Aqualand Hotel

As with the previous reviewer we are also with Club La Costa and considering the cost in points I expected this to be better. Saying that, Greece is Greece and having previously stayed in Corfu I was actually amazed we had hot water! This resort I believe have all the facilities but they are not open! I think they used to have an a la carte restaurant etc even the hotel notice board states more restaurants but I reckon they get more money from all inclusive. Now to the info. Do not go all inclusive. We didn't and found an extremely good French Taverna 200yrds away, a cheap Greece Taverna 200yrd in the opposite direction and other days took the local bus into Corfu 1 Euro each way. Bus stops right outside the resort. We were not disappointed just check the timetable. The apartment slept 6 and was light and airy apart from the small bedroom. The maid service was very sloppy, very few towels and toilet paper you had to kill for or steal from the maids cart. We got wise! Only 1 toilet for 6 people and the full kitchen was a fridge freezer, bin , cooker, sink and a sandwich toaster and kettle you had to plug in on the bin as they didn't have a plug socket. There was also an oven (with grill) and a microwave. The small shop though didn't sell any food unless you wanted toasted sandwiches. There is free entry into the Water park which at 23 Euro each per day saved us a packet. The wave pool is actually inside the hotel grounds and they had very good safety and plenty of life guards. The drinks in the resort were extremely over priced for people not on all inclusive so we bought drinks from the shop and took them upstairs as we felt we were being ripped off. The entertainment was horrendous. We had an apartment close to the open air bar and the noise went on well into the night. Air conditioning was very good and there was a free safe and internet access at a price. The terrace was large and there was some cain furniture. The whole resort needs a Club La Costa facelift and some decent Management. There were safety concerns, loose railings over the balcony, lamposts leaning etc. Overall wouldn't go back but not that bad. Excursions were available if you organised them yourself and there was great car hire we got an open top jeep 190 Euros for 4 days.

We belong to Club La Costa, an exclusive holiday club that guarantees you 4-5 star accomodation all over the world in their own and partners resorts. This is the first time we have used a partners resort and to say we were disapointed is an understatement!. The accomodation, food and entertainment programme rate as that of a holiday camp and there were no alternatives to any of these things. The self service, 'canteen' is a more appropriate term , is the only eatery on the resort and the location makes it immpractical to dine out on a regular basis. The all inclusive is advertised by CLC as 'optional' but was, in fact, inevitable. The team who entertain did a remarkable job considering the lack of resources but they are disapointed in what they are able to offer. Each night consisted off: Mini disco for kids 8.00-9.30 One game of bingo 9.30-10.00 Show 10.00pm monday kareoke with the in house team tuesday greek dancers weds magic show thurs comedy show with the in house team fri quiz night with the team sat show night staring the team sun audience participation night with the team. The days might be mixed up but you get the drift. The day time the team offred, volleyball in the pool, areobics in the pool, darts (with the board on a chair), basketball and there were tennis courts but no racquets as they were apparently all broken. CLC also advertised a kids club which we have used in there resorts before and was one of the main reasons we bought our membership in the first place. However, when we attempted to register our kids at this one we were told we could not as they only accepted Dutch kids !!!. My conclusion is this, if you want free daily use 0f the aqua park, are not too fussy what you eat and are not looking for evening entertainment in particular, then consider this as a 3 star hotel and you know what you are getting. Do not go under the illusion that, as CLC advertise the resort ,that this is in any way a luxury holiday.

Where do I start? With Aqualand being so close to the airport we didnt bother booking transfers and planned to get a taxi to the hotel, upon arrival at airport i spotted a medhotels rep holding a piece of paper with our name and flight numbe on it, i approached her and advised that we hadnt booked a transfer, i was then told the hotel was fully booked and we were to get a transfer to the sea gardens hotel in KAVOS and speak with the rep there the following morning. as you can imagine I wasnt amused and told her I was going to aqualand and that was that. The rep told me I had no choice but to get a transfer to kavos ( and i had to pay for it !!!! ). Ended up staying in Kavos for the 2 weeks and I am dreading my phone bill coming as I constantly phoned med hotels to try and get moved to Aqualand but alls they do is fob you off! ( sea gardens is another story and not a good one at that ). It was not only my family that this happened to but another 27 families, if nothing else it gave us something to talk about on holiday!! never again am I booking a holiday through med hotels!

