Paphian Park Holiday Village

12 readers found this review helpful

just come back from 2 weeks at pafian park 16th oct to 30 oct 2010 2 adults, 1 girl aged 14 yrs old. I was a bit apprehensive before going on holiday at the pafian after reading the reviews. All i can say is we had a fantastic holiday. The weather was brill for oct, the rooms are basic but clean and the maid cleaned 6 days/week. The food was excellent although repetitive if going for 2 weeks, but saying that their was plenty of choices. The entertainment was ok but the entertaiment staff and hotel staff in general was very good particularly peter (bar man), and robert (entertainment manager), their was a good selection of things to do in the day, i.e. archery, darts, boules, tennis,waterpolo etc. The hotel is approx 15 mins by bus (which run frequently) to pathos, but we knew this when we booked it and decided this was not a problem for us as we prefer to be away from all the hussle and bustle. Would recommend day cruises, jeep safari to troodos mountains and going undersea walking trip to feed the fish (my daughter particularly enjoyed this) Also would recommend Coralia beach over coral bay as it is alot quieter and cheaper and the beach/sea is nicer. Ate out a few times. would receommend bens, blue eyes and especially fat mamas (here the food is excellent we went twice. Also if you book with thomas cook you dont have to pay for air con. sheffield

8 readers found this review helpful

I have just returned from Pafian Park where I spent a blissful two weeks with my husband and children aged 12 and 10. I was a bit wary having read the moaning reviews on here but believe me there's nothing to worry about. We were all inclusive. We are used to holidays in Novotels and nice clean 4 star hotels so didn't really know what to expect. There seems to be a lot of comments about paying for the air conditioning. We booked with Thomas Cook and air con was included in price. We paid no extra at the hotel! All said we had a great time! Plenty of sun beds, we never had a problem getting one even at 10am after breakfast. There's no strict time for meals as some reviews would have you think. We went for breakfast around 9.30am every day, lunch around 1.30pm and dinner around 8pm and never had any problems. Food was well prepared and varied although we did go out a couple of times as we were there for a fortnight and the second week the food got a bit repetitive. Room was basic but you're on holiday and I don't go on holiday to stay in my hotel room! Staff were brilliant apart from one English person on reception who was a bit snippy! Loved the bar staff, Hi Janos and Peter! Also animation team were great even if entertainment was a bit cheesy! We hired a car our first week so we could see a bit of the Island and would definately recommend that! Second week we took the bus to Paphos almost every day, 1 euro each and very regular. All in all best holiday we have had in ages!!!! Well done Pafian Park!!

1 reader found this review helpful

This is the worst all inclusive hotel i have been to,we were a party of 2 adults + 2 children ages 12 and 10,rooms are basic but adequate,air con had to paid for which was a disgrace on all all inclusive package,sun beds are a laugh-not,i'm sure people sleep outside in order to keep the same 1's for the whole 2 weeks! Any time after 5am and you have no chance,there are not enough beds & management are not interested!There is a 2 drink rule for adults and 1 drink at a time for children which is really bad/inconvenient if the family is in the pool as everyone had to get out for their own drinks unless 1 person makes several trips! I mean we've paid already so why cant a family of 4 be entitled to 4 drinks!!! The pool itself is the best bit,nice and big and very clean. Food left a lot to be desired,boring and repetative with fatty undercooked meat,same stuff served warmed up i presume from dinner that was left over from lunch etc etc, so called snacks were left out all day nuggets and chips and wilted salad. The place itself is literally in the middle of no-where,its a 15 min walk uphill to the main rd where u can get a bus for 1 euro into town. The waterpark in Paphos is excellent but i would definately not return to this hotel! Oh entertainment was absolutely terrible! Occasional kids mini disco & awful bingo with the odd reject singing/dancing/parrot act appearing,very bad!

