Family fun in Rhodes
First Choice advertised a brand new 5* one in Rhodes, and after having a look at the activities on offer, I booked for a fortnight’s stay.
I opted for the Royal Deluxe area, as the accommodation was better and more peaceful too. The rooms are junior suite style with a partition dividing the main double bed from the two children’s beds. Patio doors, lead on to a balcony and a view over the pool. I was really pleased with the accommodation and the flat screen TV / DVD combo meant we could watch a DVD during our respite from the sun in the middle of the day.
Our lagoon pool area was massive and peaceful. It is perfect for children as Lily could just about stand on her tiptoes in the deep end and it had plenty of shallow areas for little ones.
Staying in the Royal Deluxe area, meant breakfast and main meals could be taken in the club house restaurant which was very nice. A wider choice of menu could be taken in the main buffet restaurant which was extremely busy, somewhat chaotic and a little noisy. The food choice here was extensive and very well cooked, but caters to the British market with roast dinners, shepherd’s pie and a variety of Indian, Chinese and other dishes. There was little if any typically Greek food which was a real shame.
The water park area was excellent: divided into two separate parts for young children and older ones, it had six water slides, plus splash-park and a lazy river with rings. To the side there were also high wires and trampolines. The children’s club house has a playground and a pool which they used for canoeing and lifeguard training.
The entertainment team were excellent and every evening, there was some sort of show for the youngsters followed by a show for the adults. How they managed to perform in the heat is beyond me. We were lucky as we enjoyed about 32 degrees daily with a nice breeze whilst we were there, but the previous fortnight the temperature had regularly been upwards of 42 degrees. Lily’s favourite show had to be the ABBA tribute and it was superb.
We went down to Kolymbia beach a few times but you need beach shoes as it is stony. It has lovely clear waters and a variety of water sports on offer. In an effort to show Lily some more traditional Greece,, we decided to hire a car and venture out.
£45 got us a small Fiat from Rodos Cars, but on the day, they had upgraded us twice to something Astra size so that was a nice treat! We headed away down the coastal road south of Kolymbia towards Lindos. The views of Lindos are quite awesome from the road, but we decided to head a bit further on and spend the day on the beach at Pefkos. It has a nice narrow sandy beach with beds and umbrellas, and a great beachfront taverna with local food. The sea is really clear here and we saw lots of small fish which Lily tried unsuccessfully to catch.
It was really nice to see the scenery of this island: small villages dotted along the road, houses with small holdings and the fields of olive groves everywhere. It isn’t as lush as the Ionian Islands, but it does have a rugged charm. Lily particularly enjoyed seeing the little goats everywhere and the fruit trees with their trunks painted white, and has got a much clearer picture of the way of life out there.
We felt we had been away much longer than our two weeks as we headed back to the airport. We had a really great time and some great fun together. I think in hindsight, this probably wasn’t our type of holiday – I prefer more local cuisine and I felt the main restaurant was just too busy and noisy. Lily also didn’t want to use the children’s club facilities, preferring to play in the pool, and we certainly didn’t get value from the all inclusive meal plan.
However the rooms, the pools and the staff were all superb, and we had an excellent holiday as a result!