Arina Beach Resort

★★★☆☆ Good hotel, but not a five-star experience for the price

We are actually still staying at Arina Beach Resort, currently in room 2006, so there is still time for the hotel to change my opinion and for me to update this review.

I don't like leaving negative reviews. I run a few businesses myself and understand only too well how much costs have increased and how difficult it can be to balance rising overheads with customer expectations. However, I also believe reviews need to be honest.

We paid nearly £8,000 through Jet2 for our family holiday – two adults and two children – and unfortunately, we have been quite disappointed. The biggest issue is simply that, in our opinion, this does not feel like a genuine five-star hotel, particularly at the price we have paid.

It's the accumulation of little things.

There is very limited storage in our room for a family of four, so we've had to be quite creative with where we put our clothes. The gym is tiny and cramped, and in the morning it can be difficult to get onto the equipment you want to use. Some of the sunbeds are worn or broken and dip when you lie on them.

We were also sold on the kids' club and animation being particularly good, but this has probably been one of our biggest disappointments. The animation team appears very small, with only two or three people, and the evening entertainment has been fairly mundane. Staff seem to overlap across multiple roles, which perhaps explains why certain areas feel under-resourced.

The food itself is actually good, and we have enjoyed it. However, cleanliness of the plates needs more attention. On multiple occasions at breakfast and dinner, we've picked up supposedly clean plates that still had dried food or chocolate sauce on them. Again, these are small details, but they shouldn't be happening regularly at a five-star resort.

Unfortunately, I've also found the bed extremely uncomfortable and have developed back pain while staying here. I'm fit, weigh around 75kg and don't normally suffer from back problems, so this has genuinely affected my comfort during the holiday.

There are definitely positives. The bar staff are very good, the drinks selection is impressive with good-quality branded spirits and whisky, and the snack bar is excellent. The resort is compact, so everything is conveniently close together, and the children's waterpark is great. Our room also has direct access from our balcony to the pool, which is a lovely feature.

Overall, I want to be clear: this is a good hotel. My disappointment comes from the price and the five-star positioning. Having previously stayed at resorts such as Princess Andriana in Rhodes and other comparable family resorts in Cyprus for similar money, Arina simply doesn't feel at the same level.

Had we paid £1,000–£1,500 less, my expectations would have been different and I would probably be writing a considerably more positive review. At nearly £8,000, however, I can't help feeling that we haven't received the level of quality or experience we paid for.

From a business owner's perspective, I understand the pressure of increasing costs, but at times the hotel feels like efficiencies and cost savings have been prioritised too heavily. It can come across as penny-pinching in areas where a five-star resort should be investing in the guest experience.

We still have around a week of our holiday remaining, so I genuinely hope things improve. We are in room 2006, and I am more than happy to update this review if our experience changes.

For now, unfortunately, based on the price we paid versus the experience we have received, I feel three stars is a fair rating.

Outstanding family hotel. Excellent facilities, service and food. The animation team were brilliant with loads on offer for the kids. The water park was a big hit with our kids. Would 100% return.

The Spa was amazing…. Both facial and body massages were very good and relaxing. For the cretan body massage, we had Emma and Eleni and they were amazing, highly recommend