Hotel Pia Bella

We are on our last day of a 2 week first time visit to Kyrenia. The resort is a wonderful place with very friendly locals and probably one of the safest places we have yet to visit. The staff at the Pia Bella were absolutley marvellous. Zehra made sure she would speak to each guest at least once a day to ensure that everything was OK and if there was anything either she or the staff could do for everyone. Hakkan is one of the waiters who with his local knowledge can point you in the right directions for a bargain of which there arer plenty !
Our accommodation was very clean and as qualified chefs we can certainly vouch for the food which was excellent.
Kyrenia itself is charming but beware of the prices of food and drinks around the harbour area - they can be very expensive and around the same price you might expect to pay in Central London. Saying this though there are plenty of places in the town where you can eat and drink to your hearts content for a very reasonable sum. Avoid at all costs Mr Chuns chinese restaurant though - on both occasions we ate there the food was very overpriced and dismal - we struggled to remember a time where we had a worst meal.
All in all our holiday was pretty much perfect and we can't wait to come back to Kyrenia and in particular the Pia Bella. Hello also to Ali and Mustafa who's professional and fun approach to their job made our stay even more enjoyable

I went to Kyrenia for a week in April with my partner. The weather was lovely (25ish degrees) so we went to the beach twice then spent the rest of the week lounging by Pia Bella's clean pool near the orange trees and roses in the gardens. It was peaceful, modern and clean. Very friendly bar staff bought us drinks at the poolside and nothing was a problem.
Breakfast was good and you were never rushed, even arriving twenty or so minutes before the end of breakfast session as we did most days.
The hotel was modern, clean, quiet with a pretty garden setting and 2 pools ( one with a swim up bar). It had very friendly staff who were only to happy to accomodate your needs and smile and ask you how your day was going any at time. Would reccomend staying in the superior rooms as the balconies overlook the pool or garden and not the road (which is quite busy). We were upgraded to a superior room free of charge from a standard as the hotel was not full - thankyou Zehra.
It's about 15 -20 minutes walk along one road to the centre of town so the township is easy to find and has lots of restaurants and there are cultural places of interest in and around the town.
I miss it and have only been back one week. Thankyou to customer relations team and breakfast staff, lunch staff and Mustafa and Ali for making our holiday very easy and relaxing. Also, both transfers to and from Ercan airport were smooth and efficient and we did not have to wait for either.

