St Raphael Resort

A rare evening off gave us the perfect excuse to escape to the five-star St. Raphael Resort & Marina in Limassol. I’ve stayed there many times over the years, and it remains one of my favourite hotels in Cyprus. There’s something reassuringly familiar about returning.

Walking into the atrium still creates that sense of occasion. It’s bright, spacious and impressive, with the glass lifts immediately catching your eye.

You could easily spend the entire stay without leaving the resort. There are several bars and restaurants, two outdoor swimming pools and a spa with a heated indoor pool. Beautiful gardens stretch down towards the beach, where you’ll find sunbeds, watersports, a diving school and the hotel’s private marina. Everything is well cared for, and the atmosphere feels relaxed from the moment you arrive.

That evening, we ate at Golden Monkey, the hotel’s Thai restaurant. Honestly, I wish I were back there now. The décor, lighting and music create a lovely atmosphere, but it never feels overdone. Then the food arrives. Freshly prepared, beautifully presented and packed with flavour, every dish lived up to expectations. If you’re staying at St. Raphael—or simply enjoy good Thai food—book a table. You won’t regret it.

Of course, impressive facilities only take a hotel so far. The real test is always the people. You can place two identical hotels side by side, but the one with genuinely friendly, professional staff will win every time. A holiday is more than a room, a swimming pool and a sea view. Guests arrive hoping for a break from everyday life and a few days when everything feels easy. St. Raphael understands that.

The warmth of the staff never feels scripted. People smile because they mean it, conversations feel natural, and help is offered without fuss. There has clearly been serious investment in training, but good training alone doesn’t create that kind of atmosphere.

Talk to the team and you soon discover that many have worked at the hotel for 10, 20 or even 30 years. That tells you far more about the owners and management than any polished brochure ever could. When a business treats its staff well enough for them to stay for decades, guests usually feel the benefit too.

By the time you leave, you’re not wondering whether you’ll return. You’re already thinking about when.

Bravo, St. Raphael Resort & Marina. We can’t wait to come back.

Gorgeous holiday - made even nicer because of the gorgeous staff, couldn't fault them.

Special mention to the lifeguard / entertainment by the pool/and the pool bar staff- who were just amazing.- couldn’t do enough for you- even if our youngest was 15!

Would definitely recommend and hope to return!

This was our third time staying at St Raphael Resort, and once again, we had a fantastic holiday.

The first time we visited, our son was just one year old. He is now four, and our daughter is 13, so it’s been lovely to come back and see how much they have both grown since our first visit.

We came back to this beautiful hotel because we know it so well as a family, but more importantly, we love the staff, who are so attentive and always seem to go above and beyond to make sure you have everything you need.

There is so much to say about this beautiful resort, but I’ll start with our arrival.

ARRIVAL As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by a porter who came over, collected our luggage from the taxi and made sure it was taken to our room. We were also welcomed with a cold, fresh lemonade, which went down a treat with us all after our journey from Paphos Airport.

I should also mention that we booked a taxi through the hotel from the UK, and the service was fantastic. We had a fully air-conditioned six-seater Mercedes, which was perfect for our family and luggage. A big thank you to Marios (I think that was his name!) for getting us to the hotel safely and comfortably.

BOARD For the third time, we chose All Inclusive, and once again, we would definitely recommend this option to anyone considering staying at St Raphael.

For us, especially with two children, it takes away the worry of where and when to eat, and there was always plenty of choice throughout the day. We felt that the All Inclusive package offered very good value for money, particularly given the quality and variety of the food, drinks, snacks and facilities available throughout the resort.

ROOM On our previous two stays, we stayed in the inland-view rooms, but this year we decided to try the Executive Poolside Room, and it was absolutely fantastic!

My wife and both our children loved the room. We could step straight out through the double doors onto our patio area, which was literally seconds from the main family pool where we spent most of our days.

This was particularly convenient with the children. My wife and daughter could pop back to the room to read or relax on the sunbeds on our patio and then come straight back to the pool whenever they wanted.

We would highly recommend this room to anyone travelling as a family, and we certainly hope to have the same room again next year!

STAFF & SERVICE The staff are one of the main reasons we keep coming back to St Raphael.

We were so pleased to see two familiar faces in Jackie and Gabriella, who work at the Splash Bar. These two ladies work incredibly hard, and it was fantastic to see and speak with them throughout our 10-day holiday.

They are always smiling and happy, and they genuinely seem to enjoy making sure everyone who visits Splash has a great experience and everything they need. They are friendly, kind and, in my opinion, the epitome of what customer service should look like.

Thank you to both of them for being so amazing during our stay.

