Planos Hotel — Hotel in Zakynthos Municipality

We recently returned from a 10-night stay at Planos Hotel, and I wanted to share a full, honest account of our experience. While there were definitely some positives, there were also several issues that stopped it from feeling like a true 4-star stay. Hopefully, this helps anyone considering booking. As a note, we have stayed in Greece more than ten times, we have stayed in huge luxury five star resorts and have self-catered so have a decent measure of experience.||First Impressions & Atmosphere:|The overall look and feel of the hotel is very Scandinavian, minimalist, boutique-like, and calming. It’s clearly been thoughtfully designed and gives off a peaceful vibe, which was exactly what we were looking for.||Food & Dining:|The food was consistently good. It’s largely Greek, with a good selection of meat, fish, veggie dishes, salads, and desserts. Breakfast was a highlight, offering a solid variety from hot dishes to pancakes, pastries, cereal, yoghurt, and fresh fruit.|The dining space is quite small, but it never felt hectic, which was a huge plus. However, after 9 days, the menu did start to feel repetitive. That said, there was always something tasty to eat, and we were never left hungry.||There were a few practical downsides, though. The dining room seemed understaffed, with tables often left unset or missing cutlery. We were never offered drinks at lunch or dinner and always had to queue at the bar. That’s not a big issue, but in a hotel restaurant setting, you’d expect table service for drinks as a basic standard.||Evening Atmosphere:|Evenings at the hotel were very quiet. The bar area lacked atmosphere, largely due to the flat, elevator-style background music. A funkier playlist would have gone a long way! We ended up going out every night to local bars for drinks and ate out on three evenings just for a change of scenery and variety in food.|You can also use the sister hotel across the road, but it was extremely hectic and offered the same food, so it wasn’t worth it for us. Fortunately, the location is great, with lots of bars, shops, and tavernas within walking distance.||The Beach:|Technically, the hotel is 150m from the beach as advertised but it’s not really a usable beach. There’s a beach bar with loungers, but they need to be paid for and pre-booked, there’s little to no sand. Instead, we walked about 20 minutes to Tsilivi Beach, which was beautiful with plenty of loungers, beach bars, and crystal-clear water.||Staff:|The staff were fantastic, friendly, hardworking, and accommodating. The girls behind the bar in particular were warm and really made us feel welcome. However, there was a noticeable lack of overall management or visible leadership on-site, which had a knock-on effect elsewhere (more on that below).||The Not-So-Positive...||Rooms:|This was the biggest downside for us. Every room in the hotel is 26m², which felt far too small for three people (two adults and a teenager). There’s a small lounge area converted into another bedroom with two single beds and sliding doors and then a double bedroom. The sliding doors did not provide enough privacy as the room is so small, so you could hear every movement. When we were all getting ready or moving around, it felt really cramped, even navigating around the bed was tight.|The decor is quite dark and brown-toned, which only added to the feeling of the space being enclosed. The bathroom had no ventilation at all, which may seem minor, but after a few showers in the evening, the space became incredibly hot and claustrophobic. It felt like the layout was designed to maximise occupancy at the expense of guest comfort.|We had a swim-up room, which was a lovely, especially in the afternoon sun. We often enjoyed sitting out there for a nightcap or using it when the main pool area became too chaotic.||Cleanliness:|Unfortunately, the cleanliness was the worst we’ve experienced in any hotel. Our cleaner essentially just straightened the beds, emptied the bins and left clean towels. Sheets were only changed a couple of times during our stay. The floor was never mopped, surfaces weren’t wiped, and there was noticeable fluff and grime in corners.|The bathroom felt particularly unclean, the shower screen was coated in limescale, and we spotted stains on the walls. After a beach day, the sand was still in our bathtub two days later, even after the room had been "cleaned." On top of that, essentials like loo roll and water were often missing- we had to request from reception. Cups were taken away and never replaced, which was frustrating when we just wanted a morning coffee.|There appeared to be no consistent hygiene standards in place, which was disappointing and unacceptable for a hotel in this price bracket.||Pool Area:|There are enough loungers in theory, but not all are well-positioned for sun, so guests were reserving spots as early as 7am. A staff member was telling people they couldn’t reserve beds and would remove towels, but he left at 8am, and people just left their towels anyway. Some guests were even sleeping on the loungers early in the morning to keep their spots. One woman told me she set an alarm every day just to claim a lounger!|Large family groups were reserving up to 10 loungers at a time, and there was no one managing the pool area- no lifeguard, no visible staff presence to maintain order.|The pool itself was incredibly busy and full of kids and inflatables. That’s to be expected during school holidays, but it’s worth knowing if you're a couple or a family with older kids like us or looking for a more relaxing poolside experience this probably isn’t the place for you.||One other thing, the WIFI is completely useless, if you’re relying on shows to keep the kids amused, I would download plenty on your devices before you arrive. ||Also, watch the electrics in your room, when pulling out plugs, the majority of the fixtures in our room came out with the plug which could be very dangerous.||Overall Thoughts:||Did we have a nice time? Yes because we made the best of it. The location is great, the food is decent, and the staff (while overstretched) were lovely. But would we go back? No.|For a hotel marketed as a 4-star deluxe resort, it fell short in key areas:|• Cleanliness standards were poor|• Rooms were far too small for families|• Pool and dining areas were poorly managed|• Staff were clearly overworked and unsupported|• The atmosphere lacked energy in the evenings||It felt like cost-cutting and a lack of strong management were at the root of most issues. The hotel has potential, but without raising standards and investing in service, it simply doesn’t live up to its price tag.|At its current standard, I’d say it’s a 3-star hotel charging 25% too much and you could probably get a better value...

