Thalassa Sea Side Resort & Suites

Just returned from a weeks holiday at the thalassa. The Argo brochure had painted a glossy luxurious picture of this hotel but after staying at the thalassa we feel a bit cheated by this! Upon arrival at the hotel we were met by friendly staff and at first glance the hotel looks very smart. It has a nice pool area and is on a lovely beach. Then we were shown to our room (26), IT WAS TINY!!! We could only just squeeze past the end of the bed, paint was coming off the walls, the bathroom was tiny with a shower that was hanging off the wall and it was like a prison cell( not that I HAVE BEEN IN ONE!!). We have travelled alot and we are aware that there are standards and there are greek standards(which do tend to be a little lower than the rest of europe) but this was beyond a joke considering we had paid for 4 star accomodation.We asked to be moved which the hotel did without a fuss.We were now in room 30 which was alot better but still shoddy round the edges and small, but was an improvement. The room was still nowhere near 4 star accomodation. The general feed back from other guests staying here was the same , most felt a disappointed with the rooms. As other reviews have said on the outside its lovely and we did make the most of it but would not return to this hotel.We did meet the lovely tortoiseshell kitten and fed it up all week.It seems to be thriving and loved tuna and cuddles so please feed her PLEASE!

We have just returned from a good but not fantastic week at the Thalassa Sea Side hotel in Kamari. At first glance the hotel is very nice with whitewashed, pretty communal areas and lovely big swimming pool. You then look a bit closer and see that the detail lets the hotel down - it's obviously an old hotel where the grounds have been updated to a very good standard BUT where the rooms have just been tarted up a bit by a new coat of paint and new curtains etc. They are small and a bit tatty round the edges. Good points: - rooms 31-40 have their own little semi private pool which was very nice. We usually had it to ourselves. - the main swimming pool is very big - the location is excellent - right on the beach. The staff light candles at night and you can sit with a drink on their nice comfy couches looking up at the moon. - Tidy and pretty communal areas - Good breakfasts with lots of tasty greek yoghurt and honey Bad points: - rooms were small and a bit tired - aircraft noise (but then as the last review said, it's also quite exciting to watch the planes come in. Would be a good hotel for a plane spotter!) There are a few stray cats including a small 2 month old tortoiseshell kitten who was found starving outside the hotel by an Italian vet. It was doing ok when we left but needs the help of future visitors to the hotel to survive. PLEASE PLEASE if you see this lovely little kitten (usually in the area between rooms 33-76) give it some strokes and food. It eats anything!

Myself and my husband were on our honeymoon and booked this hotel after reading the brochure and checking out the website. The website looked fantastic and painted a really good picture of the hotel. We did have a lovely honeymoon although we were slightly disappointed as the hotel was not as luxurious as we thought. We had paid extra for a superior deluxe room which was very pleasant, perhaps "deluxe" is not the right word - more accurate would be average room, decent size. After reading other reviews there are some common issues : - Breakfast, very limited and the same every day (hope you like scrambled eggs!) - Sunbeds - lovely but not enough of them - Planes - they do fly low, but it is actually quite exciting! - Treatments were pretty expensive although the jacuzzi is reasonable On the upside our room was very clean, bathroom was big with a decent shower. The staff at the hotel were lovely, very friendly and helpful. Kamari itself is great, loads of excellent restaurants with friendly (not pushy!) staff. All you can want in a resort with lots of options for day trips/night outs. I would go back to Kamari but would probaly go to a different hotel, based on that it was pretty expensive for Greek accomodation give that it was not as luxurious as we first thought. Mr and Mrs Wilson, Co Durham, England June 2007

We have just returned from this hotel and have written to Thomson (who I notice have not put any reviews on their website although I know I have sent one). This hotel is very disappointing, the noise from the aircraft starts at about 6am and goes on all day and until 12 midnight. Not very relaxing. The rooms are old and tiried and not worth the star rating. They put extra sunbeds on the grass after a couple of days as there was not enough either by the pool or on the beach but you then had to walk to have a dip in the pool or sea. The air-conditioning units leak water over the balcony's and you have to keep empyting the containers they have put to catch the water. They don't seem interested in doing anything about it. There are plenty of bars and tavarnas and the people are very friendly - do go but don't stay at this hotel.

Overall the Thalassa is a fairly nice hotel, but no-where near as nice as other 4-star hotels we've stayed in. Our room was fairly large, with a seperate living area and large bathroom, the only problem we had with it is that is wasn't very clean. We only had our beds changed once in the fortnight we were there and the floor wasn't cleaned once. We spoke to other guests who said their rooms were very clean though so we maybe just had a lazy maid! The staff are friendly and helpful. The pool area is nice but there are only a few sunbeds. We preferred the beach anyway as there was a nice breeze but it started getting busier in the second week of the holiday and we struggled to get a sunbed. They put around 25-30 more sunbeds on a grassed area round the side of the hotel so there were enough to go round. The hotel is close to the airport run-way but you get used to the planes going over.

...but it's not outstanding either. The people are very friendly, we particularly liked the guy's who serve coffee in the morning at breakfast. They all were dressed in white and were wearing sunglasses. It was as if they were from a boyband :-). The rooms are ok if you don't expect too much of it. What I disliked was the fact that people claim the sunbeds very early in the morning by putting a towel on them, not using them for hours. I think the hotel should do something about this non-social behaviour. We had a very nice stay here!

