Malama Holiday Village

Let me start off by saying that I am a very laid back person who usually reads reviews and think that people are being to hard on a resort. I generally believe the "good time" you have on your vacation is what you make of it. Also I would probably say that I am not a picky person that complains about everything. That being said, lets look at the pros and cons of this resort. Pros: Resort is beautifully landscaped, A nice private beach which I did'nt find too small is just minutes from the resort. If you like snorkeling, there is lots of cool underwater rock formations and caves. Rooms are spacious and nice. Cons: Here goes.......All the reviews about how horrible the food is are TRUE! Our first night there, we had a buffet. After that experience, we never ate there for the rest of the week. After wondering a few minutes from the resort, we came upon Tony's Cyprus Tavern. The food is so good there that we ate there everyday, plus there is also live entertainment, and when you get there, you will start to notice how many people from the resort are there who also don't like the food. As for room service.....IT SUCKS! The floors were never cleaned properly, our beds were not made, etc. Here is a real annoying thing. You need to leave deposits for everything. Instead of asking for a security deposit at the beginning of your stay, you are later on in the week always going back for such things: If you need a beach towel 8 pound deposit. If you need a remote control in your room to watch tv...5 pounds, if you need another key to your room...10 pounds. You get the point. Anyways, to conclude if I had to rate this resort I would give it 2 stars. Any more questions, email me at cobs00@hotmail.com