We visited Planos Hotel in early August this year (August 1st - 8th, 2025). Honestly, it was a truly wonderful stay and we highly recommend. We are a young couple with a 18 month old. Having stayed at the Caravel (a 5* adults only in the same area - also highly recommended), 2 years earlier, this is comparable in terms of food, drinks rooms, service and overall style.||ROOMS|We stayed in a family swim-up, room number 104. We read to request room 101 - 105 and if you want sun all day from 9.30/10am, you really need one of these, ideally 102 - 104 to be honest! All the other swim-up rooms get some sun, at times (either morning or afternoon) throughout the day, but 101-105 are south facing, so all day sun! Others did have lots of shade, probably more than you would want. The room was cleaned daily and even when our toddler was napping, the cleaners came back when we were eating dinner - we didn’t even ask! Hard beds, but comfy enough, good air con, a useful divider to toddler can nap in the same room, but slightly separated, decent bathroom. I would say looking in other rooms near (e.g. 102, 103), they had showers and we had a smaller shower over a bath, but it was not an issue at all, in fact preferable for having a young child.|From the room, there is no entrance to the bar area and you need to go through your room to get to the bar (although literally 10 seconds), it means you’re wet through your room. A small gap in the hedge would be ideal.||FOOD AND DRINKS|You must go all-inclusive, the prices are standard otherwise, but it is so worth booking an all-inclusive. The food, at breakfast, lunch and dinner, was excellent. A huge range and great selection, cooked well, hot and suiting all needs, including our toddler. Her diet was quite bland most the week (as she wasn’t always keen on varied flavours, or was fussy on how the broccoli differed from how we cook it at home), but that’s our problem and nothing the hotel did wrong. She still had carbs, veg and meat. Breakfast was all our favourites. The scrambled eggs and bacon was delicious, as well as the pancakes and Nutella! I recommend the iced coffee as well, but you need to order drinks yourself from the snack bar (literally attached to the restaurant), they don’t do table service. I think this is one of the only differences between a 4* and 5* (eg the Caravel, adults only nearby).||POOL|As we had a swim up, and room 104 with sun all day, we didn’t use the main pool once. But it’s a decent size and I could always see spare sunbeds. Although people did get out early (8 and possibly before) to reserve, it didn’t leave other people without, being a small hotel with a small number of guests, there were plenty around. The swim up room was amazing, the pool was a good size, clean and modern and perfect for us with a small child. In fact, guests in other rooms (101, 2, 3 and 5) who shared our pool were often not using the pool. LOTS of inflatables lying around too from previous guests.||STAFF|I genuinely couldn’t praise all (except one) staff enough. They were so smiley, friendly, happy and LOVED our daughter, they were brilliant with her, not overly friendly or annoying, but kind, welcoming and happy. One female staff member on the snack bar was miserable (name begins with A) and when she questioned what you wanted, came across rude, but I doubt there was intent there, just personality. The waiters and waitresses in the restaurant were attentive and so lovely and all reception staff were really kind too. Cleaning staff were also really kind (weak English - not a critique, nor a problem).||CLEANLINESS |As mentioned, our room was cleaned daily and towels changed (without our request). The bed was made but not changed - no issue at all. Our bins emptied and floor clean. The bathroom wasn’t cleaned I don’t think (well the sink wasn’t), but again not a problem, it was only a week we stayed. As mentioned earlier too, even when we put our do not disturb as our daughter was napping, we found our room had been cleaned at dinner time (7pm onwards) - amazing service.||SISTER HOTEL OPPOSITE (The Admiral)|I wouldn’t use this is you like the vibe of Planos - although your all-inclusive wristband gets you in. Planos is much quieter, more modern and looks newer/cleaner. The Admiral has evening entertainment, Planos doesn’t have any, but if you’re booking Planos, you must know this in advance and expect this. We didn’t want or need evening entertainment as could go on a lovely walk every night, put our toddler to bed and sit on the balcony bit outside the door, with unlimited drinks from the bar. ||CALIBRE OF GUESTS|It’s a quiet hotel, small children, family feel, but not for shouting, drinking, partying, etc. Most guests respect this, including one wedding party. However, there was another wedding party of lots of guests and the men in particular, were