Serge R (IAHGVA)
Google
Expectations were high with a LHW stamp, but this was an epic fail.
First, the marketing works, pictures look gorgeous they make you feel like you are close to the sea. You’re not. The nice couches near the pool looked welcoming. They were none, only pool lounge chairs aligned next to each other. We chose the honeymoon white suite with spacious private terrace. If you call the entrance of your room, next to the stairs that everyone takes to leave the hotel, a private terrace, you don’t know what private means. There was an odd jacuzzi set up there but because of the lack of privacy there was no way we would use it. The all-white honeymoon suite was über-minimalistic, clinical cold, a complete absence of decoration, in an L shape with only one window onto the famed “private spacious terrace”. Well appointed in terms of bathroom and bar but it felt like we were in an underground bunker (and it kind of is because we realized we were below the hotel pool hence the cavernous bunker feeling). Spacious it was, and the bed was very comfortable.
Now the famed LHW service, it shone by its absence. I received an email to check-in about a week in advance. Spent time to do it, mentioning our anniversary and had a couple of questions. Nothing came back. Upon arrival (the entrance of the hotel is very nice indeed), I had to provide all info again. My few questions could never be answered because you don’t actually checkin. You are sat somewhere outside and wait for the checkin to be done in your absence, rarely felt so unwelcome. Someone came back to set up an app with all info about the hotel and allowing communication with the hotel staff but that did not work, the guy told me they would come later with a fix, it never happened. The bellman brings the luggage to the room and I notice a wheel was missing. The bellman said yes I noticed it too. I asked him to go back the way he came because there were 4 wheels when we put the luggage into the hotel taxi. He said the luggage came like that, he already noticed the missing wheel when taking the luggage out of the taxi. I was going to believe him as he was so natural and convincing but it bothered me to have to use the luggage with 3 wheels for the rest of the trip so wanted to run to the reception to catch the taxi where the wheel should be by all logic. Except that when I stepped out of the “private terrace” onto the stairs, I found the missing wheel…so much to rip all trust you have in the staff. I don’t know how he managed to have a wheel fall off in the first place but lying about it and then acting as if everything is normal was mind blowing.
The rest of the stay went ok, nothing extraordinary, nothing bad, but not the LHW experience I was hoping to find. The breakfast was delicious and the staff there was great. So was the bar staff.
On the day of departure, I assume it was a noon checkout, it was 11. The reception rang at 11, I asked if we could check out at noon, no problem was I told. At 11h40 the sinister lying bellman is already ringing at our door. Told him to come back at noon. At 11h50, he is ringing again, told him to come back at noon and he waits in front of the door in plain sight of us as we had to open the little wooden shutter on the door since outside light was very limited.
We felt rushed, check-out was less odd than the check-in but nobody cared asking how our stay had been. Never felt someone cared. Thankfully the bar staff made our 2h wait for the airport very pleasant.
Note of advice: hotel is not near the sea, but a few hundreds meters away. Walking into town is almost impossible due to lack of sidewalk on the road into town and the huge stench of sewage almost the entire length of that road. The pool is very small and not inviting. With the row of lounging chair, it felt almost like a motel pool. Avoid room 118, absolutely nothing honeymoonesque about this bunker. We won’t be back but if you care for the beach go to an hotel on the beach, if you care about close access to Mykonos town, go elsewhere closer to the town.