18 readers found this review helpful

I stayed at the Pafian Park holiday Village in mid September, for 10 nights. This is my review, based solely on my experiences, and given the time of year, may be extremely different to hight of season periods. This is a long and in depth review, so I hope you find it helpful.
Location wise, it is just about 23km/14 miles from the airport, which takes about 25 minutes or so in a taxi. No noise pollution from airplanes or other hotels whatsoever. The main town centre is a few km inland, and the harbor is a few km south. There is a 'main road' about 200 meters up the road, which again, you cannot hear at all. The village almost appears to be slightly secluded, with only 1 other apartment type hotel next to it, and a few villas behind. It is right on the beach, facing west out into the Mediterranean sea.
Rooms are nothing special, but are more than acceptable. There are facilities for self catering (fridge, toaster, cooker, kettle etc), t.v, hairdryer and so on. If you are not all inclusive, the air conditioning is at an extra cost, of €4.50 a night, which would get expensive. It is not good air conditioning. It basically acts as a cold fan... When it's blowing on you it's lovely and cooling, but the temperature settings don't work well, and it does not cool down the whole room, so you always find yourself having to turn it off and on once you get either too hot or too cold. Double beds, as usual, are two singles put together, which i don't really mind, but they don't have rubber feet or anything so they keep sliding apart, especially if you sit upright against the wall head board, and of course the bed starts sliding away. That gets very annoying. Garden/sea view rooms are available, pool view, no view, or pool/sea view rooms also. I stayed in a pool/sea view, which had a beautiful view over the pool, and out into the sea. The apartments are only two floors and 4 rooms across, and have thick walls, so noise is at a minimum. However, the 3 apartment blocks that are raised up over the restaurant, game room or entertainment stage, have a shared balcony on the lower level. There is a small wall dividing them, but the floor extends outwards and reduces privacy a lot. Also, don't let my saying of the blocks over the restaurant etc make you think that they will be noisy, because they're not, at all. But I will get into that a bit later on.
Facilities are good. Gym, indoor pool (not that you’d ever need to use it!), hairstylist and manicure treatment. A claimed 3 bars I think, however there are only really 2. One is in the gardens down at the beach front, which is only open at season peak times, and the other, is 1 bar, in an L shape, with one front on the outside and the other square on, on the inside, which they count as 2 separate bars.
Drinks are very good. Local spirits and beers available on all inclusive, including coke, diet coke, carlsberg and sprite I think it was. Food was good, but does get a bit boring after while. Nights are themed; Italian, Barbeque, Oriental, International, Greek, Cyprian and Carvery. There is also a kids section, which always has chips, chicken nuggets, sausages and some other stuff which comes in handy if you don’t like any of the food that night (which in my case never happened), and that food also acts as the snacks available pretty much all day, along with ice cream. Breakfast is a gold old fry up, lunch was often very similar to dinner time... Beef stroganoff, pasta, chicken, pork etc.
One thing about the pool everyone particularly liked (and the whole hotel in fact), was that it was extremely clean. Very very hard to find even small areas of dirt, which makes it look even prettier. The pool isn’t huge, but big enough, and goes from 1.1 meters to 1.3 meters deep I think. Sun beds weren’t amazing, but weren’t bad at all. They are a woven fabric, as opposed to ridged plain plastic ones I have often experienced, so they are quite comfortable. The hotel management also leave a few inflatables and balls around the pool, so people can use them at their own will if they don’t have their own.
Staff are very very friendly. Animation team go out of their way to make your time there that bit better. Bar staff are very efficient, are very friendly, and certainly aren’t stingy when it comes to strength of drinks! Receptionists are very helpful and of course, friendly. It is not hard to have a conversation with any of the staff, as they all speak good English (and German). The waiters/waitresses for lunch and dinner however seem a little bit less bothered about pleasing you. They’re not by any means a mood ruiner, but it could be better. Sometimes, once you’ve chosen your table and sat down, they'd take ages to approach you to take drinks orders, and sometimes didn’t come at all, but usually they are efficient. Also they didn’t always do things very practically, for example I experienced several times that they’d lean over the table to try to pick up an empty glass or sometimes plate, so you end up passing it to them, which just takes away part of the ‘being waited on’ feeling. Also they can be very quick to snatch your plate off you once you’re finished. One other thing that the staff could do in the day time is to go around the pool waiting on you, bringing you drinks. Nothing major but might have been a nice addition.