We had booked this holiday in October 2006 . It was to be a surprise 16th Birthday treat for our daughter. We arrived at the hotel to be told by the incredibly rude reception staff that they had overbooked the hotel and we did not have a room. They told us we would have to transfer to Kavos in the south of the island. I explained (or tried to explain to the receptioinist in between her walking off , talking to other customers returning to me and staring at me!) that we had booked this for a birthday treat, but to be honest she really was not interested. Instead she continued to issue other guests with their rooms. I asked her why we could not have a room as we had arrived before the other guests , she told us "You just can't". I asked to speak to the manager but was told he wouldn't arrive until 7pm, it was lunch time when we arrived. I spoke with Med hotels who instructed her to give us a room but they would not. Eventually she offered me to speak with the manager 1/2hour after she told us he wasn't there! We spoke with the manager and was told "It was just one of those things" we again explained the situation to him about the water park being the reason we had booked so he offered a place at Sidari village because it had a waterpark, he said we would get free entrance in it and it was in easy walking distance! WHAT A JOKE - The "waterpark was a pool with 2 slides and was free to enter anyway. We had to hire a car to drive to the waterpark at aqualand because they would not pay for a taxi or put on a coach. We are not the only family this happened to, another family slept in the foyer and waited 14 hours until the manager gave them a room. If anyone is going to this hotel be prepared for complete rudeness and lies . Book some where else if you haven't already booked.

Our apartment was facing the entrance to the waterpark and carpark. The music from the park started at 9am and finished at 6pm. At 7pm the music from the hotel started and finished at about 11pm, that was very loud. It didn't bother us but if you are looking for a quiet time, forget it. The apartment itself was ok for us ( two ) as it slept six, although there were only two dining chairs ! The beds were very comfortable and the furniture was too. Its a bit out of the way and I think you would really need to hire a car. Avoid Corfu town on Tuesdays,Thursdays and Fridays. These are the main shopping days and unless you go early, you won't get a parking space.

We have just returned from Corfu where we stayed at the Aqualand Village Resort 7km from the airport. We arrived on a morning flight booked from Thomson fly, which was a good flight with no delays or issues, out of Glasgow. Corfu Airport Arrival The baggage hall at Corfu airport is very small with only 2 belts for up to 4 flights at the same time, it is very disorganised and not much room. Be prepared for a long wait, we were an hour to get our bags. There were a lot of reps and coaches awaiting the package holiday customers, we had booked separate flight and accommodation so were sorting out our own transfers. Transfer to resort The taxi rank is outside the arrivals hall on the left as you look at the coaches across the road, it is split in to two by a blue painted hand rail, the side farthest away from the airport is the cash side and unless you have pre-booked your cab this is where you hail. Agree a price before getting in, if you think it is too much haggle, if not you are on your way to your resort. We paid 20 euros for our transfer; I would expect to pay between 15 to 20 euros, but not any more than this. The taxi journey was an experience, be prepared for a hair-raising experience as they like to drive fast, pull out in front of other drivers then slam the brakes on! We did not hire a car at this point so cannot tell you about this at the airport I cannot express enough how disorganised the airport is, it is not very well organised for the number of flights it has and is one of the smallest I have ever seen for the people traffic received and this was not the height of the season. Aqualand Village Resort Check in Our initial impression of this hotel/resort was not like the reviews we had previously read on this and other sites, the staff were very friendly and helpful and we were happy with our check in procedure. Room Our room was a part of a block of one up one down apartment with the upper floor being the bigger apartment. Typical room bed, seats, tv, fridge, microwave, aircon etc Restaurant There is just the one restaurant, we found it to be quite cramped and the seating very close together, the food was certainly not the best we have had, there was not a good choice of food and this was the same case for the snacks served at certain times through the day, the only decently consistent food was the ice cream which was delicious. Bars There were three bars in which to get drinks (though not all open at the same time, except the one at reception area and the one upstairs where the “entertainment” was held, the reception bar opened at 6.00pm when the pool bar closed, and the upstairs one opened at 9.00pm. There was a decent choice of drinks including cocktails; the strange thing we found was that they did not serve diet coke etc! The bar service was quick and efficient and they did not seem to mind how many drinks you got, there is also a self service hot drink machine which served an assortment of hot drinks. All inclusive drinks served up to 11.00pm after that you have to pay. Entertainment Well, there is not much to say on this, there is some children’s entertainment And some very amateurish “family entertainment” in the evening, it got boring and we ended up going back to the room with a few drinks thankful for the portable DVD player we had brought with us Pools The pools were lovely and clean, the wave pool was brilliant and lots of fun. Kids pool suitable for the kids Aqualand (Water-park) Aqualand was absolutely fantastic, we did not realise until we went to pay to get in and asked about a discount, that guests staying at this hotel just gave their room numbers and were given free admission. This was one of the highlights of our holiday and was a right mixed bag of people of all ages having a great time, lockers available for an additional charge if required, you cannot go to this hotel and not visit, you would be missing out on a great time. Car hire (In resort) We hired a car through a desk at the Hotel with a company called Olympus, we only used them as there was nowhere else in the vicinity to hire a car from, bearing in mind this hotel is in the middle of nowhere so it was them or nothing. They were doing a special deal i.e., 3 days hire for the price of 2. We hired a grade C car which was a Seat Ibiza with air con and radio, unfortunately the air con did not work, the exhaust was blown and the drivers door lock was faulty and we had to crawl over the seat to get to the drivers side, we handed this car back at the end of the first day and were given a Peugeot 206 which was a slight upgrade, the power steering did not work to well, but we ended up just keeping it anyway for the other two days. The price we paid for the two days plus free day was 110 euros, we also paid 5 euros per day for full insurance which covers windows, tyres and any excess costs, the roads are very bad over in Corfu and the standard of driving pretty bad, this extra insurance is a must for the small extra cost. Having the car was one of the highlights you can get out and about and see a lot more of the island. Maid Service The maid service was actually very poor, the room was never cleaned that well, I spilt coffee on the floor and the stain was there the whole week, there seemed to be a problem with the towel change, one day we ended up with just one hand towel between the two of us, after complaining to reception we eventually got more towels, this happened on more than one occasion, the hotel itself was always clean and tidy. Check Out Very smooth, no problems here, you got to stay in your room until midday. Airport Departure This was organised chaos, because of the size of the airport you end up queuing outside, as we had booked separate flights and accommodation we did not realise until we had been standing in the terminal for about an hour that you had to wait on a Thomson rep putting up a sign outside telling passengers to queue up, I spoke to the rep and said that we had booked the flights ourselves and were not part of the package deal but she said that we would not be able to get checked in until we queued up, be warned! Summary Corfu was a nice place to visit, one thing to know, which I wish I had known before we went was that the place is full of wasps, they land on you, in your drinks and in your food, I have never seen as many grown men get in such a state, a lot of them were worse than the women and children! If like me you hate wasps you may want to think twice about Greece. There is always mixed reviews about hotels etc, the one we have given is as we see it, if anybody would like more information feel free to contact us on blanchemccoll@blueyonder.co.uk.

