Ionian Sea Hotel Villas & Aqua Park

Booked a last minute holiday and it wasn't expensive so really wasn't expecting much , and after reading some of the reviews was slightly apprehensive. On check in to our room we thought we had slipped back in time to the 70s, the room was very old and dated , we couldn't get the air conditioning working and had to report it twice , every time you took a shower then bathroom flooded . On the day we tried the snack bar , there was sandwiches and little pies ,you got them handed to you in a paper napkin , they don't use plates . The buffer restaurant opened at 7pm and we was one of the first in there , there was counters of cold salads and counters of hot food , the salads were ok but the hot food was awful , none of it was hot ,it was hardly even warm , coming from a catering background it made us wonder how long had the food been sat there for it to be that tepid, bacteria can start to multiply on the food when it drops into the danger zone . If a young child or older person are it they soon could become ill from it . At breakfast the next day we tried the breakfast to see what it was like and that was the same , tepid food so we didn't eat it ,we had cereals which tasted like cardboard and had some ham and cheese instead, we had ordered a packed lunch to as we was heading out for the day , it was hardly worth bothering , a carton of juice ,water and a prepacked croissant. I tried lunch one day and just ate the salads as the hot food wasn't hot again . The alcohol choices were very poor, beer and wine were both very bland and the red wine was very fizzy 🥺 cold drinks were cheap and tasted rank . So for the rest of the time we just only went in at breakfast for bread ham and cheese and a hot drink. The sunbeds are that close to the pool that you can't lay back and relax without getting soaked and it's far from peaceful as it's quite noisey. The one good thing about the hotel is the staff, they are very happy and smiley. If you plan on coming here, expect to eat out and you will need transport and it's in a remote area . We contacted Jet2 holidays with our concerns and we felt like they brushed us off saying that they had asked all there other customers who were staying at the same time and they was happy with the food, they told us they had no complaints since last year , but we have seen negative reviews and others we spoke to weren't happy either . They did say we could move if we paid for a new hotel , a cancellation fee on the hotel , an administration fee , We had transport so we used the hotel to sleep .

The hotel is lovely location great views the food was always cold and no choice especially if your a vegetarian the drink choice was bad no coca cola or pepsi just a cheap cola not very nice and very little choice on the alcohol side its a shame as this could be a great place if they did not penny pinch on the little things

The hotel is very secluded no nearby bars or restaurants, got to be prepared to venture around the island to get the most from your holiday. We rented a car for two days and made the most of it and we also got a taxi to the harbour as there was no public transport available until June. The hotel was dated with only a kettle in the room, no cups, no water or tea or coffee provided. We asked for cups and got two plastic beakers left in our room. We also asked for a wine glass with our meal but got told no as they didn't have enough to accommodate everyone. The drinks weren't great the red wine was like water. The staff were friendly and helpful although some of the rules seemed pointless. The island is beautiful and if you are willing to spend some days travelling it's well worth a visit. We didn't rate the hotel as a 4* more like a lower 3* there is definitely room for improvement. There were two beaches about 15 minute walk away, one with a beach hut selling drinks and basic food and the other with two tavernas which had just opened for the season both lovely settings. Overall we had a wonderful week but we made the most of it ourselves.