Just to pre-warn you, it's very long, but I hope you'll find it useful/interesting! I'm more than happy to answer any queries you may have...
By the way, all the prices quoted are in Cypriot pounds.
Thomson Fly flights
We flew with Thomson Fly from Nottingham East Midlands Airport to Paphos on Saturday 28 October, and back again on Saturday 4 November. Both flights were full and we were glad that we'd upgraded to "Extra" seats, i.e. seats by the emergency exits, as there didn't seem to be much legroom in the other seats (we're both quite tall). We didn't pre-book meals on the plane - from memory they were £5 each per flight. Instead we had a light breakfast at the airport and brought some Marks & Spencer sandwiches with us to munch on the plane. On the way back, we bought some delicious sandwiches/cakes from Constantine's Bakery, opposite our hotel.
The flights were okay, not the best we've been on but not the worst either. On the way back, three out of the four toilets were blocked for part of the journey, which meant that the aisle was crowded with people queuing for one loo for a good proportion of the flight. Fortunately the staff got the toilets working again towards the end of the flight. If they hadn't, I think there would have been mutiny on board!
Alexander the Great Hotel, Paphos
Our first impressions of the hotel were good - the staff were friendly and organised; and the Reception area was very nice, with lots of comfortable sofas and chairs overlooking the pool/sea.
With Portland Direct, you automatically get a "Side Sea View" room. I'd read that these are at the back of the hotel adjacent to a busy main road, so as Portland Direct weren't able to upgrade us to the full "Sea View" we emailed the hotel direct to see if they were able to upgrade us. The hotel emailed back within a few hours to say that they were fully booked but they'd try to accomodate our request when we arrived. When we checked in, they informed us that they'd be able to upgrade us to a "Superior Sea View" room the following day for £15 per night, which we agreed to do.
So, for the first night we stayed in a "Side Sea View" room. It was a lovely, comfortable room - it was spacious, the bed was very comfy and it had all the usual mod cons you'd expect from a 4 star hotel, except for tea and coffee facilities, which you had to pay extra for (£3 a day. I think) - my only complaint about the hotel. We did get a "Side Sea View" as specified, but unfortunately it also overlooked a building site next to the hotel. This wasn't a problem for us as we were there on a Saturday, but first thing on the Monday morning the noise from the site was quite disruptive. If you have booked "Side Sea View" room, I'd recommend that you email the hotel in advance and request a room which faces north, i.e. towards Paphos Harbour, or better still upgrade to a full "Sea View" room.
As we were moving rooms the following day, we decided not to unpack. Instead we went to explore the hotel. Firstly, we made our way to the pool to suss out the hotel's sunbed allocation system. Basically, when you arrive, you go to the pool attendant and he'll allocate you sunbeds for the duration of your stay. He shows you where the vacant sunbeds are and you take your pick. If you don't like your first choice, you can change them when other ones become available. What a fantastic system - knowing that whatever time you decide to come down to the pool, your sunbeds will be free and that you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to "bag a sunbed", what bliss! Other hotels take note... (During the winter season, i.e. from 1 November, when the hotel's less busy, the sunbed allocation system doesn't operate).
The next day we moved to 207, a "Superior Sea View" room. The views were amazing - we overlooked the pool and Paphos Harbour. The room was huge, with a comfy superking bed, sofa, table and chairs, and a massive bathroom with even nicer complimentaries than our previous room. Paying the upgrade was worth every penny. We loved this room, and because of the bad weather we spent a lot more time in it than we had planned!
The hotel has great facilities - an outside and indoor pool, a jacuzzi, sauna and steam room, a gym, a hairdressor's and beauty treatment place, two bars - one by the pool and one next to the Reception (both had "Happy Hours", where you could get alcoholic drinks for half price. The Pool bar's "Happy Hour" was between 3pm and 4pm, and the Alexander Bar had "Happy Hour" between 6pm and 8pm - great for pre-dinner drinks. A pint of Keo and a glass of white wine only cost £2.05 during this time, bargain!). The breakfast room and restaurant are on the Basement level (adjacent to the pool).
We didn't participate in the hotel's daytime and evening entertainment as it seemed to be geared up for the older guests.
One thing we loved so much about the hotel were the cats who live in its grounds - there must have been 20 to 25 of them. They were adorable and I was very sad to leave them at the end of the holiday.
The hotel is in a great location - it's only 10 minutes walk to Paphos Harbour, and it's even closer to Bar Street. The local buses are very handy if you want to venture further afield - the number 11 will take you to the old town for just 70 cents, and the number 15 will take you to Coral Bay for 80 cents. They do get very busy though so you might have to stand or wait for the next bus. They run every 10/15 minutes during the day.
