Helios Spa

From the moment we arrived, the lack of interest from the reception staff was obvious — it felt like we were bothering them by wanting to check in. After completing the check-in procedure, we got to our room. The cleaning hadn’t been done: we found a plate with food residue in the vanity drawer, a dirty towel used for cleaning left on the vanity table, and sunflower seed shells inside the vanity table. The balcony chairs were dirty and dusty. We complained at reception and were told it would be taken care of, but nothing happened. Five days later, some unknown tourists entered our room while we were away. When we returned from the beach, we found a stranger’s hat, a phone, and a pair of sunglasses in our room. The explanation was that the cleaning staff had allowed other tourists, who had mistaken the floor, to enter our room. We complained again, with no result. Room cleaning during the stay was nonexistent. We had to complain to reception four times just to get clean towels — which we received only after five days. Regarding the restaurant, tables were not cleaned between customers — we often had to clean our own table in order to eat — and we had an all-inclusive package. On at least two occasions, the food had started to spoil or was undercooked. The coffee machines didn’t work most of the time, and the “solution” was to put up an “out of order” sign. The snacks were at least once reused, and the promised variety was nonexistent — it was always french fries with nuggets. The pools are not heated, so for children, swimming is rather difficult. The pool bar is only open until 11 PM. Access to the SPA was not possible at all; it was closed for the entire 13 days we stayed. Overall, I would not recommend anyone to visit under these conditions. The resort itself is beautiful, but the conditions and the complete lack of involvement and professionalism from the staff are beyond any acceptable standard.

I went to Helios with my three children. It’s advertised as a 4-star resort, but in our experience, that couldn’t be further from the truth. We have stayed in 2 stars and gotten MUCH better service! We were given what the receptionist proudly called a "luxury apartment." One power socket fell out of the wall when trying to unplug a charger. There was a large brown stain right in the middle of the carpet. A handle above the bathtub was loose, the toilet wouldn’t always flush, and the shower flooded the entire bathroom. Water drained so slowly that we were standing ankle-deep while showering – and the same happened when brushing our teeth, as the sink barely drained at all. For four days I asked for an extra pillow. Every day the reception staff said "no problem" – but the pillow never came. We eventually gave up. Housekeeping visited our room only twice in eight days. The first time, they only emptied the trash. The second time, they made the bed, emptied the trash again, and gave us two large towels and one small one – for four people. It took 48 hours to get new towels. The same amount of time it took to get someone to fix the broken shower head – which the maintenance guy replaced in under a minute when he finally arrived. There were constant queues at the reception, but getting actual help was close to impossible. We waited an entire day to get an extra bed. Our room was supposed to have one double bed and two sofa beds, but only one sofa was there when we arrived. Many of the hotel’s facilities were closed: shops, the playground, one of the bars, one of the receptions, and the tennis court – which had been turned into a parking lot. I asked the reception for tips on what to do in the area, but all I got was a blank stare and a “I don’t know.” The level of service was shockingly poor. I’ve stayed at 2-star hotels with far better service than this. We expected much more. And the food… That’s a whole story on its own. There was almost nothing kid-friendly, except for fries and pancakes. No jam or spreads available, and butter didn’t appear until day six. On day three I asked the chef if they had Nutella or something similar for the kids. He sent someone to get it from the other restaurant – which we weren’t even allowed to use. The chef was nice and tried to make people happy. To bad that that was an impossible job.... Food labeling was inconsistent or missing altogether – good luck to anyone with allergies. This is actually a complex of three hotels. Helios is by far the worst. And no, you’re not allowed to switch to the other hotels or even pay extra to eat at their restaurants. The pools are okay, bur many tiles arounde are loose. Be carefull! I heard a lot of other people complain in the reception as well... I would not recommend this hotel to anyone, especially not travelers from Scandinavia.