Doreta Beach Hotel

Just returned from a week in Rhodes, we had a great holiday, but the Doreta Beach Hotel didnt particularly contribute to our fun. On arrival it seemed OK, but there are just so many faults with this hotel, many listed in other review on this site. If they got their act together it could be a really nice hotel, but right now it doesnt quite hit the mark. A 1.8M deep murky pool with no shallow end, not really suitable for anyone unless they are a strong confident swimmer, I swam in it once. Overally it was fairly empty mainly occupied by teenagers with inflatables. Not enough space, virtually all the sunbeds are claimed by 7.30am, so if you dont get out early you cant get anywhere near the pool to supervise your kids. The small pool is a little too small for the number of people with younger children, and because the big pool is so deep, older children also end up in this pool The toilets in the pavilion near the pool, they stank so bad they make pub toilets in England seem luxurious. They really smelt like they hadnt ever been cleaned, and air freshener and bleach hadnt passed through the toilet door since it was built. Poolside bar is reasonable, you can drink as much local beer and spirits as you like, so you can drink yourself into oblivion and not notice the many faults. We have two young so couldnt take full advantage, but staff are friendly and the beer is nice, so we did enjoy the bar. Ive read in other reviews about people complaining they served beer in plastic cups which were half froth - this is correct, but not unusual for hotel with pools, for safety reasons they dont let you take glass to the poolside, but you can have a pint glass if you sit by the bar or just in front - fair enough really. BEAH: Well, its very close, but has strong winds, lots of shingle, and is very steep, so gets deep quick. Its also dirty, so all in all, not that good for young children, in the time we stayed we hardly saw anyone in the sea at all. We hired a car (only 30 euros from across the road) and drove to Lindos (about 1 hour drive) to possible the nicest cleanest beach I have ever been on, certainly rivalling some of the beaches in the Caribbean, The sea is calm, and very shallow, very warm even first thing in the morning, our daughter had a lovely time here. We took the boat trip from Lindos beach which was also good fun, (about £15 for the family) The sea is so clean you can see lots of fish swimming right up to the shore. I would highly recommend this as the car hire with petrol cost us only £25, and we stopped by Faliraki on the way back for some shopping. However, stick to the main roads, go towards airport, across to faliraki and then down to Lindos, some of the other roads turn into dirt tracks and are really rough. FOOD:, We had a good breakfast every day, there is a good choice, although the bacon isnt too great, its more like sickly warm fatty ham. You wont get an english sausage either, they are mostly german style frankfurters, and often a little spicy. But the rolls were fresh and there is plenty of other choice. Lunch and Dinner were OK, the quality of the food is fine, and there is reasonable choice, but it is very boring, the same salads for lunch and dinner, the menu doesnt change much, we only stayed for 7 days, and ate out at local snack bars and in falrakie for 4 out of the 7 evening dinners. They cant make chips to save their lives, probably the WORST chips Ive tasted in my life. Overall the food was OK, you could eat it, but it was just mass produced buffet style food, we survived, but Ive had a lot better on an all inclusive holiday. Cleanliness, well the hotel is clean, twice a week (usually on the days there are new arrivals) you'll find three greek ladies in pink dresses sweeping the same bit of the hotel foyer at the same time - trying to make an impression maybe? and elsewhere around the hotel everything was kept clean (expect the pool toilets!). The drains seemed to smell though, our bathroom seemed to smell everytime we cam back into the room, and we had to close the bathroom door overnight. Our patio door didnt lock, and the maid left it open for us every day , not sure why, but it let the mosquitoes in the room which was really annoying. ENTERTAINMENT: Groan.... Well, you could call it entertainment. 8.30pm kids disco, 5 songs, virtually the same 5 songs every night with 3 sad stooges on stage doing actions for the kids to copy. Our daughter enjoyed it, but it was a bit pathetic. I could probably do better myself blindfolded, gagged and handcuffed (ps. I used to be a DJ) Then there is a break of about 15-20 mins whilst they sell BINGO tickets at 5 euros a strip, and cheap prizes they probably make lots of money out of this - but if you dont like bingo it makes for a very boring evening. The bingo was reasonable popular - but I got the feeling half the poeople participated because there was nothing else to do. They dont even play any decent background music before or after bingo - I seem to recall being subjected to some dodgy country and western cover versions of modern pop songs - truly dire. After about 45 minutes of bingo there's another break, and the evening is finished off with a themed 'show' from the ents team who take it in turns to sing. Rob, the main man is actually quite good and can sing and perform, the two girls, well, they're not bad for karaoke singers, one is a bit screechy and the other cant really sing, Simon Cowell certainly wouldnt have anything favourable to say and she wouldnt be going through to the next round. They make an effort, but its not great - it wouldnt have been too bad - but its THE SAME EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. The only difference is they sing different songs, and on sundays its KARAOKE NIGHT - whooopeeedo. On our last night it was supposed to be a comedy night, we had to laugh becuase we assumed thats what they'd been doing the previous 6 nights!!! To polish things off, they had everything so loud it started to give me a headache, after 20 minutes of sitting in the for the kids disco I came out and my ears were ringing, not ideal really, a bit of volume control wouldnt have gone amiss. In the end we made our own holiday by hiring a car and travelling around, and also eating out at the local snack bars, the food at Billy's was nice, and Mikos was not quite as nice, but had a nice atmosphere - even though I have to show the waitress how to use the credit card machine in order for me to pay. We had a great week, but it wouldbnt have been so good if we hadnt taken extra money to do things, staying at the Doreta for a week without a break wouldnt have been an ideal holiday. Overall, Doreta Beach is average, lots of room for improvement, not quite our cup of tea, but balancing things out against the cost of the holiday it was OK - Ive had better holidays, but these also cost more.

