Livas Hotel Apartments - Pernera - Cyprus

We have been to Cyprus several times before now (August 2009) & always stop in the Pernera area. This was our first visit to the Livas hotel & we really only wanted a base to sleep in & rest our heads, however we got a whole lot more than we expected!

The hotel doesn’t have a massive star rating & we were thinking it was going to be very basic but as long as it was clean it would be OK. Well first impressions & the reception area is sharing an open space with part of the bar & seating areas (which works well). We were greeted by the most friendly staff we have ever met on any of our holidays, including other countries. We paid our extras for air conditioning (which is included if you book directly with them) & were taken to our room.

The room was a big lounge/kitchen area with another bedroom & a bathroom. All was clean & tidy with plenty of facilities (some that we hadn’t even had in higher rated hotels). The kitchen had a full oven (4 gas hobs, grill in the oven), an extractor hood, a big fridge with freezer compartment, all the pans, knives and boards you might need for reasonable self catering.

In the Lounge area (open plan with kitchen to one end) there was a table with four chairs, two big sofas that convert to beds, a coffee table & a small TV set on the wall (several local channels that often play English films & shows). The bedroom had two single beds, a dressing table, another small table & one of the air conditioning units, while the bathroom had a bath with shower, sink, toilet, mirror, power for shavers etc.

On the whole the room/s were well stocked, well laid out & comfortable but they aren’t brand new & it would be wrong to say there weren’t the odd knocks on the edges of doors & bits that could have done with a lick of paint but they are far from being tatty.

It was late when we arrived (well after 1am) but we called down to the bar for a look around & a quick drink. We were again greeted by happy smiling faces from the staff members & sat there for a while picking their brains about what went on there. A nice place to sit & drink either inside or outside. The pool area was cleaned every day & the water checked & sorted every night. We were there for 3 weeks & constantly saw this as we overlooked the pool from our room. There are lots of sunloungers too.

The hotel has plenty of things in & around it to make your stay as easy as possible. Its own well-stocked mini-market selling plenty for self catering, althoughyou might need to travel further away to get a big chunk of meat to do a roast. It has at least one computer that I noticed for you to use, a pool table that could really do with a new cover, TV’s showing news/sport/programmes, music is played gently during the day (not thumping tannoy stuff like other places do). The reception can change travellers checks & many other things, there are washing machines/dryers. all the basics you need in a hotel & a lot more.

Its also worth noting that there is ramp access to the front of the building & very little in the way of steps up or down anywhere, with lifts to the upper/lower floors.

Food is available most of the day to very late & several times a week special offers on themed food are done (not your usual themes either - things like “lovers” where a full chicken is roasted along with potatoes, a drink & a pudding for two people to share!) but the best by far is the BBQ night with lots & choices & great fun provided by the Karaoke. We ate several meals & although they were all very good, the village salad was worth note as it’s one of the better ones I have had in Cyprus (made correctly with plenty of olives & the feta dressed with oregano etc, which many places often overlook).

To be honest, there were odd bits I could say weren’t as good as they could have been (the laundry area is very basic & a bit like being in the hotel cellar) but overall it’s a very nice place, well run, well cleaned & by far the best staff we have come across!

Would we return? Absolutely, no question!