Went here from 23rd - 30th July 2006, We arrived early as you can't check into your room til 2pm, so got our all inclusive bands and had an early lunch - not the best food in the world !! When we eventually got our keys, the room they put us in was very small, infact its just as well i never took a cat....because you wouldn't be able to swing it !!! There were 4 of us 2 adults and 2 kids although 1 of the kids we had to pay adult price for !! so in writing they were accomodating 3 adults and 1 kid. We were told the room we were staying was a 1 bedroomed appartment with tv fridge big bathroom power shower etc etc, there was 4 single beds pushed together and a tiny bathroom well box room. I'm not a moaner normally but wasn't prepared to stay in the room, so off i went to reception, the receptionists were very UNHELPFUL and told me i had to get incontact with a rep !! I wasn't amused after travelling all night, tired, hot and sweaty !!!! Eventually after a little debate she got her paper work out and seen she'd given us the wrong room key - phew ! Our new room was absolutely suberb apparently one of the biggest on the complex. If you stay there request room 2612, right by the wave pool. The actual water park is brilliant, we we're on the understanding that we had a 50% reduction to get in aqualand but the next day when we went in, all we had to do was give our name and room number and it was free !!!!! RESULT ! The park is fab, something for all ages babys toddlers teenagers and adults. Evening entertainment is not the best and the food isn't either its just ok, so most evenings we went out which in one respect was nice because we seen a bit of corfu but in another it cost us a fortune. But hey-ho you are in you hols ! On the whole I would go back to aqualand but I'd stay self catering if i could, Aqualand is in the middle of nowhere so you do need a car or take extra money for taxi's.

Went to this hotel on the 28th July 2006 and booked an apartment but upon my arrival was given a key for a single room with two single beds and a camp bed. I returned to reception and asked if I had been given the wrong room. The reception staff were very unhelpful and in fact rude. They refused to help in any way and directed me in the direction of my holiday rep. It later became apparent that the hotel had seriously overbooked and one family of eight, were placed into two rooms. The facilities in the hotel are very limited, the promise of a childrens club never appeared, although for the Dutch holiday makers they had their own club but no English children allowed. The food was very average and repetitive, mainly braised meat, fish and lots of pasta. Nothing exciting...very boring.The restaurant was more like a canteen. The only saving grace was the actual park, which I must admit was excellent with plenty of rides for everyone.The kids there are well catered for. I would STRONGLY suggest stay at another hotel and visit for the day. I won't be going back!!!!

