Charmillion Gardens Aqua Park

Unfortunately, our experience at Charmillion Gardens Aquapark was very disappointing, especially considering that we are not particularly demanding guests.

Breakfast was awful. I love cheese and, at every other resort we have visited, there has been a reasonable selection. Here, the cheese was practically inedible. The choices were mainly omelettes, a poor attempt at pancakes, no more than two types of cold meat and some very unappealing baked beans.

Lunch and dinner were slightly better, but still repetitive. Although the dishes appeared different, it felt as though the same food was simply rearranged and served again. Chicken, fish and beef were usually prepared in similar ways. The roast beef was consistently raw inside, so during our seven-day stay I mainly ate chicken because I do not like fish. Duck was available only once and prawns appeared just once during the entire week.

The drinks were also very poor. The juice tasted heavily diluted with water, while all the cocktails tasted almost identical—Sprite, syrup and a tiny amount of local alcohol. Even the alcohol seemed diluted because it had almost no taste. The bartenders often appeared tired and irritated, especially when dealing with women. Whenever I asked for an alcoholic cocktail—or sometimes even a basic drink—I was made to feel uncomfortable and foolish. Their attitude towards women felt dismissive and disrespectful. I also did not see a single female employee working anywhere in the resort.

Pool hygiene was another major concern. Someone vomited in one of the pools and the staff simply removed it with a net. During our seven-day stay, we never saw the pools being properly cleaned. We became unwell during the holiday, although we cannot say for certain what caused it. Fortunately, Antinal helped us recover quickly.

Room cleaning was acceptable, but the area underneath the bed was clearly never cleaned. After dropping something, we looked underneath and found a large amount of dust. On the positive side, the rooms were spacious and comfortable.

The aquapark was the best part of the hotel and probably the nicest one we have visited. However, the main pool at Gardens is quite small. The wave pool operates only twice a day for approximately 15 minutes each time, which is ridiculous for an aquapark resort.

The beach was awful—very rocky and not suitable for entering the sea comfortably. Be extremely careful because we saw at least two sea urchins close to the shore. Water shoes are essential. The pontoon area is beautiful if you enjoy snorkelling or diving.

The snacks were also terrible and usually ran out within an hour of opening. The hot dogs were made with strange-looking, dark-coloured sausages, while the burgers did not smell fresh or appealing.

There are not enough conveniently located toilets around the resort. Most are quite far away, and we repeatedly saw children urinating in the planted areas or near the pools.

The spacious rooms and excellent aquapark were the only real positives for us. Overall, the poor food, drinks, hygiene and service outweighed them. We would not return to this hotel.

We rarely leave negative reviews, but our experience at Charmillion Gardens was so disappointing that I feel other families need to know what happened.

This review relates specifically to our experience with the football pitch, which is operated and used by the hotel staff.

The treatment of paying guests, particularly children, was completely unacceptable. The hotel staff take priority over guests when it comes to using the football pitch. Staff regularly play their own matches wearing football boots and shin pads and behaving as though they are playing in a Champions League final, whilst paying guests — including children — are told they are not allowed to use the pitch and are expected to stand on the side and watch.

This is a family resort. The facilities should be available for the paying guests who have actually paid to stay at the hotel, rather than effectively being treated as a private football pitch for staff.

After repeatedly challenging this, I eventually insisted that my 12-year-old son should be allowed to play. Unfortunately, the behaviour of some of the staff during the game was extremely concerning.

Whilst another young guest was playing in goal, one of the members of staff kicked the football at full force directly towards his face. This was not simply a normal football incident — the ball was struck extremely hard at a small 12-year-old child. What made the situation even worse was that the staff member and others laughed about it rather than showing any concern for a child who had just been hit in the face by a ball.

On another occasion, a member of staff physically pushed my son off the ball in order to take it from him, despite the fact that they were supposedly playing on the same team. When questioned about his behaviour, the response was essentially that my son was a child.

This behaviour is completely unacceptable.

What made the situation even worse was the response from management. I raised the matter with the hotel manager, expecting at the very least for the situation to be taken seriously and for the safety and treatment of children to be acknowledged. Instead, the manager laughed at the situation and dismissed my concerns.

There should be clear rules at this resort: paying guests should come first. Staff should not be able to exclude guests from facilities so that they can use them themselves, and children should certainly not be made to feel unwelcome or unsafe.

If the hotel wants staff to have their own football matches, then arrange dedicated staff-only sessions at appropriate times. Do not take over a guest facility and then tell paying guests and their children to stand on the sidelines.

This experience left us extremely disappointed. It was not simply about football — it was about the attitude of the staff, the treatment of children and, most importantly, the complete lack of concern shown by management when a genuine complaint was raised.

Unfortunately, this was not the only issue we encountered during our stay. The hotel has several other significant shortcomings, which I will address separately in another TripAdvisor review. I want this review to remain specifically focused on the football pitch and the behaviour of the staff and management.

Paying guests should be the priority at a family resort — not the staff. In our experience, that was certainly not the case here.

For that reason, based on this experience alone, I would strongly advise families to think twice before booking this hotel.