Alexander the Great — Hotel in Zakynthos Municipality

We arrived at this hotel last Wednesday evening (7th sept). And upon first impressions, I thought “oh this is gonna be another Tenerife” (shocking experience in Tenerife a few years back). Anyway, we were shown to our rooms, and I was pleasantly surprised, we were on the top floor of the hotel with a pool and sea view, stunning! The room itself was spotless, modern decor, wall mounted television, comfy beds, furniture looks new, plenty of storage and hangers. It did state in the description of the hotel on the jet 2 website that there’s an iron and ironing board in the room, there isn’t. And no bottled water to get us through the night, but the water is cheap enough in the shop in reception. The bathroom also perfect for us, shower over the bath and complimentary toiletries. We had to pay for a/c, but it’s worth it! The balcony is a good size with a table and chairs, and a tempered glass barrier, the a/c cuts off if you open the balcony door, not that that’s a problem. Our room was cleaned daily even though we didn’t need that, but we would come in from the pool or the beach and the beds would be fresh, new towels and empty bins. The common areas of the hotel are also kept very clean, the bar/restaurant/reception area. There is a small “library” where you can choose your next beach read, (I left two of my books there, Lisa Jewell ones, so if anyone who read them after I left then there, I hope you enjoyed them, she’s a brilliant author :) ). The restaurant had a slightly tired look about it, but I think that’s due to the tables and chairs, they’re dark wood, but I think if they’d be white, it would really spruce it up. The food, I’ve been to many hotels all over Europe, and despite this being one of the smaller ones, I think the size and the amount/quantity of food options is just right, breakfast included cold cuts, fresh veg, boiled eggs, a toaster that actually makes your toast brown on the first pass is a winner for me! Good selection of bread, cereals, jams, marmalades, butter or margarine, friend eggs, bacon, mushrooms, sausage etc then pastries, drinks would be fizzy drinks, juices, tea, coffee etc, lots of fruit too. Dinner would be a selection of salads, bread, soup, meat/fish, pasta, sauces, pizza, chips, fruit, jelly, ice cream. Then the evening meal would be soup, breads, salads, stuffed vine leaves, meat/fish, pasta, rice, sauces etc, drinks would be the usual fizzy drinks, and red and white wine, deserts were fruit, jelly, macarons. The pool bar which serves drinks the whole day, also serves snacks (cheese and tomato/ham/) toasties and hot dogs served with crisps were also delicious. You wouldn’t go hungry staying here, there’s also a mini market inside the hotel for essentials like water, cold drinks, ice creams, lolly ices, spirits, beers, cider etc. the pool area is a good size, never had to put our towels down at silly o’clock in the morning, the only gripe I have about the pool area is the sun loungers are grim, they’re so low to the floor and a bit of a nightmare for my husband, who is disabled, getting off the lounger. There’s a small area to the side of the bar area where there are games (table tennis etc), which were popular. The drinks available at the bar was a good selection, the cocktails are lethal ;) but tasty! There are plenty of bars and restaurants just outside the hotel (country steakhouse is a must), Eden cocktail bar, captain morgan bar for food, cocktails, the most amazing alcoholic milkshakes, and the main strip is a 5-10 minute walk. There are also horse and carriage rides which takes you on a 10 min ride for €20, it was so lovely! The Greek people have all been really friendly and accommodating. And if you’re needing to hire a mobility scooter, Zante med can help with that, or there are plenty of scooters, quads and cars for hire. All in all, we have absolutely LOVED this holiday! Would we come back here? YES! This is our last day, we fly home tonight, but have amazing memories of Laganas. As I said in the title, don’t let the negative reviews put you off, your holiday is what you make it, and ours has...

This place is a shambles! I honestly don’t even know where to start!

HOTEL

The hotel is in a good central location; close enough to all the shops, bars, and restaurants but far enough away to not catch the noise from the strip. However, upon arrival we were greeted by quite an abrupt and grumpy receptionist who honestly seemed like she’d rather be anywhere else! She gave us the key to our room, number 607, which was on the second floor…however the lift only goes to the first floor so we then had to drag our bags up a flight of stairs. The lobby area of the hotel is quite nice with lots of comfy sofas and a relaxed atmosphere…although maybe a little too relaxed as there is also no security and there are large groups of drunk teenagers screaming and acting like idiots. Given this, I personally wouldn’t recommend this hotel for families. The pool areas are dilapidated and filthy! Cigarette butts litter the floor, there is rubbish everywhere from groups of guests that have apparently forgotten how to use a bin, plus many of the sun loungers are broken! We only spent one evening at the bar, and honestly that was enough 😣 watery, flavourless cocktails, rubbish music controlled by the barman (who chooses songs that encourage the younger girls to dance half naked on the bar…very creepy indeed!). I honestly saw more backsides at this hotel than I have in my entire life (and I’m a care assistant!!!); girls walking around in nothing bras and thongs in the bar area constantly…again not really for families!

