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Ocean Blue Hotel

5 of 5 hotels in Ialyssos

3 out of 5 from 9 reviews
4 stars
Ixia Bay, Κόλπος Ιξιάς - Ιαλυσός, Ixia 85100, Greece
The hotel is just 70 metres from the nearest beach and 6 miles from the town. Ialyssos combines modern and ancient Rhodes and has an enviable sun record with up to 300 days a year.

9 Reviews

Traveller Rating

  • Excellent
    0
  • Very Good
    4
  • Good
    2
  • Average
    3
  • Poor
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Review Overview

  • Cleanliness
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Service
  • Location
Suzanne Mann
14 years 8 months ago
After seeing the hotel on the web site we were really excited about visiting. Champagne reception was non existent. We were just given our key and directed to our room. After looking at the official hotel web site I was expecting luxury. I'm no snob and have stayed in some pretty low budget hotels, but after looking at the web site I expected more than what we got.

There were no dressing gowns and slippers awaiting us on the bed, and the decor of the room was the bog standard you get in any low budget hotel. There was no satellite tv in the room, nor a dvd player (both promised on the web site). Not that I go away to use these facilities, but it is false advertising. We paid extra to stay in the double superior garden suites. Thank goodness we did as the other rooms around the pool were tiny. A couple we spoke to had demanded to be moved from one of these pool side rooms because of the noise. Would you believe that after paying extra for a deluxe suite, we had a camp bed in the room??? See the pics.

The hotel is directly under the flight path. The first day we were there it was a novelty, watching the planes fly so low. Trust me, the novelty soon wore off. After being woken every 15 minutes during the night, we weren't the happiest of travellers.

All throughout the holiday we just kept thanking our lucky stars that we weren't around the pool area. For one, the stench of sewage was really, really bad. For two, it was just extremely busy and noisy. Even though the view from my room door was of wasteland, we were happy where we were.

The food was ok, apart from the packed lunch which consisted of a dry cheese and ham sandwich, bottle of water and two bananas. It was rarely hot, but we didn't havea problem with this. What really annoyed us was that the kitchen staff moved your plates as soon as you put your cutlery down. This was annoying to say the least, especially if you were having to interrupt eating your dessert in order to pass your plates over to the waiting on staff. The staff were rude - simply saying 'Finished?' before snatching away your plates.

A word of warning - don't use the soft drinks dispenser in the restaurant as it is infested with crawling bugs when you pour your drink out. When we told the waiting on staff that we had a glass full of bug infested lemonade they squirted the machine and said 'it's sorted.'. But every day when we tried to use it, the same thing happened.

All inclusive only lasts until 11pm. Be aware....they have 1, or if you are lucky 2, barstaff on so you can imagine the queues for drinks. The bar staff were surly, ignorant and rude. I have been to Rhodes many times and have always found the Greek people the nicest in the world so this surprised me immensely. I later found out that the bar staff and kitchen staff were Polish and Albanian, so maybe weren't happy in their jobs perhaps?

One evening they ran out of brandy. They just replied 'No brandy'. By this time, our party was feeling extremely fed up by the attitude of the staff and spoke to the manager who promptly went to the beer store and returned with brandy. The truth was, the bar staff just couldnt be bothered to fetch it. They were happier to serve guests who were paying for their drinks. They didn't seem to be bothered about serving children - one of my children was waiting 20minutes before we had to go to the bar to get a drink for her. There was no entertainment on the Friday we were there as it was the Animation Team's day off. In peak season?? And on a Friday???

We weren't allowed to use the toilet near the pool for 30minutes after the cleaners had been in, and were simply blocked physically from entering! We found the reception staff and the manager very helpful and pleasant however.

The a la carte restaurant wasn't part of the all inclusive deal but we knew this before we went.

The entertainment consisted of the same music being played all day. We were also mithered to buy Cds and t shirts at 15 euros each. They played bingo, which cost 5 euros a game, and the prize was a CD or a t shirt. The hotel was in the middle of nowhere, but this wasn't a problem because it is so cheap to use public transport in Rhodes.

The hotel is directly on the beach - it's a small pebble beach, but the sea is beautiful. There was no beach bar, as stated on the hotel web site.

The bus into Rhodes costs 2 euros for an adult and 1 euro for a child which is fabulous value for money. Also, if you caught the bus near the hotel you managed to get a seat, whereas if you were further towards Rhodes and got on then you would be standing along with about 30 other people.

I love Rhodes, and will definitely visit again - but will definitely never go to this hotel ever again. After working hard to save up and go on this holiday, I expected a little more customer service than what I received. If staff in hotels in Britain were as unhelpful and as rude I am quite sure they would be out of a job.
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Travel operator: Aldi Travel

Denise
14 years 8 months ago
We looked this Hotel up on the net and liked what we saw, it claims to be 5* but the price we paid we did not expect it to be, I can happily say it was 3* plus, our room was always clean, and so were the public areas, yes we may not have been able to use the toilets whilst cleaning took place, but at least they were cleaned!!!

