Hi Ponge

I have thought quite hard about this post...
We like yourself were supposed to go to KABC we had a nice holiday at Kiotari bay but we wouldn't go back. Our room was lovely it was right by the main pool and plenty big enough for ourselves and our son (in cot) with plenty of wardrobe space. They were cleaned everyday and cleaned very well to. We didnt notice any noise from the building works as that is near the pirate pool, we did go down there but didnt notice any banging.

We did find ourselves doing the 6.30 towel run to beat the germans and italians who seemed to leave there towels out over night, however this was towards the end of our holiday so cant comment if it was resolved by staff. But i think nowadays unless the hotel has plenty of sunbeds (which most dont) you will always have to do a 6.30 sunbed run for a decent spot by the pool.

The indoor pool was lovely, slightly warmer than the outdoor pools and nice for the little one to get out of the sun for a bit, however the area around the pool had workmen in, again didnt notice any banging but it meant the health suite was not finished or useable.

Our issues with the hotel was of a safety aspect, there was a broken tile in the indoor pool which a small child cut his knee on and had to have stitches... it took 3 days for the hotel to put a notice up and they covered the tile with a slide instead of shutting the pool to fix. The ball our 2 small children were playing with rolled under some stairs and to our amazment there were bottles of chlorine stored under there within easy reach, there were some cracked tiles outside our room on the public passage way and instead of being fixed they were covered with a plant pot.

The food wasn't too bad, but as a family hotel we felt there wasnt enough high chairs (6). We went with another family and needed 2 at every meal.

The staff we encountered were all very friendly and helpful and all worked very hard. We have written to FC regarding our issues and are awaiting a responce.

After all said and done we did have a nice holiday but it was not the KABC hotel we were looking forward to and we would not go back, However we did meet several familys who had been several years running who thought it was perfect...perhaps we expect too much? I hope that i havn't worried you more as im sure you will have a lovely time, like i said we did, but i thought it best to be honest.

thanks jnrstu and janalice,

We are looking forward to our holiday and your comments help greatly. But as you say, KABC looked so great and exciting that we've tried hard to feel the same about Kiotari Bay, and when the negative reports start coming in about that too, you begin to think, " here we go again!"

I logged back on to the KABC forum yesterday and cant believe whats happened to the people who didnt transfer their holidays, so Im going to stay positive and be grateful that ive actually got a holiday to look forward to.

Thanks again.

Ponge xxx

Hi all!
Well im in a pickle now, really cant decide which holiday to go on. Ive picked out 3, Petra Mare in Crete, Blue Bay Escape in Corfu and the Kiotari. The kids have looked and realy liked the Kiotari, the only thing that put me off was the long transer, now im having other doubts. We went to the Petra Mare in May and really enjoyed it, but I dont like to go to the same place twice, the world is too big! The main appeal for the kids, 3 boys, 3,5 and 7, is the pirate ship and water sprays, and from my experience if the kids are happy then so are we.
Im not too fussy about accomodation ect. aslong as its clean, and as far as food is concerned my lot will eat most things as long as theres tomato sauce on it. I dont suppose anybodys been to all 3 and could rate them. I can always tell the boys that its fully booked if the Kiotari is really that bad, after a couple of days of complaining they will forgive me, I hope, or they will be mentally scarred for life!!!

Thanks for your input so far, this thread has been very informative.

Supersox

Hi, I understand your dilema, we go through it every year trying to get the right balance for everyone! I agree though that if the kids are happy then everything else can be tolerated Have not visited the other 2 places you mentioned but as our room at Kiotari looked right onto the pirate pool area i can say that for very young kids it is ideal. We had a family room that you could sit out on the grass and watch the kids in the pirates pool and they could come and go back and forward to our room very easily. The big pool was only a stones throw behind, and if we wanted a bit more peace and quiet then the newer pools etc were just few mins walk up the hill. Any questions please ask, and good luck in your decision
ps to anyone going to Kiotari there is a thingy to blow up your inflatables just outside the left hand exit from reception - we only discovered it after a lot of huffing and puffing

I have spoken to FC about the building works going on, first the girl said they are not aware of any if there were it would have shown on their system. When I told her I had read reviews that suggested there are building works going on outside the hotel, she spoke to a manager, came back and said Yes there are building works outside next to the hotel, but they are not advising customers of this as its is not affecting their holidays!!!! easy for them to say this when its on their holiday being affected....she also said they have not received any complaints about this.

There is nothing I can do unless I pay the admin fee to change, plus more costs as holidays are more expensive than when we booked and thats if I can now find a suitable holiday, not much choice last week when we changed to Kiotari Bay, there is even less choice now, & a refund is now out of the question...

many thanks to all who have given their reviews..

if any one has email address for the hotel could they please let me know as I read one post, where they emailed the hotel before hand to sort out a pool room...Got to be worth a try, I suppose...

