A little luxury in Cyprus! (Coral Beach Hotel and Resort)

Name: kingfisher111

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Product:	Coral Beach Hotel and Resort
Date:	24/02/08 (137 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lovely hotel

Disadvantages: quiet in February

We have just come back from staying for a week at the Coral Beach Hotel in Cyprus. The hotel is just outside the small resort of Coral Bay and is about 10 km from Paphos and about a thirty minute drive from Paphos Airport. We stayed in the hotel in mid February which is a time which has some things to recommend it but not others!

We chose the hotel because it seemed to offer just that little bit more than other hotels in the area and in many ways it did although this was also reflected in the price! (We booked with Thomson and paid about £1600 for the package deal for me, my husband and our two small daughters When you first arrive at the hotel you can't help but notice the sheer size of it.. It is pretty huge and you could very easily get lost. Staying in February though, the hotel was operating at no where near capacity which meant that it was quite easy to keep tabs on my two small daughters.

When you first enter the hotel you come into a very impressive reception area which leads into a large lounge and bar area. All the reception staff were very friendly and helpful and we couldn't fault them at all.The lounge always felt very tranquil - even with my two girls in it!

We had a lovely sized bedroom which my husband and I shared with the girls. Even with four of us sleeping in it there was still plenty of space. Had we not been sharing with the girls the room would have divided beautifully into a small lounge area and a different sleeping area. We also found a complimentary bottle of red wine on our arrival which we felt was a nice extra especially when we were sitting on our balcony drinking it! Another thing I really liked about our room was the size of the balcony. It was actually about the size of a small back yard and very enclosed so it was a great area for the girls to play while they were waiting for us to get ready. I could tell that not all balconies were this size though so I guess we were lucky!

The room service was very good and the room always felt clean. Towels were changed frequently and the shampoos and bath foam etc were topped up regularly. This was all from a range made from olive oil which did not really seem to suit my hair but you can't have everything! There were complimentary robes and slippers in the room and also a TV on which we could get a few English speaking channels including BBC1 and ITV. One small complaint is that the room was quite cold at night so if you are thinking of going at that time of year you should take some warmnightwear especially for the children!

The hotel grounds were beautiful and very well kept. There are some lovely swimming pools but it was far too cold to use the outdoor ones at this time of year! Instead we took to using the smaller indoor pool on a daily basis. Quite often we would be the only ones using this pool which was great for my daughters because they were really able to build up their swimming confidence. My one moan about the pool though is that it just wasn't heated enough. It felt very cold on getting in and on a couple of occasions my four year old's teeth were actually chattering by the time she got out! This pool ws situated next to a small gym with all the usual equipment and also a health and beauty spa. they looked great, but as this was a family holiday, we didn't make use of them.

The hotel also had a small playground for the children which had swings and a big climbing frame with slides etc, which kept the two girls amused for quite a lot of the time.

We were staying on a B and B basis so we looked forward to our breakfast every day. Everything was buffet style and there was pretty much everything you could wish for ranging from fresh fruit, cereals, cold meats, pastries and traditional cooked breakfast fare! As I was on holiday I tended to opt for all the really unhealthy stuff which was all delicious, but as I have just come back and weighed myself, maybe I should have stuck with the fruit!

We also tended to eat in the hotel every evening as well.Because of where the hotel is situated, there weren't really any options to walk out to so we did feel a bit restricted. Also, although the hotel boasts a number of different restaurants, at this time of year only one was open on a daily basis. Every night we had a themed buffet including oriental, greek and italian. All were absolutely delicious and no good at all for the waistline! Our daughters weren't very keen on this food though so we were able to choose for them off the children's menu. Unfortunately most things on this menu came with chips. Also the portions were absolutely massive and most nights we were sending lots back because they just couldn't eat it! We eventually got wise to this though and asked if we could order one meal which both girls could share and this was much more successful. Eating in the restaurant every night was quite expensive and we were probably averaging about 85 euros per night.

There was one other restaurant - an italian one - which was open on Tuesdays and Fridays but you had to be over twelve to go in here so we didn't use this one. On the hotel website it shows over ten different restaurants and bars so it was quite disappointing not to have a greater choice.

Every night there was a pianist playing in the main lounge area. This was very relaxing and both my girls loved to dance to this, much to the amusement of the other guests!

Overall we really liked the hotel but didn't feel that we really got the most of it, visiting when we did. You could tell that in the height of season there would be tons going on and this would also include a children's club - that is only open from May though. Also there was a babysitting service but,bearing in mind what happened to the McCann family last year, we preferred not to make use of this.

For our family, at this time of year, it was nice to stay in a hotel which was not too busy but it probably would not suit everyone. We loved the views from the hotel, found all the staff very friendly and amenable and there was just about enough for our girls to do. We did speak to a family with some older children though, and they did say that they were quite bored!

So I would definitely recommend the Coral Beach Hotel, but would probably advise going slightlylater in the year in order to get the most out of the facilities!

Summary: great hotel for that little extra!