Mitsis Faliraki Beach Hotel & Spa

We stayed at Mitsis Faliraki for 9 nights with our family, expecting a true 5-star experience. Unfortunately, it fell far short of our expectations and, in our opinion, doesn’t even meet a solid 4-star standard. We’ve stayed in many hotels around the world, and this was one of the more disappointing stays. Food Hygiene Concerns Shortly after dining at their “Ellinadiko” restaurant, our entire family came down with high fever, vomiting, and stomach problems. We reported this to the guest relations team, who told us we were the only ones affected and blamed it on a possible virus. However, we later noticed multiple families with the same symptoms, which points toward a more serious hygiene issue. Unclear Dishware and Service Standards Food and drinks were often served on dishes and glasses that didn’t appear properly cleaned. For a hotel claiming to be 5-star, this lack of basic cleanliness was extremely disappointing and concerning. Beach is Public, Not Private Another letdown was the beach. It is public, not private, which meant it was often crowded and lacked the exclusivity and comfort typically expected at a luxury resort. Dining Reservations are Inconvenient To dine in any of the à la carte restaurants, you have to make a reservation in advance. If you don’t, you're left with limited options or have to eat at the main buffet (Jasmine). This system is inconvenient and creates unnecessary stress during a supposed relaxing holiday.

I love the layout of club 8 the experience and food was amazing and the hotel is lovely and calm there’s absolutely nothing I would change it’s just a dream

so, having stayed at a few mitsis hotels for short breaks and generally at the selection hotels, we booked the faliraki beach based on the fact this was more of a family hotel,, and thought that there wouldn't have been a lot for our 18 year old at a selection hotel. The hotel itself is very nice, and the public spaces are clean, however, we were disappointed with our room ( side sea view) which is just what it is ( stretch your neck to see the sea!), and we overlooked a concrete roof. However, the hotel did try to change our rooms for us for a better view etc (Anna on reception is exceptional)..., but they had put us in a larger standard room to accommodate the three of us. Our room on arrival was decorated with swans and rose petals, champagne and cake as i had mentioned to concierge ahead of our arrival that we had been celebrating a big anniversary and big birthdays this year and they certainly picked up and remembered that. It's these touches that the mitsis do very well. The main restaurant buffet was in my opinion not what we are used to from a hotel buffet ( usually staying in turkey where the selections are huge) however, we did find food to eat, however we had booked the a la cartes ahead of our arrival, so didn't actually get many evening meals out of our fortnight in the main restaurant. What the faliraki beach misses in my opinion is somewhere other than the main buffet for lunch. you can book your a la cartes for lunch too, however..... you don't always want to be tied to a time ( especially if you got up late). The new gym facility was lovely, along with the tennis and paddle courts and the new pool club being opened will be a great addition, especially for young adults ( and those older adults that still like to party!) - However, i believe this will be at an extra charge to hotel guests. the hotel has a great location, so for some younger couples wanting to go out, it was nice seeing them enjoy the hotel facilites and then being able to walk into the heart of everything with the bars should they want to. However, we did this one night and to me, it always feels strange to pay for alcohol when you've already paid for it in the hotel. The only reason that we did this, was because there's nowhere you can watch the footie in the hotel. I'm sure there are lots of people that would like to watch big sporting events with a drink in the hotel - perhaps a screen on the mezzanie floor? the day time activities were not taken up as much as we thought they would be, and the hotel do not announce anything and i had to ask for a list of activities and times when we checked in ( this should be given out as standard)... apparently it's not their policy to, but they announce the water aerobics which is well attended. Perhaps if the animation team each day round the pool could let people know what's on and when, there might be better up take.... people will either do it or not do it and i don't see that as a hard sell. Having stayed at a mitsis hotel previously and due to our storyteller status we were invited to the managers wine tasting event on the wednesday evening, which was a nice touch to try the greek wines. However, it's a shame that some of these wines are not available in the a la cartes. Special mention though goes out to Anna who served us in the mexican and greek, and at the a la carte breakfast who asked the management if we could have that wine ( that we took from the event to dinner) and we were given a bottle - that was a lovely touch. Which brings me onto the staff at the resort. It certainly is the staff that make a stay..... the staff in the main restaurant work very hard, and our waitress daria that we had on numerous occasions is very engaging. Mattaios in the italian, Nicolas working the reception and helping with cases gave some fab symi recommendation ( go if you can, it's beautiful), Alina in the pool bar, who's memory was phenominal on the drinks you ordered, Manolis from Guest relations is a lovely young man and again, went all out to make our stay enjoyable, with sending the wine we enjoyed from the tasting event to the room! and George and Katarina from the annimation team who got involved with the beach volleyball when there wasn't a lot of take up which made my teenage son very happy ( as his one holiday requisite was beach volleyball) so when there wasn't many people to make up a team, they stepped in so it could run, making him very happy. Thanks guys! happy boy, happy mum!!! Overall, we had a great couple of weeks. a few tweaks at the hotel could make this mitsis hotel even better. However, we are loyal to the brand, and we're booking the new santorini soon.... Thanks mitsis faliraki for a lovely break.