Louis Palazzo di Zante Hotel

1 reader found this review helpful

DO NOT GO TO THIS HOTEL!!!!!!
me and my partner stayed at this hotel for 1 week (thank god) in october 2006 and it was the worst hotel we've ever stayed in!! What First Choice forgot to tell us when we booked the holiday was that the main tour company that stayed at the hotel was Saga,(over 60's)!!!!! Being only 20 and 24 at the time!!! There was only 1 other couple that was there of the same age and they didnt know either. The rooms were very,very dated and the wallpaper was peeling off the walls everywhere. The food was discusting,very rarely warm,hardly any choice. The day we went home we got up at 6 in the morning (i believe breakfast started at 6) to have breakfast and it was still stone cold!!!! There was nowhere to go,only a bus that goes to zante town (dont bother going because it was crap)the bus arrived at the hotel at 10:30 and didnt pick you up again till about 5:30!!! so we had to get a cab back which cost 22 euros!!!! If you want to go to a town go to Argassi,it was much better. The entertainers didnt really care if they did the entertaiment or not but they were good fun, espcially Harry who came from Tumbridge Wells!! We were drinking till the early hours of the morning 1 night but he's girlfriend wasnt very happy about it!!! But they were very easy to get on with,i think they were so bored that they just sat down and spoke to people rather than getting on with the entertainment!!! There was 1 really horrible entertainer from Holland,only about 19,1 day me and my partner were round the pool and he came and asked my boyfriend to play water polo and because he said no (he cant swim very well and is not comfotable in water) he picked up my boyfriends t-shirt and chucked it in the pool!!!!! NICE!!! we spent everyday round the other hotel pool because it was a lot nicer than the 1 at this hotel and we ate in the other hotel aswell!!!The one thing i did like was the cocktails!! they were lovely!! the beach was nice aswell.
Overall it was a rubbish holiday,wouldn't go back if someone paid me!!

Don’t believe the photographs of the hotel on line, we arrived at the hotel to find that it was out on a limb from anywhere, 17 k to Zante costing 16 Euro each way.
The hotel is advertised as a four star. I would say 2 stars. The rooms are very basic, no hangar or draw space and the decor is definitely from the dark ages.
The pool area is very small and to get a bed near it you had to, like some of the guests get up at an unearthly hour. The pool area was kept clean and so were the main areas of the hotel.
Adding to all this is the fact that the hotel sits at the top of a quite steep incline not suited to some of the guests.
Overall having paid for 4 star accommodations as per the brochure, I was very disappointed and will definitely not be going back.

1 reader found this review helpful

We stayed at the Louis Palazzo di Zante Hotel for 10 days in 2006, and had a really good holiday. When we arrived the staff were very warm & friendly, and the entrance foyer/reception is very grand and inviting.
The reception staff all spoke excellent English (most with an American accent which was a little strange!). The room was okay, but nothing fantastic, but we had an excellent view over the 'canal' and across to the stage. They all had Air con though which was a life saver.
We realised quickly that the hotel and resort are very remote, and drinks in the hotel are expensive, so we upgraded to all inclusive for 22 Euros per day, which was very reasonable.
The food at the hotel was very good; it was different most days with a wide variety of things to eat. Its vegetarian options were limited to say the least, but they are across most resorts in Greece. You cannot have lunch in your hotel however, you have to go to the sister hotel, but it’s a two minute walk.
I was a little disappointed by the size of the pool at the Louis Palazzo di Zante Hotel, bearing in mind it has so much water around with the lagoon (which you can't swim in!) the pool was very small, and sunbeds were few and far between.
The beach owned by the hotels unfortunately is too small for the number of people who want to use it, but we went to the turtle beach (about 5 minutes drive), and there was loads of room.
We did a few excursions; blue caves, island tour and went to Zakynthos town, and there is plenty to see in two weeks. Overall this is a great family holiday, and I would recommend the Louis Palazzo di Zante Hotel, there are very few other nice big hotels on the island, and if you want something outside Blackpool (Laganas) then I recommend here or one of the sister hotels.

