Set amongst attractive gardens, pool areas, beach and sea views, the Golden Coast certainly looks the part. Extremeley clean both inside and out, good facilities and a generous number of sunbeds (very few, if any, towels at 6am), the hotel on first impressions deserves it's 4 star rating.
Unfortunately the hotel fails to deliver on the basics. Food and entertainment. Do not stay all inclusive (as we did with our unfashionable wristbands), heaven knows how many times the food was recycled. Chips at breakfast! Do me a favour. Most dishes were luke warm with very little taste. Breakfast was passable, lunch a complete no no and dinner very hit and miss.
We eat out for snacks at lunch to get more variety and better scenery.
However drinks on all inclusive were good value, very few restrictions and a good choice of local brands.
Sorry, but the entertainment was very embarassing, poorly put together with very little ideas - from a Brits point of view, entertaining to a mixed number of nationalities does not work. Having stayed at a Thomson Gold hotel for Brits only, their shows are a different class.
The hotel service was very good, but lacked some warmth and familiarity. Twenty years ago, we first visited Cyprus (Sunrise Beach) and were absolutely bowled over by the local Cypriots and hotel staff. Now it seems that many of the staff are non Cypriot, which detracts somehat from being in Cyprus.
That said, all the staff worked their socks off, especially around the bar. Weddings are very popular here, so there is added pressure and the hotel copes with this very well.
One word of warning, access to the childrens pool is on a slope and can be very slippery!
Rooms with a good (front) sea view are worth the extra supplement, as side and rear accomodation have poor outlooks and tend to be in full sun during the day, making the rooms very hot.
All in all, the holiday will be remembered by the wonderful weather and excellent scenery. Entertainment and food especially, will prevent us from returning to the hotel, but certainly not Cyprus.

We have been to the Golden Coast prior to this visit and found it's appearance, staff and food perfect with no complaints at all.

Our visit in June 2007 was for our marriage and I can only recommend The Godlen Coast even further now having experienced how excellent the wedding package etc is.

From the time of arrival to leaving the resort we treated so special and they made the wedding so stress free and perfect that we wish we had done it years ago.

The rooms have been updated since we first visited the hotel in 2005 and are of excellent standard. The staff are so friendly and helpful and really cannot do enough for you.

The food is great and the variety brilliant. The only critisism I would make is that the choice for children is not too good (OK if you like chips and nuggets) but having said that our daughter who was 8 this time round, liked the food we were eating anyway.

The entertainment this year was not as good as 2005 but OK. I think this is probably the one area they could improve on. It's not too bad if you only stay 1 week but they tend to repeat the same programme week after week so the seond time round, you've been there, seen it and worn the T Shirt.

The staff around the pool and the entertainment team were great and keen to get everyone involved in daily activities, but also they did not preassure you into doing anything if you did not want to.

The kids club is amazing - our daughter absolutely loved it and they look after the kids brilliantly (thankless task that it is).

All in all I would recomend the Golden Coast to both families and couples and definitely to those who want a stress free wedding. The Olympic Wedding planner was absolutely fantastic and we had a fantastic day (and holiday).

The hotel is situated on a private beach and right next to the small harbour so is very picturesque and within 5 mins walk into the town of Protaras so even if you did not want to take advantage of the all inclusive package (I would though) then you have access to the town with lots of shops and bars to suit all tastes.

The hotel is also only 10 mins drive to Aya Napa and buses run regularly so it really is a holiday to suit everyone.
For anyone that hasn't visited Cyprus before, The Golden Coast hotel in Protaras is something not to be missed and

I guarantee you will keep going back year after year (yes we've booked for 2009).

We stopped in Golden Coast in September the food was excellent.

Hotel was very clean maids came everyday didnt disturb if you were in room and were very friendly hotel was a bit out of way if you wanted to go in to Protaras about c/y5.

Nightlife in Protaras was everything anyone would want entertainment in hotel a bit naff.

We got married in Ayia Napia but came back to hotel for a small recption with 18 family and friends although there were another 3 weddings the same day, all in the hotel.

The staff were very good nothing was too much trouble especially from Maria the hotel housekeeper who would do anything to make your day very special I would recommend this hotel for anyone who wanted a dream wedding in the sun where the staff will do anything to help.

This was our 5th visit to this hotel. Previous years we have really enjoyed our holiday. This year we decided to book for 2 weeks, big mistake!

