Labranda Blue Bay Resort

Our Honest Review

Before we came, I made the mistake of looking at the unofficial Facebook group to get a feel for what the hotel was going to be like. All I seemed to find was bad review after bad review, both on there and on TripAdvisor. Safe to say, I started to worry about what we had booked!

Normally, I’m an Orlando or cruise holiday kind of person, so this was my first proper package holiday abroad somewhere completely different. I guess you could say I was broadening my horizons!

We booked Blue Bay Resort in Greece, and we arrived quite late at night. When we got there, the staff asked if we would like to stay and have something to eat and drink, which was a nice touch, but we declined as we’d just eaten on the plane.

I won’t lie, our first impression coming down the road towards the hotel was: "OMG, WHERE HAVE WE BOOKED?!”

But once we arrived, the staff were really friendly and welcoming. They even took us and our luggage to our room on a golf buggy, rather than leaving us to drag our cases around the resort.

Our Room

Our room was directly opposite the beach, and the view was absolutely beautiful.

The room was cleaned every day, with fresh towels and bottles of water provided daily. The bed sheets were changed every couple of days. We had a lovely big bed, air conditioning, tea and coffee-making facilities and a fridge.

We did have a power cut during our stay, but the hotel provided us with a fan, which was definitely appreciated because it was hot!

Pools & Aircraft Noise

Yes, the hotel is under the flight path — but honestly, it really didn't bother us.

We actually enjoyed sitting around the pool using flight and cruise trackers to see which planes and cruise ships were coming in!

Our favourite place to sit was around the pool by the Muses restaurant. It was much quieter and more relaxed than the main pool. There were families around, but it was never an issue, and we always managed to get a sunbed.

One thing to be aware of is that there is no step access into this particular pool.

The hotel also has a waterpark, although we didn't actually use it during our stay.

Staff & Drinks

All the staff we encountered were friendly, from the cleaners and lifeguards to the bar and restaurant staff.

The people behind the bar even got to know our usual orders to the point where we barely needed to open our mouths before they knew what we wanted!

The soft drinks are the usual syrup-style drinks you tend to get at all-inclusive hotels, but the Mirinda Lemon (basically lemon Fanta) was easily my favourite.

The alcoholic cocktails were okay, although I got a little bored of them after the first day. There is, however, a lovely little supermarket about a five-minute walk away where we found stronger spirits and Mythos beer at reasonable prices.

Food

This was the part I was dreading!

Being a chef myself and a massive foodie, I was probably more sceptical about the food than anything else after reading some of the reviews.

But we loved it.

Honestly, we couldn't fault the food and couldn't understand some of the complaints we'd read beforehand. Maybe that's just me because I like pretty much everything, but we thought there was loads of choice.

And just to mention it because I'd seen plenty of comments and reviews about people getting dodgy bellies — we didn't have any stomach problems at all during our stay. Obviously everyone is different, but personally, we were absolutely fine.

If you're expecting British-style bacon, you won't really get it. What they serve is more like smoked ham — although that didn't stop me making myself a bacon and egg sandwich with it!

At lunchtime, there's also a cheese toastie machine, which was a great little change.

For children, we saw things like fish fingers, nuggets, spaghetti bolognese and chips, and there were plenty of vegetarian options too. There was always lots of fresh bread, cheeses, meats and other choices available.

Overall, there was plenty to choose from at all three meal sittings.

We also tried the Greek, Asian and Indian restaurants during our stay. The Indian was lovely and probably one of our favourites. We also loved being able to sit opposite the beach and have our evening meal with that view.

Snack Bar

The snack bar was really good too.

We loved having the grab-and-go option when we were sitting around the pool, and the gyros were lovely.

There's also plenty available for children, which is handy if they're having too much fun around the pool and are reluctant to get out for lunch!

Getting Out & About

We also caught the Prestige bus into the Old Town, which was really quick and efficient. It was nice to get out and explore somewhere away from the hotel for a bit, and we found the journey really easy.

Entertainment

The entertainment was... interesting

We properly watched it one night, but after that, we were quite happy sitting on our balcony playing cards, chilling out and listening to it from there.

The beach party was probably the strangest decision for us. Having a beach party going until around 1am directly outside a load of family rooms isn't exactly ideal!

It was a bit of a nuisance, but it is what it is.

Overall

After reading so many negative reviews before we arrived, I was genuinely worried about what we'd booked. But our experience was completely different.

The hotel isn't perfect, and there are a few little things that could be improved, but we had a really enjoyable holiday. The staff were friendly, our room and view were beautiful, we enjoyed the quieter pool, and — despite me being particularly worried about it — the food was one of the biggest surprises.

I also think this is a great hotel for families.** There's plenty for children, including the waterpark, even though we didn't use it ourselves this time.

We came without my daughter on this trip, but after staying here, i would definitely come back with her because I know she would absolutely love it.

I'm really glad we didn't let all the negative reviews put us off. Sometimes you just have to come, experience somewhere for yourself and make up your own mind — and for us, Blue Bay Resort turned out to be a really enjoyable holiday.

Katerina was very professional with amazing techniques

Amazing experience, very relaxed