Palm Beach Hotel -- Larnaca

The Palm Beach is in a good location on the beach (you couldn't get nearer to the beach if you tried) and the hotel is of a good standard. The staff are friendly and reflect the rating of the hotel. Watersports are good value (i.e not inflated by the star rating)as are the Taxi's from the hotels taxi rank (C£5 to Larnanca. C£7 to Xylotymbou (The excellent Bambos Tavern) or Pergamos (The excellent Ali's Bar (Turkish food and beer). Breakfast provided a superb selection of both continental and full cooked which was of high quality (although it could have been warmer). We stayed in one of the upstairs 'Bungalows' (the description quoted is a bit misleading as bungalows are single storey accomodation). The accomodation itself was nice but a little bit 'tired' (wallpaper starting to peel etc). One word of warning. The walls/connecting doors are painfully thin, meaning that should your neighbour return at 1-2am and turn on his or her telly (or even chat amongst themselves) you WILL hear every word. Although there are multiple bars/restaurants across the road from the 'bungalows' (including the excellent Alexis Tavern) you will not hear them from your room (unlike the room next door!). The hotel is fairly close (poss 2km) to Dhekelia garrison (Best fish and chips ever at CESSAC beach - opposite Dhekelia Garrison lower gate or for a huge 'Cyprus Sandwich' try the van opposite the main gate!). Ayia Napa is also easily reachable by the new road. Overall it is a lovely hotel in an excellent location with beautiful breakfasts (We never ate at the hotel for other meals) but the noise polution from the neighbours is a serious downer.....

My boyfriend and I stayed here on the beginning of our week long mediterrean trip. The hotel was just steps from the beach and there was a great snack bar that delivered to the beach lounge chairs where cushoins were provided. The water was calm and the bay had warmer temperatures. We stayed in an inland view room--I would just pay the extra 10 bucks for a sea view. The breakfast every morning was great--fruit, eggs, cheese, bread...delicious! Definately a resort that catered to families on vacation. Would def reccomend for those wanted some time on the beach but it was about a 10-15 minute drive from downtown Larnaca were all the action/restaurants were--would need to rent a car.

Have stayed in Larnaca myself twice a year for 13 years (my partner has been going for 24!!) and I have always wanted to try one of the bigger hotels, we usually stay in apartments. We were very pleased with the overall atmosphere of the hotel. The room was spotlessly cleaned every day and had a very relaxing atmosphere. We opted for B/B and the breakfasts were fantastic, an excellent selection of hot and cold food was available and the service was superb, friendly and helpful, particularly Maria who cooks the eggs and omelettes to perfection. All areas of the hotel were very clean and well kept and the staff helpful and friendly. Well recommended and we would certainly go back again J & D

Have just returned from a 4 night break at the Palm Beach and would like to say just what a gem we thought the hotel was. Nothing like the previous reviews at all. I am sure we are not describing the same hotel. We upgraded to a sea view and we were on the first floor but there were no palm trees obscuring our view! Yes there is Larnaka to the right and a power station far far to the left so I guess if you sit on the balcony with your binoculors it could be seen but assuming most people sit facing forward then your view is straight out to sea. The rooms aren't huge but as we only slept and changed in our room it was plenty big enough, Plenty of storage space with a decent sized bathroom with free toiletries. The TV and the phone and the 2 hairdryers all worked perfectly. The breakfasts are great and we had 1 evening meal in the hotel which was a carvery. Good value. But we ate at the restaurants across the road or in Larnaka the other nights. The Taverna directly opposite the hotel did the best Tournedos Rossini I have ever had. There are also Italian, Chinese, Indian and a great French restauant all within 5 mins walk of the hotel. The hotel by the way has its own taxi rank at the end of the drive and is 5cyp into Larnaka. We had a fish meze one day at the Paparazzi on Larnaka promenade and it was fantastic, so much we couldn't eat it all and we are big eaters! Too cold to go in the outdoor pool while we were there but the indoor pool was great as was the Beauty Salon. The Piano Bar is a little pricey but has mood lighting and I guess you pay for the surroudings but it was nice to have a cocktail there before venturing out in the evening. I am sure the hotel is even better in season when it is buzzing with activity and guests but for us it was just great. Would definately return

As alwayas, I took care to research previous reviews on this hotel prior to booking - checking tripadvisor and the hotel website. Whilst I do not consider myself to be a particularly fussy traveller, it would appear my experience has been somewhat different from some of the glowing reports on tripadvisor. It was interesting (and a little reassuring that it wasn't just me), that another traveller at the hotel the same period as me was also disappointed enough to book out early. I was so disappointed with this hotel I rescheduled my flight and booked out after 3 nights of a 5 night break (meant to be 27 Dec - 1 Jan) and endured a late cancellation fee of one nights room rate. On the positive, the approach to the hotel with the christmas lights on the palm trees was impressive, together with the standard of cleanliness of the hotel. The recreation areas of the hotel was nicely furnished and decorated for christmas. My room was an upgraded sea view room which was quite small and modestly furnished - definately not to the same standard as the ground floor recreation/communial areas. The view directly straight was sea but to the right the view was ugly commercial docks and to the left a power station. The bathroom was very small and dated in decor and fixtures - not what I was expecting from a hotel claiming to have been extensively refurbished in 2003. The bed was very hard and uncomfortable and the blanket had a brown soiling mass on it. The biggest disappointment was the noise disturbance - every aspect of your neighbours conversation in the adjacent room can be heard to the extent you know what they are doing in the bathroom! I was awoken at least once during each of the three nights of my stay. Although the hotel claims a number of restaurants, only the coffee lounge and the restaurant serving a buffet evening meal was open - the evening entertainment is within the dining room so if you don't eat at the hotel (I was on bed and breakfast), you don't benefit from the "nightly entertainment". Drinks were quite expensive - £2.60 cyprus pounds (approx £3.12 sterling) for a coffee. It was however a nice cuppa. The staff weren't overly helpful or friendly - prior to arrival I emailed as asked for directions to the hotel from the airport - their response "ask your car hire rep". At the hotel I asked to change a higher value note for tipping and was told they couldn't do this. All in all quite disappointing, the hotel, service or facilities just did not meet my expectations which were based on the hotel's own website and brochure information. It may also be helpful to know that although Cyprus is marketed in the uk as an all-year-round holiday destination, it appears many retailers and restaurants close "out of season".

