the cocktails were strong, and their Club Sandwich with fries was the most delicious. However, the same cannot be said about the dinners at the hotel restaurant. The food was bland, cold, and the selection was quite limited. I missed having a wider selection of food for children (the same spaghetti and tomato sauce every day). Every day there was a different world cuisine, which was far from the original. The shrimp was overcooked, the moussaka was cold, and the desserts were always the same, as if we were in Tunisia.

One big downside to this hotel was that they gave preference to Italian guests. The entire program was designed just for them. The hotel entertainment was for Italians, and since we didn't have a blue wristband, no one paid any attention to us. We would definitely not give the hotel 5 stars, 4 stars at most. Nevertheless, we are grateful that we were able to visit Karpathos and experience the atmosphere of this beautiful island, where everyone is friendly...

First of all, this is not a 5* hotel. By Greek standards perhaps, but by any other international standard not more than 3*.

But that said the overall experience of our stay was positive and since I did read the reviews beforehand, I knew what to expect. But the hotel should aim to do better in many many small things and thus I only rate this 3/5.

The rooms in the new area of the hotel are in good condition and most of them have a clear ocean view. However some rooms in the corner might have the view blocked by the old part of the hotel.

The hotel is plainly geared towards Italian groups and this shows everywhere. This did not bother in any way though, but be aware.

Breakfast was usually very crowded but was reasonably stocked.

A laughing matter in this so-called 5* hotel is that there is for example no fresh orange juice at breakfast, but just the most cheapest vending machine that is 99% fake essence. Or actually there is but with an extra cost. Ridiculous.

There are two pool areas to choose from and they were usually always crowded but you could still find a sunbed once in a while. The beach area in front of the hotel was larger and usually had more space.

Some other thoughts: Aircon worked well and room was cool. The rooms in the new building section were clean, everything working and good condition (only one year old). Breakfast was reasonably well appointed although usually very busy, but the juice selection is a joke among other things.

Some negatives:

WiFi did not work at all in the room during the entire week; there simply was no reception / no signal at all in the new area of the building (meaning a poor installation).

WiFi in public areas is ridiculously slow; not possible to use anything more than emails or other simple stuff.

No bathrobes or slippers in the room.

Only one drinking glass in the room (plastic mugs(!!!) obtained later from bar but they were not allowed to give out normal glasses?!).

No basic extra amenities like water bottles, water boiler, extra pillows or coffee makers in the rooms what you'd expect from a "better" hotel.

I state again, this is nowhere near to a 5/4 hotel, and no luxury to be found anywhere, but still is okay for a "no-surprises" stay for the holiday where the basic...

Inizio subito dicendo che sono davvero stupita di alcune recensioni particolarmente negative. Io e mio marito abbiamo trascorso qui la seconda settimana di settembre che è stata semplicemente fantastica. Comprendo che probabilmente il gradimento di un hotel e della vacanza dipendono moltissimo dal tipo di camera assegnata e dal fatto di avere avuto inconvenienti o meno. Ovviamente la risposta dell’hotel agli inconvenienti fa la differenza. L’hotel è ubicato nella baia di Pigadia ad un quarto d’ora a piedi dal vivace paese che è anche la capitale dell’isola. L’hotel è considerato un 5 stelle secondo gli standard della Grecia. Non pensate di trovare gli stessi servizi di un 5 stelle in Italia ma nemmeno come ho letto in alcune recensioni tre o due stelle. Quando leggo che i servizi non sono da 5 stelle ma il prezzo si, mi chiedo se davvero chi scrive ha idea di quanto possa costare un 5 stelle in Italia affacciato su una baia come questa. Il personale è preparato ma forse un po’ poco “client oriented”. Rispondono alle tue richieste ma senza mai metterci qualche cosa in piu’ e spesso sono molto “rigidi”. Ad esempio se con il volo dall’Italia arrivi in hotel dopo le 21,00 e il ristorante è già chiuso, anche se avresti diritto alla cena, non è possibile mangiare nemmeno un toast. Se hai la pensione completa e decidi di trascorrere tutta la giornata in giro per l’isola non è prevista la preparazione di un lunch-box. Diciamo che, da questo punto di vista, possono migliorare. Purtroppo Veratour non ha nessuna possibilità di intervenire in queste dinamiche ed è un peccato. L’atrio è molto luminoso e spazioso, ci sono tre piscine di cui una salata a sfioro con una vista mozzafiato e una sul tetto dell’albergo dove gustare un drink al tramonto è davvero piacevole. Effettivamente nei corridoi sui quali si affacciano le stanze e nell’ascensore non è presente l’aria condizionata ma tenendo conto di quanto tempo si trascorre in questi luoghi, lo considero anche una scelta sensata dal punto di vista del risparmio energetico. A noi è stata assegnata una stanza al secondo piano che affaccia direttamente sulla piscina principale e sulla bella baia con una vista spettacolare. Stanza molto ampia con letto king size, bagno con vasca idromassaggio e doccia con getti multipli, terrazzo con due belle poltrone dove godersi il panorama gustando un caffè preparato con il bollitore presente in stanza. Ciabatte e accappatoio in dotazione. Cambio asciugamani quotidiano e anche cambio lenzuola molto frequente. Sulla pulizia non ho assolutamente nulla da dire. E anche la stanza era davvero bella. C’è una nuova ala inaugurata da pochi anni che ha delle stanze nuovissime ma molto meno spaziose di quelle del corpo centrale dell’hotel e sono sempre in ombra quini personalmente le sconsiglio. La spiaggia davanti all’hotel è di sabbia con ciotoli sul bagnasciuga. Consiglio quindi,per agevolare l’accesso in acqua l’uso di scarpette. Il mare è molto pulito e limpido ed è possibile fare anche lunghe nuotate. A settembre la temperatura dell’acqua era perfetta. Ci sono ombrelloni a sufficienza per tutti gli ospiti dell’hotel , ben distanziati fra di loro, con lettini dotati di materassini molto comodi. Nota negativa dei lettini non hanno il parasole per leggere e sono abbastanza pesanti da spostare (penso dipenda dal fatto che in queste isole spesso c’è vento e i lettini pesanti sono piu’ stabili). Nella settimana in cui siamo stati noi anche arrivando in spiaggia alle 9,00 abbiamo sempre trovato posto in prima fila. Solo come info : il sole tramonta dietro l’hotel e a settembre, in molte zone della spiaggia, c’è l’ombra dopo le 17,30 . Il ristorante è a buffet e sinceramente, nonostante io sia abbastanza schizzinosa, ho sempre mangiato senza difficoltà. Certo non parliamo di uno stellato ma penso che non sia corretto parlare di...