Riverside Villas

Having been told I was getting a 'Superior Villa', I was horrified by the first room I was put into - dark, dank bedroom and sitting room. The balcony (which had no suitable balcony furniture) was in full sun all day so too hot to sit out on. On complaining I was eventually moved to a 'bungalow', not a 'Superior Villa.' Actually, the bungalow was OK, with a proper balcony and view over the kid's pool area. The moral is - don't accept the first room you are given. I did try to negotiate a discount but to no avail. Probably won't go back to Riverside.

We stayed half board and had a wonderful time. The staff are very friendly, food was good with evening entertainment. Three pools to choose from and a shuttle service to local town and beach. Would recommend.

My husband and I stayed at Riverside for one week in October 2009. We were not sure what to expect after reading some reviews. We stayed in King Suite where the view was fantastic. The terrace was very relaxing and in the evenings it was nice to have a drink there in a peaceful tranquillity. We had a lovely time in beautiful surroundings. The breakfast was great, cooked and presented beautifully. It was so nice to sit out on the terrace to have our breakfast with views of mountains on one side and sea in distance. The pools and the village are kept very clean. We had lunch by the poolside. Both of us being vegetarians, we were looked after quite well and nothing was too much for the friendly staff. It was excellent value for money. Free of charge WiFi was welcome change from other resorts. Riverside is a family owned holiday village and run with great pride.

1 reader found this review helpful

We stayed at Riverside for the second year running in August 2009. Before stating the facts I'll point out that my family along-with three other families, have all re-booked for 2010.
Facts:-
Excellent value for money
Excellent half board evening meal
Excellent pool facilities for the kids (and adults alike)
Very friendly staff
Great free of charge WiFi
Riverside is a family owned holiday village and run with great pride. Their staff are excellent and they themselves are always on hand to take care of your every need.
Ignore any critical comments, some people just enjoying finding faults.

1 reader found this review helpful

Having booked a 2-bed superior villa when we arrived we were placed in a 1-bed villa & advised we could be moved to a 2-bed the following day. As compensationwe were given a free meal in the restaurant. We ate in the restaurant that night at a "Cyprus" theme night - a choice of 2 main course with 3 accompanying dishes was not a lot of choice & my son had to be content with bread & an orange!!.
Breakfast was just appalling - left over cucumber & tomato from the night before, 2 types of cold meat, 3 types of cheese, bread rolls, various jams & a choice of boiled eggs or "eggy bread".
We decided to give it one more day & to have breakfast out although we had pais for it. Our belongings were moved while we went into Kyrenia & to say I was disappointed with what I was faced with when we got back is a complete understatement - the 2-bed "superior" vill accommodation is awful and looks NOTHING like the website I booked it from (Kyreniahotels.co.uk run by Gonorthcyprus.com). in fact i would go so far as to say the accommodation pictures they provide are from a completely different hotel & not a holiday villa. The bathroom was a complete & utter joke & I would have been unable to bath my 2 young children in the bath as it was about 3ft long & squeezed length-ways into only what can be described as a "cubby hole".
One saving grace for the complex were the swimming pools but they were not enough to keep us there so we left after 1 night.
We would NOT recommend the hotel or website used to anyone.

Lovely family friendly hotel,staff were very friendly and helpful,rooms basic but clean and spacious,the pools were very clean as were the hotel grounds.There are two supermarkets and a few restaurants within walking distance.The hotel has occasional entertainment in the Ranch Bar and a Turkish night and BBQ. The only negative comments about the hotel would be the prices of drinks and lollies at the bar during the day which in some cases were four times the prices of the supermarket.Restaurants in Kyrenia Harbour are well worth a visit as the food and atmosphere in the evenings was lovely. Hiring a car is essential and reasonably priced and the roads are very good.The Karpas peninsula although a long drive is very beautiful and unspoilt and well woryh a visit.Other beaches we visited were in Bafra(nice and sandy)and at the Salamis ruins. Altogether we had a lovely holiday and would recommend the riverside villas and Northern Cyprus.

Riverside Holiday Village is one of the best holiday resorts in the Kyrenia area. We enjoyed our visit to Riverside with its fantastic gardens. There were a large outdoor swimming pool and an aqua park with water slides. The food was fresh and very good, Riverside has its own farm which provides daily fresh produces... The villa was beautiful with a lounge area as well as a small kitchen for self catering. The staff were friendly and always helpful. There were also restaurants within walking distance as well as 2 large super markets.

1 reader found this review helpful

I have just read the other reviews and can't believe some of the whingers.
Riverside is friendly, with good food and two good pools. If you don't want to listen to kids enjoying themselves then don't go in the school holidays when you are without kids yourselves.
It isn't that near the beach but there is a regular bus. You do need a car in North Cyprus to do justice and see all the places you need to see and Riverside are as good as anybody with the car hire.
If you want a 5 star hotel then go to the Dome or the Colony but if you want a friendly relaxed place which is good value for money, then the Riverside is the place.
We have been going to Riverside for 7 years so it can't be bad, can it.

The Riverside Holiday village in Alsancak is perfect for a family holiday. The rooms simple but spacious and the pools are fantastic. You need a car if you are to venture out of the complex. We hired one at a very competitive rate from the Riverside.
The Staff were very friendly and always on hand to help (24hr manned reception).
A great base to explore the Kyrenia region.

Me and my friend stayed at the Villa for 10 days.
When we first got there in the evening, we had booked two floor apartment type twin room. We were put in a one floor room with a king size bed. When we requested a room with twin beds we were told when booking they were informed that we were a Mr and Mrs, even though the information they gave us when we first arrived had us as Miss and Miss. They moved us to one of the more expensive rooms nearer reception for a cheaper price, which we thought was good, however the rooms are right next to the children’s pool, which meant we were woken up at 6am everyday by screaming children.
Our main problem was with the evening reception staff, he was extremely rude to us on every occasion we went into reception. He gave us the wrong information about various things.
We were self catering, the shop they told us to use was only open for an hour in the morning and did not sell much to cook. We had to find for ourselves another shop by the staff rooms which they did not think to tell us about. Riverside was advertised as a relaxing peaceful place, it is definitely a family place especially if you have young children and does not have a relaxing atmosphere, and it reminded me of the children and family holiday parks I visited as a child. We barely stayed at Riverside, we could not sit by the pool side without getting a headache because of all the children or constantly getting splashed by them or hit by pool toys.
The reps did not contact us once to check if we were ok, we were out there at the time of the airport scares which they did not contact us about; we had to find out about when we called home. We could not contact them by phone and finally had to get a taxi to find where their office was to try to speak with them.
Not a very good holiday at all.