Koala Hotel

I visited Koala with my mom, on a girlie, relaxing holiday!
We arrived 7am, to greeted by Elizabeth, a breath of fresh air! Our room was spotless, towels and bedding changed daily. Lizzy was always on hand to help, she worked tirelesly and none stop!
There was a pool table and a table tennis table, the childrens play area was more than addequate. The pool was an excellent size and well kept.Open all day till 7pm, and after! There was more than enough beds to go round, there were 3 things lizzy would ask, dont reserve sun beds, tidy your plates away at meal times and enjoy your holiday!
The food was all traditional greek dishes, all very well presented in a hygenic environment. The Food may not be appreciated by everyone, but hey, you cant please everyone all of the time! We were more than happy with the level of service we recieved, and enjoyed the food.
We had a great time we met some wonderful people and made some great friends, I would reccomend Koala to those who appreciate traditional greek hospitality!
If you want 5 star all inclusive snack bar and nightly entertainment, and want to drink yourself stupid for more than 11 hours a day! pay the premium! but if you want a holiday thats value for money and recieve excellent customer service, go to KOALA!! Lizzy and george will go out of their way to accomodate your needs, we kept a room on up until 30 mins before we departed, 1.50 am, lovely people lovely place, We are going again next year!

Just returned from a 2 week holiday at the Koala Hotel, Kolymbia.
We had a really enjoyable holiday, met some great people and had a relaxing 2 weeks.
However, we travelled with a 8 month old baby and no cot was available on arrival, as promised, we were told only one in hotel and someone was using it. We also discovered there was only one highchair in the hotel also, which meant we quite often had to feed my son in his pram. The condition of the highchair was a disgrace, taped together, no safety harness and filthy.
The rooms are basic as the brochure says, but also very clean. The bedding and towels changed every day apart from Sunday.
The food we found to be good, you could always have salad if you didn't like two or three main dishes available. A vegetarian dish was usually available also. Chips were on the menu usually every three or four days, so struggled a little with my 9 year old son. On finishing your meal however, you had to return your dishes and scrape off any leftovers into a bucket, which didn't go down well with alot of guests.
The pool area was lovely. The pool was reasonably clean at first but it gradually became dirtier and dirtier, until you couldn't see your legs!. After everyone complained the hotel went about cleaning it over a few days and by the end of the holiday we could see a design on the bottom of the pool no one knew was there!
The drink situation was not the best. Tea and coffee available at breakfast which ended at 10 o'clock then no drink available till the bar opened at 11 o'clock. Then spirits not available until 5pm and the bar closed at 11.15pm, not 12 o'clock as brochure suggested. If you tried to double up drinks you would be refused.
The entertainment was on a Sunday night when they put on greek dancing. Good night all the guests dragged up to dance. No other entertainment provided, despite indicating otherwise in the brochure.
We were lucky enough to get a room with air conditioning (cost 6 Euros a day). But only half hotel had air conditioned rooms, the remaining rooms had fans. However, usually on Wednesdays and Saturdays as people were leaving there were people waiting to move into air conditioned rooms. Which meant on arrival there was not much chance of getting one.
The owners Liz and George are nice people, she in particular was very good with the young children.
Kolymbia itself was nice, good for families and quiet, relaxing holidays. Pauls bar good for karaoke on a Tuesday night, good atmosphere. Paradise bar next door very nice and staff very friendly.
We personally found the holiday good value for money, a holiday is what you make it.

My wife Jean and I along with our 12 year old son Joe have just returned from a week in the company of Liz and George at the Koala hotel.
We are frequent visiters to the island of Rhodes and have visited Kolymbia on two previous occations.
We arrived at the hotel at approx. 7.00AM with another family, that we met on the coach,to be greeted by a bubbly Greco/Australian lady named Lizzy who immediately had us all in fits of laughter.The tiredness we all felt melted away so we all went staight into breakfast (continental) before unpacking.
There are certain rules at the Koala hotel;
1. No reserving sunbeds with towels (offending items are removed by Liz)
2. Clear your own plates after meals
3. Enjoy yourself
As a Family these rules did not pose a problem but to some, and one Family in particular
these seemed to be unacceptable.Said Family made life hell for Liz and the Rep. Michelle.
If you expect 5 star treatment pay 5 star prices.
The food at the hotel was all Greek, prepared by Rocky Bilbao (real name unknown), and over the course of the week we could not find fault with any meal (Joe included)
The Bar was open for 13 hours a day and the Staff (Eddie and Nicki) were courteous and helpful at all times.
Last but not least George (Lizzys husband) was always around to drive the Minibus down to the beach (when he could get it started) and offer moral support to everyone.
George was more of a backroom Boy, and not as up front as Liz.
We would certainly make a return trip to the Koala and this seemed to be the general oppinion of the majority of other guests that we spoke to.

