Pernera Beach

We have stayed at Pernera Beach several times over the years and have always found it to be a nice, comfortable hotel, which is why we have been happy to return. We hadn’t been back for two years, so we were interested to see how things had changed.

Unfortunately, we came away feeling quite disappointed.

There were still positives. The hotel was generally clean, although we did notice some areas that needed more attention. For example, there was what appeared to be blood on the wall in the communal guest toilets, which remained there for around three days before it was finally cleaned. It’s not something you would expect to see left for that length of time in a hotel of this standard.

Our room experience wasn’t great either. The first room we were given was above what sounded like a generator, and the constant noise meant we had to wait until the following day to be moved.

Unfortunately, the second room had a strong sewage smell. This was dealt with by the hotel and we stayed in that room, but there was still an unpleasant smell which seemed like urine. We weren’t sure whether this was coming from the bathroom or was related to the cleaning products, but it was noticeable.

On previous visits, we had been offered food and drinks when we arrived, which was always a nice touch after travelling. This time nothing was offered. It’s a small thing, but when you’ve stayed somewhere several times, you notice these differences.

The dining experience was probably the biggest disappointment for us. Previously, drinks at lunch and dinner were self-service. This had now changed to waiter service. Although this may have been intended as an improvement, we found it made the restaurant much busier and less relaxing, with waiters constantly walking around serving drinks and clearing tables. The music in the dining areas, particularly at breakfast and lunch, too loud and not conducive to a relaxing meal.

The food was disappointing also. The choice and variety seemed poor, particularly at dinner, and on several occasions the food was cold.

We did notice the hotel owners dining with their own family in the same dining area as the guests, but being served a different menu. Of course, they are entitled to eat what they choose, but as guests it did give the impression of a “them and us” situation. If the food being served to guests is considered good enough for us, it would seem reasonable that it should be good enough for everyone dining in the same restaurant.

It was also noted how attentively they were waited on, with the service appearing noticeably more formal and careful than that provided to guests. This was simply how it came across to us, but it did leave us feeling that there was a sense of hierarchy within the dining room.

Overall, we felt the hotel had tried to make improvements, but unfortunately some of the changes felt more focused on reducing costs than improving the overall guest experience. What may have been intended as improvements had, for us, actually taken away some of the relaxation we had previously associated with staying here.

It’s a shame because Pernera Beach has always been a nice hotel that we were happy to return to. After two years away, we noticed the changes immediately, and unfortunately we don’t feel they improved the experience.

There were still positives, but overall this stay was disappointing and not as enjoyable as our previous visits.

What a fantastic holiday we had at this hotel. The title of my review, if you know you know... Andrei, Boti, Mathis and Tamara what a brilliant entertainment team with perfect chemistry and banter! Our only regret is not staying longer!

There are so many positives about this hotel. The staff are very friendly, the entertainment team are incredible, clean modern rooms, stunning sea views (would recommend a sea view room), chilled environment, good location, nice food with plenty of variety, and topped off with a stunning wedding for our friends! Great to also see a hotel give you tonnes of hangers in wardrobes to utilise the space! We loved joining in with the activities every day with a great variety including boules, darts, volleyball, pool, table tennis and water aerobics! The hotel is near the bus route and is in a good location to walk into Protaras it takes about 30 minutes along the board walk and is lit up well at night. Air conditioning works well in the rooms. Sunbeds had nice thick comfy mattresses and it was good to see the 8am pool towel on sunbed rule strictly implemented! A la carte Mediterranean incredible, shout out to George who also looked after us at our friend's wedding and recognised us from earlier in the week! Plenty of choice at meal times in the buffet restaurant!

Areas to work on are, the big one for us with a 3 month old child, smoking was a problem. The hotel needs to have non smoking areas by the pool and at the bar on an evening. Unfortunately, we were never able to find a spot at night to watch the entertainment without a smoking table nearby! Also, we feel the adult pool should be rebranded a quiet pool, as the sloped pool is much better for small children than the main pool! The lifts are quite small so expect to wait at busy times! No labels on puddings for allergies but mains were fully labelled. Ice creams available but we only found out on day 5, this is not clearly advertised anywhere!

Overall a very enjoyable stay, great value for money and a stunning wedding venue for our friends! I would strongly recommend this hotel but I would also urge the hotel to prioritise addressing my smoking feedback as I can see over 10 years of reviews mentioning smoking and still no action has been taken to have some non smoking areas, this would be easy to implement too at minimal cost!