Evening entertainment is probably the biggest and only proper let down. It’s not awful, but it’s not good by any means. Rather watered down, I would call it. It’s only a weeks schedule, so of course it would be repetitive for 2 weeks. It goes on from 9 till 10, and then 2 rounds of bingo afterwards. I have read a review by someone who was there about the same time as I was, complaining that the entertainment goes on too late and is too loud. Rubbish. If anything it’s not loud enough and doesn’t go on long enough. The bar is open until 12 o’clock, but that does not mean that people stay up till then being really loud. Partly as you wouldn’t hear them if you were in your room anyway. My biggest annoyance about the entertainment though was that there were nowhere near enough chairs, and this Is when the hotel is relatively quiet too! This meant that a lot of people would eat dinner as soon as it opened at 7, and got a table for entertainment straight after. So either you have to bare with sitting round the outside restaurant tables (which isn’t a problem but you can’t see much), or bare with racing into dinner to grab a seat after. For me, holiday is to relax. So of course I chose the latter.
Daytime entertainment/activities are good. There is a range of stuff such as archery, table tennis, water polo, water volleyball, beach volleyball, football tennis etc.
There are nearby excursions such as a water park, safari day, snorkeling etc.
The beach that the hotel is situated on is, well, it’s not a beach to be honest. It’s basically flat rocks, with a tiny section of a slightly sandy bit. The sea is very clear though, but if you’re a beach fanatic, you will not be impressed. There is a beautiful beach a few miles up the road, which I will explain soon.
As previously stated, there is a ‘main road’ about 200 meters up from the hotel, along which a bus service operates along the coast, a stretch of around about 15 miles at a guess. Each time you get on, it’s €1 per person (that’s not a return, literally every time you get on a bus), and you can go anywhere along the bus route. One problem is none of the bus drivers speak English, despite probably 75% of the passengers are always English, so sometimes it’s hard navigating where you want to get off to them as they have a habit of driving past bus stops. There is a harbor a few miles down, which also has a large area of shops around it. There is speed boat rentals (fun and good value), a small castle, beautiful restaurants with beautiful views, day cruises etc.
The beach a few miles up from the hotel is called Coral By Beach. It’s fairly small, but beautifully clean water and golden sand. The problem with it though, is it’s ridiculously expensive there. There are 2 sun beds to a parasol, and you have to pay of course to use a sun bed, and the parasol that you can’t actually move away from. It’s not much but €2.50 soon adds up, so for 2 of you it’s €7.50 just for 2 sun beds under a parasol that you might not even want. Drinks are also a rip off. A can of drink is €2 a pop, and the alcohol is very over priced too. But the biggest rip off is the water sports there. I was quite up for going jet skiing, until I saw the prices. Now I’m all up for spending money for a bit of fun, but when its €40 for 20 minutes, it’s sort of makes it not worth it. It’s not just the jet skiing thats over priced though, it all is. Paragliding is €50 for about 10 minutes and €10 each for a banana boat ride, again for about 10 minutes, which actually seems OK, until you see some people riding one and you realise it’s no fun if the water is completely calm. I don’t make a point about spending a lot of money, but we didn’t stay there long.
Fair enough these last two points aren’t about the hotel, but to me it’s all relevant about the area too. My last comment is about Cyprus in general. The Euro has obviously done it well for many reasons, but that’s also ruined the country. Shops in general are not cheap. In fact, sometimes more expensive than in England. It does depend on what you want, and sometimes which shop, but imported stuff seemed to be randomly either cheap or expensive. For example I found that Smirnoff vodka was very cheap, yet Bacardi wasn’t. Wine was expensive, Whisky wasn’t. Some shops wanted €1 for a 500ml bottle of water, some wanted 50 cents for a litre. 99p magazines were about €2.50, but perfume and aftershave was really cheap. I couldn’t get my head round it, but on the whole, if you like going on holiday, and looking round cheap shops for cheap stuff and maybe treating yourself to some cheap alcohol/cigarettes etc, then Cyprus will disappoint.
I will like to quickly mention the weather too... Outstanding! Hot, sunny, no rain and only experienced half a day of a slightly cloudy sky. There are barely any flying bugs and weird creepy insects too, which to a lot of people I know will be a relief!
As I said at the beginning, I went in mid September. These are only stories but I have heard that this summer, it was pretty bad at the hotel. They overbooked rooms, you have a set time to go to dinner, no inflatables in the pool, ran out of sun beds etc. Now don’t let this put you off because as I said I only heard this. Please read other reviews before taking my word on that.
Overall I would rate my experience at the hotel 8 out of 10. I loved every minute of it. It’s just some of the small things that let it down. But It’s just such a shame that when you get out of the hotel it’s so expensive. It is though such a beautiful country with amazing weather. Which leaves me torn with what to rate it... 8 out of 10 I think as well. I can deal with expensive alcohol and stuff. The weather, sunsets and views are not to be missed.

