Aldemar Olympian Village — Hotel in Municipality of Pyrgos

Myself and my partner stayed at this hotel in september 17-24th via jet2 |- hotel transfer was over 2 hours from the airport , we didn’t arrive to the hotel until 10.30pm, the reception handed us bags with sandwiches , crisps , fruit, biscuits, bottle of water and juice as the buffet had closed , we stayed in a room 726 which had a swim up pool which was amazing , it was shared with 6 other rooms, but the other holiday makers hardly used it so felt like it was our own , our room was nice and cleaned daily, clean towels every day and bed linen was changed once weekly , swimming pool was nice and clean, shower was nice and powerful |- 2 main of swimming pools which was quiet and you are able to use pool floats , no sunbed wars and managed to get a sun lounger anytime of the day not sure how this would be in peak seasons though , the hotel is situated right on the beach again plenty of sun loungers , water was lovely , warm and crystal clear , few stones at first but after that all sand , the beach was clean also , you can hire paddle boards , kayaks , jet skis , flying fish reasonable priced for one hour , on the beach has a beach bar and there was also a snack bar open from 12.30-5.30 |- food - |Breakfast as we had the swim up pool we had acess to the Olympia resturant but across the road was the main buffet restaurant|Breakfast huge range of cooked breakfast , bacon , eggs (boiled, fried , scrambled , poached) porridge , beans , pancakes plus your pastries and your ham and cheeses , selection of breads , bagels oh and also Prosecco |Lunch - selection of gyros , burgers , fries , salads , hotdogs , pasta and spaghettis and pizza all freshly made , fresh fruit and ice cream |Dinner - some nights was themed , fish night , Greek, Italian , sadly the dinner did let us down as the food wasn’t to our liking, as we holidayed late September the ala carte restaurants was closed for the season so only had the buffet restaurants to eat , the kids section was also a let down so if you have fussy kids they would struggle eg didn’t have your average chicken nuggets , pizzas but regardless they had pasta , spaghetti and sauce as a back up , fresh salads and for sweet treat your standard buffet desserts but had ice creams during the day and of an evening a cone or a small bowl also fresh fruit daily ||- entertainment had live singers each night , mini disco for the children , I believe there was a kids club for the children , they do have activities during the day such as water polo , darts , table tennis , you can check what’s on via the app which you download when you get there , where you can book the a la carte restaurants (when in season) , the spa and gym classes |- Cosy bar was nice each evening to watch the sunset|Can’t review the alcohol / cocktails as I don’t drink but you can upgrade to €2 for a top shelf drink spirits and cocktails ||Only negatives was the holiday village is secluded with no where to go outside the complex but if you just want a chilled holiday and happy to stay onsite and it’s perfect for you ||The complex is huge and enjoyed our morning walks to burn off the breakfasts and the gyros! ||FYI - no need to take beach towels as they are complementary along with a beach bag , you can change the towels daily by the main pool at selected times during the day ||- You can take bottles of water from the restaurants , they do have the water stations however the water wasn’t very nice |- Please take sun cream , the onsite shop was selling sun cream from €18 |- We brought our chilled bottles to keep our water chilled ||If you are eating at the Olympia resturant yes the sea view is nice but if you sit at the front be warned the wasps are very irritating so we sat further back in the resturant ||There is an onsite shop selling inflatables , snacks and drinks which was reasonable priced (aside the sun cream) |Also souvenir shop and a few clothes shops too |There is also an onsite doctor 24 hours a day |You can also hire bikes , scooters and go karts which was fairly priced |Has an indoor pool and a gym - the gym did seem a little outdated|Also has one water slide by the main pool ||If you have a late check out , sadly we couldn’t keep our room but they allow you to use the gym showers for a freshen up , check out Time is 12pm or if you’re able to keep your room it’s €15 an hour ||WiFi was very good and strong connection and could even use the WiFi on the beach ||Please ensure you have snacks or food for the airport and your phone is fully charged , the airport coming home was verrrry small and outdated with only 2 boarding gates , the smallest duty free and a very expensive coffee shop , it did sell baguettes , few cakes and wraps and a very expensive bottle of coke at €4.90 but had no plugs if you needed to charge your phone! ||Overalll the hotel was nice , can’t fault it , spotlessly clean ||Hope i covered all the main points as myself I always read the reviews prior to...

Aldemar resort na is a great resort, an absolute gem in the Mediterranean. It was our first vacation in Greece as we are usually traveling outside of Europe. I would like to give a detailed review, about the location, the resort itself, and split it into what we liked and what we didn’t ( which is very few). The location: when we were looking for a resort in the Mediterranean we were looking for sandy beaches, and we were looking into Spain and Italy as well as Greece. Originally we thought Greece only has stones, gravel and such for coast lines and beaches, like most of the islands do, but the western Peloponnes has beautiful sandy beaches. And the location of the Aldemar is on a perfect sandy beach, clean, crystal clear water, fine sand, ideal for building castles in the sand. The water was warm but refreshing, a perfect mix. Gentle waves or dead calm, simply wonderful. The resort: being a consultant for hotels and resorts worldwide I have seen a lot of hotels and resort, and naturally stayed in many. The Aldemar is for sure one of the best resorts I have ever stayed in. Is it a true 5* resort hotel in international comparison? No, not really, an equally rated 5* Hyatt or Marriott in the Caribbean or Thailand is certainly a full star above the Aldemar. But that doesn’t matter. Here is, where the Aldemar outperforms many other hotels worldwide - cleanliness, food and beverage quality as well as presentation, landscaping and design, and overall maintenance. And it is an incredibly silent resort. Designed and built like a small village, with a lot of narrow little streets it gives you peace and comfort. There are many beach bars and for the evening some restaurants and bars to choose from. The staff enforces dress codes very politely, but strictly (e.g. evening bar at the beach not for people in beach wear and/or wet clothes). I would like to point out the incredible friendliness and helpfulness of the entire staff. Special commendation goes to Maria from customers service, Aggeliki from the Olympia Restaurant and the two lovely ladies from the Ammos beach bar and snack bar! Thank you!

