Good for kids ! (Gelina Village Hotel & Resort)

Member Name: maaph

Product:	Gelina Village Hotel & Resort
Date:	13/06/02 (351 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Family friendly, Clean

Disadvantages: One particular waiter

Let's start right at the beginning.

Transfer time : obviously this will vary between tour operators and number of guests, but our transfer seemed to take ages, something over and hour-and-a-half.

First impression : Glad I was staying here and not at any other of the concrete blocks we saw on the transfer.

Check-in : very efficient, luggage delivered to appartment.

Appartment : HUGE ! Ours had a living room / dining room with small kitchenette. Two separate bedrooms, each with a west facing balcony (handy once the kids were in bed) and a bathroom. Spotlessly (really!) clean, daily cleaner service.

Restaurant : here my biggest moan. First of all, service was hit-&-miss. Not only were the children throwing the drinks around the table, the waiters often joined in on the act. Food was ok, but often not warm enough (except the ice-cream!). We sat outside most of the time, which kept the noise level down. There is a little sign saying children under 10 should not help themselves to the buffet - good idea, but not enforced. I know they can't do anything about other "local inhabitants", but having a sparrow s***ting on the table whilst stealing my bread got a little wearing.

Facilities : supermarket on site, good selection of stuff, but obviously a bit on the expensive side. Cigarettes are cheap in general (2.50 Euro), so forget the duty frees.

Entertainment : considering the low-budget feel, actually quite good. Kids disco is a laugh (but be prepared as the adults "have" to join in). Multi lingual, though an obvious bias towards German. (Here I confess to living in Germany so for me no great problem, but thought it was worth a mention). Kids Club from German travel agent available for kids over 3. Standard options like football, aerobics etc on offer. Most of the local groups were rubbish.

Beach : they might say it is sandy, but it ain't. Beach is about 10 metres wide, w
ith fairly large pebbles, a la Brighton. However sandy patches are there, and there is plenty of room to find a spot for yourself. Beach is clean, though we did (very very occasionally) get some oil spots on the feet.

Swimming pools : only went in the main pool, which was a bit cold (will be warmer later in the year probably). Alternative is an indoor pool for little kids, heated to about 33 degrees.

Gym : had a look, but not my thing.

Water Park : this is the best bit - a huge water fun park just next door. You get a voucher for 5 Euros per person for the duration of the holiday ... DO IT, straight away. We left it too late, and wished we hadn't. Normal entrance fee is 11 Euro. Enough for kids to spend the whole day every day there - bouncy castle, lazy river, water slides, sun-beds and umbrellas (though maybe not enough).

Town : not too far to walk to supermarket, and can recommend "Lemon Garden" - just beware of the creepy-crawlies ans mosquitos.

Corfu : we went to Cassiopi which was alright, but not really great. The island itsself is staggeringly beautiful, but not necessarily what we wanted to do with two children in tow. Wonderful views of Albanian mountains from Hotel complex.

Summary: