Mitsis Rodos Maris — Hotel in Municipality of Rhodes

After waiting for about 15 minutes and paying the tax required on arrival we were then told that there was a ‘problem’ with our room and that apparently no other availability within the hotel and would need to go to their neighbouring hotel, 5 minutes down the road. This happened around 9:30pm and after travelling all day, it’s not what you want to hear! No further explanation was given about our room either. The following day when waiting outside the other hotel we were shipped off too, we noticed quite a lot of couples were waiting, so we weren’t the only ones! We FINALLY made it back to this hotel expecting to be given our room key as other people had received theirs, only to be told housekeeping haven’t finished cleaning the room. So there wasn’t a problem with the room, they’d double booked it! This was just the start! We then waited for 3 hours for our room to be ready, not a great way to start. We were offered a complimentary massage each as compensation which we took. Arriving to our room we noticed the rushed cleaning as the floors were still wet, we had a garden view bungalow, which was close to the main area and pool and also the beach. Don’t expect hot water for the week you’re staying! I understand that with warm weather you might not want to have a hot shower however, the pressure for a cold shower could take your skin off, whereas the hot water pressure was appalling! I unfortunately didn’t get a video of this. The balcony chairs were broken on arrival with sharp exposed metal, these were replaced very quickly with a quick call to reception. But how it wasn’t noticed by cleaners or other guests is beyond me! This brings me onto the the “planter” outside our room, which was bare (as shown in pictures) but did display cat poo!! We didn’t notice it until half way through our holiday that there was in fact cat poo 😂 We also had a regular visitor to our balcony every day, which if you love cats, you’ll love her! They are all quite friendly! Most of the staff are very kind and welcoming. However we witnessed on several occasions a few shouting at each other in the main bar area and outside bar, very unprofessional! And also some are very rude and not welcoming at all! Also, don’t expect a drink quickly if there’s an event on for that evening! Considering they have planned live music and events, they don’t anticipate the volume of people and lack of staff to withstand the queues for drinks. One night they actually stopped table service because people gave up waiting for so long, so everyone then went to the bar to queue and the waited for over half an hour! People then started getting multiple drinks at once to avoid queuing again, which in turn made it even longer! The cocktails are always half full or under and they just keep adding ice, they will also do this in front of you. The food was okay, lots of variety however we weren’t huge fans of the food there and we tried breakfast, lunch and dinner - we ended up at a nearby restaurant called Nosh, which I highly recommend!! We tried the Greek restaurant on site as that was the only one we could get a reservation for. The beach is so close it’s wonderful! However, again, the queue to get a drink is so long and they are quite slow! People were disrespectful too and would leave their cups and glasses and rubbish on the beach even though there’s allocated spaces to put your reusable cups and rubbish! You literally have to walk past them all to go back to your room. The towels go so quickly too that I would recommend getting one and taking it back to your room to dry and reuse as getting towels for the beach was hard! We were okay as we got to the beach for when they restocked them but they go so quick. They do have a pizza oven on the beach though which was very good, would definitely recommend! They also have toilets which is great.If you do go to the beach take a snorkel! We ended up seeing quite a few fish so close to the shore whilst snorkelling in the sea. Overall, I wouldn’t say this...

Ok so having just spent a week at Mitsis Rodos Maris thought I would put down a few points for those considering a visit.

Rooms: we had a room in the 400’s. Top floor of main building with a sea view. Perfect spot. Quiet and not far from all the amenities. Have a feeling families are all placed in larger rooms nearer the beach. Daily room cleans are hit and miss but the bed is always done.

Food: the buffet is decent for an all inclusive. Themed nights (avoid seafood night, it’s pretty boring and is mostly fish stews). Greek night was brilliant. Breakfast had lots of choice and the salads and fresh fruit and veg are really delicious. Chips, pasta and bolognese available everyday for those that don’t wanna try new things.

À la carte - you will need to book these via the app. Some people saying they couldn’t get booked. Just be organised and you’ll be fine. You get a quota so be aware you can’t just block book. The brunch was delicious!

Beach pizza was great. By the slice and was tasty. Had that once as I missed breakfast.

Pool - super clean. If you get out there early you will get a sunbed, however they do go quickly after breakfast. The main pool is 3.5m deep at its deep end. The shallow end was mostly full of families, as expected. There is also a smaller pool for those with younger children.

Drinks / bars - you don’t go thirsty. Bar at the pool, the lobby and at the beach. Little tip - after 6pm use the gelateria bar under the main lobby. The staff were amazing down there, nothing was too much trouble and there was never a queue. During the day expect to queue at the pool bar. But that’s pretty standard in these places. Local beer was not that great, however they use a lot of branded spirits.

The little coffee shop next to the mini-mart was fab. Try the Greek coffee!!!