What could be improved: please, WiFi that works! The WiFi is weak at best, sometimes not existent. In the lobby is the best WiFi, but in rooms or by the pool it is hardly two out of four bars, sometimes no internet, it comes and goes. What to consider : unlike other resorts or hotels on Greek islands, there is literally nothing near the resort. No village, no town. You would need to hire a taxi to go some place and it still wouldn’t be much. We didn’t mind that at all as the resort is truly big enough for extended evening walks.

BUT: What we absolutely disliked: main season in July brings an awful lot of kids to the resort. We really don’t have anything against kids in hotels or resort, but about 9 out of 10 guests were families with kids under the age of 6! No problem at the beach or pool, but in the restaurant it is utter chaos. The parents let their kids roam freely, they hardly can see what is on the buffet but grab everything, with the same fingers that touched their runny nose before, and put it back(!!!), or they grab the tools and play with the food, destroying any arrangement of salad or sweets, throwing food off the plates. The noise level is awful and especially annoying when they play with food on the table and throw it around. Not speaking of running around in the restaurant causing turmoil when a waiter falls over them and the dishes and glasses drop because of the unattended kids. Strollers and scooters blocking the narrow spaces between tables. And, as parents nowadays know nothing about parenting anymore, they simply put a smartphone or tablet in front of the kids to keep them entertained. This adds terribly to the noise that is already found in a larger restaurant. The specialty restaurant opens at 7.30pm so most kids are already tired as hell.

I know that this is not really a resort fault, but it would be great if they could somehow manage and tell parents not to let their kids run around...

In general terms the hotel can be considered good, however not a 5 star hotel and given our experience not value for money.

We booked three rooms of the exact same type and the request of “next to”. Two of the rooms were next to and the third one was four rooms after. That made a bit challenging by itself to try to sit all together and enjoy sitting next to our friends.

Constantly miscommunication among the resort staff members. We made three reservations of the exact same type, each one of us received different color bracelets in the reception (for no reason), was told different things e.g that we can eat in different restaurants each one of us… for three exact same type reservations we received three completely different information during the check-in.

In general there is a lack of communication and information provided and almost for everything (that you have already booked and paid for…) you have constantly to ask and fight for it…

The room itself (swim-up room Bungalow) although was nicely located in front of a shared swimming pool has a moisture/humidity smell, had ants inside and has very uncomfortable mattresses (by no means 5 star hotel). The mattress from the one side was squeezed in (like a dump in the middle) that we woke up every day with almost a back issues. We asked for a mattress exchange and instead they offered us an upper mattress (to be placed on top) which practically didn’t make any difference. From the three rooms booked two of them had the same mattress softness and dumping problem (especially more intensive from the one side)

The communication from the hotel staff was misaligned. Different answers from different staff members on the same questions. Also differences among the behaviours of the personnel itself. Some people were knowledgeable and polite, some other people were agnostic and not polite.

Once we needed the resort doctor (hopefully not for a very serious check-up for our 20 months toddler) and the doctor was discussing for 20mins upfront with us about the payment (hopefully in advance…). Finally he told us that if we want receipt for the check-up and because we are coming from a country outside Greece (and we have insurance abroad) the cost of the check-up would be 250 Euros. This is a service provided and promoted from the resort and I am really curious how this can be allowed with this healthcare services and this behaviour.

The kids club playground has no swingers, no sliders for babies / toddler’s and had absolutely no Greek speaking personnel(!!). Needs renovation/upgrade too. We understand that this is mainly a resort focused on tourists from abroad and that is totally fine but to have so many hotel staff not speaking at all Greek in Greece is a little cumbersome.

Last but not least we had an (initial) positive verbal feedback exchange with the guest relation’s manager (which was somewhat a good sign for us that customer’s feedback is taken up seriously and they listen well their customers), however everything we agreed on the phone just stayed on the verbal promises and didn’t materialised. They have promised us verbally things which never happened. Therefore we are convinced that there is no feedback receipt and acknowledge mechanism (which you can clearly see also from the resort replies in the reviews here) We were very disappointed that after our phone communication with the guest relation’s manager nothing from what we agreed really happened and he didn’t even contact us again. Even after leaving a message to contact us during check-out…

The rooms were not 5 star hotel rooms and the behaviour / service from staff personnel was not like 5 stars hotel personnel as well and very different from person to person and case to case. The miscommunication for same reservation types, too Finally, for the total price paid (for a quite long stay) I would consider the resort in overall not value for money, especially...