Kefalos Beach Tourist Village

Okay so there are a couple of redeeming items that I'll get into later, but it doesn't really change my overall opinion that this was the worst all inclusive holiday package I've ever been on.

The reason why is because of the frankly atrocious food. Everything on offer is the cheapest of the cheap for both food and drink. I know, you should expect that to a certain extent with all inclusive, cost savings keep resorts running. But it wouldn't be so bad if the choice of dishes wasn't so baffling, and the selection so small.

One day, the choices of main course was a teriyaki chicken (that looked like a reheated chicken stew) beef stroganoff (that truly smelled a step above dog food) a rice dish that had been pulled out of a 1970s catering recipe book, pork mince stew, a fettuccine dish - which I tried, and to my disgust it tasted like old canned ratatouille vegetables that had been stirred into pasta so over cooked was basically paste. Bearing in mind that it's been 30 degrees all day, the last thing I want to eat is a pork mince stew. Or beef stroganoff! There was obviously a significant amount of food wastage, which is understandable because the quality was so low, but so frustrating.

The salad options were pathetic, like I said, everything is done at the least cost possible. Virtually nothing is fresh.

Desserts are the same every day and comprise of the cheapest sponge cakes I've ever seen. The main courses change every day, but seem to recycle dishes from the previous night's recipes to reduce on waste I guess. Everything seemed to be cooked in one catering oven, so it had to be able to be cooked in those big metal catering trays. Hence a prevalence of stews, minced meat, and pork dishes. There seemed to be a lot of pork dishes for some reason. There was supposedly a roast meat option every day, but every day of the week I was there it seemed to be the same joint of roast pork. No thanks.

Breakfast and lunch are just as bad, the options are minimal and repetitive, the coffee is again the cheapest of the cheap.

You might think reading this review that I have unreasonable standards, but I've been on a few all inclusives, ones by TUI, such as MagicLife Fuertaventura, so I think I have a fairly reasonable standard and expectations of what you should get and what you won't get on an all inclusive holiday. I have to presented with pretty abysmal food to actually make me this angry. I have given it a go tried to make the best of it, but it's just awful. It's made me feel like a fool for paying this amount of money for this awful awful food.

So, what makes it all the more a disappointment is that the service, the staff, the pool, the location, could all make this an absolute gem of a holiday location. But the food is that bad that it's just overshadowed all of this.

The entertainment at the bar has been laughably bad too, with an embarrassingly awful singer, a couple of particularly dull bingo evenings, you got the impression they were trying to deter people rather than entice people out to the bar area to save on the cost of the all inclusive drinks.

The rooms were okay. Very basic, and normally you'd expect that when you ask for a double room with a pull out bed for your child, it would not be comprised of two single beds pushed together, and a double sofa bed. The double sofa bed was particularly uncomfortable for two people, My daughter was not happy sleeping on that, so myself and my partner ended up sleeping separately so my daughter could sleep on one of the more comfortable single beds. Not ideal at all really, and I think I'm a bit of a fool for not complaining about it when I was there.

Overall it was a relaxing and fun holiday in Cyprus, the first time to explore the island, ruined by the food and a poor suite. Overall we paid just under £3200 for 7 days for 2 adults 1 child (with a free child place), and I really feel short changed by the whole experience. Tui used to be the first name I would think of when looking at package holidays, but not any more.

Paphos has always been one of our favourite holiday destinations Especially Kefalos Beach This being our 5th visit! Check in went smoothly and we were shown to our room Unfortunately it was a little underwhelming we’ve previously stayed in better apartments on previous occasions The bathroom was tight especially for my husband who has a 46”chest & shoulders to match ! The view partially overlooked the building work opposite As we knew the layout of kefalos we made the best of it We stayed on a B & B basis which soon became repetitive There’s so much could be offered as an alternative ie pain au choc ,cinnamon whirls ,waffles,doughnuts,muffins a little more flare Salads even mixed leaves, red onion would be great occasionally To keep guests keen on a daily basis Rooms were cleaned daily along with fresh towels All staff were friendly and polite A welcome bonus was a familiar face Rico who has been with kefalos a number of years & still doing a good job with his fire show . Also the lady in the shop remembered us ! On the whole we had a very relaxing holiday! The surrounding area has numerous restaurants and shops along with the kings mall and added bonus 👍 Cyprus is a beautiful place with the most stunning weather and climate Hopefully we will return if only for location weather and a bit of nostalgia However kefalos needs to improve in certain areas as mentioned I’ll be sure to email ahead of room request next time!!