Europe / Love / Reviews / Travel

Gennadi Grand Resort, Rhodes Review

We were really disappointed when Gennadi Grand Resort in Rhodes, Greece did not meet it’s soft opening launch date when we were due to stay in April 2018. So during #JasperBean’s first break from school we decided to visit again to see if this gorgeous hotel lived up to its grand name.

On arrival

Our luggage was taken off us as soon as they saw us approaching the hotel. We were promptly handed a glass of yummy and refreshing cocktail of some sort and #JasperBean with a glass of apple juice. After checking in, we were taken to our room via buggy and the driver pointed out to the different areas of the hotel. As it was already 8 in the evening, it was really dark and we were thankful he let us knew the quick route from our room to the main restaurant. Upon entering our room, we were greeted with more wine, salmon sandwiches and a big platter of fruit.

Our Room

We booked to stay in a Junior Suite with sea view and private pool. However was promptly upgraded to a double bedroom with sea view and private pool. Maybe due to the fact that it was October and end of their tourism season, they had plenty of rooms to spare. Of course we didn’t complain and the room was beautiful.

Our double room meant that we had masses of space for the 4 of us. A queen size bed in one and a twin in the other. Me, S and #DD stayed in the queen and #JasperBean stayed in the twin. The rooms were partitioned off with wooden sliding doors, which gave us privacy when needed. The additional room was ideal for when #JasperBean needed to sleep with minimal disturbance. As we had a baby, the resort provided us with a cot complete with baby pillow and bed sheets as well.

Double the room meant double the facilities, we had 2 sets of everything, except the sofa bed. His and Her sinks in both rooms, shower, fridge with mini bar and coffee machines and the usual you would expect from a hotel. The only nagging part of the room was the location of the toilet (behind the sinks/bed) and shower (next to the front door). I would probably swop them around, but you get use to the layout pretty quickly. The best part of our room was of course our private pool. Double the size of the room, double the size of our pool. Now that we have had the experience of a bigger private pool, I’m not sure I can settle for a smaller one. 😛

Room and maid service was exceptional. Unfortunately during our stay, #DD hadn’t been feeling well and almost every night without fail, between 3-6am, he would vomit, in our bed… Hence we needed our bedsheets and towels changed daily and this was always done swiftly and without complaint.

The Food

With small children and also having visited Rhodes before, we decided that booking in as All Inclusive would be the best option, and oh boy, were we right! You could say All Inclusive was an absolute bargain for the food they were serving, even if you didn’t have a single drop of alcohol. I have never really experienced all inclusive as I have at Gennadi Grand Resort.

Note: Eating at the restaurants would work out pretty expensive if you were on B&B or half board. There aren’t really any restaurants nearby, so I highly recommend that you choose All Inclusive when booking. 

Φiloxenia Main Restaurant (buffet – breakfast, lunch and dinner)

This is where we had our breakfast, however lunch and dinner is also served here and we did not need to book. Just walk in and give them our room numbers to be shown a table either inside or out. The food were served buffet style and we chose and picked what we wanted to eat. The options here weren’t as many as I have seen in some other hotels, but the quality was exceptional. Everything was fresh and all the staff were very friendly and attentive.

Going to the main restaurant was one of the highlights for #JasperBean as he couldn’t get enough of the waitresses there. Always paying him attention and playing with him. Even the pianist managed to play with him whilst doing his job! I couldn’t thank them enough for giving me quality time to really enjoy my food.

However, I did have two issues with the restaurant.

Number 1: The baby high chairs, the straps on many of them were broken or had snapped. But the staff weren’t troubled when I asked for replacements, however, these need to be fixed ASAP. Number 2: The lack of English Breakfast tea bags. Most mornings, there was only 1 left, or none. I had to ask staff for them and although they were vey eager to help and absolutely amazing, I would have preferred less hassle. Operating Hours: 07:00-10:30, 12:30-14:30, 1900-21:15

ΟUΖO TAVERN

Situated next to the main pool. Booking required and is included in All Inclusive. The only thing we needed to choose were the main course. Operating Hours: 19:00-22:30.

στK’s Grill Restaurant

Situated next to the pool near the reception. Booking required and is included in All Inclusive. Great fine wine selection to go with ready to melt gastronomic meat dishes, however the portion sizes of the main dishes aren’t big, so definitely needed to order sides. Operating Hours: 19:00-22:30.

TEN2ONE

Casual all day a la carte restaurant.

Blε Poolside Restaurant

A la Carte Pool Restaurant. Usually booking is required but it was really quiet so we didn’t have to book in advance. The burgers are huge and the steak sandwiches are mouth watering. My usual fussy non meat eating #JasperBean demolished the steak! Operating Hours: 10:00-16:00 and 18:00-23:00.

Eδesma Fine Dining

A la carte fine dining. Booking required and highly recommended! An amazing and adventurous tasting menu that blew our socks off! Operating hours: 19:00-23:00.

*For all restaurants that required booking, children have the option to choose meals that were outside the menu such as chicken nuggets or pasta. 

Activities and Facilities

Activities such as table tennis, beach volleyball, yoga and pool game exercises were on offer daily. But maybe because it wasn’t peak season, so entertainment was low key with either jazz singers, saxophones or a pianist. But this suited us well as we wanted a quiet and relaxing holiday and this was exactly what we got. We asked about their capacity and when full, there will be upwards of 700 guests staying, but even at end of season, there were around 400 guests. Which does sound a lot, but we never felt that it was crowded or claustrophobic. The resort actually felt really roomy and we had masses of space.

Creche

There is a small children’s play centre in the hotel, but there was no other children except for one afternoon where there was another little boy. My guess was there would be more during the summer months or longer school breaks. So my boy had the pick of what he wanted to do there rather than be governed by a schedule. It’s more suited for little children around the ages of 3-6, any older and they would easily find it boring. The small playground outside consisted of a climbing frame, slide and a few smaller play items. We didn’t spend more than 30 minutes in this area, as we always opted to go back for a swim.

Gym

Good size gym with a range of equipments, but we didn’t get to use it as the pool was more than enough for us.

Thalasso Spa

Award winning spa that is situated underneath the reception area. It’s not very eye catching and you would only know it was there due to a stand up banner. But if you are ever there, do not give it a miss! More photos and review coming soon!

Beach

Small pebbly beach that had been covered with black sand. Another highlight for us! As we were sunning ourselves on the deck chairs, #JasperBean was busy collecting stones of all shapes and sizes. We easily could have stayed there all day. Very calming and relaxing and the hotel and bar was literally a stones throw away.

Thoughts

When choosing to stay at the Gennadi Grand Resort, you are definitely staying here for the food, the service and the tranquility. Or so at least our recent stay was. However, we want to see the underdeveloped and unused land around the resort flourish and more plants established. Currently there are barren areas of rough ground and vegetation that seems a bit of an eye sore for a 5 start resort. Would we come back? Absolutely! In a heartbeat.

Thank you for reading and thank you Gennadi Grand Resort for giving us an unforgettable first family of four holiday abroad. X

Let me know what you think!

error: Content is protected! Please contact Mummy Wishes for permission.
%d bloggers like this: