Alykanas Beach Grand Hotel by Zante Plaza

DO NOT BOOK THIS HOTEL. This hotel was terrible. And it really saddens me to say it but it was terrible. I read the reviews before going and thought, it's quite a mix of good and bad so we would make our own minds up when we got there. The children's club - everything was boxed up and the lady didn't speak to us. We then found out from other guests that it was her last day and she was leaving. So that was shut the full week. It was in a hut and the floor was caving in. The park was falling apart. 4 children were on this and it looked like it was going to snap. The big umbrella was broken which was over the slide and swings. The food was okay. A lot of effort goes into buffet food but nothing was hot and again flies were everywhere. If you have children then they probably won't eat properly all week. As the kids option was chips and veg every day with a few fish fingers thrown in every other days. My daughter lived off pancakes for breakfast, chips for dinner and chips for tea with an icecream inbetween. The pool was lovely. But the children's pool was absolutely filthy. The slides were rusty and not secure. It was also very very slippy! So dangerous. Hotel has eroded into the sea. Nowhere said this. Not on any online platforms, just reviews. I didn't think too much of this becayse its nobodys fault but until you see it it's so bad. Nothing up apart from black and yellow tape. So dangerous. Plenty of sunbeds, nobody fought for any but they were practically like sitting on the floor. I struggled to get up off of them. They encouraged lucky lucky men to come in and walk around whilst sat by the pool. I don't agree with this but we were polite every time. Drinks. Now I'm not fussy. But the drinks were so bad. Cocktails were syrups. No fresh orange and apple juice. This came from a machine and was dilute pop. Fresh drinking water came from the same machine but it kept breaking, so many days this was unavailable. We ended up going to the local supermarket and getting pop and bottles of water and crisps. Fizzy pop was flat every time, as was the beer (on tap that you pulled yourself) Wine on tap was like drinking acid. Don't get me started on the coffee machines. Could not fault the staff, they worked so hard and nothing was too much to ask for food wise (apart from the lifeguard but he was one on his own, what a horrible man) Then we get to the room. 😞 No lift so we had to walk up 4 flights of stairs. To get to our room, put the key in the hole and within about 10 seconds all the electric turned off. Must have been faulty because even after she said maintenance had been, it still did it. Air con didn't work. Then when it did, it only switched on when both outside doors and sliding doors were shut and locked but this blacked out the whole room. €20 FOR USE OF THE SAFE!! The room door, the only way I can explain it is a front door of a house. Bizarre I know. But this also had no lock on the inside which meant my 4 year old could open it at

I stayed at this hotel in October with my two teenage sons. My first trip abroad in 10 years and I was only able to afford it having been bereaved of my mother earlier in the year and left a small amount of money, so needless to say I did lots of research before deciding where to go. We were not disappointed, the hotel was everything I wanted it to be. Our rooms (we had an interconnecting suite on the first floor) were spotlessly clean and comfortable. The bathroom is a wet-room but the shower drained quickly and it was quite possible to keep most of the floor dry with common sense about how long a shower to have, and how to angle the shower head. The setting is stunning, beautiful beach, safe, shallow a long way out, crystal clear blue water, no more than a minute’s walk from our room, with a view of green mountains to one side, and Kefalonia to the other. The village is friendly with a good selection of bars, tavernas and shops in easy walking distance. Lots of sun loungers to choose from and I’m pleased to share that I encountered none that were broken, dirty or uncomfortable. I enjoyed the music being played at the pool bar. If you want to sunbathe directly on the beach, the sand is comfortable to lie on, and there is a beach bar a little way along that charges 5 euros per sun bed and then leaves you alone, no hassle to buy food and drinks although we did eat here a couple of times and the food was good. My boys were able to go jet-skiing from the beach, reasonable hire price and I was impressed with the approach to safety of the people we hired them from. My favourite thing about the hotel, was the all inclusive buffet. Lots of choice at breakfast; full English if that’s the way you roll, my boys ate it every day, big selection of things to drizzle, spread or sprinkle onto yoghurt, toast, and pancakes. Cereals and also cheeses, hams and vegetables. Lunch and dinner, big selection of salad vegetables, and cooked vegetable dishes, traditional Greek meat stews, grilled meets and chips, etc. I was pleased I got to try some Greek dishes I haven’t had before, including Zakynthan rabbit stew, loukoumades and spoon-sweets. Everything was clean and most guests were exercising common sense about how to circulate around the buffet and respect buffet etiquette and hygiene. To sum up, if you want to visit a fantasy-theme park version of Greece, where you get to sit in the hot sun, eating porridge and looking at emerald-green grass, and don’t have to encounter Greek cooking styles, shower fittings or insects, go somewhere else. And if you want to go somewhere where most guests are English, you will find that elsewhere in Zakynthos. But, if you want a holiday where you actually feel like you are in Greece, you will find a safe, comfortable, and authentic experience here.

