Atlantica Aegean Blue

We went as a family of four - overall we had a fantastic holiday, but the hotel is not a 5* hotel. Positives: Lovely bedroom with a fantastic sea view; Really good food choices for vegetarians and they had theme nights so the food differed from night to night which was great; Entertainment through the day and night - the animation team really put in a lot of effort and there is something for everyone; The views are incredible (sea and mountains); Clean environment and swimming pools.

Areas of improvement: Beach towels - only one change per week which was unhygienic and the process of returning them is a faff; The foyer and general hotel is not 5* it needs an upgrade, walking into the foyer is underwhelming; You only get one a la carte included for the week (for the price paid we would expect to be able to use more). If your flight is post checkout time, the courtesy room is shared by others through the day and it is not kept clean - it sours the final impression unfortunately.

We’ve just returned from a 7-night stay at Atlantica Aegean Blue and overall had a fantastic week. We’d highly recommend it, particularly for families with children.

The staff throughout the hotel were amazing – from the bar and restaurant staff to the maids, everyone was friendly, polite and helpful.

A special mention has to go to the entertainment team, who were absolutely exceptional. They genuinely seemed motivated to make sure families were having the best possible time and had endless energy throughout the day. Pool games, water aerobics, darts, football and evening activities – they were constantly involved. They learned our children’s names, regularly stopped to ask how we were and were always incredibly polite. They were a massive positive of the holiday.

Food was very good overall. The à la carte restaurants were excellent and the main buffet was also good. We particularly liked the lunchtime snack bar – quick service, great quality and plenty of choice, in a really nice modern yet traditional walk-in restaurant. It meant there was no need to use the main buffet at lunchtime unless you wanted to.

Our only criticism regarding the restaurants is the lack of effective air conditioning or ceiling fans. Most of the time the natural breeze made it manageable, but on the couple of days when there wasn’t much breeze, eating could become uncomfortably hot and sweaty. Some additional cooling would make a big difference.

Our room was clean, modern and very well maintained, so we were extremely pleased with the accommodation.

The on-site water park is another huge plus. This is a proper water park rather than simply a couple of slides attached to a swimming pool, and you can easily spend a couple of hours there. It’s considerably better than the water-park facilities we’ve experienced at many other family hotels.

The one area we found genuinely frustrating was the evening entertainment, simply because it was so inconsistent. Our first night was probably the best family hotel entertainment we’ve ever experienced – a full kids pool party with DJ, limbo competition and a foam party on the adjacent grass. The atmosphere was brilliant and both adults and children absolutely loved it.

Unfortunately, some subsequent evenings were the complete opposite. A few shows seemed poorly matched to the audience and didn’t particularly appeal to either the children or the predominantly 30/40-something parents. The Cuban-themed evening, for example, featured largely unfamiliar, non-English songs and seemed to lose much of the audience. Yet on another evening they absolutely nailed it again, with a great act, modern and recognisable music and exactly the sort of atmosphere you want on a family holiday. We were also disappointed when a rock band we’d been looking forward to simply didn’t turn up one evening so once the bingo was done, the evening was over.

That inconsistency was noticeable because when Atlantica Aegean Blue gets the entertainment right, it gets it REALLY right. If the standard and demographic of the best nights could be replicated more consistently throughout the week, it would make a huge difference.

Overall, though, we had a really enjoyable 7 nights and would highly recommend Atlantica Aegean Blue. Excellent staff, a superb entertainment team, very good food, lovely rooms, an impressive water park and plenty for families to do. The only thing that might make us hesitate about returning would be the inconsistency of the evening entertainment – improve that, along with some better cooling in the restaurants, and there would be nothing to criticise.