Karalis City Hotel

We had a deluxe room on a high floor with a lovely balcony facing the sea. Views were nice. The room was a great size, had a safe, tea & coffee making facilities and plenty of storage space for luggage and clothes. Nice bathroom with everything working well. Lovely breakfast and what a pleasant surprise to be able to carry your breakfast tray across the road to the covered terrace with views down to the city and the harbour. Friendly helpful staff. We also loved having access to the sister hotel Karalis Beach Hotel with its beautiful beach bar and sun lounge area, only a short walk from the Karalis City Hotel. We had a car and found parking easily in a small street just opposite.

We had great hopes for this hotel, so much so that we decided to use it as a base for three nights so we could explore the area. We were, however, very disappointed. Let's cut to the chase. There were some plus points, here they are: THE PLUS POINTS: Excellent location, a stone’s throw from the main square, car park, balconies with an amazing view, good wifi, the room was clean. There was a Nespresso machine with two pods each day (except it was not replenished after our second day, we missed out on our last day’s early morning espresso) and two bottles of mineral water in the fridge to start with (again, not replenished after day 1). The terrace across the road is a pleasant spot for breakfast. The staff was friendly on the whole and the hotel accepts dogs (one of the reasons why we booked). On the negative side, here are our observations: The first words we heard at reception were ‘WE HAVE A PROBLEM’ which made our hearts sink as we’d booked in February and paid at the time too. The issue (with our dog) was resolved amicably, thankfully, but it was a weird welcome. PERVADING SEWAGE SMELL: When we entered the room on our first day, at around 3 pm, the whole room smelled of drains and sewage, (anyone who's had a boat and run the flush in the heads after a few months away will know the smell!), and this pervaded throughout that first day and evening, despite opening the balcony doors as long as we could. Allegedly this is because every day the municipality ‘opens’ the drainage system and ‘every house in Pylos smells bad’. It didn’t seem the case to us in other places but what do we know? BATHROOM: We had booked a more expensive room so we could have a bathtub but the bath plug was not working. No seal, no bath! When we asked and one of the receptionists came up to check, she said that “Someone must have broken it” but added that it could not be repaired. Even though we were staying another 2 nights, we were not offered to change room for one with a working bath (the hotel did not seem full). Showers only, then. Except that the showerhead pole is fitted so near the wall that it cannot be moved up or down – if you’re over 5ft 4, good luck crouching down underneath the showerhead to wash your hair. The shower pole was also badly pitted. In a hotel of good standing in Greece, I’d expect toiletries such as Korres or Apivita but no, the do-it-all shampoo-shower-gel provided was a pretty cheap paint stripper-style supermarket brand. The loo roll holder is so badly positioned that every time you pull on it, the roll falls out on the floor. CORRIDORS/BATHROOM VENTS: The corridors are very hot and stuffy, with no ventilation (a hotspot for high viral transmission in the days of airborne viruses, especially as the bedrooms’ bathroom vent windows open out onto the corridor, which is weird to say the least, and likely not very hygienic). SPA? The website mentions ‘Hotel and ‘spa’ but there was no information available in the room or online about sp