- Cyprus Holidays
- Ayia Napa
- Atlantica Aeneas Resort
This city hotel lies just 100 m from fine sand Nissi Bay and within a short distance of shopping venues, restaurants and bars. Links to the public transport network are to be found directly out front and the centre of Ayia Napa that lies some 2.5 km away can easily be reached by making use of the public bus system.
This 3-storey hotel comprises 294 rooms and features a foyer with a 24-hour reception desk, 3 lifts and a café. In addition, guests may make use of the various shops, hairdresser's salon, a boutique, a laundrette's, a souvenir shop, a cleaning service, 4 bars, a TV room/ lounge and 2 air-conditioned à la carte restaurants with non-smoking areas as well as a breakfast restaurant. The public Internet terminal and conference room may be taken advantage of and there is a car park and garage facilities available to those arriving at the hotel by car. There is a kids' club and a playground for younger guests and room and laundry services round off the offerings.
The comfortable, welcoming rooms each come with a bathroom with shower, a hairdryer, a direct dial telephone, satellite/ cable TV, a radio, Internet access, a minibar/ fridge, carpeting, air conditioning, central heating, a balcony (views facing inland or out over the pool) and a hire safe. The rooms suitable for 2 adults and 2 children are equipped in a similar fashion to the standard rooms but are more spacious and come with a sofa bed that can be pulled out for use as beds for the children. The executive rooms suitable for 2 to 4 persons are also equipped in a similar fashion to the standard rooms but are more spacious and come with a sofa bed that can be pulled out for use as beds by the 3rd and 4th room occupants.
Relax at the full-service spa, where you can enjoy massages, body treatments and facials. You're sure to appreciate the recreational amenities, including a fitness centre, a seasonal outdoor pool and bicycles to rent. This hotel also features complimentary wireless Internet access, concierge services and babysitting (surcharge).
It starts with the reception directing you to get ALL of your information about the hotel from their hotel app, no simple printed pamphlet, map or the usual 5 mins of guidance. "Go to the hotel app, everything is there" was the motto.
Remember this, as this is a completely separate app from the two I will mention.
There seem to be something like 3 different companies/departments operating within the hotel, with different websites, apps and booking systems, and they clearly don't communicate properly with each other.
We spent the first two days of our holiday watching OTHER guests enjoying activities and services which seemed to be completely unavailable to us. So if you wonder about the other praising reviews - that's them.
We kept seeing staff with distinct DIFFERENT shirts from the hotel staff organising activities and accompanying incoming buses, while we had no idea who they were nor explained - or why those guests seemed to be getting a different experience from us as we booked into the ATLANTICA hotel all inclusive and did not want to pay extra for an accompanying travel agency which we did not order from.
We so know its common to have outside travel agencies that off extra excursions & and deals - which they do have a separate stand from the reception giving exactly that impression.
We eventually asked who they were and what they were doing - "What, YOU DONT KNOW WHO TUI IS???", no, we dont. nobody bothered explaining to us. We were told that they that they organise events like weddings and conferences and focus on guests from Britain.
To be honest, we don't know and cant be bothered by which different companies are involved in running the hotel. Nor should we have to. We booked a stay at Atlantica Aeneas from the ATLANTICA main website, not a job trying to figure out which company is responsible for which part of the hotel.
So if you read other reviews highly praising the hotel and wonder why this one review is so negative, do know that if you did NOT come from Britain or Blue/TUI bus, you are treated like a 3rd grade customer even if you paid in full for the all inclusive.
The whole thing is unnecessarily complicated and poorly organised.
We tried to look at the activities and tried to book them from the hotel app and It didn't work. All of them direct us to book it in app we are already in. We eventually found out that apparently you have to go to the tui/blue SEPARATE app for the booking system to work. Nobody told us this. still doesn't work. Then their staff said that they know you can only book activities this on the THIRD app which you have to install on your phone which is the other department app. so bummer for us.
We asked the staff about this, and they told us that they already knew about the problem. Other guests had been having problems with the app and couldn't book the activities, and the staff had apparently already raised this with management.
So management knew. The staff knew. Other guests had complained. And still nothing had been done to properly explain the situation to incoming guests or fix the problem.
That is what makes this particularly frustrating. This wasn't just a case of us not understanding the different apps or the relationship between the departments. There was a known problem which was preventing guests from using the hotel's activities, and nobody thought it was important enough to tell us.
We shouldn't have to spend our holiday figuring out which app to download, which website to use and which company is responsible for what. We certainly shouldn't have to discover the problem by watching other guests enjoying things that we can't access.