1 reader found this review helpful

This is the worst holiday I have ever had. The owners are dam right rude and so unhelpful. The term all inclusive certainly does not mean all inclusive! The food was rediculous and they didnt even have bottled water! it was all tap water with ice (where is the world when you go on holiday to a foreign country have you ever drank there water?). The list is as long as my arm, I could go on forever. Worse than faulty towers and George the owner is so rude and aggressive its unreal! I cant understand why this hotel is rated a a 3 start - it shouldnt even have any stars!
A bit of advice - DONT GO THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After traveling to Greece for over ten years this is the first time I have had cause to say that this is the most unhelpful, shambolic hotel we have ever stayed at. Faulty Towers is not the word.
DISGUSTING UNCOVERED BADLY PREPARED FOOD
RACIST COMMENTS FROM THE AUSTRAILIAN OWNER WHO CANT STAND THE BRITISH AND MAKES IT QUITE CLEAR, BUT PREFERS THE GERMAN GUESTS WHO ARE APPARENTLY MORE UP MARKET THAN THE BRITS(HER WORDS)
EXTRA CHARGES FOR AIR CONDITIONING NOT MENTIONED PRIOR TO ARRIVAL WHICH GETS SWITCHED OFF BY THE CLEANERS EVERYTIME YOU LEAVE YOUR ROOM.(6 EUROS DAILY)
STINKING DRAINS IN BATHROOMS, FREEZING COLD SHOWERS, NO WAITER SERVICE, BE PREPARED TO HAVE TO CLEAR UP YOUR OWN DISHES OR FACE THE WRATH OF LIZ THE OWNER, WHO INCINDENTLY HATES THE PLACE AND HAS HAD ENOUGH OF IT ALL(TO QUOTE HER OWN WORDS)
POOL CLOSURES AT 5PM, NO ENTERTAINMENT TO MENTION BUT A FEW PROBLEMS.
NICE AREA WITH GOOD RESTAURANTS YOU WILL HAVE TO USE IF YOU LIKE DECENT FOOD, NOT ENOUGH SUN BEDS FOR GUESTS STAYING THERE. THE CHILDRENS PLAY AREA IS A HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARD, POOL TABLE TO BE PAID FOR AND NO TABLE TENNIS TABLE ALL MENTIONED IN THE BROCHURE. THEY DID HAVE A BELLY DANCER ONCE THAT IS NOW UNABLE TO DANCE BECAUSE OFF HER BAD BACK, SHE MUST HAVE SLEPT IN THEIR BEDS WHICH ARE ROCK HARD. THERE WAS ONLY ONE HOURS ENTERTAINMENT PROVIDED IN THE WEEK IN THE FORM OF TWO LOCAL MEN WHO WERE SO AWFUL AND ABRUPT SEVERAL GUESTS GOT UP TO LEAVE THE BAR.
DESPITE THE PROBLEMS OF THE HOTEL WE VERY MUCH ENJOYED RHODES AS A PLACE AND LINDOS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. NEVER AGAIN WOULD I STAY AT KOALA HOTEL NOT RECONMEND ANYONE I KNOW TO USE IT NEITHER.

A very quiet and nicely located hotel. We wanted a peaceful holiday and this hotel is perfect for that. It is basic but spotlessly clean. It is family run and this is very evident in the day to day running. Elizabeth and George are very 'hands on' and care a lot about standards.
It is the first hotel from the main road and is set at the start of a long road to the beach lined with eucalyptus trees. The hotel provides a mini bus to the beach if you don't want the walk in the heat.
Food is simple and freshly cooked. Loads of fresh salads and fruit on offer.
Drinks are provided from 11am - 11.15pm and Nikki makes a great cocktail !
The pool is larger than average and deep, with a nice sized children's pool. The grounds are pretty.
This isn't the place if you want noise, bustle and lots of entertainment - it isn't that sort of place. If you want to chill out it's brilliant.
A big thank you to Elizabeth and her team.

Well where do I start, George and Liz are very nice people, but they deserve better, Olympic holidays what a waste of time. There was none of the entertainment advertised in the brochure, in fact there was NO entertainment unless you consider watching football every night entertainment. The room was well kept, food was ok, but apart from that the only entertainment was the outside barman who seemed to lose his temper very quickly if you asked for a clean glass. I complained about the lack of entertainment several times to the rep but might as well have been talking to a deck chair. This is not easy reach of the town or beach, its a very long walk and I'm not an old person.
I would never go back here, the bars in the town are all empty because most of the hotels are all inclusive, and only 3 places to eat if you fancy dining out one night. If you don't mind being stuck in your hotel with 2 star food and no entertainment this is the place for you, if you want to live a little DO NOT BOOK HERE!

We stayed here Sept 2006. Like it says the rooms are very basic. Food ok, but we ate out every other night. We found this place just what we needed, 15-20 min walk to town down a very straight road. We have booked this place for this Sept as well.
Hard to find any staff at some times of the day, nice pool area, quiet at night, far enough from town to have some peace to sleep.