Lydia Maris Resort and Spa

We recently spent a week at the Lydia Maris Hotel and overall I would rate our experience 3/5. Jet2’s 4-star rating feels extremely generous to us. We had a pleasant enough holiday, but there were quite a few issues that stopped it from feeling like the quality of hotel we expected for the price we paid.

The good:

The swim-up room was absolutely delightful and, for us, by far the best part of the holiday. The swim-up area was much more relaxed and peaceful than the main pool, making it ideal if you want to escape the noise and crowds. I would definitely recommend booking a swim-up room if a more chilled-out holiday is what you’re after.

The beds were also really comfortable, which made for a good night's sleep when we weren't being disturbed by noise from the neighbouring renovation work. The hotel itself and the grounds were clean and well maintained, with lovely gardens. The restaurant staff were also consistently friendly, helpful and welcoming.

Food was generally good. The pizza, gyros and ice cream available throughout the day were a lovely lunchtime treat, and the pizza was particularly delicious. Most of the evening meals were enjoyable, with the Mexican, Asian and Greek themed nights being our favourites. The sushi was also good. However, there were two evenings out of our seven-night stay where we really struggled to find something we wanted to eat. We are definitely not fussy eaters.

The spa is small, it doesn’t have the facilities of other spas we’ve been to but it was reasonably priced and the massage we had was good.

We recommend hiring a boat at the nearby harbour for a day out on the sea. The location of the hotel is good, 12 minute walk to a beach, a minute or two to the nearby tourist shops, bars and restaurants.

The not-so-good:

The main pool area was extremely busy, feeling more like sardines in a tin than a relaxing holiday pool. It was also very loud, with music and animation throughout the day, seemingly aimed at late teenagers. If you are looking for peace and quiet, the main pool definitely isn't the place for you. Whilst there were plenty of sun loungers, they are not 4 or 5 star quality. The metal frame became incredibly hot in the sun and felt rather flimsy. We noticed quite a lot of dirt on the bottom of the pools and never saw them being properly cleaned during our stay - we only saw chlorine being added.

There is no kids’ club, although to be fair, this isn't advertised as being provided either. There is a small mini club area outside the ice cream café with puzzles and drawing, but there simply isn't enough there to keep a child entertained for much longer than 20 minutes.

The evening entertainment was poor and didn't really add much to the holiday. We joined in with bingo one night and it seemed like the host was helping the family who won. We were back in the room most nights by 9.30pm.

The drinks were a slight disappointment. The alcohol was very weak, and iced coffees weren't included in the all-inclusive package, which seemed surprising when other 4/5 star resorts do include them.

The room next door to us was being renovated following a bathroom issue, meaning we were woken up most mornings by the sound of workmen banging and shouting. Our own shower didn't drain properly. After every shower, the bathroom floor flooded, and by the end of the week even brushing our teeth or washing our hands caused water to rise up through the floor drain. We decided not to speak to reception about this issue after reading reviews and knowing there wasn’t a spare swim up room available.

There was also an unusual issue with the swim-up rooms: soot from the pizza oven regularly landed on the pool throughout the day, coating the water and the area around it. It didn't ruin the experience for us, but it was certainly noticeable.

Overall:

We had a pleasant week, but we wouldn't return. We paid more for this holiday than we have paid for other holidays in the Greek islands, and those previous hotels have offered a better overall experience.

For us, the swim-up room made the holiday. Without it, I think we would have been much less impressed and if we’d had to spend the week at the main pool we would have requested a hotel change with Jet2. If you're considering Lydia Maris, I would strongly recommend paying extra for a swim-up room and checking with the hotel first that this is definitely what you will get when you arrive, and going in with realistic expectations about the rating.

Our rating: 3/5. A pleasant enough stay with some genuine positives, but in our opinion it falls short of what we'd expect from a 4-star hotel at this price point.

Nice mix of nationalities which made a good atmosphere. Food good considering all the different tastes. All day pizza and gyros were fresh and very tasty. Kids entertainment was excellent and great fun. The resort wasn’t to our taste with the usual strip of bars, restaurants and tat shops but could have been worse. If you go to the beach go to the right hand side of the bay. Cleaning staff were lovely and friendly as were rest of the staff and so hard working. Very clean everywhere.