This was our fourth visit in 24 months, following a wonderful stay in May. We requested a specific room for my wife’s accessibility needs, and while the reception staff had changed and were less engaging, we settled in. Unfortunately, many areas were closed due to structural damage, and my wife couldn’t access the beach. The outdoor spaces were deteriorating, with broken furniture and unsanitary toilets. The pools needed cleaning, and the jacuzzi was out of order. We noticed a lack of oversight, as the lifeguard was often absent. Bar service was slow, drinks were poorly prepared, and staff frequently used their phones instead of attending to guests. The restaurant food was cold and unappetizing, and my wife ended up with food poisoning during our stay. Complaining to the receptionist was uncomfortable, as he was rude and dismissive. The room itself was tired, with plumbing issues and a persistent sewage smell nearby. While we did meet some wonderful guests and a few helpful staff, the overall experience was disappointing. Entertainment was lacking, and support from our TUI rep was nonexistent. Given the state of the hotel and its services, we won’t be returning in May and would recommend others do their research before booking. This stay was far from the previous enjoyable experience.

I wish I had read the reviews on this hotel before booking, but I didn't because people moan about the slightest of things so I like to make my own mind up. This was hands down the worst hotel I have ever stayed at, both myself and my son was really poorly with the dreaded diarrhea and sickness bug. The hygiene standards was very poor, tables being wiped down with dirty clothes after each serving, the only time you see them clean with any cleaning product was when all the guests had finished and they were tidying up. Hand sanitiser was avaliable but I didn't see many guests use it. The staff all seemed to be wearing the same clothes all week and I never once see any of them wash there hands. I sat and watched the bar tender sit with his friend smoking and drinking, he never washed his hands and went back to serving the customers with there drinks. A stray dog was around the pool most days, they were being given water out of the white beakers that our drinks were being served in. The drains absolutely stunk by the restaurant and also in our room. I had to put the bin over the one in our bathroom to try and stop the smells coming through. We wasn't the only family suffering during our stay, I feel absolutely robed of a well needed holiday. Talking to the jet2 rep they said that they knew the resort had a realy bad bug, I asked them why there still letting there guests travel there and why are they not asking the hotel to pick up there hygiene standards. This hotel isn't realy worth a 1 star so why jet2 think it's a 4 is beyond me.

I don’t normally leave reviews, but in this case, I have to. The rooms are clean. And the maids do a good job. The staff are mostly friendly. The view from the beach towards Kefalonia is beautiful, once you can get onto the beach. The pool was clean, we didn't use it. BUT! THIS IS NOT a 'Four Star' Hotel. It might achieve two stars from an independent inspector on a good day, a VERY good day. Do look at the recent photos, NOT the ones that are promoted that were taken 10 years ago before most of the beach frontage was washed away, and the hotel deteriorated. There are no lifts, no porters, no room service, only one small buffet restaurant, no in-room digital safe included, and no free pool towel service. In fact, there was nothing you'd expect as standard in a 4* property. The beach access is now poorly poured concrete slabs and steps, as long as you don’t trip over the exposed cables that run over the top of them. All the other accesses are taped off, on safety grounds. There are sunbeds around the pool, and there are sunbeds on the ‘grass’; most of the ‘grass’ is just earth. The kids ‘pools’ are dirty and old. The steps to the slide are rusty. As soon as the pool closes - at 6 pm - a man comes out and hoses down the area around the pool. This now turns into a slip hazard. They also hose this down in the morning. The food was ok, the Greek Salad was a safe bet - Saturday night is ‘Gala’ night. It seemed to go downhill from there. Although given the number of people that fell seriously ill after Thursday, I'll leave you to judge on standards. As I write this, I’m still not 100% recovered. The Pastry Chef however seemed to excel. Clearly hoping to be noticed by at least a 3* hotel. However, that may also be because the desserts were bought in ready-made? The dining area consists of two buildings, one housing the bar and buffet itself, and the other, which was so brightly lit at night it felt like a works canteen. There is outdoor seating in front of this, which is lit perfectly well from the aforementioned building. There are also two beachfront covered areas - the seats around the edge in these areas are basically just painted concrete slabs, with no cushions provided. Only one of these is in use because the other one is about to fall into the sea - The chairs were average and some very dirty. The tables were warped. The cutlery was … functional, and not that clean. Teaspoons don’t seem to exist. To the left of the ‘restaurant’ there was an unpleasant smell of ‘drains’ that wafted and lingered in that particular dining area. There were flies everywhere. The bar served what passed as ‘spirits’, literally. The ‘Gin’ was 30% and labelled as ‘Dry White Spirit’. The more you drank, the more sober you got. The ‘Vodka’ was basically watered-down methanol. The other Spirits? God knows. The beer was only on draught, it was self-service, and flat. The wine? Three choices were available. Red, White and Rose. These were also on draught, a

I really don’t understand these positive reviews.. - my husband was ill for the first two days (not the bug everyone said! It was food poisoning!) - incredibly wet around pools very dangerous, elderly woman slipped over - cat faeces under sunbed - loads of flies even around food - waiters/waitresses never sprayed the tables just wipes over with a cloth - one waiter changed a bin bag, wiped his hands on a cloth and then wiped the table with the same cloth! - umbrellas can not be up when windy - nearly hit my 9 month old baby! - tiles cut out for water mains flip up when you walk on them - cleaners washing mops along pool edge - pools were freezing - most sun beds were broken We have complained to Jet2.