Parakládi Beach

Free breakfast was great, nice selection of foods and coffee

Good: pool bar and restaurant Room for improvement: buffet restaurant, no topper or fitted sheet on the bed

We stayed in a private Sandy Villa with its own pool, and it was amazing – our son even learned to swim within hours, and swimming at night was magical for the kids. The villa itself was spotless and spacious, and the housekeeping team and buggy drivers were brilliant. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the reception staff, who were very rude. Sadly, the rest of the resort didn’t live up to the same standard. Part of our villa had a strong sewage smell which took four days to “fix”, and even then the problem never fully went away. The food in the main restaurant was average at best, and the dining experience was stressful, with constant noise and crowds. The drinks were another major disappointment – no branded soft drinks, which feels like such a simple fix. The dining areas, pools (other than the Sandy Villas’ pool), and the beach were all overcrowded, with far too many guests for the facilities available. As for the à la carte restaurants – good luck getting a booking! The Sandy Villas themselves are 5-star quality, but being tied to the sister hotel drags the whole experience down. If food and drinks were available on the villa side, we would return in a heartbeat. Until then, it remains a holiday of two halves – 5-star villa, 2-star resort