Elysium Green Suites

I don’t normally leave hotel reviews, but I feel compelled to on this occasion because of the way a serious payment issue was handled during our stay.

Facilities

Gym The gym equipment is dated and does not appear to be well maintained. Some machines had missing adjustment pins, making them difficult or unsafe to use. It would benefit from refurbishment and better maintenance.

Communal Areas The hotel is showing its age. Wallpaper is peeling in places and the general décor and upkeep could be improved.

Bedroom

The room was a good size and the beds were comfortable. Housekeeping was reliable, with fresh towels and bottled water provided every day.

However, there were several issues:

• The room lights flickered throughout the night, which disturbed our sleep.
• The minibar fridge was not cold enough to safely store medication that requires refrigeration.

Breakfast

Breakfast offered a good variety of food, and items were replenished quickly by attentive staff.

Unfortunately, there were numerous flies around the dining area and on the uncovered food, which significantly detracted from the experience.

Room Service

Room service was generally acceptable, although the quality did not reflect the prices charged. It felt expensive for what was provided and fell short of what I would expect from a four star hotel.

Reception and Customer Service

The reception staff were polite and welcoming. We were grateful to be allowed an early check-in, and staff were happy to arrange taxis, which arrived promptly. The complimentary shuttle bus to the beach was also a welcome benefit.

Unfortunately, my positive impression of the hotel changed dramatically midway through our stay.

Shortly after room service had delivered our meal, I received a phone call asking me to come to reception. I was informed that because my room service bill was approaching £100, I needed to settle it immediately as I was considered a “high-risk” guest. I found this surprising and inappropriate, particularly as I had already paid for my accommodation in full before arriving.

When I attempted to pay by card, I was told twice that my payment had failed. I was then asked to use another card, which I did.

When I returned to my room to eat my now cold meal, I checked my banking app to understand why my first card had supposedly failed. To my surprise, I discovered that all three payment attempts had actually been processed, meaning I had been charged three times.

I immediately returned to reception and showed staff the transactions on my banking app. Despite the evidence, I was initially told the payments had not gone through, that I was mistaken, and that everything would automatically correct itself once they balanced the accounts at the end of the day.

The refund did not happen.

The following day I returned to reception with the same evidence. Staff apologised and acknowledged that I had indeed been charged multiple times, assuring me that a refund would be processed. However, I was repeatedly told that the matter would be dealt with by the accounts department and that it could take up to 21 days for my money to be returned.

As I was checking out today, four days after the duplicate charges were made, I had still not received the promised refund or the written confirmation that I had repeatedly requested. In an effort to resolve the matter privately before leaving, I also sent a polite WhatsApp message to the hotel outlining my concerns and requesting assistance. That message received no response.

Most concerning of all, during the checkout process the same member of reception staff attempted to charge me again for the very same room service bill that had already been paid and had resulted in the duplicate charges. Had I not been paying close attention, I could easily have been charged yet again.

If I had been travelling on a tighter budget, having hundreds of pounds tied up because of the hotel’s mistake could have had a serious impact on the remainder of my trip. What disappointed me most was not that an error occurred, mistakes happen in every business, but the lack of urgency, accountability and communication in resolving it.

Overall, there were aspects of the hotel that we genuinely enjoyed. The reception team were friendly, housekeeping was reliable, and breakfast staff worked hard. Unfortunately, the handling of this financial issue completely overshadowed those positives.

I have retained screenshots of the duplicate transactions, my banking records and my communications with the hotel. This review is an accurate account of my experience. If my refund is received promptly after my departure, I will happily update this review to reflect that. However, based on my experience, I cannot recommend this hotel until it improves both its payment procedures and its handling of customer complaints.

The hotel itself is amazing, staff are very attentive and try their best to understand. Ferhat the manager downstairs was incredibly friendly and helpful, Ferhat would make us laugh every time we saw him which is always a treat. TIM at reception is hands down the nicest person we've ever met and talking to him was always fun and helpful. TIM made us feel very welcome and helped us a lot. The hotel was very clean, the food was okay but expensive compared to other restaurants. There is not much in close proximity except one shop that preys on tourists with very inflated prices (pretty sure he overcharged us on every purchase looking back.) Recommended you have £100 for taxis to get you to and from for the week they are not that expensive and you'll need them to get to any sort of populated area. The bar staff couldn't do enough to help you and the frozen drinks had us addicted (non alcohol). Be back in 3 months as it was a dental stay but can't wait to return