The Ixian Grand — Hotel in Municipality of Rhodes

The grand Ixian is an adequate hotel which ‘gets the job done’ for what is expected for the price we paid (with and added discount). ||Staff- the staff are lovely and friendly and we have got to know a few by name. They work extremely hard and long hours but they are always smiling and happy to help any needs. In particular, a special mention to Mustafa a waiter for his attentiveness to us at dinner time. I didn’t even have to wait to ask for a drink he had already come over with them. Also a mention so a waitress who unfortunately I didn’t get the name for, who every morning greater us with a smile and was also very good with getting us what we needed. ||Rooms - The room we had was lovely and spacious with a good amount of storage for clothing etc… the air conditioning was slightly temperamental at times though. When we first arrived the room was extremely clean and this continued throughout are stay where the amazing cleaners would come in everyday. It was a nice touch to also have a new bottle of water everyday left in the room. ||Pool/beach area- I really enjoyed the pool area. It was nice and relaxing and the pool was a great place to cool down and relax. The only day we struggled to get a bed was the last day when the hotel started to get busier. Had we come later on in the year the amount of sun beds available could have been a problem but as we came slightly before the summer rush it wasn’t an issue. Being able to order drinks to your sun bed was also a nice touch and we did not wait more than 10 minutes for a drink to be delivered. The pool bar also provided good and quick service. The beach was adequate with the limited amount of space the hotel is situated on. We found ourselves only sitting there once due to this. ||Evening entertainment- I think the overall entertainment is an area that really needs looking into. The hotel at night feels more like a library or an airport waiting room than a nice comfortable place to sit. It’s empty spaces and outdated decor leaves it feeling cold and bare. I personally feel that the hotel has taken the ‘adults only’ to the extreme and only caters for older people and forgets that there are a lot of young people at the hotel. Although there was a DJ some nights, as he was in the pool area it didn’t really work for us at least nor did they really engage people round the pool to join in. The entertainment overall was a little bit boring and again focused on the older people staying. It’s a shame that there isn’t a more intimate area with a bar and on site Dj for a younger audience. You could also do karaoke there just something to get people up and having some fun ! I personally don’t come on holiday to be serenaded by a violinist (as good as he was) …. But maybe that’s just me. Although we had the option to go into the town at night which we did most nights I feel it’s a shame the hotel doesn’t really seem to care much about the evening.||Food - I have left the worst aspect of hotel till last. The food was an extreme let down for us and for other couples we have met here. ||Breakfast was probably the ‘best’ meal for us but I don’t think it’s takes much to get breakfast right… it was adequate nothing special and I think you need to make is clearer that you can order lattes etc… rather than just having the black coffee served at the table.||Lunch- again adequate but nothing special Alan’s very boring. ||When we chose Greece as a destination, we were really looking forward to the authentic Greek food at the hotel and experiencing different flavours of the country. Unfortunately, this is not correlate to what you served. I am used to all inclusives having ‘themed’ nights however the themes and selection in food you put on were very narrow minded and well boring… my girlfriend and I are not fussy eaters but it seems you have more or less catered to an ‘English Pallet’. I have to admit I was slightly shocked when I saw shepherds pie as an option on the first night …||The issue is selection and general quality of the food. The prawns over cooked and mushy, chicken always dry and just very odd selections of what food is being served. BBQ night didn’t have a BBQ in site ! It was extremely disappointing. And the worst part, barely any Greek food which I just can’t get my head around. ||Pizza was severed far too much and I think the reason you do serve it is because you know yourselves that the other food isn’t up to standards. Even when it was the Asian night there was still pizza and pasta… and then when there was an Italian night it didn’t really feel any different from any other night. ||It was extremely disappointing. The food at an all inclusive is the most important part. We gave up on the evening meals and ended up eating out most nights which has then cost us a lot more money then we intended . This in no way 5 star quality food. ||Conclusion - ||In conclusion I can’t recommend this hotel to anyone. The staff and rooms to not make up for catastrophe that the ends up being. ||This hotel is advertised as a 5 start resort but it barely makes a 4 with the food you are serving and it is an area that needs addressing immediately. I will also be leaving a trip advisor review with this as I do not want people to waste money . I was extremely happy that I didn’t pay for a more expensive swim up room as it frankly would be and even more waste of money. ||It’s a massive shame because the staff and grounds a lovely, but where food and entertainment is the main part of an experience you have really let...

