Alia Palace Luxury Hotel and Villas

We had a wonderful stay at Alia Palace Hotel, and there are so many things about this hotel that deserve recognition. Upon arrival, we were escorted to our suite, which was honestly the nicest room my partner and I have ever stayed in. We had our own private pool and breathtaking views overlooking the town, sea and even Mount Athos. The setting was spectacular and undoubtedly one of the highlights of our holiday. The hotel itself has three main pools, two bars, a main restaurant and an à la carte restaurant, alongside a spa, gym and tennis court. We opted for the all-inclusive package, which made our stay incredibly relaxing. For anyone visiting at this time of year, the main pools can be a little chilly, although that's completely understandable given the season. We'd highly recommend booking a suite with a private pool if possible, as we found ours noticeably warmer, particularly during the afternoon sunshine. It was a real luxury and something we thoroughly enjoyed. The food offered an impressive variety, with something to suit almost everyone. We particularly loved the selection of cold meats, cheeses, olives, honeys and accompaniments, and the food itself was generally delicious. Our only disappointment was that some of the hot dishes were often served lukewarm, which occasionally affected our enjoyment and left certain dishes seeming a little dry. It's a shame because the flavours were lovely, and ensuring the food was consistently served hot would make a real difference. The all-inclusive snacks could also be improved. Options were mainly sandwiches and pastries, which we noticed were left unrefrigerated, including sandwiches containing salmon. Some pastries also appeared and tasted as though they may have been left over from breakfast. We would have expected a wider selection of fresh snacks and greater attention to how certain foods were stored, particularly at a five-star hotel. We also noticed that half-board guests seemed to receive nicer drinks because, as we were told, "they pay for them." This felt a little strange considering all-inclusive guests have also paid for their drinks within their package. We certainly don't expect premium drinks, but feel the quality of the included options could be better. The all inclusive package for drinks service ends at 11pm, where cocktails are then priced at an average of €16, where you then receive a higher quality cocktail. The spa charges €10 for an hour's use of the jacuzzi and sauna. While this isn't unreasonable, we were surprised it wasn't included in the all-inclusive package. Treatments are priced separately, and although we didn't try them ourselves, we heard excellent feedback from other guests who felt they were well worth the money. The cleanliness and staff deserve particular praise. Both our suite and the entire hotel were maintained to an exceptional standard, with our room cleaned beautifully every day. Every member of staff we encountered was friendly, welcoming and genuinely helpful, always smiling and happy to assist. Their warmth and professionalism made such a difference, and the hotel should be incredibly proud of its team. Overall, these are relatively small observations in what was otherwise a fantastic holiday. Our suite was exceptional, the views breathtaking, the food varied and tasty, and the staff and cleanliness faultless. We would happily recommend Alia Palace, especially the private pool suites. With a few improvements to the temperature of hot dishes, fresh snack options and the all-inclusive offering, this could be an even more exceptional five-star experience. We leave with wonderful memories and a real appreciation for everyone who made our stay so enjoyable.

Long from airport and not good transfer, good rooms but not good service, bad cleaning, expensive drinks and food, not good food, lot of bar fights