If you follow this link there is the email address etc of Kiotari Bay, it certainly worked for us, so worth a try

http://www.gto.gr/eng/accomm/hotel/detail.php?id=4084

there are also some interesting new reviews here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g189449-d279273-Reviews-Hotel_Kiotari_Bay_Miraluna-Rhodes_Dodecanese.html

janalice

Thanks for the link, I will give to ago,

Hi,

I tried the following link for kiotari Bay e mail but when i sent the e mail it was delivered back to me as unsent?
Really worried that this holiday is going to turn into a nightmare, don't think my family can take anymore disappointments
following our cancellation from Kos Aqua Beach Club!!

We are flying out on 16th september for 2 weeks is there anyone else due to go out around this same date?

Hi, just in case its any use to you. Might be worth asking First Choice if not, they must have an up to date email address. Did you just click on the link? If so try typing the email address given below in yourself. They always acknowledged our emails last year. I really wouldn't panic though

KIOTARI BAY - MIRALUNA
Zip Code 851 09
Telephone 22440 47375, 22440 47376
FAX 22440 47322
Hotel Manager Mr. Koronelos Nikos
Area Kiotari (Rodos)
E-Mail blue-bay@rho.forthnet.gr

Hi all,

got back from our hols end of June & had the time of our lives.

transfer took 2 hrs as we had 6 drop offs so might be worth considering a taxi (45 mins).

Hotel itself is split in 2. Kiotari bay - nearer the sea. Miraluna village right behind it with seperate reception. You drive through the miraluna village bit to get to kiotari bay.

We stayed at the Miraluna bay (if you have a select family room booked thats where youll be). Youll be given a bracelet to wear denoting youre at the miraluna which gives you access to all of the miralunas 7 pools + 1 indoors, cocktail bar & restaurant as well as everything at the kiotari. We were told we were VIP & kiotari bay guests couldnt use any facilities at the miraluna.
We got an upgrade to room with private pool which was out of this world. There are 12 of them with very spacious & stylish split level maisonette apartments leading out onto a vernadah with largish pool (with waterjets).

The miraluna is predominantly german guests but there were never any problems getting sunbeds round one of the 7 pools at any time.

We ate in the miraluna restaurant a couple of times but it was almost entirely populated with germans & while they were ok, we felt more comfortable eating at the kiotari bay where the food was fabulous.

We spent most days up at the miralunas pools as they were much quieter but the afternoons were at the kiotari pool bar as the staff were great & you cant beat a cold beer, feet in water with the hot sun on your back!

The kiotari bay was a fabulous hotel but always packed out round the pool & you had no chance of getting a sunbed (towels on beds at 9pm the night before was the norm). The kiotari pool is large, central & great for the kids.
The entertainment is brilliant in the evenings (daytime stuff was multi national) down at the amphitheatre.

Watersports was good. Recommend the banana at 8 euros per person.

Theres a shop onsite which has the basics but there are a couple of supermarkets out of the front gate & turn left. Its a bit of a walk & its along a main road so not great if youve a buggy. You can also get there from the back gate toward the beach & turn right.

Didnt do any excursions as the miraluna/kiotari was such a great place we didnt feel the need.

All in all one of the best hols we've ever had. While the kiotari part was excellent we preffered the miraluna as more pools, more sunbeds & more relaxing.

If you need any info on the above drop me a line & i'll do my best to help out.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, have a great time.
Si, Jules, Sam & Em

Hi
We are going to this hotel on 26 Jul for a week. I read the reviews for last year which looked really good (and was the reason I booked it) but I am really bothered about the building work which some people have commented on in other forums.

We went to the Atlantica Princess in Trianda last year which was fantastic & I am now dreading this holiday wishing we had booked there again.

I have 2 children who are 7 & 5 and thought the water splash park looked really good for them at this hotel as I think if they are having a good time then we can relax & have a good time.

Thanks for your link Janalice i will be trying again!

Hi Syfield i didn't realise that the complex is split, no mention of this by First Choice? I guess we will be in the Kiotari Bay part as we didn't opt for select. Apparantly select service is only for those who arrive on a wednesday and we arrive on the sunday??
Out of interest you mentioned you had an upgrade, was this your choice at an extra cost? Also is there a choice of pools at Kiotari bay or is this just for the other part? Thanks

Its a strange set up. We didnt twig when we first got (yep on a wednesday) there & walked into the kiotari bay reception & the fella said, not here sir, the other reception over the road. I understand theyre the same hotel group but the kiotari is in the book at recpt as 4star & the miraluna is 5.

When we got there we were gobsmacked. The reception at kiotari is smart but the miraluna (which doesnt even have a sign saying its the miraluna) was spectacular.

The man there, George, was great. "You are all VIP, you can use this, this , this, this, this etc". We already had a free upgrade to select from firstchoice for getting bounced from the kos aqua, but George said "And you sir have been upgraded to private pool". We werent expecting that (as when we priced it up it was close to 5 grand).