Whatever the internal arrangements of the hotel are, they are not the customer's problem. We paid to stay at one hotel and should have been given one clear and functioning guest experience.
Unfortunately, the activities and booking system were just the start:
We specifically requested a QUIET room both when making the reservation and again at reception. We were given a different room than we ordered on the ATLANTICA website which is positioned next to the elevator, the stairs and a water dispenser, we were said that it's all they have. I guess that you are downgraded if youre not coming from TUI agency as its clearly not the room we ordered.
Acoustics is terrible with noise all through the night hearing the elevator and dispenser. Pretty much the exact opposite of the room we had asked for. Asking for different room all led us to smaller rooms with the same stench of moss which we declined.
The room had a very strong smell of mould/mustiness. It was noticeable as soon as we entered the room and was there throughout our stay.
The food was sub par for a hotel of 3 star standard. A large part of it was heavily fried food, bread or heavily processed/industrial food. There was certainly plenty of food, but the quality was not what we expected. at the third days, even the kids did not want to go anymore, even though we're in all inclusive. I know that you probably read many reviews about how the food is great, notice they are all from Britain which is all of what this hotel is catered towards.
There's a significant musquito issues. we experienced this ONLY inside the hotel and absolutely nowhere outside. Even in our completely closed rooms we still had tons of musquitos and their remains to the walls from previous guests. We eventually had to seal the front doors with towels.
Amnities and facilities that are not in par with a 3 star hotel, and super strange things like ONE remote control for 2 TVs for us and the kids. For the very least don't publicize it as a 3 star hotel.
We asked for our money back, but couldnt find a flight so shortly.
I also want to make something very clear to management in advance. Please don't respond with the usual "we have read your feedback and will take it on board" type of response. You already knew about these problems.
Your own staff told us that they knew about the problems, that other guests were experiencing the same thing and that management had already been informed. We also raised the issues during our stay. So this is not new feedback that you are hearing for the first time because of this review.
The question is not whether management is now "aware" of the problem. You were already aware. The question is why the problems were still happening while we were there, and why guests were still not being properly informed.
Having said all of that, I must stress that the staff themselves were SUPER friendly. Even when we discussed these problems with them, they were polite, helpful and clearly frustrated by the situation themselves. Some of them openly shared their own frustration with management and the problems they had already reported.
So this review is not a criticism of the staff on the ground. Quite the opposite. They were doing their best and were consistently friendly.
The problem is the organisation and management behind them. The staff shouldn't have to deal with frustrated guests over problems that they already know about and have apparently already reported.
An absolutely wonderful holiday – especially for families with SEN children
We honestly cannot recommend this hotel highly enough. We travelled with our autistic son, and from the moment we arrived, the staff were absolutely amazing with him. They were kind, understanding and completely accepting of his needs, which made such a huge difference to our holiday.
We were lucky enough to have a swim-up room, which was absolutely amazing for our son. Having the space and easy access to the pool gave him something he could enjoy at his own pace and made the whole holiday much more relaxing for him.
There was one incident in the restaurant where our son became overwhelmed, and the staff handled it seamlessly and with such compassion. They helped make him comfortable without drawing any attention to what was happening, which we were incredibly grateful for. It was moments like this that really showed us how caring and accommodating the staff were.
The food was excellent, and we ate at both à la carte restaurants, which were also fantastic. The snack bar was honestly the best we have ever experienced at an all-inclusive resort. Everything was freshly prepared to order, with salads, sandwiches, burgers, wraps and, of course, our son’s absolute favourite — French fries! 😂
There were plenty of food options that worked for our son, and importantly, he could have the same foods repeatedly if he wanted to. Having that routine was really important for him and made mealtimes much easier and more enjoyable.
He also absolutely loved the sensory room, which was a fantastic addition and something we really appreciated as a family.
The pools are humongous, with lots of different areas and plenty of space, so there was always somewhere for him to go and something to keep him entertained. We never felt crowded or restricted.
A huge shout-out to Elena, Anna at Guest Services, Maria in the restaurant, William at the steak restaurant and Abdul at the bar. Every one of them was an absolute joy and helped make our holiday so special.
For a family with a child with SEN, finding somewhere where you can genuinely relax and feel that your child is accepted and understood is priceless. This hotel gave us that.
If you have a child with SEN, we would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this hotel. ❤️
It was simply a joy to holiday here, and we really hope we can return one day. 🌴☀️💙
We just returned home from a holiday at Atlantica Aeneas Resort. We travelled with a one-year-old, and we spent most of our days by the pool. We loved spending time in the shade near the baby pools (both the one by the main pool and the one in Splash park).
