4 years ago
Rereading some reviews of the Irene Palace on a fa...
Rereading some reviews of the Irene Palace on a famous review site, I asked myself: are we talking about the same hotel?
You go from the exceptional holiday to the bad one, from great food to bad, from small to large rooms, from beautiful beach to horrible.
I agree with everyone that the hotel is dated and in need of a general renovation, but I honestly don't understand some evaluations.
Room:
The room size is good. Double bed, two armchairs and coffee table. Probably with a third bed added the spaces are reduced but they are normal. The air conditioning is autonomous with remote control. There is a minibar to put your own drinks.
The balcony was sea view (for the two adjoining rooms we had) with a small table and two chairs.
TV (a bit small) with international and 3 Italian channels.
The bathroom was spacious. Unfortunately there was a bathtub but it was still usable as a shower. There was also a bidet, which is important to us Italians and which I have not found anywhere. I find the criticism of the color of the bathroom fixtures sickening. But what do you care if they are pink or blue?
Someone complained about taking. One was near the armchairs and coffee table, one was at the entrance to the bathroom and one, if desired, used for the TV and fridge. It makes me smile who wrote in a review that they had to buy a manual razor like in '74. But what razor did he have? What was the same as in the 70s?
The hairdryer supplied, like the wall-mounted hairdryers of all hotels, is not very effective.
Good cleaning. The lady in charge is very nice, ready to satisfy any request.
Restaurant:
Excellent breakfast. There was an embarrassment of choosing between sweet and savory. At a table at the entrance to the room there were the typical foods of the Greek breakfast for the more daring. The rest were of the continental type. Every day something was freshly prepared: pancakes, pancakes, waffles etc.
Unfortunately, lunch and dinner were not up to par, but when I'm abroad I always adapt. My children who are usually hard to please have always found something to their taste. To mention some evenings with roast kid, octopus salad, grilled prawns. Lasagna is also good.
Obviously, being in Greece, vegetables made up the lion's share of the buffet.
Wide choice for desserts, with caramel creams, panna cotta, various jellies, cannoli, millefeuille and numerous other typical sweets. Too bad for the absence of tags that would allow them to know their names. Also always present various types of fruit and ice cream.
Contrary to what was stated in a review, water is not paid at all. Just order it. Sometimes we even got a bottle to take to our room for the night. After hours, if desired, bottles can be purchased at the bar for 50 cents. Also keep in mind that 6 bottles of water at the minimarket cost only 1.50 euros. ( 1.20 in town)
BAR:
the bars are open from 10 to 23. From 7 you can drink (juice or water) in the restaurant.
The all-inclusive includes water, beer, wine, juices, all "local" drinks, local spirits and cocktails prepared with local soft drinks, juices and spirits. Sometimes you have to wait a little bit given the assault on the bar.
Useful news:
We brought the beach towels from home but having known that with only 3 euros a week you could rent a towel that was changed to a clean one every day we would have had more space in the suitcase (perhaps for masks)
I recommend bringing beach shoes. Some beaches have gravel and it is difficult to get into the sea. However, with 5-6 euros you can buy them on the spot.
On the beach, sunbeds cost 4 euros per person. The price is the same all over the island.
To sum it up, while not an idyllic hotel we enjoyed our stay and had a great week.