BUT, a week later we had some new neighbours who'd previously booked select family & got upgraded out of the blue as well. They werent from the kos aqua & had no idea why!

At kiotari bay there is one huge pool, split into 4 on different levels. Theres 1 small kids pool next to it with a wooden roof over to keep them in the shade. The pirate ship pool is in 2 parts & very shallow.
The pool bar is at the main pool close to the restaurant etc.

The miraluna had 7 pools (not incl the 12 private ones) dotted about the complex, some in really quiet secluded spots. When we were there, some parts of the the complex was being finished off - just furniture being put in, no building work. There seemed to be a pool for each block & loads of sunbeds & poolside space. You can probably get away with using the miraluna pools unless one of the germans complains, but there were only miraluna guests using while we were there. The miraluna peeps were given brightly coloured bracelets (which also meant you could get free beer, spirits & cocktails in the kiotari cocktail bar).

If youre going on Sunday youre deffo in the kiotari but its a superb hotel & we were told the rooms were spacious & clean.
The beach is pebbles & shale. Pebbles get hot so youll need beach shoes. The stones in the sea are slippery as well. Nice enough beach but not if you prefer sand. We were told that they cant put a manmade one there as, due to location, it only lasts a couple fo months before beineg washed away (dunno if thats true).
But to be honest the pools more than make up for the beach anyway.

Youll have a great time. The only complaints we heard about where the germans moaning that there where too many British & the Italians moaning there were too many Germans. Oh the irony.....

Oops. sorry. ref. the building work.

They are putting up some more blocks to the left of the kiotari. Its all fenced off & you cant see most of it just the tops of the buildings. We didnt hear any noise at all from there from the miraluna, but you might get some if youre close to the pirate pool (although the people we spoke to who had rooms down that way didnt say it was a problem).

There arent workman all over the kiotari, there is no buliding work being done on the kiotari & theres no building equipment or mess at the kiotari.

The concrete structures are up - from what we could see - and the work being done seemed to be mostly internal. Not sure if this new place will form part of the kiotari or not though.

Hi, it does look like things have changed since last year We were in the Kiotari bit and there was no question that you could only use certain parts of the hotel. To be honest I think I would be very miffed if they said we couldn't use the pools at the Miraluna because it was certainly advertised in the First Choice brochure as having numerous pools and facilities and no mention of not being able to use them unless you are a VIP
The beach at the Kiotari is a *Blue Flag* beach, so while it may not be everyones idea of a nice beach - at least its clean

Yes i must admit it's abit naughty of first choice to advertise the 'kiotari bay miraluna village' as one complex. There is no mention of extra facilities i.e swimming pools for the select customers other than tea/coffee making facilities etc. I'm glad i've been informed at least i know what to expect...thanks!
I managed to get the e-mail to send so just awaiting a reply hopefully won't take too long.
Oh i'm so excited......

Sorry forgot to ask....it's my sister in laws 23rd birthday while we are out there Is there anywhere with a good disco/club that's not too far away from the complex? I know it's pretty remote by what i've heard but thought i'd ask. Thanks

Hiya,

I didnt mean to make the beach sound unpleasant as its extremely clean, plenty of sunbeds & parasols & a beach bar (not associated with the kiotari). But theres no sand & my kids have an obsession with burying me so itd end up looking like a funeral cairn if they did it to me on that one!

We were taken completely by surprise with it being 2 hotels. The Miraluna seemed to be owned by LTI which are a German company (http://www.lti.de/englisch/griechenland.html).
The staff tended to work at both hotels though. To be honest i cant see the staff getting stroppy if you use any of the other facilities at miraluna but the non-English guests might.
The cocktail bar at the kiotari did charge unless you wore a 'miraluna' bracelet though.

Theres a disco on site right next to the indoor pool by reception. After the evening entertainment at the ampitheatre the team ask if everyone wants to go back there. Its airconned, has a paybar & is open to all until 3am. Its quite large with decent music (not too much euro-pop) but wasnt used very much by the guests when we were there which was a pity, the entertainment & bar staff were all there & we were made to feel welcome.
If you dont fancy that theres either kiotari village/town 15 mins walk down the road which has a few bars etc or pefkos which is 15 mins in a taxi which we were told has lots of bars & a coupel of clubs etc.
For all the big clubs youd need to go to falaraki or Rhodes town which can be pricey in a cab.

We have just come back from the miraluna village, after staying 1 week. It was fantastic!!!!!

We had been upgraded to one of the new apartments with a pool shared with the next door neighbours. The room was large and spacious and very clean. There were complimentry slippers and robes and a tv and dvd player.

The food at both the Kiotari hotel and the Miraluna was very good and available from dawn to dusk.

There were more germans and the entertainment was mostly geared towards them, but there were english entertainers and they did a great job.

Definately recommended and would definately go again.