Ekati Mare Hotel & Suites

If i could i would give 3.5 stars! I want to start by discussing the hotel itself (location, grounds, rooms and facilities): The hotel hotel is situated on the very beginning of the Kavos strip which if you dont know is a party location. Its situated far enough away from all of the bars and clubs that you cannot hear any of the noise but within 5 minutes walk are some more low-key bars that arent catered exclusively for young people. The hotels location is good in terms of where it is situated in kavos but it is a very long transfer from the airport and if you choose to do an excursion that takes you to or via corfu town - expect in excess of 1hr 30 mins transfer. the hotel grounds are very well maintained with my only complaints being how slippery the poolside was with me almost slipping atleast 3 times a day and i have seen other guests completely slip over and fall and the other being that there is a lot of road noise and the bikes and cars are sometimes very loud when you are eating in the restaurant, drinking in the bar or swimming in the pool (However we couldnt hear anything in our room). The room itself had some teething problems for us as when we arrived we had several issues such as the upstairs air conditioning unit being broken, one of the light fixtures was hanging off the wall and into the sink which could potentially have been very dangerous (and how this wasnt noticed by maintenance or cleaning I dont know) and one of the quilts was covered in stains that looked like secretion and other bodily fluids. all of these issues were fixed on day 2 as we arrived very late and there was nobody available to sort them out. the only other issue we encountered with the room was that the shower had issues draining (this concern was shared by majority of guests). In terms of facilities, the hotel was very well equipped with the gym being very good (even though the smith machine didnt work and there was no out of order sign which could be dangerous) the pool being ample size and there being just enough sunbeds that you didnt have to fight for them. Next I will talk about the service and staff: I want to start by applauding the work of the Entertainers - Leo and Maureen, the waiters - Wilfredo and Antonia, and Dawn on the reception. These members of staff worked very hard and genuinely transformed our holiday from one that could have been bad to one I genuinely will never forget. However - the same cant be said for all members of staff as many of the managers treat the other staff (especially the filipinos) in a horrific manner that is bordering on abusive. On our first night, one of the managers (a blonde man always wearing designer clothing) ruffled a waiters hair in a rough and degrading manner and by the next morning, he had had a haircut. NOT the way to do things in a hotel. The same manager was seen constantly doing nothing but intimidating the ground staff and being degrading towards them. Other higher ranking members of staff who organised the bar and restaurant (dressed in black outfits) were also very difficult and made our experience stressful at times as they were constantly running around the restaurant shouting and ordering waiters around. Leo and Maureen made our holiday so incredibly good. The water polo they organised in the days was great fun and gave on opportunity for us guest to make friends ( some of which are now very close friends of mine). and their night time entertainment was always great fun and got all guests involved and enjoying themselves. Next i will talk about the Food and Bar: The breakfast was always very nice and good quality and the evening meals were very varied and catered for everyone with me having no complaints about the food included in the half board basis. I do have complaints about how the restaurant was conducted however. For starters - they do not provide and water or drinks with evening meal all of this you have to pay for separately and once ordered they always took a while to arrive and then they instantly pressured you into paying regardless of if you had a mouthful or if there was only a child sat at the table! there were drinks provided with breakfast but only the apple juice was drinkable with the other juice tasting so strong and artificial (still no water!). As previously described - the restaurant was always hectic with the staff being ordered around and the managers pressuring them to force payments out of you. The food offered in the hotel at lunch was largely quite expensive but still high quality so if you decide to eat lunch on site i reccomend you go for the kids meals as the portions were very large and filling for €9 instead of upwards of €12. My best reccomendation for lunch is Max's restaurant about a 3 minute walk down the strip where you can get 2 courses for €8.50 where their carbonara was some of the best I've ever had. The bar is not 'cheap' but largely the prices you'd expect to pay at an average pub or bar in the UK so not bad here. They are however very strict about bringing outside food or drink onto hotel premisies and as drinks in the local shops are much cheaper is it tempting to do so. i can say that if you choose to do that id reccomend you to buy drinks that the hotel bar serves. Overall - I would not want to deter you from potentially staying here but these are all issued that i faced and feel people should be aware of

Lovely entertainment lovely location lovely free food lovely holiday.

Great communication with the stuff. Very beautiful rooms and clean, I recommended without second thought

We arrived at Ekati Mare Lifestyle Resort yesterday afternoon for a week’s stay to celebrate my partner’s birthday. The hotel itself is lovely, and we really enjoyed the Greek night – it was definitely one of the highlights of our first day. Unfortunately, the service has been disappointing so far. Trying to get a drink while eating is extremely difficult. It feels like the hotel is now at full capacity heading into August, but there simply aren’t enough staff to cope with the number of guests. The staff are clearly working incredibly hard and are constantly rushing around, so this seems to be a management issue rather than the fault of the employees. The hotel would really benefit from having dedicated waiters taking drink orders during meal times to make the service quicker and more efficient. Breakfast was much the same this morning. Having to wait so long just for a coffee isn’t ideal, and investing in a few self-service coffee machines would make a huge difference to the guest experience. The entertainment could also be a little more upbeat, and it would be great to have staff taking drinks orders around the pool during the day rather than guests having to leave their sunbeds each time. Overall, the resort has plenty of potential, and there are things we’ve enjoyed, but the service needs to improve significantly. With better staffing and a few operational changes, the guest experience would be much better.