The hotel is surrounded by fantastic restaurants. We never had a bad meal all week. Here's where we ate:
- Les Amis (Greek. Set menu £8.95 or a la carte menu)
Imperial Palace (Chinese. Set menu £8.95 or a la carte menu)
Adelaida (Greek. Set menu £7.95, which included a bottle of wine for every two people, or a la carte menu). This was our favourite restaurant - the food, and in particular the Kleftiko and Mousakka were fantastic, and the service was so friendly
Hotel's restaurant Meditterean Buffet (£12)
Viva Cyprus (Greek. Set menu £5.95 or a la carte menu)
Chloes (Chinese. A la carte menu only)
I'd recommend reserving a table for dinner in advance. You might have a lengthy wait for the most popular restaurants if you don't.
Weather
The island has experienced freak weather conditions recently and we certainly did not see much of the famous Cyprus sun during our week's holiday!
Two massive storms hit the resort on Monday 30 October and Tuesday 31 October - the local paper reported that October had seen "the second highest rainfall since 1901"!
The first night's storm reeked havoc across Paphos and caused the tragic deaths of a young local couple when their car was swept off a bridge 3km down to the sea.
During the storms on Monday 30 October, many of the hotels suffered flooding and powercuts. The weather was so bad that we weren't able to venture out, and we decided to eat in the hotel. We likened the experience to what it may have been like on the Titanic before it sank - it was obvious that the storms were causing the hotel lots of probems (parts of the hotel were flooded) but the staff were trying to act as normal as possible with the guests. The pianist kept playing thoughout and many guests seemed oblivious to what was happening outside! We heard reports that this was the worst storm they've ever had in Paphos and that cars were stranded in the streets because the flooding was so bad. It was very scary.
The day after we experienced another bad storm in the evening, though this one wasn't as bad as the previous night. We were determined that this one was not going to keep us in the hotel for the second night running, so we got our brollies out, pulled up our trousers and ran 100 yards up the road to the Adelaida, where we had dinner reservations. Again, the roads were flooded and the water was up to our ankles. By the time we arrived at the restaurant, we were drenched. The staff kindly gave us table cloths to dry ourselves down with!
The weather for the rest of the week was very mixed - there were lots of cloudy days and lots of rain, sometimes heavy. Not what we'd expected in Cyprus in October/November (maybe in February/March!).
Day trip to North Cyprus
We booked on Thomson's "Untouched North" trip for £43 each. It was a long, tiring day - we were picked up just after 8am and got back to the hotel about 6pm - but it was really worth doing if you're interested in hearing first hand about the island's recent history and how the country being divided has deeply affected the people living there.
It took about three hours each way to drive to the North of the island (including a break each way near Larnaca). Our first stop was the beautiful Bellapais to look around its abbey and admire the wonderful views over North Cyprus's coast. Lunch was included here - three courses, with the choice of fish, chicken or vegetarian for the main course. It was delicious! We then headed to Kyrenia on the coast, where we had a tour around the impressive castle and its shipwreck museum before being given some free time to look around the town. It really is stunning place - the harbour is very pretty and is set in front of a dramatic mountain range. There is such a different feel about this place compared to seaside towns in the South of the island. I know it probably sounds silly, but it felt a lot more Turkish than I'd expected. According to the tour guide, a lot of Turkish people have moved there from the mainland since 1974, which I guess is why it has such a different feel to the towns in the South.
Car hire
We were going to book a 4x4 jeep through Thomson's, but they were charging nearly £60 per day through Europcar, so we decided to get quotes from the many car rental car companies across the road. In the end, we hired a Suzuki jeep from Nestor Car Rentals for just £25 for the day, and £5 extra for the petrol (which allowed us to bring it back empty). We drove up to Polis, Latchi and the Baths of Aphrodite, before heading east along the coast road towards the border. It was a lot less touristy along here and we drove as far as the Turkish-Cypriot enclave of Kokkina. We turned around half way along the 20km mountainous detour road and headed back to the little harbour in Pomos for a fish lunch overlooking the Kyrenia hills.
Final words
I've read a lot of reviews saying that Cyprus is very expensive, and that food and drink are comparable to UK prices. Yes, I agree that it's not a mega cheap place to go to, but it wasn't as expensive as we thought it would be after reading these reviews. Most restaurants have set menus (three courses) with an excellent choice of food on them - we saw some set menus costing just £4.95 including wine! The most expensive set menus we saw were £8.95, again some of them included a bottle of wine. I wish you could eat out at lovely restaurants in the UK for that price!!!!!!! I pay nearly £50 (UK pounds) for a similar meal at my local Greek restaurant!
Drinks are expensive, but again lots of places have "Happy Hours", which brings down the price. Soft drinks and coffee are expensive though (coffee cost about £1.30/£1.50 per cup on average).
To sum up, despite having only two and a half days of decent weather, we still had a fantastic holiday! The Cypriot people are amongst the friendliest people we have ever met and they really made our holiday very special. It's a beautiful island.