Myself (41) and partner (44) arrived on 3rd July 2006 until 17 July 2006, airport was very small waited about 30mins on our luggage. Taxi to the Aqualand Village from the airport took about 20 mins and paid 18 euros people we spoke to people paid 25 euros booking through their travel agents, (when we managed to find anyone other than German or Dutch that is), so I recommend you get your taxi at the airport . On the way to Aqualand from airport my thoughts were - we will not be able to walk anywhere as there a no pavements. On arrival the Village looked really nice, when booking in there was no pleasanrty conversation from the reception staff, we were booked through a Timeshare and our apartment was no different from any other as this is based around ALL INCLUSIVE, we were told we could go ALL INCLISIVE for 30 euros each per day (7 days for the price of 6), or have it on a daily basis for 15 euros or you could pay to eat in their resturant at 50 euros each + drink, which I think is a rip off, the Al a Cart Resturant at the wave pool was only open 12pm-4pm so you couldn't have a meal in there at night (which would have been nice as this was not a ALL INCLUSIVE Resturant) you HAD TO EAT IN THE ALL INCLISIVE RESTURANT!!!. We found a Wee taverna about 100m along from Aqualand (this was a blessing). There was no transport laid on from Aqualand to go into Corfu Town you had to rely on public transport which was at some funny times (note: if using buses they do not stop at the bus stops). Bus cost 1 euro, and you have to by your ticket at the small shop adjacent to Aqualand. Would recommend you go the Old Town in Corfu, the people are really nice, lots of places to eat and very reasonably priced, a taxi back to apartments was 15 euros. The hotel DO NOT cash travellers cheques, you have to go into Corfu Town to a National Bank (take note - they have problem cashing American Express Cheques, we waited over an hour to get ours cashed). The apartments were clean, maids came in daily (sunday is there day off), the beds and towels were changed every day. The pool area at the hotel was clean, but you had to be up early to get a sunbed, the wave pool was really good, but you had to share this with the people visiting the Water Park next door which was a right pain, you are trying to have a nice relaxing holiday and all of a sudden there is a loads of people running around looking for rubber rings for the pool. I would recommend this hotel if you have kids, but for us couples without kids "NO". The entertainment at night was based around the kids, so if you had no kids, well what can I say. Overall we had a good holiday and would definately go back to Corfu, but not Aqualand Village.

Lets start with the airport which was terrible. We arrived along with seven other flights to find they had only two luggage collector belts so we were waiting for our luggage for a very long time. We stayed at the aqualand village in june 2006 there was myself (Im 19) my mother and my 5 year old sister. The taxi ride from the airport takes roughly 20 minutes depending on how fast the taxi driver wants to get you there, the ride costs roughly 20 euros which was far less than the price we would have been charged for transfers. Upon arrival we were plesantly surprised he place looked stunning. We walked into a well air conditioned and spacious reception to check in. We arrived at 1pm but we were not allowed into our rooms until 2 pm so we got our bands and headed to lunch. The rooms are lovely and always kept clean by the brilliant maids. they clean it everyday except a sunday. The rooms are spacious and our only problem was that we did not have a fridge which we were supposed to. When we informed the reception they told us they didnt have any spare fridges! This was a problem as you cannot take drinks from the bar back to your room so we were unable to buy any drinks from the mini market to keep cool in our room. The food was nice also, I am a fussy eater so I was glad to see chips everyday because that is the one thing i definately eat! There was also lamb everyday but cooked in different ways, it was very nice though. I couldnt really complain about the food since as it did the job. The pool area was spacious and was never really full, I think we went before it got too busy. There was never problem getting sunbeds whatever time of the day you went. The entertainment was based on the kids, with there being a kids disco every night and bingo every night. The entertainment team were brilliant they really tried. There was quite a few water games for the adults to take part in during the day, although they dont force you to take part. Overall the holiday was very relaxing for us and very entertaining for my sister. I would say that she did find it hard to make friends because of the amount of dutch people staying there, but she did find some english children to play with and then she was fine. I wouldnt suggest staying there if you havent got children and I wouldnt recommend staying there if you like a beach holiday since as the nearest beach is a 20 minute bus ride away. The village is in the middle of nowhere. We got free entry to the waterpark but i dont think that applys if you go when it is busier. To see photos email me as I have been experincing problems posting them with my review.