Athena Pallas Village

We planned to look at the beautiful beaches. Because of the rain, we couldn't do that, so we had a closer look at the surrounding area. The coastal strip next to the hotel was 2-4 metres wide, "furnished" with old pool chairs (that probably no one would want to steal) and made of gravel and FULL of people from the town and the guests of the hotels from the radius of 10 km. Horrible.
The next two towns were Nikiti and Neos Marmaris. We went to look at the first one with a shuttle bus. A pathetic gathering of houses with a few beatch bars. We were glad that the bus picked us up after two hours. We did it without Neos Marmaris.
The only excursion possibility was a nice hike to "Petros" (informations and a good two pages long hiking guide at the reception). The street next to the hotel was good to jog or to have a walk. On the right, the ocean, on the left, olive trees, some buildings once in a while. There weren't many cars on the street.

The friendliness of the staff depended on the person. The server at the pool with the water wheel was great. Friendly, thinking, brought drinks to the terraces around his pool even in pouring rain. The server at maisonette pool, however, was absolutely arrogant. The maitre in the hotel was great, the old dear responsible for complaints at the reception suddenly lost her knowledge in our language and starred at something behind us. And so on...either they were very friendly or very unfriendly. What a pity.

After 16 years of shared holidays we had a première: room change. It was an absolute no-go. Absolutely. They told us we could might have a maisonette for 200 euros extra charge PER DAY. A conversation with our guides and the room was suddenly free. The old one was occupied the same afternoon. That's not for the image of the hotel either.

There were 3 pool bars, one also opened at night. And, there was a bar on the roof at night. The cocktails were horrible. And as pretty as the bar on the roof was, the atmosphere was ruined when the stinky and roaring outgoing air was turned on by the restaurant underneath. Because of the smell of fat, we never ate there. You should also watch out where you were sitting, since the two bars had different music. That could get on your nerves if you were sitting exactly between lounge music and techno.

We had half board, the quality and the quantity of the meals was good. Good wine card. Cleanness and hygiene were okay, if something was spilled, the other guests were to blame.
Unfortunately, the dresscode for dinner was ignored 95% of the time. Bathing slippers, parachute fabric (yes, that still exists!), short trousers, swimming things - on women as well as on men. The staff only would have needed to turn down the temperature in the dining rooms, because when the weather cooled down after 6 days, they suddenly came with more clothes on.

Atmosphere - how? Canteen style in bathing slippers, sound of children shrieking and yelling and comings and goings - just brush-off.

Sports: 3 pools, 1 fitness room, 1 hiking path, possibilities to jog along the street.
Entertainment: none. Kids club: no. Disco: none. Shopping possibilities: minimart. In the minimart, you should only buy labeled articles, otherwise the cashier made it more expensive! Internet: WLAN at the reception. Other possible leisure activities: billiard and table-top football.

Beach: already described. Avoid it. However, the water was great.

Pool: very well looked after. Pool chairs available. They were often reserved, but there were still enough left.

Spa: ridiculous. For 10 euros you could go into a huge steaming room with wooden furniture (it smelled disgusting and the loud compressor was also in the room!). There was also a tiny sauna (for maximum two people) and the jacuzzi was prepared for you. There was also a hot bathtub with a few small candles in a separate room. Very romatic and intimate. Rest room didn't exist. Apart from that, EVERYONE had access to the spa area so that there was no peace. The indoor pool was used by families with kids when it rained. So, don't go there.

The first room was a catastrophe. No sunlight. If you get 602, refuse to take it. The French window didn't close, the shutters in front of it were just for decoration, the bathroom door didn't close, the door to the room had a gap as if someone stepped on it. The water from the shower run off and appeared in the middle of the bathroom to slowly disappear again. The mirror in the bath room was rusty. The bed already squeaked if you just looked at it. The furnishing looked like a student's room, the furniture didn't fit together and stood there in rows. The walls were stained, we had a view to a wall of the building opposite and the trash under it. The wall belonged to the kids paradise what couldn't be overheard or overseen. Wathever happened there, they took pictures of it all the time. The flash made me crazy. And all Mummies and daddies looked into our room. Perfect.

The second room was top. Big, good grouted bath, light-coloured furniture, well finished, a separate living room with a seating corner that has a view to the pool area and the ocean. The only problem was that the entrance to the kitchen was next to our room. Now we know that the delivery came at 5.30 am and we know when the trash collection came and when the changes of shifts were at the car park underneath us. Furthermore, the roof of the balcony wasn't watertight, so that we couldn't sit outside when it rained like the other guests could. We had to stay in the room.