Kairaba Sandy Villas

This is an honest review from a young married couple that recently stayed at Sandy Villas. When we arrived, it was very late and we were quickly checked in to our accommodation. I had joined a Facebook group where previous guests from the hotel had said that they had received sandwiches however we did not. We were upgraded to a villa with a private pool which was lovely. We did note that we shared our pool with a resident frog which stayed for 2 days. We were taken in a golf buggy to our room and went to bed. The next morning we went to breakfast which was fairly same-y for the whole stay, the weather was overcast so we stayed either around the pool, in the lobby or in our room. The soft drinks weren't the same from lobby to pool bar. The pool Pepsi wasn't very flavourful but was better in the lobby. We found the lunch items to be repeated again later in the evening. After our evening meal, we sat and played cards in the lobby where there was evening entertainment (this was great all week.) Both myself and my husband opted to have a cocktail as it was my birthday, I had a blue lagoon which was awful. It was horrendously alcoholic with no fruity flavour. This put me off having another cocktail for the rest of the holiday. We went to bed and I awoke around an hour later not feeling well only to find I had a sickness bug which kept me awake well into the following morning. I cannot confirm that I had caught it from the hotel however I did hear from two other guests that they too had sickness bugs throughout our stay. This meant that I missed breakfast and lunch the following day as I felt so rough but I did manage to stomach a bread roll and chicken skewer at dinner. We had booked into the Italian restaurant for our A La Carte meal which was very average. We had a Caesar salad, tortellini, chicken and mashed potato and the Italian meringue. The chicken that I had were 2 roasted drumsticks. The most positive thing I can say that because we had pre-ordered, we were in and out in an hour and 10 minutes. We did also dine at the beachside restaurant one lunch time, the staff again were very efficient. I ordered the burger and fries and this came without a bun. The food itself was very average. The other resort does not have the same quality as Sandy Villas, we had booked an adult only and the sister hotel was very family focused. There was an on site shop there which was handy as we were able to buy snacks and drinks. Our pool wasn't cleaned throughout our stay, which meant there was a build up of leaves and algae around the ladders so I didn't go in. Our minifridge however was topped up every single day. The TVs show mainly German channels. We did book a trip through Lord Travel to Corfu Town, this was 15 euro per adult and was well run. The buildings and staff make this resort what it is, please don't book thinking you will have gastronomical delights. The food isn't the best, nor are the drinks however the staff work hard and are quick to accommodate.

Arrived at about 2pm, tired and hungry. Lunch finishes at 2.30pm, yet the receptionist failed to mention this, only doing so with less than two minutes left. There wasn't much of an alternative other than to go to the Sandy Beach Hotel for hotdogs. Dinner was to be served from 6.30pm! It was the reception on duty on 17/10/24. Again, the same receptionist the following day failed to describe areas of interest within the locality. Displayed zero knowledge of what, where, how to visit places of interest. No problems with the accommodation or the service in the dining area. The lady, Nikki at Ammos, the Greek restaurant and her team were welcoming and quietly efficient at what they do. It was the same for the dining staff and Femis, the cart driver. The cleaning staff were great too, room was regularly cleaned to a high standard through my stay at the hotel. Did not like current arrangements at the beach, I suggest there should be a cordoned off area for Sandy Villas guests as the whole point of the service is to cater to people who really wish to mostly interact with Adults. Back to the reception. The sense was that staff here thought they were doing guests a favour, caught one of them actually roll her eyes when interacting with a guest over an issue. I think they would greatly benefit from further customer service training, if at all they had one. Would not be returning.

Miki has made us very welcomed even tho this wasn’t where we stayed at but Sandy beach resort, it’s a pool bar by the beach, you have to pay for cocktails if you are not staying in the Villas but worth all the money, didn’t even use my all inclusive drinks in my hotel as it was very basic. Makes brilliant cocktails, very friendly person, would recommend to “create your own cocktail” as he has a lot of great ideas for drinks!

My review is based on service, unfortunately not on place as we stayed in hotel next to it. Miki honestly deserves pay rise for the service he provided for us. His cocktails are delicious and it just makes you wanna come back for more! He brings such a good atmosphere to the place and made our stay very pleasant! Honestly don’t go for menu drinks, just ask him to make you cocktail and he always comes up with great ideas. Bonus was the fact that the pool was also very nice and you could properly enjoy the sea view. 10/10 service😁

We are currently staying here. 9 nights down, 5 to go. The hotel reception has the wow factor on arrival. We booked a superior room and were very pleased with it but had a mosquito problem - our door frame was slightly askew and they were getting through the gap at night. After 3 nights we mentioned this to reception and we were immediately offered another room which turned out to be a suite with a separate lounge and 2 full bathrooms - result! The staff here are outstanding. By far the best staff we have ever encountered anywhere. It's probably not fair to mention specific names because they are all so wonderful, but Harris in the restaurant is exceptional. Denis and the lovely ladies who work at the Oasis bar are fabulous too. Our suite is cleaned to a very high standard every day, and the munibar restocked daily also. The food in the hotel restaurant is excellent at all 3 meals every day. Lots of choice, all good quality and nicely presented. We haven't tried the 2 a la carte restaurants but have spoken to people who have and they raved over the food and service at the Italian. I haven't heard feedback about the Greek a la carte. We've had some light lunches at the beach front area of the swim up pool bar and they are great and served to you wherever you want to eat them. The 2 guys who work at the swim up pool bar are lovely. The evening entertainment is low key and aimed correctly at the demographic of people staying here. Mostly very good and the violinist who is on every Saturday night is mesmerising. She does a 2+hour set and is an amazing talent. The adults only section of the beach is nice but would be even better if the seaweed was cleared between the sunbeds and the waters edge. Overall, taking everything into consideration, I would say this has been and continues to be the best holiday abroad we've ever had, and we've had many. There is talk that for 2025 the hotel is going to accommodate families. Apparently a decision will be made in January. It would be a great shame if this happens. The peace and quiet of the resort layout and the quality of the decor and furnishings in public areas would be ruined. If the hotel remains Adults Only we will definitely return next year.