Labranda Marine Aquapark Resort

We have just returned from the White Olive. Rooms and all areas (walk ways, pool area, restaurant etc..) was spotlessly clean - the cleaners all work so hard! Our room was small but perfect for us, with very good AC and a powerful shower. On our return to the room one day there were no shower towels. I rang reception and a member of the team were knocking the door with towels within 10 minutes- super service.

The main restaurant was always busy but as a family of 5 we never had to wait for a table. We ate there everyday for breakfast and lunch, and most evenings. There’s always something to eat from pizza to pasta to vegetables, salads and different meats. Again the waiting staff there were incredible in this restaurant, very friendly and attentive. We ate in the à la cart one evening. This food was plentiful and delicious. The service however was a little to be desired!! The 2 men serving could learn a lot from the staff downstairs in the main restaurant! One was quite rude and seemed to show preferential treatment for a Greek family rather than us, serving them before us (even though we were there first) ensuring they had drinks and ignored us asking so much so that my husband went to the bar next door to get our drinks. We also had lunch from the snack bar one day. The men literally do not stop making pizzas, kebabs and fries for hungry (and sometimes very greedy) holiday makers. There is a roof top bar in the main building which is fantastic. This is not just for adults, children are welcome here too. We were baffled how it was empty every night. Go there if you get the chance, it’s really good!

The entertainment in the evenings wasn’t great. Very boring and not entertaining. We painfully watched ‘couples night’ on evening …. shambolic! However, the animation team work incredibly hard day and night. There’s so much on offer from aqua aerobics to darts to volley ball. The team are not pushy at all and simply wit at the meeting points for people to join. They literally give their all!

We rented a car from the hotel 1 day to explore the island. This cost E110 which we felt was expensive considering it only costs E190 to rent a car for the whole week in Tenerife. We also booked a day out visiting 3 islands on a boat trip from the harbour which was brilliant and we took a taxi to Kos town one evening to have dinner out, again well worth it. We had a fabulous holiday, however I would not say that this hotel is a 4*. There were some little things such as the locks and handles on toilet doors were broken, some paintwork issues on some walls etc.. that I feel were overlooked and you should not expect from a 4*.

We have just returned (literally last night!) from 9 nights at this wonderful hotel and I honestly wouldnt fault a thing. Prior to going i was a little worried as I was seeing more negative reviews - im always mindful you cant please everyone and everyone's tastes/requirements are different - but im quite picky when it comes to holidays (they cost us a fortune going in school holidays!) so here is my honest review, hopefully covering the things that mattered most to us/worried me ahead of going - hope it helps!

We are a family of 4 with 2 kids - 9 and 5. We travelled from Bristol with Jet2 and booked as a package holiday. Everything with Jet2 was seamless and the transfer took around 40 minutes. We arrived at 9:10pm and the receptionist quickly gave us our wristbands and sent us for dinner before the restaurant closed at 930 - we had hoped to arrive in time to grab some food having travelled all day so there swift action was appreciated!

Room - we booked a superior family suite with garden view and were allocated 1608 which was a ground floor room, close to the main pool which was ideal. The room was modern, spacious and clean - we had a huge bed in the bedroom and then 2 sofa beds made up as a double in the lounge which suited us perfectly. The bathroom was spacious with a large walk in shower - the temperature of the water was a little iffy at times but nothing wrong with a cool shower! Shampoo & shower gel provided so no need to take your own unless you want to! 2 air con units in the bedroom/lounge which kept the room lovely and cool. I had seen reviews saying cockroaches were an issue but we didnt see a single one! Housekeeping did a fab job of keeping the room clean with fresh towels daily and bedding changed a few times too. There was one day where only towels were changed but that wasnt a problem!

Pools - one of the highlights of the hotel for sure. A huge main pool which is also the wave pool, the waves are big enough to be fun but not too much for younger kids! Floaties allowed, and its a walk in pool so again, perfect for all ages if you want shallower water or deep! The water was a lovely temp, especially in the 38 degree heat! There was music on around the pool so a fab vibe. Then of course the water park - 5 awesome large slides which is fun for everyone, plus you can take floating on for extra speed! There is also smaller slides and water play for little people and the pool itself is shallow. There was a small baby pool in this area too. There is also an adults only pool behind the main pool - walking past is as close as i got 🤣 but it looked very chilled and the sunloungers looked fancy! We had our own pool towels but you can pay a deposit and get towels from a kiosk by the main pool. Now the bit I worried about - sunloungers! When we booked the holiday, all the reviews said getting a lounger was never an issue, then closer to going, reviews made it sound like beds got reserved at the crack of dawn - not what I want to be doing on holiday! With 2 young kids, like a lot of families we want to be front row to keep an eye on them. As we arrived at night, the next morning we went by the pool on the way to breakfast around 830am - and was pleasantly surprised to see only a few loungers had been reserved. There are loads of beds around the pools which is great. I did notice through the holiday on some days, front row beds were reserved by 8am, other days a little later. I would grab some beds around the main pool 815, head to breakfast and then we were back down as soon as the pool opened at 10am. We didnt sit by the water slides but one morning I went for a walk and the majority of the beds were reserved by 830 so if you want to sit there, you'd have to be up a little earlier! But, certainly no sun bed wars at 6am or queueing for them like many tik tok videos I saw whilst away! There is also a private beach, the water is glorious and crystal clear! There are a handful of sunloungers too. You'll also catch the most incredible sunset every night too 🌇

Animation team - they are just awesome. They work so hard, are the most energetic, happy group and work tirelessly all day. They start every morning and afternoon with a song/dance at the main pool and then during the day they do activities like aqua gym (which BTW I have never seen so many people join in with!), darts, ping ping, aqua yoga, water polo. Then they do the mini disco at 830pm and entertainment starts at 915pm. They did shows including abba, barbie world, bingo, couple games. There were also a few evenings of pop queens and acrobatics from external people. They also run a kids club but my 2 didnt go so cant comment. Honestly 10/10 for them and their efforts!