1 reader found this review helpful

we came to the Pafian on September for our wedding and the fast book in was really good, friendly Reception staff, we were giving a sea view room which was great, clean, and spacious. towels could do with more changing and renewed as they are a little grubby, Food Excellent, always something to eat, though as stated! kids menu same every day and night.Pool beds, there is always a bed anytime of the day , its only the pool side beds that are taken early, Pool best ive been to, not too deep, warm and very clean. Bar staff need to learn to tell their faces that they are happy as they are always frowning and the drinks are watered down with tap water (specially the cocktails) Entertainment Poor , ok maybe if you like bingo. Location is out the way, nothing beside it apart from a bar, all in all i enjoyed our stay but wouldnt go back because of the location

3 readers found this review helpful

On arriving to cyprus we found out the pafian park had over booked and we was put into a different hotel for the night not good when our party included 3 adults 1 disabled child a 7 year old and a 4 year old.
On arriving to pafian park the next day at lunch time our rooms were not ready and we still had to wait around.
The rooms were ok beds pretty uncomfortable but clean and suitable maid service was pretty much everyday, but the ants loved to pay visit which was bareable till the last day wen they decided to invade our beds. the food had a good selection and very nice, although my kids are pretty fussy the kids section was either sausages fish fingers or nuggets with chips every night which they got bored of.
the drinks were very watered down even the fresh juice with the local water,bottled water has to be bought from the shop.
Kids club: well that was just a joke,we turned up there was a broken window scissors on the floor which is used to open the door because the lock is broken! no questions were asked they just expected us to leave the kids not know their names ages or where we were going to be!
the pool was lovely nice and big and the kids pool shaded which is good, one day its was cleared as there was something not nice in the pool but all they done was hoovered it,and then on the last 2 days there was sewerage running through a pipe into the pool smelt awful!
oh and to get a sunbed is the usual hassle everyone is up at 6am to get one where as i was in with my 2 children and had no chance.
Pretty much the same in the evening people were saving table and chairs for the entertainment so by the time you have eaten you had no chance of having a seat to watch the show. evening entertainment consist of maybe 30 mins disco if they were about,30-60 minutes of whatever show parrot,dancin etc then bingo, the night pretty much quiet by 10.30, the kids were very bored and running wild in the end i cut out their afternoon sleep cause they were going to bed early anyway.
wherever you are the floor is absolutly covered in little ants and giant ants made you feel very itchy all time.
the barstaff were not great there was one miserable barmaid, reception staff very nice.
there was a few ear infections and food poisoning whilst we was there.
after 2 weeks we were very much ready to come home!
just to add the garden bar is closed as there is not enough staff and the games room is falling apart and nothing works!!!!
disapointing as we saved all year round, i think thomas cook should remove them from the brochure!!!