Staff - all in all, they were great. At times it was clear they were under a lot of pressure and culturally, their managers had no problem shouting at them in front of customers. I had 2 examples of staff complaining to me about how busy they were. I think they were just venting their frustrations, however a sign that they would be better looked after.

Mini market - the mini mart under the pool area stocked dry good, cold drinks, sweets, snacks and sun lotion. There are also a few other shops selling sunglasses, hats and trinkets. Worth a look.

Outside the hotel - do venture outside if you are a little bored of being in one place. There is a boat to lindos for €15 euros return that leaves from the beach area and is a great way to see the coast, spend time in lindos and visit the acropolis. There is also a beautiful beach bar just down from the hotel (Mosa’s). Amazing cocktails.

Checkout - word of warning - if you can’t get a late checkout, getting a shower will be a challenge. We were told 24hrs before leaving that a late checkout was not possible and to come back to reception at 2pm on the day of our departure to arrange a shower. At the time of checkout (noon) we confirmed that we would like a shower (you must request this otherwise they seem to think you are fine to fly home sweaty and covered in sand). At this point our name was placed on a list and we reiterated our conversation the day before where we were told to come back at 2pm to arrange a time to take the shower. This was agreed by the reception staff. On arriving at 2pm we were told we ‘must shower now’ at the spa. On questioning this and asking if it could be later there was a flat no. ‘You asked for 2pm - later is fully booked’. To be clear, we didn’t ask for 2pm, we were told to come back at 2pm to arrange. So I now sit here, 6hrs before my flight having taken my allotted shower time that I didn’t ask for.

Mitsis Rodos Maris is one of the best all inclusives I’ve visited in terms of the food and wait staff. I would question the attitude of the reception staff who seem to care little about your needs. Especially on check out.

For those travelling as a couple, do expect there to be a large number...

We have just returned from an excellent week here. We really enjoyed ourselves! At the same time, I wanted to offer a review which reflected that we booked a five star hotel, which was priced accordingly.

The best things about the hotel were the food, drink, and hospitality; as well as the beach access and the baby-friendliness. The food really is excellent - the buffet is delicious, fresh, and varied. But the a la carte restaurants are what really made it shine, with delicious, freshly prepared food. Our favourite was the Greek restaurant, but the Asian and Tex Mex were also excellent!. I also thought the casual dining options (crepes and gyros) were great - fresh and tasty! The bars were also great, some really well-made cocktails, and overall good variety and quality. I also thought it was very handy that there are late dinner and early breakfast available for people doing late check-ins/early check-outs.

We loved the beach - access to fresh towels, sunbeds, and umbrellas, with pizza and bars on the beach, which were also part of the all-inclusive. We had some lovely days there!

We really appreciated that the hotel and staff went out their way to be so baby friendly as we were travelling with a one year-old. On check-in, they gave our baby a little bucket and spade, which was a lovely touch. The staff (particularly in the restaurants) made a huge fuss of our little one, which we appreciated and he definitely enjoyed all the attention! The staff were also very kind, making sure that we knew our baby was absolutely welcome, even if he was a bit noisy or made a bit of a mess while eating. Of course we tried to manage this as much as possible. But as all parents know - it can be tricky and we appreciated the reassurance.

There are a couple of things which stopped this from being a full five star experience for us: the concierge service seemed to struggle with certain asks, the room decor, the limited coffee available, and the sunbeds.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about the concierge service, because it was only a minor let-down. One of our planned day trips fell through, so we asked the concierge to arrange a taxi to take us to Lindos (a 25 min drive away). Of course, because we had our 1 year-old with us, we specified that we needed a baby car seat. At first, we were assured that this was sorted and that the taxi would arrive in three minutes. After 90 minutes, four taxis coming and going, and not being able to take any of them for various reasons, we gave up and asked to pre-book a taxi to Lindos the next day. We did eventually get to Lindos, but even the pre-booked taxi was 45 minutes late! We also had quite a lot of difficulty getting a corkscrew sent to our room. It just seems that these are things that a five star hotel concierge should be able to handle a little more smoothly, with less impact on guests.

The room decor was fine, but not five star level. It was quite bland, with some fairly worn furniture and fittings. No design, or particular vibe. Lots of bare walls with no art. This should be given thought to bring it up to a five star experience.

The coffee point may be a personal issue. But I am a huge coffee snob. And I found it a little disappointing that fresh espresso (as opposed to Nescafe bean to cup machines) was only available in the main lobby bar. It was not available at breakfast, the coffee shop, or the beach/pool bars. This is a detail which definitely impacted our stay. But I would also say that the coffee available at the lobby bar was excellent!

Finally, the sunbeds popped out of place when you put weight on them at a certain point, including when our one year-old sat on them! The head rest would pop up and smack you in the back of the head - I lost count of how many fellow guests I saw this happen to! Again, just a little detail that slightly detracted from our experience over the week.

Overall, we had a great time but there were a few niggles that made it feel a little less...