A new manager took over in March '05 and seems to have embarked on a major cost cutting exercise. ALL meals were buffet style, whereas before we had waiter service except for a couple of nights when we had a themed buffet, even then we had some staff helping to serve in the buffet area.

The food was awful, luke warm or cold. The same meat or fish, just covered in a different sauce each night. Entertainment was poor or non existent. During our 2 week stay we had one magic show (same man as in previous years), 2 folk dancing nights and 1 night of a group of dancers doing modern dancing and a bit of 'Riverdance' style, and Bingo every night and kids disco.

Some of the staff were very 'end of season' ish, sometimes were felt guests were just a nuisance. Unfortunately the previous manager has taken some of the best staff with him to his new hotel.

Thank goodness Panicos has been promoted to bar manager and did a sterling job, despite in increase in the number of weddings which took staff away from ordinary guests. If they intend to carry on with the amount of weddings (11 during our stay) then they must employ extra staff to cope.

We met up with several people whom we have seen at the hotel in previous years, we all feel the same. The hotel is in a great location and could have everything going for it, as it has before in our opinion. We will not be returning until things improve.

Went for my daughters wedding a complete wast of money.

Breakfast was rubbish don't order omletes you are charged 4 cypriot pounds fried eggs waiting more than 30 mins. Waiters walking about in other world need a goog shaking.

The hotel is in the middle of nowhere need transport no good for people with walking difficulties the entertainment was a lot of rubbish. The seaview rooms you couldnt sleep for the noise from the pool bar on a night.

I would not visit this part of Cyprus again.

We were overbooked for Pernera Beach hotel so got put in the Golden Coast hotel we were not disappointed.

Lovely and clean, meals were good there was several weddings at the hotel while we were there which was nice to see.

Staff were fine we enjoyed the walk into Pernera which wasnt that far. Entertainment not that great we went out every night.

Not many guests stayed for entertainment but all in it was a great holiday and if Im overbooked again in 2weeks time i wont mind if I get put in this hotel.

It was dark when we arrived, the reception gave us one key between 3 of us for the room, and a key which was on the fob for the mini bar. Through frequent emails i was able to bag a full sea view room at no extra cost saving around

My husband (36) and I (33) stayed at this hotel B & B the last two weeks of August 2004, having booked through Libra. Firstly, the airport was hassle-free - we arrived at approximately 1945hrs and within 1/2 hr we were on the coach. The Libra rep on the coach was useless - she was too busy flirting with the driver and his chum that eventually she didn't even bother to announce which accommodation we had stopped at. Any other Libra reps we encountered during our stay were fine.

Arrived at the hotel - no kerb appeal whatsoever. There were broken tiles on the pillars outisde. We have stayed at many 4* and 5* hotels and none have been so unappealing outside as this one. The receiption staff are all excellent - chatty and helpful. Nice reception area.

Rooms fine - apart from the carpet. The carpet in the corriders is knackered also - badly stained and worn down. We paid extra for a superior sea view but compared to other hotels where we have stayed in a standard sea view room there was nothing special about this room. There was a half bottle of red wine and four pieces of fresh fruit awaiting us in the room, which was lovely. The walls are paper thin - we had very noisy kids beside us and could actually hear the people in the room on the other side of them banging the walls!! Kept very clean and plently of room though. Overlooked the pool and sea - definately book a sea view room as the view is worth it. There is a mini bar but go to the supermarket across the road from the hotel and get wine, beer, crisps etc there as it is far cheaper. The safe in the room is CY2.00 per day.

It was very noisy and VERY busy around the pool area and there are far too many sunbeds for the space available. This would be fine if you are comfortable lying extremely close to strangers. The pool is also far too small for the hotel. The pool bar area became progressivly untidy as the day wore on and did not look particularly clean although there were an army of cleaners outside every morning. There also seemed to be a large number of Greeks and Cypriots but as their two week holiday is the last two weeks in Aug also, this may explain it. The botel was a lot quieter towards the end of our holiday when the Greeks etc seemed to have gone. The pool bar staff are not what I would describe friendly - indifferent would be a better description.