The All Inclusive food was lovely, probably the best we have had. We never experienced a problem getting served and found all the Restraunt and Bar Staff to be very pleasent, but that's perhaps because we thanked them every time, manners cost nothing!!!!
We found the Reception Staff and cleaners very pleasent, we had no Rep but didn't need it as Reception answered all our Questions. One thing though they don't Exchange Sterling at Reception, you have to walk to Bank in Krematasi. (Don't forget your Passport if Exchanging Money)

The Hotel was on the flight path which we knew about and soon got used too!

There where other Bars with a few hundred yards of the Hotel we could use and Krematasi was only 1KM away, with lots of bars.

Entertainment was a bit lacking but we all can't be pleased all the time.

We were so pleased with our stay at Ocean Blue, and with Aldi travel who we booked through.
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Travel operator: Aldi Travel

Recommended
Valerie
15 years 6 months ago
Ocean Blue Hotel Kremasti. The location of the hotel is pretty quiet but we knew that and we always hire cars to explore other parts so that was fine. The hotel is very comfortable and quite modern we were in the rooms without the private pools, they were a good size and kept very clean by the staff, the only thing some of us didn't like was the jacuzzi bath. After a day of sunbathing covered in sun cream you really need a shower. The shower head pulls out of the top of the bath so if you stand and hold it with one hand you soak the floor because there is no screen. Most of the staff were very pleasant and efficient but not the Manager. We almost had a stand up row with him because we complained about the food being luke warm even when it has just been brought out. He was very defensive straight away and his answer to us was "there is a microwave on the bread table". Also they were always running out of cups so we had to keep asking. He said he had just ordered 100 new ones and things did get better. The quality of the food was really good and plenty of choice, we certainly didn't go hungry but it just wasn't hot enough. The desert selection was great plenty of ice cream, fruit and the cakes were fantastic. We never got to sit around the pool as the loungers were always taken, the towels were going on at 6.30 in the morning. The first couple of days we sat in one of the three garden areas but it was too hot for us so we ventured onto the small beach area behind the hotel. Now you can't really call it a beach because it's mostly large and small pebbles in a mixture of sand and dirt with a line of trees. But we loved it as the breeze off the sea helped you keep cool and you could sit under the trees for a break from the sun.The entertainment was average but at least they tried hard and they were very friendly. Would we visit again?,probably but would hope they could sort out a way of serving hot food.
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Travel operator: olympic

Recommended
Daz
16 years 5 months ago
this hotel has just been refurbished throughout and so is very clean and decorated. the room we had was a good size with a pool and sea view, jacuzzi bath/shower,with clean towels and cleaned room every day. the lifts and corridors were kept clean and so were the other areas of the hotel. the food was good with a good selection but may get boring for 2 weeks. after reading others' comments about the catering i was a bit reserved about going to this hotel but found it wasn't that bad. the staff were good in the resturaunt and bars but the entertainment was not that good in the evenings unfortunatly.
this hotel is directly under the flight path into Rhodes airport that is only 10/15 mins away so prepare yourself for aircraft noise. you do get used to it tho'. in all a good holiday at a nice time of year and would look at going back if i wanted a break without doing too much.
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Travel operator: thomas cook

Recommended
Wino
16 years 5 months ago
I would have given this hotel a much more positive review apart from 3 things - 1, the management had sent all but one of the entertainment team away by the time we got there. 2, the owner decided to host his daughters wedding in the middle of our stay, thus rendering 90% of the hotel out of bounds for paying customers and 3, the owner treats the place like a private members club for his hangers-on and switches off the entertainment and has people moved from tables etc. monopolises the staff and has zero respect for the guest lining his pockets.

On the positive side our room was great, with modern fittings and pool. The food was about average for a greek all inclusive but we never eat in the hotel all the time anyway as Rhodes is too spectacular to limit yourself to just one place.

The maids were incredibly hard working and friendly, the non-greek staff such as the dining room and waiter staff were barely civil but most could speak only a little english so perhaps this is the reason. Entertainment was pants and scarce (see above) and there is a pervading stench of sewage coming from a plant room behind the hotel gift shop which is nasty if you are staying that side of the hotel. The smell was there all the time except it miraculously disappeared on the day of the wedding probably due to the tons of disinfectant the had been poured down the drains.