NICE BUT MIXED FEELINGS AND DON’T GO ALL INCLUSIVE We have just returned from a week at the Malama fron 21st to 28th October 2006. We were on a all inclusive arrangements. We had read the reviews with interest but did not know what to expect as it all seemed to be very good or very bad. Right from the start we were quite impressed with the settings, the gardens, the location. But we were soon to find out that we should not have chosen the all-inclusive arrangement. I chose to split my review into to parts, for and against. FOR : We loved the gardens, the flowers. The hotel location is fantastic. We were lucky enough to have a room overlooking the pools and the sea. Best view we have ever had. Don’t go there though if you want fun and late nights. Go to Agya Napa. The hotel is isolated. The staff are friendly. The waiters are from all nationalities (a lot of Russians) and try to chat with you mixing all languages which is funny. We loved the apartments. They are huge, well equipped (we did not use any of the facilities being all inclusive), very clean. Room service is excellent. They change bed linen twice a week. The children’s playground is fantastic. Even if the games are a little outdated, it is a huge space where my kids had a lot of fun. It is also well lit at dusk and the grass is kept very green which is rare on the island. Evening fun is good considering it is a 3-star independent hotel . They have a mini disco on every night. Our kids love dit. We liked the Greek dancing show very much. It was very pleasant and beautiful. They also have a magician on one evening, he is brilliant. As for the other evenings, the animation team did their best. They deserve a lot of praise. We loved the buffets. Especially the midday ones which change everyday and have local and Greek specialities. They are plentiful. The fish is excellent. Salads are brilliant. The evening buffet is nice too with different themes every night. The lack of choice is outweighed by the quality of the dishes. The drinks are HUGE. They certainly do fill your glass ! kids cocktails are 33cl and beer is pint size. The wine with the meals is served at the table in jars. It is ok if you’re not too fussy…The restaurant La Piazza is marvelous. It feels like a real village square. Great atmosphere. The beach is pretty although small. The sea in October was 24o. It is nice an cosy and just in front of the hotel. Take your drinks there for a unique experience. If you don’t go there early, you will not find a sun bed. They belong to the council and you have to pay for them. But you can lay your Malama towel on the floor, no one bothers you. Careful with sea urchins near the rocks. I had a rather painful experience with them. What we liked most was the indoor swimming pool, called Cava amorosa. This was tremendous. We just loved it so much, we spend a long time there every day. Look at the pictures, it is wonderful. The water is very clean albeit cool. The gym is nice although the equipment is slightly outdated. The tennis courts are fully functional. The squash court is very nice, we use dit a lot. There was no body built instructor to annoy you, everything was left unattended and there were very few people using the sports equipment. There is a volley ball court but we did not use it. You can go jogging on the cliffs, brilliant. The sauna, steam room and jacuzzi are ok. You have to pay to use them. There were plenty of sun beds and very well behaved people. Very few early morning sun beds reservations. Only one German towel with « reserviert » written on it was apposed every morning on the same bed. Pure heaven. The guests were mostly English (50%), German (30%), French speaking Swiss or Canadians(10%), Russian 10%.. Nearly all of them with kids. Very few teenagers and young adults, very few pensioners. Mostly families with young kids. There are a lot of cats running about everywhere and a lot of bats too. AGAINST : Definitely not a 4-star hotel. I would rate it 3-star. Do not go all inclusive ! The main problem is that the hotel offers timeshare deals, half-board etc. There were very few guests on an all inclusive deal. We had experienced other hotels in Crete, Fuerteventura etc which were all 4-star hotels. There, all the guests were on a an all-inclusive deal and there was no fuss about what you were entitled to or not. Here, you are given a very limited list of things you can do, facilities you can use, drinks you can have etc. You don’t get a special bracelet if you’re all inclusive. When you ask for an ice-cream or a drink, they make you sign the receipt. Make sure the bill says £0. I got caught on a number of occasion ordering « non home made »ice cream for the kids or a cocktail which was not on the allowed list and signed bills which I had to settle at the end of the week. The price we paid for the all inclusive arrangement was much too high for the value we got. This is undoubtedly due to the high standard of living in the country. We did not like the breakfast buffet at all. There was very little choice apart from baked beans, sausages ang egg. It was the same assortment everyday. The restaurant looks like a canteen inside, terrible taste. Plastic chairs, no decoration. Avoid the kids food , your children will end up overweight. It is all what children should not eat : fat, batter everywhere, very greasy chips, tasteless fish fingers with mashed stuff inside etc. A real shame. There is no cheese at the buffets and fruit consists of apples and bananas. The desserts are tasteless. The animation team did their best but were obviously pleased when noone would join in. The proposed « activities » were very scarce and lasted 5 minutes. Even if the hotel and its grounds were spotless, the surroundings were very dirty. There was litter everywhere. The path to the beach was covered with papers, empty cans, tyres etc. The hotel claims it has direct access to the beach but obviouly thinks it is not their duty to make it clean for the guests. The pools were freezing cold. I only saw a couple of very brave children in them. They charge you £8 for one beach towel. For us four, we had to change £32 to use the towels. They make sure you pay in Cyprus pounds so you can spend that money at the hotel shop when you return the towels at the end of your stay. One British guest shouted so much they allowed him to pay in Serling for his towels. We were not so lucky… The mini club was a terrible let down for our kids. It was so badly organized, they preferred to stay with us at all times. We’d read the programme of activities of the children’s club on the hotel web site and my kids were looking forward to « turtle feeding », « visit to the zoo » etc. There were no turtles to be found, the visit to the nearby mini zoo was canceled for no reason at all. You had to pay extra for most of the other activities, again do not think all-inclusive means what it means at other places. It lacked atmosphere The animation staff did their best but to no avail. A terrible let down for a « kids super welcome » hotel. The day animations are taylor-made for English people and little effort is made to entertain the other guests in their language. Animation wise, don’t trust what is written on their web site, it is out of date. The Le Repos bar was closed all week except on our last night as it was very windy and stormy and they had closed the outside one. We rented a car for a couple of days from the British run company on the hotel car park. We did not like the island but this is a personal appreciation. So, overall quite a nice holiday. But I wouldn’t recommend the Malama as an all inclusive resort. The hotel staff do all they can to make it resemble a real 4-star hotel but they still have some way to go yet. More photos of the hotel on : www.gsll.net/malama/page1.html Gyl Switzerland.