We chose the sunbeds on the terraces leading to the beach every morning and it was very peaceful as the noise from the pool couldn't be heard. The beach is a small sandy cove with hardly no waves at all (good for kids) but very salty. Be careful of the steps leading to the beach - they are treacherous - we seen at least 4 people slipping or stumbling. The hotel also provides fresh beach towels each morning which is an excellent idea. We recommend that you put your towels out before 0830 hrs and you can then maneouver the sunbeds a bit to suit yourself. Some of the beds are not in good condition either. You have to pay for the beds etc on the beach. The terraces had nice flowers and shrubs growing but because the grass looks as if it is only cut about four times a year everything looked overgrown and unkempt. The drain of one of the showers beside the pool was blocked for 3 days before anyone bothered to clear it.

Breakfast was fine - apart from the three dead ants floating in the fresh fruit salad one morning. Best to get to breakfast before 08.30 hrs - it gets very busy after that and there are no designated smoking areas and as non-smokers we found this very irritating. The staff appear to do nothing at breakfast except wander about at a very slow pace and collect dishes from tables occassionally. As far as we know there is nowhere in the hotel that is a designated no smoking area.

In all, we had a good holiday and would go back to the resort of Protaras but not to this hotel. It is described on its website as a 4* hotel with 5* facilities but we would describe it as verging on 4* only. The main things that irritated us was the noise level around the pool, the cleanliness of the pool area/bar and the smoking thoughout the hotel. If you have kids, I think you would get more out of this hotel as there is a varied entertainment programme throughout the day and evening, details of which are sent to your room (a week late however in our case).

One other concern we had was that we were never asked for our room number or name at any time when using the breakfast restaurant or the loungers on the terraces. We had a feeling that there were others (inc locals) who were using the facilities who were not guests at the hotel.

In general this hotel badly needs re-decoration and sprucing up outside and the restaurant and bar staff could do with a kick up the backside. We noticed that on some of the umbrellas there were five stars - not suprised that this hotel in its present state lost one of its stars.

This has to be the most relaxed hotel we've ever been to. You can come down at anytime and get a sunbed and it is so laid back. Weekends it does get busy as the Cypriots can come in and use the facilities more the Sunday than the Saturday.

We stayed all inclusive and the food was lovely. It was different that 3 days were buffet and 4 from a menu. The food from the menu was different and you probably would never have chosen it if it had been on a buffet. The fried feta in tomato sauce was gorgeous! Breakfasts were a bit boring and I did get a bit bored of the same old things - not enough choice here compared to other all inclusives we've been to.

The hotel was very clean and the pool areas inside and out too.
The pernera area of Protaras was about a 10 minute walk away along a path near the beach which was quite dark(the steps of the hotel badly lit), you could get the bus for 55cents.
The centre of Protaras was a bus journey away and be warned the bus gets very busy between 7.30 and 9.00pm it's full when it gets to the Golden Coast bus stop.

The staff are very friendly and absolutely love children.

The only down side was the entertainment when you've seen it once it's repeated the next week and it's nothing to write home about.

The hotel entertainment team do try their best but it's only on for about 50minutes then that's it.When it's finished it's about 10.30 and you can't be bothered to move on if you've got kid's and the bar stops at 11pm for all inclusive guests so you then have to pay.

Excellent hotel.

We went all inclusive and paid extra for a seaview (it is worth having a seaview here, the view the other side wasn't looking at much).

The food was very good, helped by the fact that not everyone was all inclusive, and therefore some people had to pay to eat there - I think this keeps the standards up.

The rooms were very nice and were spacious - we had 4 in a standard room and that was fine for us (2 young kids). They were well furnished, carpeted and very clean with good maid service every day.

The all inclusive option was good - not a normal mass of food everywhere you look - more like a full board option with free drinks. There were a few limitations on eating at the pool bar around lunchtime but this was not a problem as you had the main restaurant (outdoors) open at this time.

The kids club was excellent despite the fact there was hardly any children there!! Our 2 often had 1 to 1 attention and they always made the effort - face painting, playing games etc.

They had a well equipped (hardly used) gym and a lovely indoor pool.

The staff were mainly friendly and happy (mind you Greece had just qualified for the Q/finals of Euro 2004 so they enjoyed winding the English up). They love kids here and always make an effort to talk to them even though they dont seem to have many staying there (I did go during school term though).

One of our children got ill whilst there and they were very good, got an ambulance to pick us up (which our child loved), to take us to a medical centre. This was all arranged within minutes - very good, and concerned.

By the way I paid naerly 500 pounds for a sea view - Thomson charged over 9 pounds per person per night (including the kids!!). Other people booked the hotel with a normal room and then upgraded when they got there at a fraction of that cost and to superior rooms.