The wedding was a ludicrous. There was no prior notice, in fact there was no notice at all and we only found out through word of mouth. All the holiday guests were crammed into the small a la carte venue that was closed for the rest of the stay despite appearing in the hotel website as being available. This was a nightmare as it was far too small to house all the all-inc guests on a buffet basis and had a slippery ramp and a pool-like water feature running through it so it was a real hazard. The food on the day in question was dire as well. Hardly what you expect from a so-called 5 star hotel. The bar was out of bounds to guests, this was acheived by the cunning method of ignoring them till they went away so we did just that and went to watch the rugby final. We found out later that the groom was the son of some big cheese and that the grounds were being patrolled by machine gun toting goons, nice!

I wouldn't recommend that anyone books until the owner realises that you cannot take people's money and then treat the place like a private club.
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Travel operator: On The Beach

Mr P Johns
16 years 5 months ago
the hotel is very clean but food was always luke warm even though a good choice .hotel right under airport flight path so noisy beach. pebbles so not pleasant to use.not any other places to go or walk to at night
so besr bet is taxi ride to rhodes town which cost 10 euros.this is definately not a five star hotel more like a three
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Travel operator: last minute

Kath
16 years 6 months ago
Please do not waste your money on going to this hotel. On the positive side, our room was modern and clean. Then there were the negatives: The food was always warm, never hot. We usually opted for salad as the other options were typically cold fish fingers, poor cuts of meat, pizza or a lucky dip (once opted for pork in some kind of sauce that turned out to be boiling beef and on another occasion, what was advertised as beef turned out to be liver - close I guess). Don't expect traditional Greek cuisine. The restaurant seemed more like a canteen. Note: the only staff in the canteen are those who clear tables whether you have finished your meal or not and don't seem to speak English (don't leave your meal unattended - when we got back to our table with drinks our meals had been removed and Italians have taken our places).
Our deal was supposed to be 5* (I'd give it 3* max')and all inclusive but local spirits with local mixers are not free in the afternoon or after 23.00. Don't get clever and ask for something like a "B52". The house wine is not pleasant either. Snacks at the snack bar were left over from the previous mealtime.
Although the pool outside our room felt private the main pool area was untidy and the seating grubby (don't sit down in your best evening wear before checking if the seats are dry and clean).
The staff were unfriendly.
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Travel operator: going on holiday

16 years 8 months ago
Please take note of all the bad reviews on this hotel and take my advice, don't waste your hard earned money.

It is not 4 or 5* standard. The fixtures & fittings are lovely, very modern and trendy. But there were so many other things that all added to my disappointment of the holiday overall.

Food - always just warm, never hot. No variation, struggle to put together a decent meal. Breakfast was not bad, also lunch ok if you like salads, but evening meal was rubbish. We ate out twice, once in Rhodes Town and once in the taverna next door to the All Inclusive Hotel!

Information - we were not told any times for meals, snacks, drinks etc so we missed breakfast once and arrived for lucnch one day when they were clearing away the food! No signs or leaflets were available to share this information with you.

Room - we were given a room with a square on the floor in the bathroom for the shower, no fitting on the wall. We went back to reception and asked for the room we were promised as advertised on their website "all rooms have a luxurious jacuzzi". They were happy to oblige and moved us to a room with the jacuzzi bath!

Staff - Reception staff were quite helpful to be honest, bar, restaurant and snack staff were unhelpful. Being told we could not have a drink of lemonade as they had no cups.... we had to go to the next bar to be told they had none either! Soory, but on an AI holiday drinks should be readily available as and when required. Their response was we never have enough cups.... then buy some more!

Aircraft - Noise is pretty much every 10 minutes but once the plane has passed its quiet again. You do get used to that.

Entertainment - oh my god, horrendous. I'm 27 & my boyfriend is 25, we like a laugh and a bit of fun but unless you like the okey kokey, head shoulders knees & toes, hey baby & follow the leader every single night then you will love it. We didn't so spent majority of our time sat on our balcony. This went on til about 12 then finally a bit a peace.

Other things to do - other than a couple of bars and tavernas theres not a great deal in the surrounding area to keep you entertained.

Gym - what gym??? This has been converted into a Rent a Car place, so don't look forward to a work out!

All in all, it is a great hotel to look at, a lot of money has been spent on it and this is great. They are just not quite up to scratch with the things that really count for an enjoyable holiday, especially when spending over
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Travel operator: Olympic Holidays

Rod & Val
16 years 9 months ago
We stayed at the Ocean Blue for two weeks and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The Hotel has recently been refurbished to a good standard.

We had a room with a balcony overlooking the pool. The bathroom had a Jacuzzi Bath (which is very small), as most of the rooms do. This looks very good but is impractical to use as a shower as the flexy hose is not long enough to use standing up.

The hotel staff could not have been more helpful and friendly. Meals were served in a self service restaurant and were of a good standard.

The hotel gardens lead down to a stoney/sandy beach at the sea. There is a nice breeze coming off the sea all the time we stayed there.
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Travel operator: Planet Holidays

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