Paradise Apartments – Laganas – Zante

According to the sales pitch, the Paradise apartments in Laganas should have been an idyllic hotel – the rooms were presented as having laminated flooring, an LCD TV, the bathroom apparently had a separate shower & enough space to move in. It was portrayed as quiet, far enough from Laganas centre to not hear the noise but close enough to walk. But this is not what you get. It’s noisy and attracts the groups of youngsters.

Do not look at the pictures on the website – they do not tell the story! The bathroom was tiny, with a shower curtain that, when closed, also enclosed you in with the toilet & flooded the bathroom every time you showered - a lot of the time even spilled out into kitchen areas. Of course you could always mop it up with the towels but they charge you £50 if you get a little dirt on them! If you don’t want this charge, you have to use your own to wipe the floor, then of course you use it to dry yourself the next day at the pool. Nice.

The floor itself was tiled, not laminate, which would have been OK if the website hadn’t given you the idea that it was clean, good looking laminate. But the tiles were laid messily, sort of diagonal & untidy – like a kid had been set loose with a mosaic, & thy were drenched when we first walked through the door. The kitchen area was not clean and nor were the utensils and I had to buy my own utensils just to feel clean the first night. There was even a broken glass bowl in the kitchen cupboard that hadn’t been removed – you would have thought they would at least check these.

We had to ask for a kettle & toaster, waited 20 minutes for the kettle & it didn’t work properly. The cleaning after the initial complaints was acceptable & the cleaner was very friendly and even taught us some Greek! The bed was good if a little creaky but we are very heavy people so that can be put down to us. The balcony was hardly a balcony, not private & looked out on the car park & noisy road – a shame when they could have altered it to look out on the pool.

The pool was clean (a lot of wasps but that’s not unusual for Zante) until a crowd from Manchester turnd up and proceeded to cramp up the pool, smoking, drinking and even kicking ash trays into the pool. This is not entirely the hotel’s fault but the staff could have told them off - instead they just seemed to find it amusing That said, the staff were pleasant enough. But do not expect to get to sleep at night – the music from the pool bar is outrageous & will go on until the last person leaves. We asked them to turn it down multiple times but it always went back up a small time later. The shouting & swearing of the drunk teenagers is enough to give you a headache alon, but when add in the scooters & the music you have a two week migraine.

We were woken up at 8.30am to screaming & shouting from one of the owners at some lads – we think it was over damages. The pool bar food was decent, probably worth the 5 euros for a Paradise Burger, which I would recommend. You get plenty of chips although the burger is quite small, as is the salad. The onion rings are also delicious, but I wouldn’tget the chips & cheese as it’s not so much real cheese as spray cheese.

In my opinion the cocktails weren’t great but they aren’t really my taste anyway but thy are two euros cheaper than on the strip. The Jelly Bean was the only one I really liked & would definitely recommend this although we lived off the slushies! The “strip” & main shops & restaurants are a half hour walk down the road which in the heat this feels like an hour! The location wasn’t great in that respect, but at least you don’t hear music from the strip – only the pool bar.

The rep recommended we go to the supermarket that is a ten minute walk away but there is a mini market two minutes awayto the right of the paradise restaurant. The Paradise restaurant definitely saved the holiday. The people, food & atmosphere was just great. Myself & my fianc̩ are the quiet, culture seeking type & the restaurant is both, with peaceful Greek music in the background & a water fountain. Although it is good in the light, I would recommend coming to this restaurant when it is dark Рthe vine leaves are lit up beautifully & it is such a calming but friendly atmosphere.

For 3.90 (each) I chose the dolmades (stuffed vine leaves) & my fiancé chose the spring rolls for an appetizer. These were both delicious & of a decent size. For the main course I had the lasagne which was 7.90 and it was massive. The serving portions are all big & I would in particular recommend the Kleftiko – buy it & you’ll see why.

For dessert, for 4.50, I had the Ferrero Rocher cake & it really is as delicious as it sounds! My fiancé had the Dream Cake which apparently no-one has ever managed to finish – it is delicious but massive and at 4.50 both come with ice cream & a sparkler. On our last night we had the Ferrero to share & bless them they even put whipped cream & extra sauces to say goodbye. This I would say is the best restaurant in Laganas & there really is no point walking half an hour looking for another when this is on your doorstep.
On the last night we were kicked out of our rooms at midday even though we weren’t getting picked up until 3.30am, so had to “sleep” outside on the sunbeds & be out in the sun all day! Again the music was loud & the teenagers were rowdy so I ended up flying 4 hours restless, tired & with a terrible headache.

The duty free at the airport in Zante is expensive – 4 euros for a sausage roll & 2.50 for a Mars Bar. Be careful about weight as they can charge 11 euross per kilo you go over your allowance!

Overall, do not come here if you are in the slightest bit mature. Everyone who was there was 17-20 and in groups but were completely boozed up, disrespectful, & the owners did nothing to control them, simply encouraged them more.