Aldemar Olympian Village Hotel

I would not be surprised by varying reviews over this hotel. This is because there is such a variety with regard to the rooms, i.e. there are so many alternatives in terms of apartments, suites, bungalows, or basic hotel rooms, with or without a sea view, with or without a garden view, with or without a semi private pool. The above lack of homogeneity in the shapes, sizes and luxury of the accomodation on offer, is exacerbated by the fact that the hotel has undergone a rather recent renovation. There is certain accomodation which, probably, is brand new. Therefore, the overall experience of someone who stayed in a luxurious sea view suite sharing a pool with a couple of other suites, has nothing to do with the experience of someone who stayed in a miserable (and, judging from their veranda, this is the way some rooms looked from the outside), room of the hotel's main buildings facing the back yards. No doubt, or one would think, the above rather substantial variations are reflected in the prices of the various categories of accomodation. So, I do not think that someone who payed the price of a 3 star room should feel cheated because the room was not 5 star. (Whether holidays in Greece are no more cheap alltogether is another story) The positive side of a modest Aldemar room, assuming its price too is what it should be (modest), is that one with a 3 star room gets to share some of the four or five star sites. By the way, I do not believe that the artificial system of categorizing hotels by number of stars is reliable when it comes to beach resorts. We five (my wife and three children aged 8, 5 and 2) stayed in a so called apartment without a sea view (about 350 meters from the beach) sharing an adequate sized pool with something like 7 more apartments or bungalows, which, again were not all of the same size. Our appartment was perfectly adequate, consisting of two comfortable rooms with two fully equiped bathrooms. I would definitely call the bathroom of the master bedroom spacious. The closets and drawers were more than adequate and there also was a a built in kitchenette and fridge. There were two television sets Our veranda was also very comfortable and about 20 feet from the semi private pool, where there were ample sun beds. The cleaning lady did a very good job. Towels and sheets were changed daily and a complimentary bottle of mineral water and plate of fresh fruit were supplied daily and a complimentary bottle of wine once. The decoration of the room was appropriate. In all, I have no complains with my accomodation, in fact I think it was perfectly adequate for the needs of my family. True, at an average of 334 Euros per night (including half board) I found it expensive, however, I do know that this price was still competitive with similar accomodation offered to Greeks in the Greek market (we Greek consumers do not enjoy the benefits of large tour operators who have the power to squeeze prices at the bare minimum). The buffet breakfast and dinner of the hotel were plentiful and catered for all tastes, and there was an obvious effort to include a different variety of made on spot pancakes for breakfast and cooked on the spot pasta, fish or meat for dinner each day. We are not bon viveurs, but, forgive my saying so, we are not English either, and we can tell when the produce is fresh and when the cooking oils and other materials are good. We indulged in the buffets and we never had a heavy stomach. Yes, there are more elegant and even richer buffets in the world, and yes the buffets are a rather noisy place but they are designed for the vacationing families to have unpretentious good full meals. The only important detail which really did not do justice to the buffet breakfast was the quality of the orange juice, which was simply low. Lastly, it is true that the drinks are very expensive. Aldemar is a water world, and should be called the pools hotel, with so many pools. In most of Greece water is scarce, but not in the Western Peloponnese. The beach is a nice wide sandy beach. The climate is somewhat humid for Greek standards. The animation team were Italians and they were fun, much better than the usual decadent imitations of Greek folklore one finds in these hotels. In all, this is a fun relaxing hotel for families with children. I will probably go again with my family in the future, if I can book the same room for a few days, but I would not go in that part of Greece in the absence of my kids. This is because I enjoy a varied mountainous landscape like in most places of Greece and in the Greek islands, whereas the area around Aldemar, apart from the Olympia antiquities, is one of the dullest sceneries in Greece consisting of flat prime farmland and ugly farming towns.

On the positive side! lovely, well kept site, beautiful beach, big spacious pools lovely desserts in the resturant!! gorgeous weather! only there a week! On the negative side! average rooms more 3* than 5* grumpy staff very expensive drinks and food 2 hrs from airport average food nowhere locally to visit (except olympia, well worth a visit) near a very large town very sanitised greek holiday monopolised by pushy and rude italians!

We stayed in this hotel for 2 weeks in Mid-August 2005. By "we" I mean myself, my wife and our 11 year old son. It was a slightly disappointing holiday. The beach was great and not at all crowded. Kids had ample room to play and have fun. The complimentary sun beds were well spaced out and well situated. The hotel was clean and the food OK. We are not really bon viveurs, though - and so I can understand the comments here on the blandness of the food. The bars were very pricey. 5 euros for a pint of local beer was steep in my view and ice creams went for 4 euros. The bar service was slow and I agree that the staff appeared rather unfriendly. It also seemed that Greek and Italian guests were always given preferential treatment. But that might be because they were simply more pushy that us typical Brit tourists! Our son was disappointed with the animation team. Not really my thing, but our son is used to the staff and animation team being friendly and supportive. The hotel is no more than a 4 star establishment in my view. Beach hotels should try to offer the "holiday experience" but this one seemed to treat holiday makers as mere economy class business guests. We would not return. There are far better hotels around for the same price. Which is a shame. We were really looking forward to our holiday.

We have just returned for 1 week at this hotel. Really loved. It´s true the room is not very large (we stayed in a sea view bungalow) but the view it's very relaxing and the room equipped has it should for a 5 stars hotel. The pools (38) and the beach were not crowded because guests could choose which they prefer and there's lots of space for everyone including children. Good buffet breakfast and dinner, specially in the Greek Night. Helpful and kind staff in general.

