Mitsis Hotel Norida Beach

My wife and I just returned from Norida beach hotel, oh, wait, actually we were stuck in Summer Palace hotel because Norida beach hotel was oversold. This switch-up was the first in a long list of ensuing events that lead me to NOT RECOMMEND going to stay at this Mitsis hotel complex - and it literally feels like you are in a WWII war camp (not that I ever had the misfortune of knowing what that feels like...). The staff are extremely rude, the food is poor (not sure what these other folks are used to eating, but...), the beach has to be characterized as one step larger than pebble that is actually challenging to walk on in bare feet and the depth of the water reaches 2 metres in about 8 steps into it. I read in another post of a family that experienced issues related to the smell of diesel fumes, and yes, near the Norida beach hotel reception (the main reception), you can definitely smell diesel fumes, especially if you are out on the patio of the adult bar - not nice. If you are unfortunate enough to believe the majority of these postings and still end up going to Norida, the best advice we have is to rent a car from kosmos and drive every road you can find (it doesn't take that long to drive the entire island) - if you do this you will salvage your holiday investment for the cost of a car (about 30 euros/day). What this means is, you could have had the same holiday, albeit not all inclusive, for much less investment and done the same things, seen the same sights, and eaten much better food, by simply venturing out yourself. We would recommend staying in Kardemana only if you are into the bar scene - if not, go to another village on the island and find a nice hotel that is near a sandy beach (from our tour of the island it appears all other beaches are sandy, just not the one at Norida beach, err, rock slide). One last piece of advice for those who still end up at Norida beach hotel: if you want to experience good service and very good food, take the bus into Kardemena and eat at Avli. My wife and I actually ended up going there three times during our 8 days in Kos. The wait staff are super, the food is fantastic and the atmosphere is lovely.

Although this post on Hotel Norida Beach, Kardamena is long, I have tried to include everything I can think of to enable you to make more out your holiday. If any advise helps anybody, then it was worth the effort of writing this.

We have just returned from a 1 week stay at Norida Beach Hotel Kos. (20th Sept - 27th Sept 07)

This is not a 5 star hotel, we would rate this hotel 3 star.

FUME SMELL.

We stayed in on the ground floor rooms just past the adult bar. The smell of diesel / fuel fumes were horrendous! I am allergic to PPD (an additive in fuel) and after the 2nd day woke up with chest problems. The smell hit us as soon as we left our room, and drifted across that side of the hotel. This is totally unacceptable, no matter what the star rating of the hotel is.

ROOMS

Were clean, basic, although very disappointed that the shower was a hand held. Only had hot water on 1 evening. Beds, yes were concrete edged with wood loose slats laid across, check they are evenly laid before sleeping on them. We prefer a firm bed, so this didn't affect our sleep. Air con worked great. No tea or coffee making facilities (although this is all inclusive, please read below, as this did make a difference to our stay). TV didn't work neither did the radio. There is a charge for the safe.

Maids pleasant and worked hard.

BAR

The only decent drinks that really could be found were either at the adults bar or the beach bar. A rum and coke, tasted just like coke. The fruit juice they mixed with the spirits was watered cordial, thus making the drinks taste extremely weak. The adults bar does have some named brands but these have to be asked for, otherwise you will get local brand stuff.

Bar staff all pleasant.

RESTAURANT

No bacon, look like cubed hot spam, no mushrooms or cooked tomatoes for breakfast.. Food was OK although not always hot, which could have lead to problems with tummy upsets. Liver was on every day. Don't expect steak. Roast lamb in mint sauce very nice.Good fish choices.Pancakes were fab! Fried eggs for breakfast were often over cooked.

TAVERNA

excellent, get there before 2pm otherwise they start to clear away. The staff here were great.

CHINESE

Excellent, would recommend this to everybody! Situated at the side of Taverna, within the same block. I don't like Chinese much but really enjoyed my meal here. The staff again excellent.

RECEPTION STAFF

We found them friendly and helpful, we encountered 2 immediate problems when arriving, 1 being no plug and the patio table broken, this was corrected within 2 hrs. If you are pleasant to them you get it in return.

POOL

We did not go in. The most we ever saw was 3 people who dare brave the cold, we were told it was like jumping into a salt slush puppy. I did however do a toe dip and it was freezing.

ENTERTAINMENT

OK. Expect to be pressurized into giving them excellent star ratings in questionnaire at end of your holiday. The children's entertainment went on far too late and by the time the adults started, we were beginning to get tired, so therefore missed this some nights as it really started after 10.30 - 10.45. They do seem to work hard though.