Arrived on a night flight, jumped in a taxi and beat the coach to the hotel, so no queues at reception. Check in was quick and simple. Our room on the 3rd floor was very clean, bright and airy, linen and towels were fresh everyday! The restaurant was large and there is a great selection of food, waiters were really polite and helpful. The kids loved the self serve buffet, all the food was kept well covered so there was no problem with flies etc. The pool was deep but very large so it never got full. Staff at the pool bar are very friendly and its a great place to sit at night and watch the sun go down. Although not everything was 4star it was a good 3+ and very good value for money, we would go again

This will be our 3rd time visiting in 6 years. We are a family of 4, and thoroughly enjoy our stay there. All this moaning about the rooms, but come on how long are you in your room. I mean you onnly sleep in them. Chipped baths, smelling sinks, the thousands of people staying each season, you are bound to expect a few things wrong. Most of the reviews complain about the loud entertainment, but if you want quiet go to a desert island. All you miseries are mostly couples with no kids, so why go to a family hotel. There is something for everyone to do and if all you want to do is play cards then stay at home. Our kids wanted to go back here instead of Florida, thats got to say something. The 1st time we went there was 6 of us. The 2nd time we went there was 27 of us. This time there was 22. There is plenty of fun things for the kids to do, with the kids club and tennis courts. The entertainment team work so hard, why pull them down.

My boyfriend and I have just returned from a one week stay at Doreta Beach Hotel. On arrival first impressions were good untill we reached our room where we discovered that this was by no means a four star hotel. The room on the third floor that we were given had no air conditioning or radio that was a feature of the rooms in the brochure. The bathroom although clean was in a bad state of repair with a rusty bath with no taps only a shower head which presented a problem if you wanted a bath. Within five minutes of entering our room we realised that aeroplane noise WAS going to be a problem. First port of call was the snack bar, not impressed. The food on display looked as if it had been sitting in the sun all day and the ants crawling around the food confirmed this for us. Outside the hotel was beautifull with plenty of sunbating areas and greenery. The swimming pool was nice although very cold and deep. The beach was brilliant with a warm sea and a breeze which was a welcome relief to the heat at times. The restaurant on the whole was o.k but we have had better and became repetitive towards the end of the week. Entertainment was o.k but basic and aimed in the main at kids. The staff on the whole were helpful however we found the barstaff in the main bar to be rude boardering on ignorant most of the time. They seemed to serve the people who they knew before anyone else. On the whole we will go back to Rhodes maybe even Tholous but only to have a steak at "Mike's Bar" NOT to Doreta Beach Hotel.

Definitely not 4 star! We stayed from 25th August to 8th September 2004. Hotel is very close to the airport, 10 minutes and €10 by taxi, but planes overhead all day and all night. Rooms were cramped, with lots of minor faults. We changed rooms and both were the same: Beds broken, wardrobe doors not shutting, sink plugs leaking, bath chipped, radio not working, patio doors not locking, although I believe the 3rd floor, where we were, is being refurbished this winter. Restaurant excellent, lots of choice, clean environment, very helpful and polite staff. A shame the rest of the hotel didn't match up. Large, murky swimming pool, 1.75m deep with no shallow end, and 60cm deep pool for small kids. Consequently the big pool is full of inflatables and the small kids pool is full of big kids. Beach very close, mixture of sand and pebbles, beautiful warm, blue sea, but beach quite dirty with cigarette butts, cups, bottles, straws, etc. Sunbeds all claimed with beach towels by 7 am. Won't be going back.