Northern Cyprus…..who goes there for a holiday?
Anyone who wants a less crowded, hassle free, safe, sunny and enjoyable time. Also, anyone who may be addicted to casinos, as most hotels have one attached to them.
I have just returned from 2 weeks at the PIA BELLA hotel in Kyrenia.
It was the first trip abroad that I have taken on my own, and I couldn’t have made a better choice. Such a FRIENDLY, comfortable and WELCOMING hotel.
I flew from Heathrow airport to Ercan, on a scheduled flight with Cyprus Turkish airlines, which involved a touch down at Izmir (Turkey) for just under an hour, so the overall flight was about 6 hours. When you think about it, it is probably shorter than if you flew to Larnaca, as you then have a road journey of about one and a half hours to get to your hotel, and it's only about 45 minutes from Ercan to Kyrenia. Some people worry about this stopover in Turkey, but the hour soon passes if you have a book to read or a sudoku to puzzle over. On the return journey, an official came onboard to check our passports and boarding passes. Drinks and a meal was provided on the long leg of the flight, and also a snack and drinks were provided on the short leg too.
Arriving at Ercan airport was trouble free and quick.
After being met by the Anatolian Sky rep, we were away from the airport within about 20 minutes…..no waiting around for an hour for other flights to arrive when you come on chartered flights which all arrive within minutes of each other!
Our arrival at the PIA BELLA was late, at about 1am.
My first impression when I walked in, was that it smelt smokey….not good being a non smoker, BUT I found out the next evening that it had been/and was an open log fire burning at the other end of the lounge…..lovely! (But it was too warm for the fire to be lit after that!)
We were shown to the lounge and offered drinks “on the house” while we filled in our arrival slips for reception. Everyone chatted and there was no rush for us to go to our rooms. When ready, at about 2am, I was shown to my room, and given instructions how to set the safety deposit box, which cost just £5 for the fortnight.
I had a standard room which overlooked the hotel’s sports ground. It was a very spacious room with all facilities including tea making and a mini bar, and the bathroom had soap, shampoos, conditioners and hairdryer.
Towels were changed every day and sheets must have been changed 3 or 4 times or more in the fortnight.
Superior rooms are available, which I think are in the newer building which overlooks the swimming pool.
Breakfast starts at the leisurely hour of 7-30am, with a very good selection of food to suit everyones taste. Cooked breakfast was good too.
Each day during breakfast, a lady came round to everyone, asking if everything was ok, so if there were any problems, she would deal with them.
I was on a B&B basis, so ate out each evening, but had a meal in the hotel lounge bar twice. The choice was good, and the food was excellent…especially the Lemon glazed chicken….and the price was not expensive.
People on half board must choose their main dish for evening meal and write on a board by mid day.
Drinks from the bar were not at all expensive….hotels usually rip you off with costly drinks, but the Pia Bella is NOT guilty of this offence.
As it was March, the poolside bars were not open, but the waiters came round the pools, and brought drinks to you…..always with a smile!
The cheeriest waiter is Mustafa, the barman in the lounge, who seems to work very hard and long hours, yet always had a happy face, talked to everyone by name, and made sure your glass was always full.
There were many different people at the reception desk, and they never ignored you when you passed by.
Being a smaller hotel, there is a much more friendly atmosphere at the Pia Bella.
The majority of the guests were in the older age group, but one family with children arrived at the Easter weekend.
Position wise, the PIA BELLA is not on the sea front, but about 15 to 20 minutes walk to the town centre and harbour. Quite a safe and easy walk with shops and cafes etc on the way.
I never saw any beggars on the streets, and was not once hassled by anyone.
There are plenty of cafes and restaurants for meals. The more expensive ones are by the harbour.
Food always seemed to be hot, well presented, and usually accompanied with bread. Behind the Pia Bella, is a restaurant called “Blue Rose”, run by a very nice English lady.
Down the road from the hotel is “Mollies” for real English food.
A nice Chinese restaurant is also quite nearby.
“Peanuts” is about half way into the town centre…good choice (Turkish and English) plus delicious sweets like black forest gateau!!
A good cheap café is on the right just before you reach the town centre “roundabout”…nice fish there.
In the square behind the doves statue are a group of cafes…cheapish…I only tried the “Café Rouge”, but wished I hadn’t, as I was ignored for about 20 minutes before being asked what I wanted, then the lamb chops were tough as old boots!!!….wish I’d walked out quicker and gone elsewhere!!
Plenty to see on the excursions…Nicosia, Famagusta, Karpas “pan handle” area, Bellapais, St. Hilarion castle(only the fittest can reach the top of this one, and I did!! Phew!!!)
To sum up, I could find no faults at all with the PIA BELLA hotel, and I’d recommend it to anyone. There seems to be a lot of returning guests, which says it all…..and I hope that I may be one of them quite soon…”maybe next year”!!
If you want to see the photos which I took, please visit my web page at..
www.nothing-but-photos.com

The people where not polite the food was not good and last the pool was very dirty

Wow what a wonderful hotel with the most attentive staff, Sied, Soloman, Tom aka Haka really made the stay a happy one.
I won this holiday and it has a distinctive clientele that are of an older generation... but boy did they make me feel welcome, nearly everyone that I spoke to had visited the Pia Bella several times.
I'm in my mid twenties and brought my friend with me who is of a similar age. As young girls on our own we felt safe and well looked after in the hotel... my best experience was Tuesday night with Elvis; what a talent, Danny really did make the holiday for me, got some amazing photos of me dancing with Elvis and nearly everyone of the waiters.
I hope to fall in love and return with the man of my dreams and return to the Pia Bella for a romantic holiday. Email me if you want to have a look at my photo's guys julisha_gayle@hotmail.com