BEACH

Stoney not sand, and the sea gets very deep very quickly, so would not advise for young children, as they will be out of their depth within a few steps.

LOCATION

The views from this hotel are wonderful, set at the bottom of mountains and with sea views, it really is lovely.

Town centre of Kardamena is 4.5 kilometres away, too far to walk too in heat.

OVERALL

Apart from the above one of the disappointments for us was the lack of decent food available between 2.30 - 6.00pm. The restaurant and Taverna close at 2.30 with the only food available then being from the beach bar, or small fridge near the inside bar, until dinner which opens at 6.00 .If we went out for the morning and came back after 2.30 all we could get was yuk hot dogs/ small dry rolls filled with meat cheese / tomatoes, dry cake and ice cream.

They did do packed lunches and the nicest thing about them was the box they were presented in, they contained, 2 apples, 2 boiled eggs, feta, 2 plain dry rolls, 2 dry cheese / meat rolls, and 2 bottles of water.

Apart from going into the main restaurant for your breakfast, you could not get a cup of tea or coffee from anywhere until 10AM. We like a cup of coffee / tea first thing. I didn't even think of taking a travel kettle with this being an all inclusive.

This hotel has the possibility of being a far better, it lets itself down.

Flies near the open bar, OK this one is a difficult one for the hotel to deal with, but these flies bite within milli seconds of landing on you, but doesn't leave the marks or itching a mosquito would leave.

Would not recommend this hotel to disabled.

ADVICE

Take a travel kettle and some teabags / coffee for first thing in the morning.

When having tea or coffee in restaurant, use the milk from the cereal counter, the milk in the jugs provided, was more like evaporated. Ideally take your own home teabag to restaurant as well.

Take your own hairdryer, the one in the rooms, didn't have enough power to blow the skin off a rice pudding.

Remove the brass tab which powers the electric off your room keys, leave this in the socket as it will keep your air con and electric on during the day.

Don't ask for juice in drinks, ask for it separate.

Go to the adults bar in the evening. Waitress served which is nice.

Book the Chinese.

Hire a bike / quad / car etc and see the rest of the island, Zia is breath taking!

There is no money exchange available at reception.

Make sure you don't go over your baggage allowance, the Kos airport are very strict and will charge 9 euros a kilo, anything over.

Couldn't find any scales to double check our cases at hotel.

Take your driving licence, hire some transport, the island is lovely, and worth a couple of days of your holiday to see it.

Cigarettes are around about the same price throughout the island. 200 superkings between 28.5 - 29 euros.

Take immodium. Whilst my husband and I didn't really have any problems, there were many that did. I think we were fortunate.

Take baby nappy bags for disposing of used loo roll.

There are showers in the toilets, between the restaurant and reception, use these if you can only get cold water in room like us, also ideal for last day stay rather than paying the 40 euro's for keeping your room on. The door is often closed, and unless you open them you would not know they are there. Womens is direct in front of entrance to toilets and mens to the left. Although they do not have separate door for privacy, it is worth it for a hot shower.

Some of the excursions were cancelled if not enough had booked or too windy for boat trips which is understandable, and people were not informed until time of departure, which lead to unhappy guests, whom had planned their day out. Try and get about yourself, where you only have yourself to rely on.

Hotel is along way from the town centre and walking there in the heat, I would not recommend.

Watersports, eg pedlo's although free required a 30 euro deposit, so if you would like to do this leave enough money for deposits.

The toilets on the beach are closed, you have to use the Taverna toilets.

TO FINISH

Would I recommend this holiday to my friends and family, personally ...no, unless they got this for £250 a week.. I certainly would not advise 2 weeks here, unless you hire a car bike or quad. Overall we did have a nice holiday despite the problems, the weather was great, the staff are lovely, its a shame the hotel lets them down too. The hotel is clean and tidy. Don't expect a 5 star but a 3. Get about and enjoy Kos it is a lovely island.

Just got back from Norida beach, and I had a wonderful time! There is nothing to complain about this place. The room we got was fantastic, with a view over the sea and it was always clean and fresch. I am coming back next year for a 2 week staying. I loved it.

