Laganas, Apollo Apartments

I went with my boyfriend, and had a fab holiday at Apollo Apartments. I agree with all the comments posted although some may be exagerated slightly.

It was dirty, miles from anywhere and well the story of the shootings is enough to put the frightners on anyone not to mention the fact that its over run with cats and huge mosquitos.The non English speaking owners were amusing (irratating at times) we always wondered how long they'd been married because all they did was bicker. Van was great always on hand for a chin wag and amazing shots and free beers. He even gave us a lift into the centre a few times to get money changed reheal my shoes etc.

At the end of the day it was a cheap and cheerful holiday.

Laganas as a whole is fab, maybe not aimed at couples or the elderly but to be fair you didn't have to go on the main stretch as there's plenty of other places to drink. Loads of lovely food places Garden of Eden, Georgios and The Ruby were particulary good. On the whole I would go back to Laganas but not Apollo (because it's shut down)

We stayed at the Apollo Apartments in Zakynthos in September 2005. I would not recommend these to anyone. The rooms are a disgrace! On arrival they were dirty, and the walls full of squashed mosquitoes, and the screen on the balcony was torn so this was no use at all.

To the back of the apartment were chicken/Hen pens directly outside the back of your room, and the smell was terrible, not to mention the noise! They would wake you at an early hour. If it wasn't the chickens it was the hotels owners, as they could be heard arguing most mornings around the pool area!

While the pool area was mainly clean, the steps into the pool were unsafe, and they were not attached to the poolside. The cover for the pool drainage was often left open and unattended.

The owners did not speak a word of English, making things very difficult. The rep on site was not helpful, as she did not have time for you.

On a couple of occasions, around 11pm at night, you could hear gun shots being fired close to the hotel, and this would last for a few hours.

We only had a maid service once during the whole holiday.

On arrival our original room at the Apollo Apartments was filthy. Blood was smeared across the bathroom walls, the bed linen and towels were marked and stained. Both mosquito screens were torn and therefore useless.

The cooker did not work and there was no crockery or cutlery. The door to the room was not secure, even when locked we only had to push against it to gain entry. We were eventually moved to the rooms across from the main block and although they were more secure and slightly cleaner safety was still an issue. The lights on the stairs leading to our room were only switched on when we asked. This meant every night we had to find someone, which was not easy as the bar closed about 11 pm most nights, to switch them on. From 7 am till 10 pm guns would be heard close to the complex and on some occasions men would be shooting on the only road between the complex and the town. The fire alarm near our room was hanging off the wall and the extinguishers were so rusty that I would have been surprised if they worked at all. Pool safety was another concern; the pool inspection hatch was left opened and unattended on several occasions even when small children were playing around this area. The pool itself was filthy with an oily film across it most of the time. The steps for getting out of the pool were in a poor state of repair and I witnessed many people having difficulty using them. As we booked a self catering holiday we expected the rooms to be equipped for this. The cooker consisted of a badly corroded hot plate with only one of the two plates working. One small pot with which to cook with, which we could only fill 1/3 of it as there were 3 splits around it. Having pointed this out on the first day of our 14 night stay we were still waiting for a replacement when we left. On several days our rooms were not cleaned until 7:30 pm or 8:30 pm if at all which meant the bin in the toilet was overflowing as we had no replacement bin liners to clean it ourselves. The bathroom window wouldn't shut letting an endless supply of mosquitoes into the room. The toilet seat was split in several places and was not secure (we were still waiting for a replacement when we left). The only English speaking member of staff left a few days after we arrived making it difficult to communicate our problems with the management. Even the Thomas cook rep had problems asking for things on our behalf. When I booked this holiday I took great care to ensure we were not going to be in a resort that was aimed at a young and lively as this was meant to be our honeymoon. I was told from several sources that lagans would be perfect for us and that it had the best beach on the island. You can imagine my surprise when we went to a squalid, filthy, infested beach with hard compacted sand (due to the Lorries that used it at night). The main street was full of bars and clubs catering to the young and lively crowd. It was impossible to walk along as dozens of drunks were falling out of almost every doorway, never mind the foam parties that drenched us as we walked by. When talking to other couples and families they had been told the same thing as us, that it was a great place for them. Most of us felt that we had been misinformed. Without hiring some form of transport we would have been held captive within the complex. Our final night was by far the most terrified I have ever been abroad. It seemed that nothing was out of the ordinary. 10:30 pm with the usual gunfire but this was about to change. Shots started to rain down on the complex, hitting the roof and unfortunately hitting one man sitting on his balcony and another man by the complex bar. I phoned the Thomas Cook 24 hr emergency line and was told by the rep that "there is nothing we can do "even though we would have to wait out in the open for 2 1/2 hours for our transfer to the airport! There was no way we were prepared to wait outside when shots were being fired at the complex. I had no option but to phone the UK emergency number for Thomas cook who were shocked by our treatment by the reps on the island. Only after the UK office talking to the island reps did they agree to visit us. We wanted to be taken to the airport or any other safe location straight away but we were told that it was not possible. We were allowed to stay in our room but only after a very long and heated argument with the management, who then made repeated attempts to remove us before the transfer to the airport (sometimes getting quite physical). The whole experience has left us shocked and disgusted with Thomas Cook. These are our main complaints as to list every incident would take forever.

After just returning from the Apollo Apartments in Laganas I must say that although these apartments are far from luxurious, we still had a great holiday.

En route to the Apollo, you may become alarmed, just as it appears your heading into the resort centre, the coach driver will hang a right and travel for a few minutes down a virtually derelict country lane which takes you into the middle of nowhere - welcome to the Apollo!

When visiting Greece, especially on a budget holiday, you expect basic and the Apollo certainly falls into that category. Anyone expecting anything other than the bare minimum will be disappointed, however if you have realistic expectations then the Apollo is a good bet. The swimming pool is a decent and always good for a swim, although it does have a tendency to attract the odd dead bug, but in fairness they give it a good clean every morning and throw in fresh water every few days.

The poolside area is nice, there are plenty of loungers knocking around all of which are free of charge. The bar area is also good, clean and serves a basic menu for some lunch time tucker. Here you will also find the hotels resident character - Van. Despite being a staunch Liverpool fan he is an absolute riot and an all round really nice bloke. We had a really good laugh with him and he was always good for a free drink or two when the bosses backs were turned. If you go to the Apollo then you will have to deal with Van as the owners only speak Greek - you will still hear them though, as both husband and wife have a hell of a temper. If you fancy a 3am dip into the pool then odds on you will get to know what I'm talking about rather quickly!

The hotel tended to have couples and young groups staying there and it was fairly quiet when we stayed there (early June). One thing that the Apollo does well is that it puts the young groups in one block of apartments and the couples in the other, that way the couples don't get disturbed when the party people get back to the hotel.

One thing to watch out for though are the balcony walls, at first glance they appear to be made of stone, but if you apply any pressure then you soon find they are about as sturdy as a Duplo kit. A member of our party leant on the wall and ..smash, bang, wallop, the top part of the wall came crashing down - my mate was then 80E lighter for his troubles.

There is a good atmosphere in the hotel, everyone we spoke to was fantastic and we made some really good friends - that is obviously the luck of the draw though!

Laganas is a great resort for groups of guys and girls, however if I was a couple or a family then I would avoid it to be honest. The rep for Apollo (Carly) is also a really nice girl, not pushy at all and a good egg to boot! If you are out on a group trip then get yourself on the bar crawl - we had an excellent night out and it was well worth the money!

In short - if you're on a budget, check out the Apollo, but if you have high expectations then this probably isn't the place for you. It gets a 10 from me though as we had such a fantastic holiday!