I have just returned from 2 weeks all inclusive at the Doreta Beach hotel and overall I have enjoyed the holiday. The hotel though was not up to a 4* standard by a long way. The FOOD was very good, a bit repetitive, but that was to be expected. The ROOM was not bad, with new furniture. The radio promised in the brochure was fitted into a drawer front and was just that, a radio front, connected to nothing. The BATHROOM had been refurbished, but the drain in the floor sometimes bubbled up and overflowed and smelt strongly of drains on occassion. We had clean towels and sheets everyday, which was a bonus, but the air con could not be turned off unless you took out the card which operated the lights, so you had the noise from that all night or groped around in the dark. The ENTERTAINMENT in the main bar was very noisy and as one reviewer said like Butlins, but it was aimed mostly at kids, of which there were many the first week.The pool bar staff and the main bar staff were very amyable and served you quickly and the drinks were full strength local beer & spirits. The area surrounding the pool bar was a problem though as any drink dropped on the floor or ice cream or sun tan oil etc was not washed away on a regular basis, making it very slippery and a haven for mosquitos. Ourselves and many other guests were bitten badly and had to visit the doctors surgery for treatment. In fact it was one of the main complaints from the holiday. The TAVERNA bar was where the snacks were available all day until 11-00pm. The burgers were undercooked when we tried them and were a magnet for flies, so we tried them only once. All the hot food available was open to the air and there were several cases of kids with sickness and diaorrhea the second week. The favorite snack was Ham & Cheese toasties, which were cooked while you waited, so less chance of catching something. The BEACH was very stony and sloped quite quickly. It was not suitable for sandcastles etc, which was not very good for kids. The POOL was fresh water chlorinated, but was the murkiest pool I have ever seen. You could not see the bottom at 1.75M. The STAFF in all areas were very friendly at all times. The EVENTS TEAM had games etc for all ages and there was a pavillion with pool tables, air hockey and table tennis for those who liked shade. SUNBEDS were in short supply the first week as was shade, as there could have been more umbrellas supplied. AIRCRAFT NOISE was not a real problem, even though you are literally 5 mins from the airport. Our overall view was of an old hotel which had been refurbished, but was more of a 2* hotel than a 4*. I would not go back again, but f you have kids who like to swim and snack all day, it would be ideal. There are a few local bars, "Mikes bar" being one, where you can eat cheaply if you want a change from the hotel food or just to escape the noise of the hotel entertainment, as there was no quiet area to play cards etc and have a quiet drink etc. Watch out for sneak thieves, as 2 people had their mobiles stolen from their rooms on the last date we were there.

Hotel Doreta beach was excellent!!!! I would recommend it to people of all ages. During my stay, nothing went wrong at all. Rooms were spacious, food was great and the swimming pool was the biggest of have ever seen in my life!! It was clean and gorgeous!!!! It was lovely and deep; but there was also a wonderful paddling pool for smaller children. In the daytime and night time there was brilliant entertainment. There were also some kids clubs. The location of the hotel could not have been better! The hotel was right on the beach nrar a crystal clear sea. All of the staff were helpful and efficient and the facilities were perfect. A BRILLIANT holiday!!!

As i am only 15yrs old but was 13 wen we went Greece i had no problem with the resort !! Upon arrival the satff were polite and helpful and gave us the wristbands so otha staff knew we were all inclusive. The rooms were fairly spacious and the view was eexxcceelleenntt :-) . The food was at a high standard and the pool area was always clean and safe as well as the pool being crystal clear all the time !! the sports activities always kept me and newly found mates entertained, and evenin entertainment was very good...Ther was always something 2 do and i would recomend any with kidz and teenz 2 go coz dey will love it and the adults 2 !!!!! i wud love to go bak agen n agen !!! I MISS U !!! I WANA GO BAK !!!!!!!!!!

i have returned from doreta on the 14th of july and i really enjoyed my stay there. I though it was very nice and very clean the rooms was basic but always clean with the lovley chambermaid. The staff where very freindly and kind. The food was nice a bit boring after two weeks but wouldnt have any complaints. There was lots to do with a huge gameroom to offer and a big pool. There is a lovley english bar/cafe down the road which served great food and very nice you would deffiantly ahve to go it was called dundeas . I would go back again i really enjoyed it and have no bad comments at all

At arrival we were welcomed to marble floored, highly decorated main reception. That was were the luxury hotel image finished. The rooms were basic although clean. The food was repetetive. The pools were good although full of screaming children. This hotel is a for families with children (usualy unruly children) and not for couples as we were told. Tholos is 10 km from civilisation However Mikes Restaurant just down the road served excellent food and Mike was an excellent host. My advice would be to stay in Rhodes town and go self catering. Dissapointing!!