I've just returned from a 2 week stay at this hotel, which was clean but very basic, there wasn't very much room to store our clothes only 6 coat hangers per room! The bathroom was tiny with only a shower no bath, and you could here people talking in other room's through the grate in the bathroom! The hotel is situated very close to the airport so there is a lot of noise from aircraft which are coming in to land, they look so close that you feel like you could touch them. Sunbeds are provided around the pool but I think I only counted 12, there are more sunbeds on the beach but they are hard and uncomfortable unless you are lucky enough to get a matress which are stored at the beach bar there was 30 sunbeds on the beach but only 10 matresses! But as I left on 12/06/2007 they were putting out sunbeds on a grassed area to the side of the hotel which were not near the pool and a short walk to the beach. Also take care when walking around the pool as it can be very slippery when wet. The beach in front of the hotel is not sandy but is made up of pebbles which get very hot, flip flops are a must as they are difficult to walk on. Breakfast was also a little disapointing it is describeded as american style buffet, but the waiters made up for it by providing coffee on tap. The hotel is about a 5-10 minute walk to kamari depending on which way you walk (beach or road) there are some really nice shops and restaurants there. I know i went early in the season but at night there always seemed to be a cool wind so a longsleeved top may be useful, I was so cold I had to buy a jacket! All in all the hotel was ok, but I won't be returning to it but I would return Santorini again and to the resort .

stayed at the thalassa at the end of may, first impressions on arrival was nice, but once we got to our room it was very disappointing no tv / air con / safety box / strong smell of paint the toilet was very small and the shower was hanging off the wall and to finish it all off no hot water for the first 3 days. Then things got better as they moved us to another room and that was a lot nicer. Overall the thalassa is okay if they can sort out their problems.

We took a chance staying at the Thalassa sea side hotel after not being able to find any traveller reviews, but the website looked great as did the price. The hotel is about 5 mins drive from the airport facing the volcanic beach at Kamari. On arrival we were allocated a room which we were told had just been renovated. The room itself was extremely clean and attractively decorated. It did however smell very strongly of paint. The staff were friendly and seemed to all have multiple roles around the hotel (i.e. the waiter at breakfast also worked in the spa as a masseur!!) As part of our holiday package we were given 7 days of 'spa treatments' However, this usually meant that we had a time allocated slot to use the jacuzzi or sauna. One of our treatments was also booked after we were due to check out of the hotel. Our main problem was the lack of hot water. Most of santorini is run on solar power. After a couple of cloudy days, all of our hot water went and we were left for 5 days unable to use our shower as it was so cold.Although other parts of the hotel were still getting hot water. We complained to the staff on numerous occasions and each time they said they would fix it. The only option we were offered was to use the communal hand held shower in the spa area which didn't have a lock on the door. What made it worse was that the rep told us that the hotel was not fully booked and they should have offered to transfer us to a room with fully operating hot water. We felt upset to say the least by the end of our time there. The breakfast however, was fine with lots of choice. We decided to eat in the restaurant one evening, the menu was limited but food was ok if a little pricey. Kamari itself was approx 10 mins walk away and had numerous beachside restaurants and souvenir shops. It had a nice relaxed friendly feel, perfect for a drink and some great greek ciusine. One downside was walking back to the hotel at night along some quiet deserted roads could feel a little creepy, as there was limited street lighting and hardly anyone around. That said there doesn't seem to be much crime on the island. The pool at the hotel was very nice but they only had about 10 sunbeds. These were meant to be doubles but most people used one per person, which was a real shame as typically people would get up early to put their towels and books on the beds and there would be none left after breakfast unless you were really quick. We felt generally that the hotel was nice and we would go back again if the staff were able to improve the service they offered their guests and were a little less laid back considering our obvious cause for concern. The hotel does have potential!

Just got back from a Greece trip and stayed at the Thalassa. I hope to share the good, bad and the ugly throughout this review. Both my wife and I have stayed throughout Europe and the world on several trips, so I do believe that my review will be both accurate and unbiased. The good... The hotel is absolutely beautiful upon drive up and check in. The lobby and common areas are very South Beach (very chic and trendy). The pool area is absolutely beautiful, as is the beach area (though mostly rocks and very little sand). The hotel location is great being right on the beach and only a 3-4 minute walk into Kamari. Each evening the staff lights very cool candles around the pool giving it a true South Beach look. The bad... All as fantastic until you see the rooms at Thalassa! Our first room had two twin beds pushed together (even though we requested a double bed) and barely had enough room to turn around in. We actually couldn't open the mini fridge without moving the bed out of the way. The only thin smaller than the room was the bathroom which two people cound't fit in at the same time. The only nice part was that you cound use the sink while on the toilet (a joke!). The beds were very, very, hard as well and this room did not have any blankets in it. Upon going back to the lobby a new (double) room was provided to us, but not until the next day. The double "suite" was still very small but at least had a double bed. The bed was very hard and the bedding and pillows were of very poor quality. The bathroom was much larger, but had no shower curtain. This meant that every day you flooded the bathroom when taking a shower. The ugly... The hotel is on the final approach path to the airport. We were shocked when the first jet practically landed on the roof of the hotel. Acutually we went outside and the jets pass over the hotel at about 100 - 150 feet. When they pass over it is obviously very, very loud. It seemed as though there were about 2-3 planes landing per hour throughout the day. The service... was mostly very good at the hotel. The staff was quite pleasing with the only exception being on ou last day I asked for some additional coffee at breakfast (about 10:32 am) and was told that the breakfast was closed at 10:30 and there was no more coffee. This was not by the waitstaff, but the acting restaurant manager (he was the guy with the tie on). After looking at my watch and stating that it was only 10:32 am, he then was somehow able to find both my wife and I about 1/2 of a cup each. He then restated that the breakfast was closed and there was no more coffee in the restaurant. All in all, Thalassa was an acceptable hotel with fantastic common areas. For the most part the service was good (except the coffee issue). The rooms are fair (at best), but the location is good.