drinking excessively, staff doing nothing, they were shouting, broke another guests lilo, jumping through hedges, wrestling, swearing and playing really loud music on a personal speaker. Although this lasted one day - it ruined the day entirely. It’s difficult, because guests understood they were excited for the wedding, but we all paid thousands to enjoy the holiday and this day was a write-off, no relaxing. We know of one family who complained to reception, however, although they spoke to them, they guests didn’t stop and the staff didn’t do anything else. It’s not the hotel for this. They also allowed their children in the pool past it closing, their children were really loud at 9pm and the parents sat drinking elsewhere. Just not the right hotel for this - go elsewhere.||OTHER THINGS TO NOTE|- There is no evening entertainment, so expect this|- This is a quieter hotel, so please, as guests respect this|- The toddler cots don’t have fitted sheets, they have flat sheets. If you have a younger child, for safe sleep, email the hotel who will provide the measurements of the mattress and bring your own|- The snack bar closes at 5.30 and dinner doesn’t start until 7, so with a baby/toddler, prepare for this gap of no food. Our toddler ate dinner at 5 from the snack bar, and then came to dinner with us and just had nibbles.|- WIFI - really poor in the room, obviously you come on holiday not to be on your phone, but it is annoying if you’re trying to research things to do, or upload photos. You can get signal, but on and off and mostly in the main areas.||I think we were unlucky with guests on one day (wish the staff did more to help), but overall, I’d highly recommend to all. Room 102-104 will make your holiday if you’re booking a swim-up and want sun. The staff and food, amazing, no...

Booked here with my teenage daughter for 9 days, hoping for a chilled, quality hotel experience. ||The pros: the staff are wonderful! that save the hotel in my opinion and you can see they are understaffed at peak times breakfast/lunch and dinner- special shout out to them as they really do work hard!|Rooms were refreshed daily and fresh towels were given :)|You can get pools towels each day from reception which is a bonus!|The hotel itself is a nice design, quite Scandinavian in design and very "chilled" looking.|The pool is a nice size and has a sloping gradient which is great if you are not a confident swimmer or have young kids. |There are lots of beds at the hotel around the pool and they are comfy apart from the ones on the the elevated structure..||The location is about a 5 min walk to the beach and of you turn right, go around the rock near Makai beach club, you'll come to the larger beach of Tsvilli- really lovely and lots of beach bars and a low shelf, sandy beach.||The Aqua Deluxe hotel opposite (main road) has a steam room and sauna you can use for free which we did most days, the massages however were expensive and 5/10 at best! (not obligatory but i fancied treating myself)||Cons:||Beds were being reserved from 8am by people putting towels down and leaving them for hours without returning, i noticed two beds left all day with towels on and no one using them and then holiday makers desperately walking around trying to find a lounger but all were taken, not great! ||The hotel hosts wedding packages (weddings are off site) but guests stay here for the wedding which is lovely but not if you want a quiet, relaxing stay. The bar was always overrun by wedding guests getting multiple drinks and food meaning lots of lengthy waiting for a drink/food order.||The food was mediocre, mostly cold unless you got there as soon as it opened but even then you were not guaranteed hot food and cold, dry fish/chicken really doesn't tickle the tastebuds also the food was very low quality mainly- chicken wings as a main? cod rounds that were baked to death and hard, hard potato wedges that needed a good 30 mins extra cooking time, salads that were lacking really effort and normally quite wilted, desserts were ok- try the orange cake as it was the best thing they had in my opinion||Breakfast was an array of foods but did have fresh bread for toast and eggs/fruit and yogurt so that was nice but only one toaster and that took 4 mins to brown your bread, not an issue if at home but when there is a queue of 10 people?||All in all, style over substance, more effort needed in the cooking department to create Greek cuisine and better quality ingredients, drinks on AI were pretty rubbish, sweet sickly cheap cocktails and very bland wine.. beer was ok for a shandy|No music around the pool, just a weird playlist lightly played over and over again in the main reception/eating area.. some better music would have gone along way!||Wouldn't book again for the price i paid, much better offerings out there I'm sure!|...