The Norida Beach is in no way a 5 star hotel! We are a family of four with kids aged 3 and 11. Firstly, most of the reception staff are very rude and give you the impression that you are putting them out, even when you are only ordering a taxi! Yes I know they work long hours for little pay and that they deal with some horrible people but I was always pleasant and thankful, yet they still treated me like dirt! The food is horrible! It does not cater for the English at all, it's the first time I've ever been offered rabbit stew and quail stew abroad. Not to mention the perch, which apparently is a fish that eats food on the bottom of rivers and tastes the same. We don't eat perch in the UK and no wonder. Even the breakfast was awful. No bacon, beans, tomatoes or English cereal. Yes it's nice to try something new but it's also nice to eat. We only went for breakfast twice and never went for lunch and missed dinner three times, preferring to get in a taxi and go to the Foo King Goo, a great restaurant in Kardemena. Also, the place is aimed at the German market and believe me they know it! They push in around self serve areas and then complain if they can't get to what they want quick enough! I have been told that the Germans pay more for their holidays and so get preference if this is true, then they shouldn't advertise in the English market.

Two of the three pools are salt water and they are so salty that you float in them! Also, if you get the salty water in your eyes, you've had it! The only other pool is chlorine and has water slides, so it's great for the kids but there are no sunbeds here, only chairs. Also, all drinks are served in glasses and the amount of broken glass around the pools is horrendous. We met many people adults and kids who had got glass in their feet whilst walking around the pool. The staff at the pools are friendly but overworked and don't have the time to sweep the glass up.

There was no English entertainment on an evening at all. The entertainment that finished at 9.30pm and they didn't include the English kids at all. A couple of times they had the Italian kids on the stage to sing their national anthem but this is not really what English kids want to hear.

I have travelled all over Europe with my family and we have never had such a bad holiday before. Rude receptionists, bad food and a lack of entertainment. If you're English and thinking of booking here, then please take heed of my warning. If you think, oh she's just being picky and it will be fine, as I did when I read bad reviews, believe me you will be back on here writing your own bad review as soon as you come home.

I wouldn't rate Mitsis Hotel 4* it is more a 3*, only 1 bar at the hotel and no music around pool and bar area.

Just got back from Norida Beach Hotel and despite some very negative reviews, we had no major problems at all. Our room was spotless, the food choice was very well thought out and fresh, the staff in all areas work themselves to the bone and despite that, are courteous at all times. If you have children then I would highly recommend this, as the entertainment is centered around them, even the shyest of children enjoyed themselves. Just a few tips, let your bathwater out slowly to prevent overflow from the drains, if you require a quiet drink then go to the adult bar and wear loads of suntan cream as it is very hot there. Kardamena was fantastic, hire a quad bike, it cost us 25 Euros for the whole day so you can have one each, and explore the island. The Ringos water sports are so much fun but wear goggles. All in all, we had a fantastic time and would highly recommend it to all age groups. It is however classed as a 5* but I would suggest that 4* rating is more appropriate. Have a great time!

Based on our experience last year, we would and have recommended this hotel to our friends.

By nature my wife and I don't complain, we'll usually put up quite happily with small glitches or failing standards and concentrate on the positives but on this occasion all I can say is that I wish this website had less than 1 point ratings.

We stayed at Norida Beach in August 2006 and were a bit disappointed on arrival. Our room was shabby, dull and equipped to perhaps a 2 or 3 star standard at best. The first thing we noticed though was the smell of raw sewage, and despite a number of complaints about this, the smell persisted for the entire 2 weeks of our holiday, both inside our room and on our balcony area.

We also noticed very quickly that the drainage in the bathrooms wasn't the best. If you had a shower immediately after using the toilet, you often got backwash flooding up onto the bathroom floor!

The next morning, imagine our surprise when laid there naked due to the heat, a maid walks in without even so much as a knock! Even saying NO, GET OUT resulted in her coming in and cleaning around us!

Food in the buffet restaurant was just about palatable, although it gave me an upset stomach twice that required a dose of Imodium. Our main complaint with the food was that this so called air-conditioned restaurant only seemed to have the air-con turned on near the entrance, so when you went to eat it was just unbearable.

Snacks were no better. Considering we were staying on something called an ULTRA all inclusive package, I had visions of a better class of food and service than we had experienced in Jamaica a few years ago. On the contrary, snacks were limited to a cling film wrapped crusty roll with a piece of sweaty feta, some dry cake or a hot dog. I ask you what exactly is 5 star about a hot dog!

The hotel also has an on-site Chinese restaurant, that you can book into for your evening meal instead of the buffet restaurant. Unfortunately in the 14 nights we were there we were unable to get into this restaurant and the reception staff recommended that we get up at 5am and book in with reception then. Seeing as we were on holiday, there was no way I was getting up at 5am!

