In August 2017, My wife, myself, and the two brats...cough..cough..I mean our two darling children spent four nights for an all inclusive at the Mitsis Rodos Maris Resort & Spa in the Kiotari area of Rhodes, Greece.
There was us two, our kids (10 and 5 years old) and friends of ours with two kids more or less the same age.
Sunday
We arrived at the airport at about 11:00. It was packed, but it only took 40 minutes for the check in, luggage, security, scanning, and passport control. Our flight left on time at 13:50, and after a short 75 minute flight, we landed at Rhodes.
It didn't take too long to pass through customs and soon enough we were outside with our luggage. We found our bus to the hotel, and after all the other families had boarded the bus, we were on our way.
The ride to the hotel took about 90 minutes. On the way, I noticed a few things.
- The view was very similar to things back home. Same kind of Mediterranean vegetation.
- There are many abandon buildings, or many buildings for sale, or buildings that look like they stopped building them half way. I wonder what the financial situation is there.
- When we passed through villages on the way, it looked like one of the main sources of income is from tourism. Endless Tourist souvenir shops, restaurants, and hotels.
At about 18:00 we arrived at our hotel, Mitsis Rodos Maris Resort & Spa
The staff are very nice, very professional, and answer any questions. Most speak English, but many don't, but they do their best to help.
We got our room, dropped our bags there, got on our swimming suites and went straight to the pool. The kids wanted to try out the water slide while it was still operating for the day...OK, I wanted to try it too.
Take note. Not everyone is used to salt water pools. Many places that advertise the hotel, say that the main pool at this hotel is fresh water. When we were there it wasn't. It was half and half. If you're not used to a pool like that, it takes a little getting used to.
The resort has four swimming pools: The main and biggest one, one for toddlers, one for small kids, and one in the spa (where no kids are allowed and costs extra, if i recall correctly). There's no shortage of places to sit, but if you want shade, come early. We're used to finding a seat when we arrive, we learned that most people here wake up early, and place their towels on the seats they want to save, and come back later. By 07:30, most of the best seats are taken. look at all these sunbathing towels:
Towels from the rooms are forbidden, and you can either bring your own from home(we did), or you can take towels from the pool and leave a deposit (I think it was 20 Euros per towel).
After our short dip in the pool, we went back to the rooms, got dry, got dressed, and went to have dinner. The hotel has a number of dining halls. The main dining room, the Chinese cuisine, Italian, Greek (in the evenings), and American(Lunch time). They're all available in the all inclusive package, but apart from the main hall, the others are smaller, and you need to make a reservation well ahead of time. We found that if we wanted to reserve a table at the Chinese hall, we needed to make the reservation before we even arrived at the hotel. Not to worry, the main dining room has a large selection of food, and there's no danger of going hungry.
There is a minimal dress code, so no entering the dining halls in swimming suits.
Along with the restaurants, there are many bars situated all around the hotel in places such as the lobby, the pool, the beach, the play room, the ice-cream parlor, and the tennis courts.
Pros: It's a big place, and there's plenty to do. There's entertainment and an activity team for the kids. There are shops both on the resort grounds and also along the street outside. The staff are very friendly and very professional.
Cons: The rooms are very small and could use some updating. There are ants (which are tended to). The air conditioners in the rooms are OK, but in the lobby and dining areas they just don't do the job.
There are people from all over Europe staying there, so behave and don't embarrass your country, because if you do, chances are that no one will really notice.
So where were we? After a very tasty dinner, we were pretty worn out from the long day. We returned to our room and fell asleep.
Our room was pretty near the center. It was near the pool, near the dining room, near the shops, etc. The standard rooms are very small. it's Important to know this before you go, so you won't be disappointed. Also, our "sea view" was more a view of the tops of a few trees.
The air conditioner in our room was pretty old, and in the middle of the night started rattling so loudly that we couldn't sleep at all. We went to the main desk and within minutes they sent a bellboy to have a look. There wasn't much he could do. They said they would send a technician in the morning. At some stage the noise stopped and we got a few hours sleep. The noise didn't seem to bother or wake the kids.
Monday
We woke up, went to breakfast, and literally got stuffed.
We went to the main desk again, to remind them about the air conditioner. Mean while many many many ants decided they want to visit our room too. We told the hotel and they said they'd take care of it with the house keeping.
We went to the beach. The hotel has its own private beach. There's plenty of places to sit, but, like the pool, you need to come early and leave your towel if you want the better places.
The sand isn't really sand. It's more like tiny pebbles and rocks. If you're not used to it, then it's best to wear sandals or flip flops. The sea was great to swim in and even on a hot August day was nice and cool.
Also at the beach, the hotel has a bar and a pizza kiosk. There's a volleyball competition and other activities (some are for extra pay).
We stayed at the beach until about noon, and then moved over to the pool. At the bar at the pool you can also order hot-dogs and Cheese-toasts.
In the afternoon, we wanted to tour around a bit. Right outside the hotel is a bus stop and we caught the bus to Lindos. After about a half an hour drive, we arrived at the top of the hill. The village of Lindos is mostly down the bottom. You can walk down (about 15 minutes), take another bus, or ride down on a donkey. We took the bus.
The village is beautiful. The narrow alleyways are filled with shops of different kinds. You can also visit the fort on the cliff, though we didn't really have time to.We walked around the alleys for a couple of hours. Then we learned that there were no more buses to take us back to the top of the hill, so we took a taxi back to the hotel. And if you think the taxi drivers drive crazy in your area, you clearly have never been to Rhodes.
We returned to the hotel and had dinner. We discovered that even thought the technician had been, the AC was still making a lot of noise. So were returned to the main desk and asked for a different room. The only room available was one without a "sea view". We had no problems with that. While this room was further away from the center, it was considerably larger and the AC worked just fine.
In the evening, the hotel put on a dance show to Mediterranean music. A must see!
Tuesday
Today we relaxed by the pool mostly. A lot of food, a lot of drink (Pepsi for me mostly), and a lot of ice-cream. We arrived with our towels at 08:00 and already all the best seats around the pool had been taken.
We stayed in the hotel the whole day. After lunch, the kids played video games in the game room and we rested. In the evening, there was a magic show for the kids.
Wednesday
Today we went to the water park in Faliraki. It's said to be one of the biggest in Europe. From the bus-stop outside the hotel, everyday at 09:00 sharp, the is a free bus which goes straight to the water park. If you miss the bus, there are regular buses which go there too.
After about an hour, we arrived. The park is well positioned and has water slides for people of all ages. There's also a large wave pool.
There are lockers to put your valuables in, so sadly, no pics.
At 17:00. we caught the bus back to the hotel.
In the evening, there was a Fire Dance show and some fireworks at the hotel.
We said good night to our last night at the resort.
Thursday
Our last day at the resort. Our ride to the airport wasn't until 21:00, so we asked for a late checkout. It's recommended to ask for it as early as possible. It cost 50 Euros, but it was worth it. That way we could spend the day at the pool and still eat lunch and dinner.
Towards 19:00 we had dinner, went back to the room and packed our bags. At 21:00 the bus arrived on the dot. We climbed aboard and headed home.
