Ocean Blue Hotel – Ialyssos – Rhodes

After seeing the Ocean Blue hotel on the Internet site we were really excited about visiting. Champagne reception was non existent. We were just given our key & directed to our room. After looking at the official hotel Internet site I was expecting luxury.

I’m no snob & have stayed in some pretty low budget hotels, but after looking at the Internet site I expected more than what we got.

There were no dressing gowns & slippers awaiting us on the bed, & the decor of the room was the bog standard you get in any low budget hotel. There was no satellite TV in the room, nor a dvd player (both promised on the Internet site). Not that I go away to use these facilities, but it is false advertising. We paid extra to stay in the double superior garden suites. Thank goodness we did as the other rooms around the pool were tiny. A couple we spoke to had demanded to be moved from one of these pool side rooms because of the noise. Would you believe that after paying extra for a deluxe suite, we had a camp bed in the room?

The hotel is directly under the flight path into Rhodes. The first day we were there it was a novelty, watching the planes fly so low. Trust me, the novelty soon wore off. After being woken every 15 minutes during the night, we weren’t the happiest of travellers.

All throughout the holiday we just kept thanking our lucky stars that we weren’t around the pool area. For one, the stench of sewage was really, really bad. Secodnly, it was just extremely busy & noisy. Even though the view from my room door was of wasteland, we were happy where we were.

The food was OK, apart from the packed lunch which consisted of a dry cheese & ham sandwich, bottle of water & two bananas. It was rarely hot, but we didn’t have an issue with this. What really annoyed us was that the kitchen staff moved your plates as soon as you put your cutlery down. This was annoying to say the least, especially if you were having to interrupt eating your dessert in order to pass your plates over to the waiting on staff. The staff were rude – simply saying ‘Finished? ‘ before snatching away your plates.

A word of warning – don’t use the soft drinks dispenser in the restaurant as it is infested with crawling bugs when you pour your drink out. When we told the staff that we had a glass full of bug-infested lemonade they squirted the machine & said ‘it’s sorted. ‘. But every day when we tried to use it, the same thing happened.

All-inclusive only lasts until 11pm so be aware. They have 1, or if you are lucky 2, barstaff on so you can imagine the queues for drinks. The bar staff were surly, ignorant & rude. I have been to Rhodes many times & have always found the Greek people the nicest in the world so this surprised me immensely. I later found out that the bar staff & kitchen staff were Polish & Albanian, so maybe weren’t happy in their jobs perhaps?

One evening they ran out of brandy. They just replied ‘No brandy’. By this time, our party was feeling extremely fed up by the attitude of the staff & spoke to the manager who promptly went to the beer store & returned with brandy. The truth was, the bar staff just couldn’t be bothered to fetch it. They were happier to serve guests who were paying for their drinks. They didn’t seem to be bothered about serving children – one of my children was waiting 20 minutes before we had to go to the bar to get a drink for her. There was no entertainment on the Friday we were there as it was the animation Team’s day off. In peak season? And on a Friday?

We weren’t allowed to use the toilet near the pool for 30 minutes after the cleaning staff had been in, & were simply blocked physically from entering! We found the reception staff & the manager very helpful & pleasant however.

The a la carte restaurant isn’t part of the all inclusive deal but we knew this before we went.

The entertainment consisted of the same music being played all day. We were also hassled to buy CD’s & t shirts at 15 euros each. They played bingo, which cost 5 euros a game, & the prize was a CD or a t shirt. The hotel, supposedly in Ialyssos, was in the middle of nowhere, but this wasn’t an issue because it is so cheap to use public transport in Rhodes.

The hotel is directly on the beach – it’s a small pebble beach, but the sea is beautiful. There was no beach bar, as stated on the hotel Internet site.

The bus into Rhodes costs two euros for an adult & one euro for a child which is excellent value for money. Also, if you caught the bus near the hotel you managed to get a seat, whereas if you were based closer to Rhodes & got on then you would be standing along with about 30 other people.

I love Rhodes, & will definitely visit again – but will never go to this hotel ever again. After working hard to save up & go on this holiday, I expected a little more customer service. If staff in hotels in Britain were as unhelpful & as rude I am quite sure they would be out of a job.