Food - we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in the main restaurant every day for 9 days and had no complaints. There is SO much choice and each night is themed. There is a small kids section with basics like nuggest, pasta, cucumber etc and in the main bit there is always pasta or spaghetti with 2 sauces and chips for the fussy eaters. We always found plenty of choice, food was never cold and its constantly being replenished. Sure some things werent boiling but they do their best to keep it warm enough. Most evenings there were pizzas being booked and they are delish - there was always a queue! A fab selection of deserts including 2 ice cream stations too. Breakfast - there is SO much choice too...you wont go hungry! My cereal did not suffice this morning 😅 Lunch was never too busy as lots of people choose to eat at the snack bar by the pool, but we did notice breakfast was busy from 9am and dinner busy from 715. There was often a queue to get in for dinner but the restaurant manager runs a tight ship and you are never waiting long for a table. The snack bar had different things each day - salads, burgers, chips, fish and of course the pizzas which there was always a queue for! The gelateria had crepes, waffles, ice creams and milkshakes and only a couple euro so really reasonable. We expected to visit daily but actually only went a couple times as we had ice cream at lunch and dinner! The vanilla milkshake though was 👌🏼

Drinks - pool bar right by the main pool serving drinks, non branded but they arent shy with the measures! You can buy branded drinks and snacks and its not pricey. There is a self service beer tap right next the bar and behind the bar is a self service drinks station for fizzy drinks, juice, water, tea and coffee. In the evening, the bar by the entertainment serves all the same drinks and also popcorn for just 1 euro. I worked my way through the cocktails - loads of variety to choose from! Also non alcoholic options, and a couple kids options too. Hubby drank beer and didnt complain! There is a roof terrace bar which seemed quite hidden - head up the stairs to the a la carte restaurant (we didnt eat there) and there is another bar with plenty of seating!

Hotel - the grounds and buildings are kept spotlessly clean, all staff work incredibly hard. It was our daughter's 9th birthday whilst we were there and I had mentioned it ahead of arriving and during the day, a lovely man bought a little birthday package for her which was so sweet. It had some toiletries, sweets, balloons and a few complimentary ice cream vouchers! Such a lovely touch - so worth mentioning if you have a special occasion whilst away! I believe you can pay for a birthday package but this was just perfect. Check out is 11am, we chose not to book late check out and instead stored our cases in the luggage room and booked the shower room a few days before so we could freshen up after a day at the pool as our pick up time was 5pm. You can still use all facilities after checking out! There is a little shop downstairs which sells all sorts including floaties if you need them and of course the ever popular dumplings 🤣 Its also worth looking out for floaties from people that have left - there are often some in the garden areas/outside rooms when people left and also any left by the pool at the end of the day are left at the towel kiosk. We had taken 2 rings with us, bought a lilo and still acquired a few extras 😅 we of course left everything for others to enjoy including a large avocado lilo 🥑 😅 Also be prepared - there are little mini motor cars that you can hire for 10 euro for 30 mins and drive around the hotel. We saw people on them and wasn't sure where they came from - its literally outside the front of the hotel! Did the kids enjoy it? Absolutely! Did I spend 30 mins saying "mind those people!" and "watch the lampposts!" - yes 🤦🏽‍♀️🤣

Okay this has turned into a long old review but I know it helped me when we were searching for the perfect holiday so I hope it helps someone else! I honestly wouldnt fault a thing and would definitely return (which isn't like us 😅) Please feel free to ask any questions but most importantly...

If you have this hotel booked - you are in for a cracking holiday!

If you are considering this hotel - book it now!

Do not waste your money . My children are 13 and 10, we go abroad at least once a year and I think this is the first negative review I have ever felt I needed to write.

The positives are that Hotel staff do try their best and the animation team clearly love their jobs. The room cleaners are very good. The food was actually ok and choice for dinner was reasonable. Food at the pool bar was always very busy with lines of about 20 people but always tasted ok. The pools themselves very good and kids enjoyed the slides and wave pool. The children’s pool was always very busy with everyone having a great time but did not feel overcrowded.

Now the negatives and I’m sorry but this is a long one:- The 3rd bed in the room was appalling. Could not hold the weight of a 10 year old with out dipping in the middle. And the noise it made at the slightest movement. A crunching metal sound. No one could realistically sleep on it. The hotel charges extra for everything despite being “all inclusive” €10 for a safe key, €10 for a pool towel, €1 for pop corn at the evening entertainment, €1.50 for a scoop of ice cream (although very nice). The drinks are poor, beer the worst I have tasted in any hotel I have ever stayed. It is self service for beer and soft drinks, clearly for that reason so much is wasted they buy the worst and cheapest available. Drinks served in the smallest and thinist of plastic cups. No staff around the pool area cleaning up till the pool closes and unfortunately not everyone bothers to use the bins. Quite a lot of broken sun loungers in circulation. Life guards around the pool and more for show, I do not believe we heard a single whistle all week despite lots of questionable behaviour. That is absolutely fine if you are keeping an eye on your own children as you should be. The location is poor, with absolutely no where in walking distance. And if you do try and walk somewhere please do not walk along the main road at night. It is not safe, with winding roads, no footpath and no lighting. You can get taxis to Kos town or Tigaki from reception for €15 each way for a family of 4. It may be a shared mini bus with others.

We did make the most of our holiday and would visit Kos again, but would not recommend this hotel to anyone.