We arrived at our travel agent in the Trafford centre with 3 weeks available to pick from, we were sold this hotel as a 4 star All inclusive resort in a lovely area of Zante.
Good flight in, to be told were in a pre-paid for Taxi as no-one else is going to our hotel - bad sign we said. Turned out there was a man and his daughter also going in which we had to share a cramped taxi. Get to the hotel in after a half hour drive in the middle of nowhere lovely scenery thou.
Hotel room 2 star at best, dirty tiles in bathroom looks like a bedsit, 80,s decor, aircon smells of damp water, balcony full of swallow muck. Get used to this, it’s a theme of the whole place as these very noisy birds have taken over, balcony furniture dirty and uninviting to sit on.
The pool is ok, although it was very overcrowded the first few days with kids. Now we're not anti kids but we don’t usually do kids resorts and we were not aware it was half term as the travel agent failed to inform us of this very important fact.
In the pool bar was a very miserable girl in her late teens who rarely cracked a smile and this didn’t change all week, she didn’t even know what a toastie was as a snack?
Warning, the pool man is a miserable man we thought, who decided on our first day to shout at us and tap aggressively his watch @ 6pm to shoo us away as he wanted to tidy the sunbeds. Now I am 16 stone and let’s just say he didn’t moan again, but we were told this is a common practice.
The beach, well what can I say again lots of kids running around, very dirty and expensive sunbed hire. There are 4 great beaches up the coast but you need a car or a bike and they're cheaper, isn’t that funny. We found a used condom slap bang in the middle of the beach were kids were playing.
Tip: if you want sun get there around 8am and pick the front beds as the others are so close together you can’t move your beds, as this would probably upset your neighbour who is only 2 feet away.
The food is ok at best, not very changeable, only rice and meat generally, the lsmb dish was amazing thou we both did have dodgy tummies for most of the week.
We also found in the day that the snacks are designed for KIDS meatballs, chicken nuggets which we found all raw one day and it took 2 apologies from the management to rectify (no excuse, this is poor) fish fingers and chips, we asked for adult snacks and guess what we got them, they do do adult snacks but you have to request them (make sure you do).
The Restaurant is very pleasant to eat in although take your earplugs as the waterfall is very deafening and not at all peaceful, and get used to kids wandering about and sometimes crawling under your table as you eat.
We hired a car for the first 3 days and thank god we did. Vassilikos is very under developed, the island is very picturesque and we got some great snaps of the shipwreck, we did the boat trip and saw 5 turtles amazing sight and 2 dolphins decided to come and play again awesome (this is rare thou, so don’t be put off if you don’t see any).
Warning the airport is very small, we had a 4 hour delay, and you queue outside in the sun, only 2 x-ray machines for 14 flights!! We were sent away as there was not enough room in the terminal so only 1 cafe outside in baking heat beer a lot cheaper thou, be warned there is no cash machine at the airport or switch machine either, so make sure you have cash, being AI we didn’t have a lot and you damn well need it 7.50 Euros for a beer or 4.50 for a small beer and I mean small.
If you are a couple who need a bit of variety the entertainment is poor, very non PC watch the kids statue show (you will know what I mean). The bar where the entertainment is very overrun with kids and parents who want to just get rid of them for 2 hours.
The other bar at the Royal is ok but the bar is small and again full of kids, also lots of Germans taking up the bar stools very early and they don’t move all night till closing (or until they need to put there towels around the pool).
We DON’T recommend this hotel if you want a 4 star clearly it isn't, it’s nothing more than a holiday camp in the sunshine with poor entertainment poor food and miserable staff (except christou who is the exception to the rule) and I bet he isn’t there next yr.
If you want a lively resort don’t come here, if you want a relaxing quiet holiday don’t come here, if you don’t want to spend extra on a car don’t come here, if you don’t want a dodgy tummy don’t come here, if you’re not into kids yet don’t come here, if you don’t like steps don’t come here, if you like bars don’t come here, in a nutshell be warned.
You can get a lot more out of a sc holiday than here, its false economy.

1 reader found this review helpful

We stayed at this hotel for a week and upgraded to all inclusive when we realised how remote it was and that the hotel prices for drinks and snacks were so expensive.
It worked out fine because much cheaper than booking all inclusive with first choice. Hotel charges 22 Euros adult 11 Euros child daily to upgrade from half board.

Restaurant was pleasant with indoor and outdoor seating, with a huge waterfall feature. Shame I can’t be enthusiastic about the food, probably had 2 good meals in the week we were there.
Lunch at the beach bar was the worst, all leftovers from the evening before, even the chips were recycled! Snacks were limited to cheese and ham sandwiches, that’s it! Kids enjoyed the unlimited ice creams though, and drinks included cocktails.
You have the use of the imperial and royal facilities (except restaurants) which was good because the Plazzo pool is very small and gets no shade, so we used the imperial pool which was huge with water slides and plenty of sunbeds and parasols.
The beach was nice with clear shallow water for a long way out. Kids enjoyed snorkelling, saw lots of fish and the rock pools have lots of crabs. A shame they charged for sunbeds at 4 Euros each per day, if using daily it’s quite a lot to pay out.
Beach was littered in places with cigarette butts so choose your spot carefully before paying out on your sunbeds! Watersports pricey- 50 Euros for 10 min jet ski.
Rooms were cleaned with linen and towels changed daily, and although the decor is dated to say the least, we had a lovely large balcony that overlooked water surrounding the pool. We all got lots of nasty bites as lots of bugs, mossies, beetles in the room and my sister who was also staying in the hotel had a scorpion in her room!
All the communal areas were clean and tidy and I quite liked the traditional interior of the hotel.
Kids club wasn't very impressive, as you need to stay with the kids at all times really, because my little girl of 5 was allowed to wander out to the beach on her own! The mini disco is at 8.30 every evening and they all loved it although it was often cut short.
The evening entertainment lasts about an hour and I can’t really say there was anything great about it! After that there is nothing at all going on in the hotel, and there is nowhere to go so expect lots of early nights.
Hotel shop pricey, so if buying souvenirs head for Zante town where everything is at least 5 times cheaper.
Didn't go on any excursions, but if staying 2 weeks you would probably need to. Friends who did go on the Greek night and turtle spotting said they were very good.
Had a hectic journey home due to airport strike, had to get a ferry to the mainland and take a flight from a tiny airport in the middle of nowhere with one scanner, and although first choice could have handled the situation a bit better, I guess it’s just one of those things.
On the whole we had a good holiday with great weather, met lots of lovely people, and came home refreshed. We wouldn't return, but if we did, we would definitely hire a car.