Hubby and myself just returned from Olympian Village. We booked a week on HB basis (imposed at high-season), in a pool-sharing bungalow. Having much enjoyed another Aldemar 5-star hotel - Royal Mare in Crete - we expected a similar relaxing experience. Well, the beach is great and the scenery is fantastic. But the hotel itself is quite a different story. Food quality was poor: considering the tomato- watermelon- melon fields, the olive groves and vines we saw on the way from Araxos/Patras airport, the sunny weather, the sea... the little fruit & vegetables present at the main restaurant buffets were surprisingly tasteless, the olives were despeakable (Kalamata is less than 100 Km away!). Bread was sometimes dry (like a day old). Fish were plain and not well cooked. Lots of pasta, rice and potatoes to feed the populace. Little variety. And they were clearing off at 10 a.m /p.m precisely so you had to arrive well beforehand in order to have a proper meal. The wines are expensive and the prices at the other restaurants and bars are similar to Paris restaurants. If only food and beverage quality matched the Parisian standards... which is not the case. Our room (hardly 27 sq.m) was small for the 2 of us even with the extra bed remaining folded; the bathroom/toilet was tiny. There were 8 such rooms sharing a moderately sized swimming pool. It felt somewhat crowded. Fortunately, our neighbours' kids were not too loud. The room was clean but plain and somewhat worn out. Certainly not the cheerful light ones we stayed at in Crete, and definitely far from elegant or luxurious. Service was acceptable. We had to request the key for the room safe at the reception desk (why didn't they give it to us upon checking-in?) and if they were not really kind, helpful and smily, they were not rude. We spent days at the magnificent beach and since there was no beach-personnel, we tried some hotel bars/tavernas for snacks and drinks. Service there was scarce and incompetent. Given our Cretan experience with the Aldemar chain we were disappointed. This family hotel should be ranked 3-4 stars.

We stayed in the hotel for three nights with me family. Overall, we could say: The resort is a 5-stars one, with numerous pools (38 !!!), and bars aqnd sitting rooms. The spa is magnificient, and maybe the best in Greece. In any way is a real spa. The room is 3 - 4 stars hotel-room with its only 25 (!!!) m2. Clearness is below average, as well as breakfast which is big but with extremely low quality of food. Overall an extermelly expensive hotel in everything (rooms, mini-shop, bars, food) with poor rooms and great facilities.

Being a bit of a hotel snob I was a bit worried about staying in a typical Greek type hotel, but thought this looked worthy of trying (from the hotel web site) - and it was!! The hotel is well planned, layed out with lots to do, PLENTY of pools, beautiful beach and as relaxing or busy as you would like. It is extremely easy to get a train to Pyros and on to Olympia (1.2 Euro's return) - although only one train stops outside the resort per day in each direction (but this is not a problem with buses and taxi's - 10 Euros by Taxi from Pryos). There is PLENTY of food (and choice - salads, cheeses, fish, meat, pasta, carvery, fruit, desserts, ice cream bar) with a huge buffet for breakfast (cooked breakfast, crossants, pancakes, continental breakfast, fruit, yogurts etc) and main meals. Prices in terms of bar drinks, ice creams and mini market are in line with UK hotel prices (although thought an ice cream magnum at 3 Euros was a bit steep). It can be an extremely quiet location, but suppose this may vary by seasonal/school holidays, but because of the layout of the resort and the number of shared and private pools (per bungalow) it shouldn't be too much of a problem to find a quiet spot. If you are into beauty treatments, then this is the place to be. It has a recently completed beautiful new spa (UK prices) which I tried out. Very good, although there is a slight language barrier. The resort deals with a large number of nationalites and languages e.g., Italian, German, Greek, English etc. The only slight dis-advantage is the resort is a little isolated i.e., there are a few taverna's and a mini market just outside the entrance (which are less than half the price of the main resort), but it is another 3km to the nearest village which isn't the typical Greek white washed fishing village. There is plenty to do in the resort and you are able to hire cars within the hotel (approx 61 Euros per day). The hotel is 90 minutes drive (by taxi) from Kalamata aiport. I would recommend the resort on the above basis - but there is too much of the world to see to say I would necessarily go back very soon.

We stayed at the olympian over half term in a sharing pool suite which was beautiful-2 bathrooms and a seperate massive bedroom with 2 single sofa beds in next room-also having access to own bathroom.Also fresh fruit and water daily. We could also walk straight onto beach which was never busy with good sands with lovely green scenery.Even though half term was very quiet & as no one was next to us in the other bungalows had pool all to ourselves!!.Food excellant with plenty of hot& cold choices with 2 themed nights whilst there.Staff great-very helpful.The whole complex is massive but landscaped beautifully.Not all restaurants/bars open as this is start of season but was enough for us.Be warned though that you cannot walk to a local village for a meal or drink or shopping as this a fully self contained place-you can get taxis or infrequent bus/train though if you wish-i would not have liked the isolation if staying for 2 wks.But overall was a lovely relaxing time with good accomadation weather and food and would love to go again.

When we drove by, the place looked like the best hotel in Olympia. In addition, it was much cheaper than the similar looking "Olympia Palace" hotel. The hotel's parking lot had a few covered spaces. However, once we got inside our room, it looked like it took 40 years of abuse: torn out electrical outlets, damage on the walls, beds, etc. In addition, the towels and linens did not look very clean, there were no comforters, and the TV did not have a remote. The breakfast was quite poor, with no hot food, and the nice looking pool did not have water in it. One of the two tiny elevators was blocked by a filing cabinet. All our requests and complaints were met by sort of "well, it's Greece, what did you expect" replies. I am glad we only stayed there one night.

I am a frequent visitor to Olympia, due to the fact that I visit relatives for a couple of days near there every summer. This is one of Olympia's newest hotels. It is very clean, has a wonderful pool to refresh yourself after a day of sightseeing and had good service and food.