What a disaster. Its hard to know where to start- Inedible Set menu for Dinner and a rude Maitre Di, A bed that is as hard as a door, threadbare sheets that were ripped and torn. A bathroom that leaked when the guest upstars decided to take a shower, No air con and a telephone that didnt work. It was so bad we checked out early. Dont go there- it was so bad it was worse and more stressful than working 12 hours a day at the office. Dont be fooled by the photos of the pool- it was the only nice feature of the hotel

We stayed here October 27-30, 2006 and found the hotel to be a medium four star property. Our room was adequately furnished and everything was in working order. (We chose the cheap option or "garden view" which is a view of the parking area - If you want a good view, then go for the sea view rooms) We visited Cyprus for the historical sights, not the beach so the "garden view" room was a good value for us. Our room had a small, private balcony with a fully stocked refrigerator. The bed sheets were a bit threadbare and the beds were not very comfortable. The room had a safe that was large enough to put a laptop inside. The hotel offers wireless Internet service for 7 CYP from Noon til Noon. The access ends at noon regardless of when you first log in. You can also purchase Internet access online at 6 CYP which ends at midnight on the day of purchase. Access is fast and reliable. As other reviewers have posted, the free breakfast was fantastic with plenty to choose from. The food was good and well stocked everytime we ate. The wait service was exceptional. We did not eat any other meals at the hotel since the prices were extremely high compared to the dozen restaurants across the street. The best dinner meal we had on Cyprus was at the Ganga Indian restaurant about 300 meters away.

Amazing hotel - incredibly clean and well-cared for. Must get a sea-facing room. The sea is just a hop and skip from the front door - gorgeous. Breakfasts are AMAZING, you don't need to eat again till the end of the day. Lovely staff, many have English mother-tongue. Together with nearly all the other hotels, Palm Beach occupies a stretch on the eastern reach of Larnaka. It's definitely the nicest. The horrible shanty town opposite the hotels is only good for tourist tat. Head to the old quarters of Larnaka town, near the medieval fortress and mosque. Larnaka is a good base to explore the island, it's an easy one hour or one and half hour drive to anywhere.

Great hotel. Staff is courteous, kind and helping. Came for a weekend, and checked out hours before my flight time. I stayed in the pool area and was able to use showers and lockers in the hotel many hours after the check out time. The breakfast lounge is spacious, the omelets chef excellent, and a very nice spread with a large variety of foods is given for breakfast. There are four large pools (one in doors) but I only swam in the great beach of the hotel. Near the hotel are many reasonable restaurants, and the hotel is 10 minutes cab drive (or 15 minutes by bus) from the city center. Note that the bus passes only once every 35 - 45 minutes. The cab costs 6 Pounds and the bus 0.7 pounds. Do not change money at the hotel - they do not give any change. Better exchange rates are given across the street from the hotel at one of the shops across.

On arriving at the hotel, our sea view room was very smelly from a soaking wet carpet (the air conditioning unit was leaking), the toilet didn't work, we couldn't see the sea view as we were on the first floor and the palm trees covered any view that was there. When we pulled down the bed covers, they clearly hadn't been changed and still had the 'remains' of the previous guests. Refusing to stay in the room we were moved to the only double room available which wasn't a sea view but overlooked the courtyard. It was lovely and much cleaner and brighter. We decided to stay there for the duration of our holiday (at the inland view rate) and it was ideal. Not wanting to put anyone off, the hotel itself was really nice. The sunbathing area was great and the guys are on hand to help you get loungers, umbrellas if required but you do have to get up reasonably early to get your spot, especially on a Sunday where locals seem to appear from everywhere and will squeeze into whatever space there may be left at the pool. The sea was lovely and a very handy stones throw away from your sunlounger . The hotel lunches were excellent but the buffet nights were not our thing. We tried a couple but decided to stick with the restaurants nearby. The little Italian was lovely. If like us, you like eating out, if your stay is for more than a week, you may start to get fed up with eating at the same places. The surrounding area of the hotel is ok but not great for nice evening walks if that's what you're after. Nice cocktail bar in the hotel (albeit quiet for June/July) and nice to sit outside with a drink looking out to the sea. Staff were pleasant and friendly except for an older man on reception who could do with a personality transplant. All in all, apart from the problem on the first night, we had a very enjoyable 10 night stay and would consider going back but only for a week.