18 readers found this review helpful

We booked through our local paper, and got a very good deal, one week all inclusive, we knew nothing about this holiday resort or in fact about Cyprus as we have never visited the Island before....the accommodation was good, the food was excellent, plenty of variety for all meals from breakfast lunch and evening meal, and snacks if required, the service from bar staff to chamber maids was very good. If I had one complaint it would be a constructive one and that would be they change the hand towels more than twice a week, other than that, there is nothing to complain about this complex, overall we had a very nice stay and would definitely return.

13 readers found this review helpful

Four of us were traveling 2adults,2 children 8 and 3. first of all we travelled with eurocypria airlines who were brilliant,friendly and most important ON TIME.
THE PAFIAN PARK is for families,its not on a beach it has few rocks but you can dip your feet in the water, but we travelled in august and was 49, so th beach would be far too hot for the kids anyway.
The pool area is lovely, but did set our alarm at 530AM!! for the best seats, by 630 all decent front loungers were gone.
The food was amazing especially the chinese night, plenty for the kids as they have plenty of nuggets chips and fish and pasta.everything was hot fresh and replaced rapid.
The entertainment was cheese but kids loved it which made our holiday more enjoyable as they were not bored.
briliant fast check in too.
Booked up again, highly recomended for young families.

23 readers found this review helpful

Took an 11 night all-inclusive holiday with Thomas Cook to the Pafian Park Holiday village (there sometimes seems to be a little confusion over the name but this is what it seems to be called when there - there's a sister 'pafian park' complex a few 100 metres or so away which is what causes the confusion).
The complex is small, self-contained, pretty & clean. It has the most efficient check-in i've ever encountered - top marks there. We booked with Thomas Cook - if you do, there's no air con included. We were told twice by our travel agent (Co-op) that it was included but the rep on-site said it's a continual bone of contention and Thomas Cook never include Air Con. We had to pay 7 Euros a day. Even in 35-40 degrees we could've managed - but we did pay in the end.
Food was unanimously decreed as excellent by all in our party.
Lager, cocktails, coffees/teas, soft drinks are available through the day and all great - and no issue with queueing - all supplied promptly.
Staff - mostly very friendly and helpful. No problems at all there.
Cleanliness - all very clean so bang on.
Amenities - outdoor pool (fantastic and deep enough that our 6 year old could touch the bottom nearly everywhere!) indoor pool (very nice and cool) Gym (few bits of equipment not working tho) shop (fine but all Eurozone is expensive to us Brits)
Entertainment - animation team do their best and do very well considering. However a mime along to the sound track to Grease and a 'Lord of the Dance' display without any actual Irish dancing! So every night - a really poor show followed by bingo - it got rather, erm, tedious.
Locale - on it's own with only a small pub to walk to nearby in the evening. A pebbly cove 1 min meant you can actually swim in the sea which was nice. Buses very regular a 5 min easy walk away - taking you up or down the coat for 3 Euros. Pafos harbour was the nicest place we found - loads of bars/restaurants and shops.
Kids - we went with our 6 year old son during summer hols - he said he made 30 friends while he was there - so it was great for him and was all we were really after. He didn't try the kid's club but many did and enjoyed it.
All in all, we found it very nice for a relaxing beach holiday. Clean, pleasant - just too hot for my pale Northern European body! If it was closer to a town it would've been ideal - but i'd say 'go for it'.

7 readers found this review helpful

just got back from pafian park village today.the hotel is fantastic.great accommodation and excellent food choice.i spent two weeks there and had a brilliant time.the animation team work extremely hard to ensure kids and adults have fun.its a short walk uphill to the bus stop(5 mins) into the harbour.