ROOMS

To say the rooms are basic would be a massive understatement; we didn’t even have a bin in our room!!! Ended up piling our rubbish in the corner by the dressing table the whole week instead. Upon entering the room we were concerned about security, given that the metal door plate was bent and it didn’t seem like the door shut properly…seems as though the door has been forced or kicked in before 😳 We knew that air con was extra, but honestly when paying so much for all inclusive (especially when everything else is a such a shambles) it really should be included. The rooms were so hot we barely slept and spent many nights on the balcony at 4am to cool down (sleep was also elusive because of the noise from other guests!). Housekeeping was a joke! Towels and sheets only changed once during our stay so were filthy and cover in sand, floors only mopped but never swept (with two girls in the room you can imagine the hair 🤢), and when I asked for an extra toilet roll (all I’ll say is that I have a medical condition) I was told I couldn’t until the next day?!?!? Beds also unbelievably hard leaving us both sore and achy the next day.

FOOD/DRINKS

Despite paying for all inclusive, we ate out every night of our stay. The food ranged from delicious (the baked fish on our last day) to down right disgusting (weird grey coloured meat!). Food was very repetitive with the same thing being served for lunch and dinner on the same day; also not much selection for vegetarians. The same salad every day, although fresh and tasty, got really boring…as did the chips and pasta. Drinks machines also kept breaking so couldn’t get the overly-sweet juice or bland tasteless coke that was on offer. Cocktails are watered down and weak, as is the juice from the bar.

Overall, it’s such a shame because this hotel has so much potential! It’s a huge size and in a great location, with some areas being really well thought out and built. Unfortunately, many bits are in need of updating, plus the cleaning standards need to be addressed, as do the quality of the rooms. Our time at the hotel was ruined mainly by other inconsiderate guests, who run up and down the halls at 3/4/5am banging on doors and shouting. It’s not a place for families or for relaxing…if you fancy a place to just get drunk and hang out with a spectacular view of other people’s private body parts then this might be for you. Personally however I wouldn’t recommend this hotel, and certainly won’t...

Okay so where do we start here?

Well, an ‘all inclusive’ holiday that involved spending €800 on eating out due to the actually horrendous ‘food’ on offer here… we are not fussy by any stretch of the imagination but it seriously is inedible rubbish. The drinks (soft) are likely to lead to a diabetic coma & the alcoholic drinks are watered down to the point where it’s brewed by Robinson’s Squash. How can all 4 cocktails taste the same? The main barman is a creep and visibly makes the younger girls uncomfortable.

That’s just the food.

We stayed in room 523, room had a leaky pipe from the toilet, reported 7 times over the week, absolutely ignored the problem… then offered to move us room on the last night? Seriously?

TV had different channels everytime it was turned on.

WiFi a shambles, might as well not have bothered, it isn’t fit for purpose and doesn’t reach the first floor.

Bizarre housekeeping policy. Replace towels one day but not bedding, replace bedding the next day but not toilet roll, unmake a made bed then put blankets on floor. Leave empty toilet roll ends in the bathroom (whilst ignoring the leaking toilet pipe!)

No fire alarm/fire evacuation procedures in room at all.

No security. Allows anyone and everyone to sleep or sit on the sofas in reception, allows anyone and everyone to just wander in and around the corridors.

Flooring not fit for purpose as it just echoes people walking up and down the corridors. The room doors are not the usual heavy type so don’t allow for enough noise protection. Door lock often stops allowing key card to be read.

Air con charged by the night but a more adequate solution would be a damage/loss deposit on the remotes. €7 a night adds up! Bearing in mind it was still 27 deg at night it was needed.

Shower / bath grubby.

Cleaners just walking in to bedroom when still asleep?

Pool dirty and stinks of sulphur.

Staff A whole new definition of rude. Problems above all reported and ignored. Confrontational manager that would make even Cruella de Vill whimper in a corner. Incompetent owner / male manager who would give Mr Fawlty a mention in the King’s New Years honours list for services to the leisure industry. He seems to listen to your problems and do absolutely nothing about them. Other than allowing his dog to run around on the loose… bizarre.

Female receptionist overnight seems to be there every night, seems frustrated by the same repeated problems… but takes her frustrations out on the customers… who, trust me, are much more frustrated than you dear! Tried to claim sue couldn’t access extra pillows at night… or toilet rolls as the store room is inaccessible after 4pm. Ok. This then saw the extra pillow left in the room the next morning, after a conversation with Miss De Vil but saw towels not replaced instead? Like for like swap maybe.

Bizarre and frankly worrying policy of confiscating passports on checkin. Surely a better way to reclaim damage costs than this?!

The hotel is in a great location and it is a lovely building with masses of potential.

Never known a package holiday (whole) where you cannot even get a bottle of water in the daytime.

If you cannot afford or want to do the package holiday, then for goodness sake, do not do it. Jet2 should be ashamed for having the audacity to use that as a brand slogan… trust indeed.

We had a lovely time on our holiday, we do not regret going at all, but thoroughly believe that Alexander the Great translates in English to Alexander the sh**. We loved Zante and would never allow a hotel to ruin this trip, but all we wanted was clean, comfortable & nice accommodation. It failed on all and...