Lovely welcome||Very late arrival so sandwiches left in the fridge. Although they weren't gluten free my partner said they were very tasty and were filled with local feta cheese and juicy tomatoes. ||Gluten free food: lots of choice-ask and they give you what looked like schar gluten free bread. Lots of gluten free buffet options that are clearly labelled with numbers as to what allergens are in the dish. For breakfast, I couldn't eat much but both lunch and dinner service had more than enough that I could eat with plenty of choice. The chicken gyros is a must!||Lots of local dishes woth plenty of vegetables and a good mix of meat and fish. The salads were also always different and interesting enough.||Rooms||Big bottles of water given out every day as part of the daily room service. They also have a fridge in yhe room and the all inclusive deal meant we got cola and beers stocked once in the fridge at no extra charge. ||All floors and surfaces immaculate. Fresh towels given every day for rooms too and there was free pool towels available from the quiet pool. Immaculate room, big king size bed (total upgrade from our double at home!) And really comfy. Rooms are cleaned every day as well and nespresso coffee pods also restocked on request. ||We thought originally thay a sea view room would be better. However, as these are the same side as the evening entertainment which was sometimes a little loud, we realised we actually had the better deal. ||Hotel amenities |We used the hotel for the sun loungers which had extra padding! Always a bonus! No charge either which we loved! They were also cleaned every day. ||They give you a qr code to download an app when you first arrive hotel. This lets you book restaurants in the resort (a Asian inspired and an authentic Greek one). Be warned! Book as soon as possible as bookings quickly fill up! ||We opted for the Greek one and the restaurant were very good at adapting the food for my gluten free diet. However, they didn't tell us that the non- gluten free starters were meant to be shred sp by the tome it got to our mains, my partner was stuffed. I tried the lamb thay was served for the main (adapted to be gluten free!) And it was lovely! We couldn't fit anything else into us by the tome it came to dessert so we left early. Im sire whatever it was would have been equally delicious. My best advice, arrive very hungry! ||The app also lets you order drinks from your sun loungers too! ||Theres a few local bars around the area as well as a few small shops all within a 5 minute walk. We felt it was nice but you could easily stayed in the resort without having to leave.||Staff||We also found that there was always someone in the reception area that would help you book trips out as well as being easy to find cars and bikes to rent in the local area. However,if you plan to travel by taxi then ask at reception early! You can't book taxis we were told so we had to be up really early to guarantee we got some transport into the old town. Speaking of, theres a bus stop at the end of the street that appeared to run regularly and apparently in Greece you can pay with both cash and card. We never used it but I have heard that they'e air conditioned. We looked at walking but google maps said an hour and a half at least and with my partner having damaged his toe, we decided not to walk this far! However, a taxi was only about €20 for a 15 minute journey and there was lots to see on the way especially the beautiful sea front. ||Entertainment ||The only thing we felt was slightly lacking was the evening entertainment. There were singers and bands on most nights but after a couple of nights we felt it would've been nice to have a bit more entertainment. No a complaint in anyway though!||Departure day||On departure day, we were able to check out by 11 and still had full use of the all inclusive package. Thia meant we were still able to eat at the restaurant, have drinks at the bar and were able to change in the hotel's gym too which had showers. A very big plus for us!||All in all, we would return in a heartbeat if we ever came back to greece! Thanks to all the staff for making it such a...

Our first room was 202. It was immediately apparent that the air con in the room was not working properly. In the morning we also noticed that the glass door to the balcony was stained, ruining our view. Plus the shower was broken and there was some unpleasant drainage smells making their way into the hallway and in the room at various points during the day. We went down to reception to ask for a fan and to get the shower fixed and mentioned the foul smells. The ladies in reception said that they do not provide fans as the rooms have A/C. I requested that they got someone in to fix the a/c. Later on their maintenance man arrived, fixed the shower and confirmed that the A/C was in fact broken and performing no where near good enough. He reported this to reception. 15 minutes later, they magic up a fan to our room. However, it was broken. The blades of the fan caught the metal cage making a horrific noise. I spoke with reception again and they told me there was nothing else they would do.

A couple days later, when signing into the WiFi, a survey came up which I filled in negatively stating the issues above, which they were already aware of. The next morning, we received a notification through the hotels app requesting we see the hotel guest relations manager, which we did later that day. She finally showed concern for our stay after racing a poor review. She then offered us a change in room to fix the problems.

The next day, one became available. This was room 114. The air con worked in this room, the window wasn’t stained either and there was no smells. However, the shower was broken in this room and the view was terrible. There was a tree blocking the view of the platform in the pool so we couldn’t enjoy the evening entertainment. The reception advised it was this room or nothing. At this point, neither of us had had a good night sleep with the heat and the noise from the fan, so we had to accept it. We had better nights sleep in this room but were left disappointed with the poor view in the evenings and the shower barely working. In addition to this, the jacuzzi bath we paid extra for in the room was filthy. There was no end of dirt in the jets when activated in the water. We felt like the service we received and the quality of the rooms did not equate to the price we paid for the holiday. Given how helpless we felt when advising reception of the issues with our first room, we felt we wouldn’t get anywhere if we advised them of the issues in this room.

Finally, in the first 2 days we were conscious of the staff suddenly wearing face masks. This unsettled us as the last thing we wanted was the become ill in a foreign country. We later found out that there was a sickness virus going round that had impacted a significant number of people in the hotel. One couple advised the reception told them they had 140 rooms in quarantine at one point. We tried to be as careful as we could with this, seeing how unpleasant the virus was and how many people had it. We simply didn’t feel safe. The lack of communication from the hotel and lack of health and safety precautions worried us more. The hotel acknowledged the virus 7 days after we arrived, 5 days after we knew about it. If this was mentioned sooner, people will have made more of an effort to protect themselves and other with sanitisers etc. Instead, there were people using their hand to pick up chips from the bowl and split the pizza with their hands. Thankfully we avoided the virus, but we avoided lunch multiple times and tried to eat as early as we could in the morning and as lasts as we could in the events to avoid the busy times. Along with the other issues, we feel that this holiday didn’t allow us to fully relax as we were scared for our health and it was riddled with issues you simply don’t expect from a five star establishment.

Upon reflection, we will not be returning to this hotel, or recommending it to friends or family and leaving negative reviews online. We feel the experience we have received from the hotel is inadequate for the prices...