We stayed at the Pia Bella for two weeks. It was our first time ever to Kyrenia and we had the best time ever.
The hotel was excellent value for money and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. A senior member of staff went round each morning at breakfast asking if 'everything was OK'? If there were any problems or issues with your room or anything at all you only had to mention it and it was fixed.
The Pia Bella in our opinion is in the best location, within easy walking distance of the centre (20 mins) but far enough away from the hustle and bustle. There has been a lot of building work at the hotel (a new block which will house a new restaurant, indoor pool and gym) but they were working had to finish this by the end of September.
We stayed in a Superior Room but all the rooms seem to be of superior standard so we are not sure what they based this grading on.
We ate dinner at the hotel on 2 occasions (the first night because we arrived late and one other time just to sample the food on offer again). We paid 35 Turkish Lira (approx. £14.50) pp for a 4 course meal, which was excellent. There wasn't a great deal of choice but we all agreed it was value for money.
We tried a few restaurants out and about the best by far being Niazi's in the town centre opposite the Dome hotel. A few others to try are Set Italian Restaurant (up the hill from the harbour) and Padisha's (up a side street opposite the Colony hotel). Stay clear of the Brassarie Restaurant on the corner at the top of the hill from the harbour front. Food is good but there is a nasty niff of urinals that comes up from the harbour, which puts you off a bit. We changed tables to try to avoid it but didn't altogether! Also the toilets were not the cleanest and you know what they say about clean toilets/clean kitchen etc. Best not to dwell!
We found a gem of a place in the Blue Rose Restaurant out of the back of the hotel through the car park across the road to your left. Here you'll find sandwiches to die for and the dinner menu is also excellent (the fish is recommended). The Blue Rose is run by a lovely couple (British lady and Turkish gentleman) who made us extremely welcome and we were drawn back a few times. Please try it.
We went out and about a bit in a hire car. Didn't think much of Famagusta but loved Bellapais Abbey and St. Hilarion Castle.
Only down side to staying at Pia Bella (and it hurts me to say there's a downside as it was so lovely) is that there is no beach within walking distance. However, 20 mins on a dolmus one way takes you to Escape Beach and 10-15 the other way by car you have Acapulco Beach. (There is a dolmus to Acapulco but doesn't seem to run as often). Both have 15 Lira (approx. £6) entrance fee but this gets you free use of sun beds & brolly (even free soft drink at Escape). More room at Acapulco but sea is calmer at Escape.
Overall we thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and would love to visit again some time.

We had read on this site about the building work, so I emailed them with my concern and they replied that they would put us in the annexe, away from any noise.
We arrived late at night, too late for an evening meal, we were made comfortable in the lounge and offered sandwiches and drink - we couldn't have been made more welcome.
This sort of service continued throughout our holiday.
We were given a lovely room overlooking the garden at no extra cost and upgraded to half board.
I was very impressed with their 'Guest relations'. Sara came every morning at breakfast to make sure that everything was OK. She also had a desk in the hotel reception area. Any request was dealt with efficiently and speedily.
The staff were delightful, attentive, funny (everyone was called 'dear or darling'); nothing was too much trouble - even finding out the title of the tape playing at breakfast.
There was tea and coffee making facilities in the room, drinks were inexpensive and there was free use of the computer. You could even ask for more coat hangers!
I would thoroughly recommend this hotel. In spite of the small amount of noise from the building work (you don't really notice this after a while).
The work is being carried out on a separate building which is not attached to any other part of the hotel. We were told that all work should be finished in a few weeks. The work now is mainly internal.
The biggest recommendation to this hotel is the amount of people we met who came back year after year - one family twice a year!
I certainly would go again.

Excellent hotel but building work still going on, varying noise levels all day.
Staff did find us another room which did not overlook the building site when we opened our bedroom door and offered us a complementary evening meal in compensation.
But I feel that we should have been informed of the work before we left home.
I can't see it being finished in the next month or so.

I went with my sister to the Pia Bella and have to agree with all the positive feedback this Hotel attracts.
Our holiday did not get off to a good start due to Cyprus Paradise failing to send a taxi to take us from Lanarca airport to the border, but once we arrived at the Pia Bella we knew we were in safe hands.
Mustafa came out of the Hotel to greet us & take our luggage. He then said the magic words" come in to the lounge and catch your breath & what can we get you to drink".
This is an extremely well run hotel. The staff are professional but very friendly and attentive. Ali keeps everyone happy - "Mrs Ali" doesn't mind him flirting one little bit.
The dining room is charming. Food isn't exceptional but with a choice of an English or Turkish dish each night and a good salad bar no one will go hungry.
We opted for a superior room overlooking the pool which was a good choice. Rooms are cleaned to a high standard with a change of fluffy white towels each day.
The walk down to the harbour isn't more than 15 minutes and well worth the effort. Northern Cyprus is glorious. Bellapais Abbey and the Karpaz trip are a must.
I will be going back again as soon as I can.

All of the previous comments remain true, but there is major building work underway at the hotel now.
A new building to include new bedrooms, an indoor pool and a health centre is being constructed immediately adjoining the small pool, nearest to the existing main building.
The balconies on the rear of the main building are virtually unusable due to the noise, and are on "eye level" with the building workers.
The pool area is also directly overlooked.
The hotel staff maintain the work will be completed by May, but I cannot see how this is possible.
This is an ambitious project, and progress so far is limited to the reinforced concrete frame up to second floor level.
Plus a whacking great hole in the ground to the rear, presumably the site of the new pool.