Natalie

Me and 5 other of my 17 year old girly friends flew out to Laganas as our first holiday together this year. We weren't sure what to expect from the mixed reviews of the resort, but honestly we couldn't have asked for better service.
We arrived and were greeted by friendly staff and shown to our rooms. Our rooms were pretty basic, with a twin bedded room and a third bed in the kitchen/dining room. The pool is gorgeous and there's never a shortage of sun loungers.
On our first day we met Mr Dennis, the owner, and I have to say he is one of the nicest people you will ever meet! He chatted to us everyday to see what we were up to and whether we were having a nice holiday, trying his hardest to learn more English! As for the barman, Jimmy, any excuse to throw someone in the pool for a laugh and he's there, so watch your backs!! Top lad!
The Hotel is situated in front of a small Italian restaurant and opposite a shop selling all the basic corner-shop style things (inc. buying travellers cheques and selling phone cards) literally 20 yards away is the beach, which I have to say is very thin, but stretches for miles round the island.
There are always sun beds available on the beach, but why pay when you can use the ones by the ace hotel pool?! All along the beach there are restaurants of all kinds. I'm vegetarian and so thought I'd be living off cheese and salad all week, but there are loads of options.
I especially recommend one called "Med Version", its a really really nice place, we went there on the first night and vowed to George, the PA guy outside, that we would come again before the end of the night.
Each night we passed him to get to the main night-life strip and we kept promising to go. Then the night before our final night we asked him to book us a table for 8.30 for our final meal. We didn't really expect him to, but when we turned up at around 9ish there it was, the table with the best view of the sea reserved just for us. Seriously, the locals and the staff that work around Laganas couldn't be more welcoming.
One place to stay away from is on of the Chinese restaurants on the main strip, "China Wall" I think it's called, the food was foul and when we complained about the food we were greeted by extremely rude staff telling us that we were to pay 70 euros or they would call the police.
And so we left feeling rather sick with less money. The funny thing is, just as we were leaving, two other girls had just received their meals and were also refusing to eat them, so it was nice to know it wasn’t just us!
The nightlife in Laganas is amazing, free shots with everything! We spent most our time in La Bamba with the two rather nice bar men, if there is a group of you planning on going, invest in a fishbowl from there - works out cheaper than individual cocktails! Think we got 140 euros worth of cocktail for 45 (inc. two free shots each)!!
Also Zeros, Cocktails and Dreams and the beach themed bar right by the sea are all excellent places!
Word of warning, there are quite a few beggar-children and women out at night selling glow stick bands and straw hats. They don’t think twice about hanging onto your legs when you walk and stealing from you, but if you are firm with them then they shrug off onto the next people.
Overall I thought this was an amazing place for a holiday with mates, not once did I not feel safe, sure enough you could wander around on your own and not be bothered at all by feeling insecure about safety! Top Notch area!