Just returned yesterday from a week at the Malama; having been to Cyprus 9 times previously this hotel is by far the worst so called 4 star hotel I have been to. The apartments are basic but clean and the pool and beach are very good, however this is where the good ends. All inclusive is not all inclusive, you are limited to the number of drinks you can have and you only can have the buffet type food. You are given tokens upon arrival and these entitle you to food and drink when handed over, the tokens are not replaced if you run out and our 4 year old did not receive any as they have got "ice cream tokens". The food is simply awful and some of staff are very rude and generally unfriendly. The gym is none existant and is extremely basic at best. I strongly advise you to look elsewhere to enjoy Cyprus as the Malama was just one big let down for us.

I've not long came back from the Malama (10th September 2006), and I had a wonderful holiday to Cyprus, however I found the Malama disappointing! Don't get me wrong, the apartments and surroundings are beautiful. The rooms are a bit small if you have a family of 4 adults staying in a one bedroom apartment, but there is everything you need in them. The pools are great, fairly small, but nonetheless great to cool down in. The beach however was disappointing. There was rubbish and ciggaretes all over, and it was very small, however the sea was clear (although I never went in myself, it seemed safe and not rockey). Now, the resturante....although we went self catering, some nights we were too tired to go out so decided to stay in the hotel...the food is terrible, there is a buffet every night and no choice at all! Also for the kids there doesn't seem to be any change. It's all burgers, chips, pizza ect. all fatty foods. How do you expect a child to eat that rubbish for 2 weeks?! The waiters are okay, not all that friendly and they seem to rush you, giving you the bill before you've even asked, or finished your meal! The hotel is miles away from a good selection of shops and resturantes (from what I know), and it's about 7 pound in a taxi one way to Protaras strip. That's a lot when we were getting a taxi four times a day, as we had family staying in the Sunrise Beach. Therefore I strongly reccomend you hire a car, but not from the rep as they are more expensive. Coming to an end, I wouldn't reccomend this hotel for those of you who don't like staying there 24 hours a day! I don't think this hotel should offer an all inclusive or half board basis, unless they up the food quality and quantity.

We had a lovely relaxing holiday here. The rooms are generous (although the bathroom could have done with re-decoration). I asked for a ground floor apartment and had a lovely terrace with area for the children to play. There is a lovely terrace to eat breakfast/evening meal. The pool bar staff are very attentive and the food served around the pool at lunchtimes is good, with lovely views down onto the beach. The beach seems to be for the hotel's sole use and is a picturesque little cove. In the evening our children were more than adequately entertained by the children's disco and show, the children's cocktails and the popcorn the staff put on the tables. This all takes place at candle lit tables around the pool, where we also sat admiring the view of the sea or the floodlit swimming pool. A very relaxing holiday. The only thing that might put some people off is the location - it's very remote, so some people would benefit from car hire.

Just back from a lovely time at the Malama Village,pools 3 in all were of a good size and very clean.A small beach is at the front of the complex,very warm and various watersports available including diving lessons for all levels. Apartments cleaned 6 times a week! Childrens clubs and various activities ie.aqua aerobics,volleyball,shows, kids disco,were all available with no pressure to join in if you didnt wishto! Staff extremely friendly and very hardworking! Taxi to Pernera where there was various bars &restaurants cost approx 7 cyp pounds return, to go to Protaras alittle more. Cyprus is lovely and highly recommended,remember to view Famagusta at the viewing point approx 20mins stroll from the village,there is a very tacky mini zoo,but just being aware of the history of Cyprus makes this visit worthwhile.There are a handfull of restaurants nearby all very friendly and serving good food.

Went to the Malama with the family for one week on an all inclusive basis. Overall accomodation is ok, apartments are a good size and reasonably furnished. There are 2 pools which are a little on the small side, but good for kids. The beach is disappointing and very small, however the cove does lend itself to good swimming and the sea is warm. Staff where friendly enough and quite attentive. The biggest issue we encountered however was the food, which was simply awful. There were buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the standard was extremely poor. Although we had booked and paid all inclusive we choose to take dinner outside the hotel after the 2nd night's buffet and we catered for ourselves at lunchtime. This made it very poor value for money overall. I believe the hotel would be ok for AO or B&B but I would strongly recommend against FB or AI.