We were able to get sunbeds easily every day. However, one day someone had removed our towels, and other guests were using our sunbeds when we returned. We had left our towels on the sunbeds at around 9:30 a.m., and by 10:30 a.m. they were gone. There was a pile of towels on a nearby sunbed, and they were probably ours, but not to be sure we went to get new towels instead. That was a bit disappointing.
Smoking in the pool area bothered us. It is not ok for children to be exposed to cigarette smoke, especially near the baby pools.
We were initially given a room in the main building on the third floor. The toilet was leaking, and we could barely sleep at night because of the noise from the corridor. You could actually see light coming through the door even when it was closed, and we could hear people talking, children crying, and guests returning to their rooms late at night. I have never experienced this poor door insulation in a hotel before.
The main building was also quite filthy. I was surprised by how dirty the lifts and corridors were. The next morning, we spoke to reception about our concerns and were offered another room in Building B. The new room was much nicer and more modern, with a balcony overlooking the pool area. We loved the room and the privacy it offered—it felt like a completely different hotel. I would highly recommend requesting a room in any building other than the main building.
The only issue with the new room was that the air conditioning was not powerful enough. The room temperature stayed between 25°C and 26.5°C, which was too warm. We mentioned this at reception, and someone came to check the air conditioning. After that, the temperature dropped to around 25°C.
Every day we checked the children’s activity programme in the Blue app and attended some of the activities. On one occasion, we were looking forward to a music session in the Baby Lounge, but when we arrived there was nobody there. After waiting for a while, I found out that the session had been cancelled.
Most of the activities were free of charge, but every day there were paid play sessions costing between €22 and €28. For us, that seemed quite expensive, so we did not participate.
On most evenings, the children’s entertainment on the main stage started at 7:15 p.m. with a toddler session. Unfortunately, we only managed to attend once. The buffet opens at 6:30 p.m., so it is nearly impossible to finish dinner and arrive on time. That is probably why so few children attended—the timing was not ideal.
The Kids Disco was a real disappointment. The music and sound levels were far too loud. It was uncomfortable even for adults, and such loud noise can be harmful to babies and small children. I genuinely do not understand why the volume needed to be so high, as everyone would still have been able to hear perfectly well at a lower volume. In addition, the performers on stage were often shouting, and our child was frequently startled by the sudden loud noises. Because of this, we did not want to expose our child to the environment for long periods.
Overall, the food was good, and we were happy with the dining experience. However, the food in the children’s buffet was often fried or highly processed, which was disappointing.
The food at Taverna was decent, but we were first served all of the appetisers on the menu, which was far too much food for two people. It felt wasteful to leave so much uneaten. The main courses were also enormous. I honestly do not know who could finish that amount of food. The food itself was a little bland.
At Green & Grill, the food was very similar to what was available in the buffet, just served à la carte. My salmon was also rather bland, and our child was served the same fish fingers that were available in the buffet almost every day.
On our last evening, we were somewhat bothered by a group of guests who were extremely drunk and behaving unpredictably.
Overall, we had a good holiday and enjoyed ourselves. As mentioned earlier, changing rooms really improved our experience and made a significant difference to our holiday.
I recommend the hotel for families, but hope to see some improvement with the Entertainment for small children.
We had another fantastic holiday at this hotel — this was our second visit, and once again we absolutely loved our stay! The location is perfect, making it so easy to get around and enjoy everything nearby.
We had requested specific rooms before our stay, and the hotel gave us exactly what we had requested, which was fantastic and really appreciated. We even arrived to champagne, fruit and a beautiful cake for our anniversary — such a lovely surprise and such a thoughtful touch from the hotel! 🥂🍓🎂
The buffet restaurant was once again amazing, with so much choice and something for everyone. We also noticed the snack bar has changed this year and is so much better, with lots more choice available. The new dessert snack bar is also fantastic — such a great addition and absolutely fab for anyone with a sweet tooth!
A special mention to the amazing Abdul at the swim-up bar — he was brilliant and looked after us so well. We’d also like to thank Anwar and Raouf in the restaurant, who were always so helpful, friendly and welcoming.
Our room was cleaned every day to an excellent standard, which really made our stay even more enjoyable.
Overall, a fantastic hotel, wonderful staff, amazing food and a perfect location. We enjoyed our second visit just as much as the first and would definitely recommend it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Had a wonderful spa experience/ massage at the hotel spa. Heba was very professional and made me feel so relaxed. My husband and I treated ourselves for our anniversary and will definitely go back again. Came out feeling so relaxed ready for a snooze by the pool!
