First and foremost I have to say that my girlfriend and I had an absolutely beautiful holiday in Rhodes. This experience was fuelled by the Aquagrand’s setting, staff and overall experience. Nevertheless, I feel it could be helpful for other travellers to learn about a few issues that occurred to us and that should be kept in mind if you consider booking a stay. Spoiler alert: We would always choose the Aquagrand again despite some minor pitfalls :-).
Overall hotel:
It is quite a modern complex with a lot of wood, glass and open rooms. Rooms are either located within the main building or in other buildings around this one (this is the case for suites, private pools and sea proximity). You can find two bars (main building + close to the sea), 4 restaurants (buffet within main building for breakfast + dinner, fish restaurant close to the sea for dinner, 2 bistros (1x Greek close to sea, 1x Italian next to the main pool). Overall the hotel is widely spread out so that it does not feel crowded at all - even when fully booked. However, we felt that some areas are actually too large, e.g. the bar within the hotel. It could have easily fit 200 people and we barely saw 10 at a time so you may feel a bit lost at times. Also, even though the hotel is quite modern and well designed, for us there was sometimes a bit too much of it all and a rather weird combination of huge chairs in various colours from green to purple to brown, leather elements, wood, glass, steel, etc. but that is just a personal feel.
What is actually great is the hotel shop where you can get your towel vouchers for the first time. Here you can buy (!) everything (!) you could possibly think of - and all of that also for a reasonable price! Think water (40c/bottle !!), beer, snacks, beach bags, sandals, snorkel equipment, water shoes, empty baggage, linen clothes, hats, sun screen, even hand wash powder and hygiene products - just excellent.
Area
The overall hotel is beautifully located in the middle of nowhere between Lindos and Pefkos. We went to Lindos twice during our stay and totally advise to go. Various small restaurants with rooftops make it a very worthwhile experience. One thing to consider: We read in other reviews that you can easily walk to Lindos in 15mins or so. However, we felt that this is rather a stretch. You would need at least 30mins in our view and the path is near a busy road. In addition, cabs are quite affordable (6-10EUR one way).
Having said that, there is not much to see around the hotel, e.g. a cross on top of a hill where you have really nice 360° views but for this and everything else you 'd need a rental car / cab because things are just too far away.
Rooms
We spent our time in a standard room with sea view within the main building. From the first impression of it, we liked the style. Quite bright, summery colours, yet decently decorated and with a good overall layout. The bed was very comfortable, the bathroom was big enough for two, the balcony was huge and everything was very clean.
The more time we spent in the room, however, we found some smaller issues. The was barely any power plug for us to charge the phones, laptops etc. - none near the bed. The hair dryer in the bathroom could actually almost not be operated if you are >1.80m in height since the connected power cable is quite short, the slide door for the shower only opens up quite a small entry - could be rather hard for some guest to enter / exit the shower :-). Apart from these, we loved the room.
Pools & Beach
There are 3 big pools. The first is located quite close to the main building but is reserved for 4-5 rooms that have "shared pool" access. Then there is a big one next to the Italian bistro and a smaller one close to the beach. The one close to the beach was always empty during our stay. Understandable as it is the smallest and also quite warm. The one next to the restaurant was always quite full. One thing that is extremely relaxing is that we never had to reserve sun beds on the beach. We could come at 10am but also 2pm and there were several empty ones still available (and this despite all the German guests 😃 ). Keep in mind that in Jul/Aug/Sept at least, all floors around the pools / beach will be extremely hot. No way you can walk there without proper / water shoes on!
The beach is just fabulous and secluded. The water is crystal clear and very „snorkable“ (we managed to see ca. 6-7 different fish and animals during out stay). It is definitely rocky but manageable with water shoes. One could unfortunately only get 1 beach towel per person and had to exchange them manually if desired. Also, maybe due to sun screen or else, the towels were not 100% clean/white (but you could still smell / feel that they have been washed, so all good).
Food & Drinks
We have NOT tried the sea food a la carte restaurant because we ate a couple of times in and around Lindos and in addition, the restaurant felt quite empty throughout our stay (who wants to be the only guests in a restaurant..). Yet we had around 7 breakfasts in the main restaurant and 4-5 dinners so I feel we can judge upon the quality of the food and service. In this regard, I feel the hotel is rather 4 really good stars than 5*+ material. The breakfast is really good, meaning wide variety of dishes. Hot, cold, fruits, desserts, etc. - though I found the scrambled egg to be a bit weird and non-traditional, there is still really good stuff, including, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, omelettes, waffles, pancakes, cheese, etc.
For dinner however, the food could 've been a bit better at times. The Greek themed evening was really good but apart from this, the dishes were rather boring in some cases and there was almost no live-cooking station where fish / meat was prepared for you. On the positive side, the different existing dishes were always re-stocked in a very timely manner and the desserts and pastries were truly amazing. It just feels that if you ever had a really good evening buffet in a 5*+ hotel you may sometimes feel a bit disappointed - however this comment is to be taken with a pinch of salt of course.
The room service was also a bit shallow at times. Although you have a wide variety of possible dishes, our dishes at least arrived barely warm (breakfast + lunch) and over- / under-cooked. Also, we ordered beer in the evening and the glasses that came with it were a bit dirty. On top, we would have loved a bigger wine menu for ordering a good bottle of red / white wine in the evenings. Here again, this felt more like a 4* than a 5* experience.
Staff + Service
What has to be said in this category is that first and foremost the staff was very friendly and tried overall to be as helpful as possible. Almost everybody had a smile on their face and was very respectful and friendly.
Yet, there are some minor things that come to mind when, again being very picky, comparing the hotel to other past experiences, such as:
- there was no turn-down service in the rooms in the evening
- the restaurant staff was very eager to take the empty plates (which is a good thing) and did so even when one party was still eating / the plates were not empty yet (which is a bad thing)
- sometimes it was a bit difficult to understand the staff and the other way round
Other guests
Almost all other guest were couples (ca. 35-65) with some families (w. adult children) / singles in between. Most of them were very quiet, easy-going and respectful. I 'd say 40% were German, 20% from the UK, 10% Italian, 10% French + 20% others. What we found astonishing is that a) about 30% of guests had tattoos of some sort and about 20% artificial breasts, lips, faces and else. No judgement here - just observation :-). We really liked the „long-trousers-policy“ for men within all dinner restaurants in the hotel. However, if accompanying ladies arrive in mini skirts, hot pants and flip flops, the policy just does not work anymore…
Other remarks:
- Spa: My girl friend had a full massage and half a day later felt overall really bad and not relaxed at all - this seems to have not been a pleasant experience. Another treatment, a facial care session, however was very pleasing and relaxing
- I found it a bit weird and a pity that one could get the feeling guests were treated differently and according to their room prices. Examples include a separate seating area for suite / private pool guests or specific sun beds that have a better location / are bigger and cost the regular guest €40/day.
Overall
In total, and as said in the beginning, we absolutely loved our stay at the Aquagrand. Should we ever think about spending some more time in Rhodes, we will definitely come back and enjoy another few nights in this fabulous hotel. In various regards however there still is a small gap between this 5* hotel and others but then again, the price is also less than what you would pay at other places of this caliber (think One&Only, Mandarin, 4 Seasons, etc.)
Summary: Thank you Aquagrand and team, we will be back and are eager to see what you have in store for us then!!!