I am writing regards to our recent stay at the hotel we came here 2 years ago and it was a 5 star experience from beginning to end. We expected the same upon our return however for a multitude of reasons the holiday was disappointing and failed miserably at giving me some happiness after the sad news about my fathers illness. Here are the issues that myself and my partner encountered; The booking process needs addressing. The deposit should have been taken at the time of the booking,this failure meant our bank declined the payment they tried to make 3 weeks later as it was from an an ambiguous looking account with NO reference to the Alia Palace on it. At no time did they call or email us to ask why they could not get payment!! When they did eventually call they said the week we wanted was fully booked so we had to move our dates.We then had to make several calls to rearrange our dates thus incurring charges from the airline to rearrange our flights. We then had the added stress of having to re book our house-sitter to look after our elderly cat at more inconvenience to them and us. We had to also re book our airport transfers from home to the airport and visa versa for the journey home.This cost us both time and money. Upon arriving to our room we find that it is on the very end of the block allowing other members of the public who used the parking area a partial view into our private pool area and was slightly smaller than the others. This i know cant be helped as the hotel is built this way however we did request the room we had previously when we booked and considering the upheaval we had already encountered before arriving it would of been nice for that to have been taken into consideration.This spoiled the use of the pool so we used it not as much as the times on our previous visit. For a 5 Star hotel there should be metal spoons to use with the cups for making coffee i appreciate they wish to be sustainable however the wooden sticks were not good to use and are wasteful.It also makes it feel that money is being saved by the hotel.To charge to refill the coffee pods for the coffee machine at 2 euros a pod is outrageous for a 5 star resort. The complimentary basket of fruit was not removed even though it was obvious it was not going to be eaten after several days and was going off!! The inside of the private pool had damage that had been covered over with blue lining tape however you could feel the pool structure crumbling behind it.This is unacceptable from a health risk perspective this is not 3 star let alone 5 star!The step had a black rubber cover missing which was left on the side of the pool ledge.Other hotels do the repairs etc during shutdown why had nothing been repaired since last year. Upon entering the pool area and having a swim, i noticed the steps to the small infinity pool still were loose and dangerous as they were 2 years ago only worse and had no rubber safety covers on so it was slippery to get in and out of the pool. I had rubber water shoes thank fully otherwise it would of been dangerous.The main pool had dirty tiles and grout throughout most of it.The poolside men's toilet door handle was broken and my partner became unable to to get out at first .This is wholly unacceptable and was never fixed throughout the time we stayed.Staff maintenance must of been aware of this and it should of been rectified.The sun lounger tables were not wiped down everyday,on one occasion some chocolate ice cream had been dropped by the bar and it had melted,the next day it was still there dried out on the floor!! We decided to do A La Carte on the first night we arrived as we had had a long journey and the food previously has been excellent.The menu was limited and when the food arrived it was very disappointing. The steak was large but had a lot of fat and gristle in it so most of it went to the stray cats later that night.There was a small portion of mash underneath it with NO vegetables at all!!!! My pork was nice but again no vegetables except 1 tiny carrot and 2 soapy tasting potatoes The tables had lights that didn't work so the waiter kept changing them, in the end i put a lantern on the table which was on the floor.The bread used to come warm in a basket this time it was rolls that are used at breakfast they are not of a high quality and are definitely not for fine dining.They were not warm. The breakfast buffet was average at best and there was nothing we could see appealing or safe to eat as most of it was dried out after being left under the heat,we ate toast with a bit of cheese most days some days we didn't bother eating breakfast at all.The all inclusive snacks were very poor! bread rolls and sandwiches in a basket on the pool bar in the sun all day with no refrigeration at all which is a major health and safety risk and some dry cake and pastries obviously left over from breakfast! The blatant use of foods from the previous days were very evident at the lunchtime buffet meal as well. We normally wouldnt go all inclusive as we know its always hit and miss but as the food was superb 2 years ago we thought why not and make life easy for ourselves.Sadly the food was not great and yes i know they have to cater for a lot of tastes thats expected however it was the quality and lack of choice that was the problem,having 3 different variations of the same item on the lunch menu which were also at breakfast isnt choice thats being lazy and cost cutting. Again it comes down to what is 5 star and as we use 5 star hotels across Europe 3 times a year we know what it is when we see it.We ended up eating out not by choice but necessity as we could not risk getting unwell on holiday eating under cooked/ over cooked foods and not temperature controlled foods. One night we ordered a pizza and we do not eat pizza at home! we did it out of desperation! For us the food was one of the main attractions to come back here,having to go out every night was not acceptable for an all inclusive holiday.We never got the value we should of had and it was so so disapointing Again 2 years ago the evening entertainment was great, the schedule for this season wass dire! A DJ on 3 days a week with someone playing a musical instrument alongside it!!!! The volume level was far too loud to be able to sit and enjoy the evening and chat to other guests and each other,this meant we went and drank in our room! the bar area was very quiet most evening and i am not surprised. It was not a calming relaxing space to enjoy a drink to wind down the day.The karaoke was the only night where the bar was busy! I did enjoy that night and even sang a song butt he rest of the holiday we had one drink and went to our room as it was just too noisy. The Greek night was ridiculously loud and seemed to be just for the manager and his families entertainment.There was a very large group of non paying guests there on the Greek night holding court and there were young children there. It is meant to be adults only and a main reason why people choose to stay here..... Those people were not guests and we had never seen them at any other time during our stay.The Greek night was obviously for non paying guests so the manager could celebrate his wedding anniversary at the expense of all the other guests who were there,many who went to their rooms as they felt they were not welcome.It was noisy and the hotel should not be used for personal functions during season. All in all the whole experience was not conducive of a 5 star resort. I sent receipts for the food we had to buy out and we are requested that we receive compensation for having to eat out and for the fact we hardly ate at the hotel.We also wanted compensation for a holiday that fell way short of the experience shown on the website regarding the quality of the food. The whole experience has left us feeling cheated out of money and robbed of an experience which should of been as magical as the views were. I recieved a very cleverly worded email after chasing many times to get a resolution upon my return. The response was woeful and insinuated that i was the one with the problem despite sevaral other reviews from guests on this site complaining about similar things.Of course some people are delighted with the hotel and if they are then thats great for them but the hotel was so much better before and some peoples idea of a 5 star or a great hotel with great food may have different ideas to most !!! The staff were very good and could only work with what they have however it was evident they could see some people were not happy and thats embarrasing for them. The manager at one point said he was going to offer a stay at a massive discount when i complained on the phone to him when i got back home however after i wrote an email to him that never came to fruition !!! For those reading this review and thinking i am being fussy or entitled i just want you to realise that we all pay hard earned money for our holidays so my opinion on this hotel may be different to yours but doesnt make it any less valid. It is the disapointment of wanting and needing a relaxing holiday only to come back more stressed than before... I am always looking for the positives and the weather and some of the clientelle and the staff and the views were a positive however the food and ambience outweighted this in a negative way I wish i could of given a great review for this hotel as it was magnificent in the past, sadly the views are stunning but that is all the hotel has to offer at the moment....