Hotel St John Villas

The Villa was described by Jet2 holidays as a Luxurious 5 star accommodation. The first thing to say is the accommodation is definitely NOT either luxurious or 5 star. The Villa was very tired and in desperate need of remedial work. This included the decking around the pool which quite frankly needed replacing. When we arrived the grass around the pool was at least a foot high and it took over a week for this to be cut. There was an outside shower to use before going into the pool, unfortunately it was situated so that the water run straight onto the air conditioning units. The bathroom had mould around the bath and each time we showered the show head fell off. When air conditioning was turned on in one of the bedrooms a ver pungent strong smell of cat urine was obvious. These were just some of the issues we faced. In conclusion, St Johns Villa are not either luxurious or 5 star. A better expectation would be to think of them as basic and 1 star. Unfortunately, the price paid did reflect the former not the latter. The Villa is in desperate need of refurbishment and investment.

We stayed in the Suites for a few days and throughly enjoyed it. The staff was super nice, everyone from Abdulle, the cart driver to the ladies at the restaurant. The Suite was spacious and beautiful!! We REALLY appreciated that the pool was heated, as we went during the off season and it would have been to cold to use it if it were not heated!!!! You definitely need a car if you are going to stay here as the hotel sits on a hill and while walking down might be ok, walking up at night would not be fun. We had a car so it was not a problem, but I would suggest others have one in advance.

Dear Saint John suites, On the 9th of July I have booked “ 1 Deluxe Suite with Sea View and Private Pool” via *********** for 4 nights from Wednesday 13th to Sunday 17th of July. The room promised on the booking was shown and described as a modern accomodation providing luxury and comfort. On Wednesday 13th I have sent an email to the hotel to inform them that I have been very sick and won’t be able to come for the first night (as the doctor advise me to rest) however will be able to come on the following day (Thursday 14th). The hotel replied back that it will not be an issue at all. On Thursday 14th the hotel send me back an email asking me at what time we will be arriving. Unfortunately I haven’t seen their email straight away. The hotel sent me another email (completely unprofessional) around 12:30 and said : “Are you coming or not because I will cancel the booking” As soon as I have seen this email I have been trying to call the hotel few time to confirm our arrival time. A very rude person on the phone told me that they will keep a room and that I should have replied to their email earlier. Once arriving in the hotel, one member of their team brought us to a very old villa (definitely not the one we paid for). We mentioned that we didn’t book for that and they said to us that because we didn’t reply to their email on time their canceled our original room. I also received an email from booking for “No show” while the hotel was informed that we will be coming a day after. We couldn’t stay in this hotel as it was not was we paid for. The staff member mentioned straight away that we won’t be reimbursed and that it was our mistake that we didn’t pick up their calls (never received) and replied too late to their email once again. We paid 1 500euros for nothing, and faced a staff that was not even understanding on the fact that I was sick and not professional at all (through email, over the phone and in person) This hotel is the worst experience I ever had and won’t recommend anyone.

On arrival, the team were friendly, it was a chilled process of booking in but a 5* touch would have been a welcome drink/towel, we were shown to our suite via golf cart up one of the many hills here, and the suite looked amazing with a decent plunge pool 1.5m deep, not heated, but that was ok in July however any earlier in the year would have been a problem, the views were also stunning. The golf carts to and from reception are complimentary and are needed, this is not the place for anyone with mobility issues, once in the room and settled over time we found the internet to be just ok but individual routers in suites were temperamental and we needed ours looking at 3 times during our 2 week stay, this is in addition to the 2 power outages one of around 30 mins and the other for over 2 hours that we also had? There Is also only one English speaking TV channel this is BBC News on Chan 602, if you do not have any other download system for entertainment I suggest you get a Netflix account as this is the only thing on the TV that is accessible. So moving into the main area facilities, to be fair we knew this place was not overly facilitated as it’s basically a quiet retreat out of the way, it does have a bar area segregated between suites / villa area which is also used for breakfast and evening meals, be aware as expected there is a mark up on prices, not so much for food but certainly for drinks, and room services has a number of charges added to the service, I will state that the food here is really good and large in portion size so the slight extra cost in my opinion is covered by the quality. There is a spa and small gym and that’s pretty much it, the reception are the focal point here and are on the whole very good, they are used for golf carts, taxi’s etc you can get hire cars and trips thru them and it’s quite efficient. The location as discussed earlier is not suited for people with mobility issues, the Hills to and from Tsilivi are ridiculously steep and poorly lit this means that you have to factor in taxi fares of around €8 each way or definitely on rtn to the hotel or hire car, I’ve read in previous reviews that this is a big problem with this location and can’t understand why the management cannot facilitate using the golf carts or van to convey people to the village and back maybe at certain times throughout the day and evening, I do know that the suites next door (Olea) do this for their guests on request. In summary whilst this is a lovely place, tranquil etc, there are tweaks that would in my opinion just take this place over the 5* threshold, the staff were great and bar staff/housekeeping etc go out of their way to provide a really good service. We would return here however we have stayed at Lesante blu which in our opinion has those extra touches that make it 5*

We ve stayed in Gardenia villa. The comfort and luxury is beyond measure. My son and daughter enjoyed the swimming pool (which by the way had crystal clean water without smelling chlorine) the beds were super comfortable, the garden was perfect and always peaceful and quiet. Fantastic stuff and service in our villa. Very rich breakfast and wonderful sea view from everywhere. By far the best 5 star hotel I've visited until now.