- Greece Holidays
- Kalamaki
- Exotica Hotel and Spa by Zante Plaza
This popular hotel provides the ideal base for exploring the area. A key collection service is available. If you are looking for a special interest holiday in a beach resort, or enjoy an adventurous mountain trekking holiday, a cultural holiday, a family holiday, relaxing break or a romantic getaway, Exotica Hotel & Spa by Zante Plaza is your place to stay.
The hotel is special because of its idyllic setting in the beach resort of Kalamaki, an endless golden sandy beach, which is famous for where the Carretta sea turtle visits during the summer months and nests her eggs. Another plus for staying at the Exotica Hotel & Spa by Zante Plaza is that the village town centre is just a few seconds walk away.
The centre of attraction is our large swimming pool, surrounded by sunbeds on the one side, while the other side embraces the Poolside Snack-bar, open all day serving delicious food and d
Pamper yourself with a visit to the spa, which offers massages, body treatments and facials. Additional features at this hotel include complimentary wireless Internet access, concierge services and a picnic area.
First time to the hotel after reading the reviews. Unfortunately not as good for us as other reviewers had. First the good bits... Hotel is in a great location being 5 mins from restaurants and bars and 10 min walk to the lovely beach. Staff were very friendly and helpful. They work extremely hard especially the room maids and in particular Luba our housekeeper. Rooms are clean but fairly basic and a little tired but fine. Not so good.... We had issues with air con that took 4 days to resolve. No updates from staff on what was happening. Communication could be better. Shower was hit and miss on temperature and we couldn't change the flow direction as it was too stiff to direct water to the overhead shower, so we used the hand held shower head instead Food was typical AI. You could always find something to eat however it was usually luke warm or on some occasions cold which was disappointing. Drinks were typical AI but cocktails were pump and not nice. Pool area was tired and could do with some renovation work as could the hotel itself. If you are a non smokers then this hotel may not be for you. There are no outside areas that are smoke free including eating areas, pool side and balconies. You could not get away from it if you want to sit outside. It also came inside the restaurant as doors are open. This is not a dig at smokers, this is just what the hotel allows. Kalamaki it's self is lovely but you are at the end of Zante airport runway. Didn't bother us.
Great location, 10 minute walk to the beach. What let's the hotel down is the pool is freezing, and the food is disgusting from lunchtime to evening meals in the restaurant. Sub standard, we eat out each night as we want something that is digestible.
Arrived today, very basic hotel. Room feels like a hostel accommodation. Food poor not overly happy
I don’t usually leave negative reviews but I want to stress that this should not be a 4-star hotel. I’ll start with some positives! The cleaner did a fantastic job of keeping our room tidy and providing clean towels each day. She was very polite and always said good morning to us and wished us safe travels as we were leaving. The air-con was free! The staff in the restaurant were friendly and plates and glasses were always taken away promptly. The hotel location is fantastic, it’s right in the middle of the resort so the main strip is only a 2 minute walk and the beach is a 10 minute walk. There are ample sunbeds available around the pool so there was never any rush to grab one early.
Now the negatives… Upon arrival, we were given very little information or direction on the hotel facilities. We weren’t told where the restaurant or pool was, or opening times. We will simply given a room key and wristband and sent on our way. We were given a room in the first block, where the shower and the toilet is basically in the bedroom with only a shower curtain and glass barn doors to hide the toilet, giving very little privacy. Thankfully I was on holiday with my fiance so it wasn’t too much of an issue for us, but this would have been extremely awkward and uncomfortable if sharing with friends. The shower was terrible, it was a rainfall shower and the pressure was very poor, I ended up using the handheld shower making it very difficult not to flood the room with just a shower curtain to catch the water. The pool is only open 10am-6pm. This wasn’t a huge issue for us but I thought the chain around the pool was quite dramatic and unnecessary. I found the bar lady at the pool bar very abrupt and rude. I even saw her rolling her eyes at other guests a couple of times, she clearly doesn’t enjoy her job to say the least! We enjoyed the food at breakfast and around the snack bar but the food at lunch and dinner wasn’t great. The meat dishes especially were fairly inedible and choices repetitive. We found ourselves having evening meals out at local restaurants in the last 4 days of our holiday as we really weren’t enjoying our nights at the hotel. Drinks are typical of an inclusive, cocktails from a machine and watered down beer. The pool area had a big issue with wasps, the bar was swarming with them. We stopped making use of the all inclusive as having any kind of drink by your sunbed just encouraged wasps around you. This is somewhat out of the hotel’s control but it would have been nice to see some kind of traps to help stop them. We asked for a late checkout due to us having a night return flight and found that the reception staff made this extremely difficult. We asked on day 7, 8 and 9 of our holiday and each time was told to come back tomorrow to ask again. In the end, we were told to come back at breakfast on the day of our checkout to see if they could find us a different room for late checkout. This left us with a lot of uncertainty about how we could spend our last few hours before flying home. Cost for late checkout was €40. If I was to describe my experience at the hotel, I would say it was fine. Just not what I would expect of a 4-star hotel or for the price we paid for it! We will be returning to Kalamaki in 2028 as we loved the resort, sadly this hotel was the only thing I wish I could have changed.
I always want to be honest in my reviews and on this occasion I honestly do not feel I can recommend this hotel to others. Starting with the positives, the room was clean and the cleaner we had always said good morning and was really lovely and friendly. The receptionist was also super helpful and polite to us. Both members of staff were an asset to the hotel. On the negative side of things, I can’t understand how this is a 4 star hotel and in my opinion its 3 star. The drinks were awful, the gas on the fizzy drinks constantly went and drinks were flat, my partner said the beer was awful also (better in a plastic disposable cup if you can get one) so maybe the cups change the taste. All the spirits were not as they should be. We ended up buying drinks for the fridge which defeats the object of all inclusive. Accessibility was hard. We were top floor of the building (4 lots of steps) and no ramps or lifts. Therefore on arrival and departure we had to get all cases, buggies and toddlers up and down ourselves. Food was varied but not many options and definitely not suitable if you are a fussy eater and not many options for children unless they want chips daily. We were really disappointed that the entertainment didn't ever start till gone 9pm. We have a 2.5 year old and this just wasn't suitable and one of the days when we did venture to take a look the room had a disco ball and music and not a single person there. The only night that seemed busier was the greek night. Location wise you are 3 minutes from the strip with excellent bars and proper entertainment which we loved and the beach was a 10 minute walk in the opposite location. I hate to be negative but on this occasion neither myself or partner felt this hotel was worth what we paid.