We also have to make a very special mention of the Manager, Frederic, who we had not met on our previous two visits. I believe he has been at St Raphael for around the past year.

Our son is a very fussy eater and, although the food at St Raphael is AMAZING (I’ll get onto that shortly!), he will only eat certain things.

Frederic went completely out of his way to make sure our son had what he needed for every meal — breakfast, lunch and dinner. He even went to local shops and Lidl to make sure the kitchen had the ingredients needed so that our son could eat the food he was accustomed to.

This was a huge weight off our minds as parents. Knowing that our son would have something he was happy to eat made such a difference to our holiday.

Hopefully, next time, he’ll be a little less fussy! :O)

There wasn’t a day that went by where we didn’t have some interaction with Frederic. He would always check in with us, ask how we were getting on and make sure we were happy and had everything we needed.

That level of personal attention really stood out to us, and we want to give Frederic a huge and heartfelt thank you from me and my family.

There was also another lovely lady who oversaw the breakfast and lunch buffet and who went out of her way to make sure that my family and I were well looked after. Unfortunately, I have completely forgotten her name, so apologies for that, but we also want to say a huge thank you to her.

And actually, this is something that stood out to us generally during our stay. The friendliness of the staff wasn’t limited to the people we have mentioned. Throughout the resort, we found the staff to be welcoming, polite, attentive and genuinely friendly. Whether it was someone serving drinks, clearing tables, working around the pool or simply passing by, there was always a smile and a friendly word.

It’s those little interactions that make you feel welcome rather than simply being another guest.

FOOD The breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets seemed to have gone up another level this time around, which was great to see.

We thoroughly enjoyed the food, especially our daughter, who was trying so many new things and always had a smile on her face while eating. There was plenty of choice, and we were more than satisfied with what was available.

There are also other restaurants at the resort that can be booked, but to be honest, we were so happy with the buffet choices and the food served at the Splash Bar that we didn't feel the need to venture elsewhere very often.

POOL & BEACH We absolutely love the family pool, which this year was literally on the doorstep of our room.

Our son really enjoyed the children's pool, which is situated right next to the Splash Bar and just a stone’s throw from the family pool. He also loved going down the slide while sitting on my lap, which I was very happy to see him doing!

I felt very confident with him in the water while he was wearing his swimming jacket, and our daughter loved doing her handstands underwater and generally having a great time in the pool.

Having the poolside room made everything so much easier. As mentioned earlier, my wife and daughter could pop out of the pool and relax on the sunbeds on our patio, have a read, and then come back to the pool whenever they wanted.

The beach was great as always. The sea was beautifully warm, with a slight breeze, and it remained shallow for quite a distance, which is fantastic for a family with children of different ages.

There are also pedaloes and other activities available as part of the All Inclusive package, which was another nice touch.

LOCATION & RESORT Another thing we love about St Raphael is that you have everything you need within the resort, while still being close enough to explore the surrounding area if you want to.

For us, having a beautiful beach, several pools, places to eat and drink, and plenty of space to relax meant that we didn't feel the need to leave the resort very often.

That’s exactly what we want from a family holiday — the option to explore if we want to, but also the ability to stay put, relax and know that everything we need is right there.

VALUE FOR MONEY For us, St Raphael represents very good value for money.

Of course, holidays are an investment, particularly for a family of four, but when we look at everything we get in return — the accommodation, food, drinks, pools, beach, activities and, most importantly, the level of service — we feel that the All Inclusive option is well worth it.

The fact that this was our third visit probably says more about the value we feel we get than anything else.

WHY WE KEEP COMING BACK We’ve stayed at St Raphael three times now, and I think that says everything.

There are plenty of beautiful hotels around Cyprus and plenty of places we could choose to visit, but there is something about St Raphael that keeps bringing us back.

We know the resort, we know where everything is, we know the staff and, over the years, we have started to recognise familiar faces. Most importantly, we know that when we arrive, we can relax and enjoy our holiday as a family.

Our children have also grown up visiting St Raphael. Our son was just one when we first came, and now he is four, while our daughter is 13. It’s quite special for us to see them enjoying the same place at different stages of their childhood.

For us, it’s not just about the hotel itself. It’s the people, the familiarity, the service and the feeling that you are genuinely looked after while you’re there.

And that is ultimately why we keep coming back.

A huge thank you to everyone at St Raphael Resort for another fantastic 10 days. We had a wonderful time, made some more great memories as a family, and once again left feeling that we had made the right choice.

We’re already hoping to be back again next year!

See you next time, St Raphael!

From Mr and Mrs Powell and family.