Drinks were no better. In fact we were there during the busiest week of the season and there were queues at the bars that lasted 30 minutes or more at which point you were allowed 3 drinks per order and we would be given half pint glasses, three quarters full and the beer tasted flat or watered down. My wife was equally unimpressed as there wasn't a drop of brandy or Metaxa to be found in the hotel!

Also, you are provided with a mini bar in your room that is supposed to be stocked every other day, yet on our 14 night stay it was stocked 3 times!

It wasn't just drinks that we'd paid for and didn't get value for money, most of the hotels facilities were oversubscribed. During the 14 days of our stay we were unable to find a single lounger or sunbed by the pool or on the beach. We had to resort to buying inflatable Lilo's for use on the shingle beach, which didn't feel much like a 5 star experience to me!

Entertainment wise, this hotel was pathetic. I don't really find men dressing up as women that entertaining, especially not every night and because of the drinks situation, you couldn't even get drunk to help the entertainment become even remotely amusing.

Finally, the staff at the hotel were arrogant and just plain rude most of the time. When we asked for help on several occasions, we didn't get anything more than scowls and rude responses. On one occasion my wife asked for a packed lunch, provided as part of the ULTRA all inclusive package. She was 3 minutes late past the time to get your name on the list. The cut off time was 8pm and we asked at around 8:03pm. She was told in no uncertain terms that it was her own stupid fault for being late and that she couldn't order the packed lunch! Surely a 5 star service hotel would of just added her name to the list!

After our first week of hell in this hotel we spent a lot of extra money to hire a car and left first thing in the morning and returned only last thing at night. This was the only way we felt we could salvage our holiday, as the hotel was just disgraceful.

Overall, this holiday was very expensive at nearly two grand for two weeks and we didn't get to use any of the facilities that we'd paid for. The actual cost became just over three and a half grand once we'd hired the car and left the hotel for the second week.

As for the ULTRA part of their ULTRA all inclusive package, I can only assume that this is some sort of ridiculous joke.

If we'd of paid maybe £600 for the holiday, I wouldn't of minded any of this and would of happily hired the car and gone off site every day but at the end of the day we paid 5* Ultra all inclusive prices and received 2* bed and breakfast service.

Since returning, we have been in correspondence with Hotels 4U on a regular basis, who have basically done nothing to redress this situation. They have however admitted that the hotel is NOT 5* as we know it, rather it is a rating that THEY have given the hotel and that Norida have been given by some Greek authority. As such, they acknowledge that this hotel isn't of the standard it is being advertised and sold as.

Unfortunately the only other thing that they have repeatedly shown to us in their letters is that they couldn't care less once they have your money. We are now starting legal proceedings to get our money back.

The staff were friendly at the Norida Beach Hotel in Kos, but they were overworked. Food got monotonous and didn't cater much for the English, especially children. The orange juice was diluted and not fresh, and fresh fruit was not fresh, as the brochure stated. We tried the Chinese one night, but we were rushed so much, that we had our 3 course meal within 30 minutes. The tiles were very slippery around the pool and also around the hotel. I slipped down coming out of the supermarket and twisted my ankle and grazed all my leg. My 6 year old daughter slipped down nearly every day around the pool.

Kardemena is about a 5 minute taxi ride away, which will cost you around 8 Euros. There was a bar/restaurant at the side of the hotel called Big Mikes, where we ate and drank for most of the holiday.

Before we lest for the Hotel Norida Beach I contacted them to arange a suite this cost aprox £20 per night what you got was a bathroom downstairs two single beds a bathroom upstairs and a double bed and lots of space. The food was great for all inclusive what people need to remember is on all inclusive the food can get repetive.The food is cooked in front of you what more can you want.The staff are nice to you as long as you are nice to them. every where is kept very clean as well.

Bad points, around the pool it is very slipery be careful, take a fly swatter as there is a lot of them not from this hotel being dirty there is just a lot of flies. It also gets very windy here so watch out the wind makes the sun not feel as hot so you get burned and a trip to the doctor will cost aprox £30 you will have to pay unless you have good insurance as the E111 only is for the hospital.

Also be warned there are lots of hornets and the sting is painful.Overall the hotel is very good depending on what room you get, the kids club is not the best in the world but it is not the worst either. If you are going here don't be put off by some of the bad reports on some of the web sites I have been to lots of all inclusives and this one is fine