just returned home from an excellent week at the malama. There are good and bad points like any place you go and stay. The transfer from larnaca is around 1 hour and you are the first to be dropped off which is a bonus. My girlfriend and i went to totally chill out for the week and we just spent each day lazing around by the pool. There are 2 pools and one shallow one for babies. The pools are on two levels and are decent size. There is a poolside bar that serve drinks all day and night and also does lunches and buffet from 12.30 to 3.30. We ate there a few times and the food was nice and nicely priced. The complex is set in a cove with small low level buildings with aprtments in and it has its own small beach and very shallow water so you can go out for a long way. Watersports are also available on the beach. The complex itself is nice, with shops and restaurant. We did not eat in there though on a night as we went out every night. I had a quick look at the buffet food and it seemed ok and very popular with the european tourists who never leave the complex!! The staff are fine. The apartment was lovely, very big inside with huge balcony, massive bathroom,tv, air con and ceiling fan. Cleaned 6 times in our week there!!! One thing that does stand out is when i went for a walk around the cove and i stood on the edge of the cliff face and to my left is the ''ghost town'' of famagusta directly next to me which is quite a site. There are a few local bars and restaurants near by but you have to get taxi into protaras every night which does cost between £12 and £14 a night. However, this should not spoil your holiday. Despite been around 3 or 4 miles out of the centre the malama is totally relaxed and chilled out with loads of things to do on the site if you want to by the enthusiastic staff around the pool. The distance was the only downside but you never have to queue or wait for a taxi as there is that many about. We caught bus into protaras one day but could not find one back and we nearly collapsed of heat exhaustion looking for one. You get the bus to Protaras from the roundabout near apartments. Protaras is very nice and great for couples and families. There are loads of really nice bars and restaurants to eat. You are spoilt for choice. Eden square is a nice array of outside bars which is really nice and chilled out. The ''stretch'' along the front is very long with so much to do. If you like karaoke you are in for a treat as lots of the bars do this. Unlike many places i have stayed the people in Protaras on a night where nearly 100% british as the germans, french and swiss tended to stay around there hotels. My girlfriend commented on how safe she felt when wondering around and you experience no hassle from anyone. Any questions you can contact me at john.benson@hullcc.gov.uk

The malama website made the apartments sound idylic, it was far from. It was a nightmare. From the moment we arrived we were flooded with disappointment . It was a 5 minute buggy ride to our apartment which had spiders on the wall and which bought a new meaning to the word basic. After a 15 minute walk to the pool (which is extremely small) you needed a rest on a sunbed,if you could find one. You have to pay £4 to go into the jacuzzi for 20 mins but it wasn't even on. The staff were rude and unfriendly. It cost us £14 a night toget to Protarus so even though you save on hotel you spend nearly £100 in a week just getting to Protarus!

Once again the Malama was excellent. We've stayed here twice now and each time the place is excellent. The front desk staff are polite friendly and helpful. Housekeeping is excellent. Maintenance superb. The place is built like a traditional village, the gardens are lovely and well kept paths meander between the buildings. The rooms are spacious, lounge with two sofa beds for the kids, kitchen area with fridge, cooker etc. Separate bedroom with twin or double bed. Bathroom with bath & overbath shower. Cleaned daily. The pool area is excellent for all. If you've got tiny kids theres a toddler bit and the main pool is a walk in one. There's a newer deeper pool out of harms way. There's two pool bars(one open seasonally) and a pool side restaurant which does good lunchtime food. Ice creams/milkshakes, beer, cocktails - anything you want. The entertainment is fun. You don't have to get involved. It's up to you, but there's a different show most nights and the reps work really hard. The kids love them. There's lots going on, aquaerobics, water polo, volleyball, games etc, but as I say, you don't have to get involved. You can just lie there on your sunbed overlooking the most beautiful bay, watching the boats go by. There's been a bit of building of private villas going on around the area, but that's good for the future of the area as there wasn't much there before. Oh! except Tony's restaurant nearby, super as ever. I'd recommend the Malama to anyone - try it, you'll enjoy it. We've booked again for 2005