Grecotel Filoxenia

If you're looking for an all-inclusive package holiday hotel with endless facilities, evening entertainment, kids en-masse and a lively vibe, then do NOT book the Grecotel Filoxemia. If you're looking for a chilled out beach hotel with a civilised atmosphere, a mainly mature clientele and super friendly staff who go out of their way to hel, you'll be delighted with the Grecotel Filoxemia. I'm in the second camp and had an extremely enjouable 11 night stay in September 2024. It had its shortcomings, of course, but the good things far outweighed the not so good things. The good things include: * A quiet and exquisite location with buses right outside the hotel that take you to a number of locations, including Kalamata centre for 1.5 Euros. * Plenty of available sun loungers and umbrellas around the pool and beach and a Towel Guy who'd give you two or three towels if you asked (and sometimes if you didn't) * Efficient waiting staff in the restaurant. You never had to wait long for a table to be set or a drink to be brought. * Eager to help reception staff - in my case I arrived four hours before the official check-in time, but I got my room immediately and when I asked for a late check out, I was given an extra 2.5 hours without any charge. The shortcomings include: *The one all reviewers mention: the bathroom turning into a wet room every time you shower because there's no protective curtain or door on the bath. * Some of the food is left to go cold in the serving dishes at both breakfast and dinner. * The bar staff do not like you going to the beach bar in the day to order your own drinks. And, if you do, they try to send you back to where you were sitting so that a waiter can deliver them to you. The only problem with that is, that sometimes you can't find a waiter on the beach and, if you manage to, it takes quite a while to get your order. I'm a seasoned traveller and have stayed in good and bad hotels around the world. This is one of the good ones. It's not luxurious - but it's not meant to be, it's a four star and it earns and deserves its stars. You don't always get what you pay for where hotels are concerned...you do at the Grecotel Filoxemia.

Good seafront location, with easy access from motorway, big parking. The building is however old, the breakfast basic. The gardens and outdoor areas are nice. Kalamata waterfront is in walking distance. Worst was the pretentious tablet-based check-in process, that took long, with inexperienced staff. Guests just want to check-in and go to their rooms or to the pool, nobody wants to spend half an hour filling “electronic” forms.

Overall we had a nice stay here, however I don't think it is good value for money. It was quite expensive and there are just a few things that I would expect the hotel to be doing differently for that amount of money. Firstly, the standard of the rooms and how they are cleaned - the towels and beds are changed daily, but some days the dirty glasses were left in the room and the bathroom clearly hadn't been cleaned. Our phone did not work so there was no way of us calling down to reception and the room was just very dated. Secondly, the pool was covered in mildew and dirt. Thirdly, the reception staff. They came across extremely aloof and not approachable. That being said, all of the other staff we encountered were amazing - especially the staff who work by the pool and sea daily bringing drinks and food. They worked extremely hard and were always happy to help. We only had breakfast included so can't speak for anything else but the breakfast was nice enough with a good selection and a few days we ordered snacks from the beach bar and they were always fresh and delicious. We would suggest having table numbers so customers can go up and order themselves or employing more staff as sometimes we would have to wait a long time to find a member of staff to order with. The hotel is a great place to relax and unwind with it being right on the beach, beautiful location and if they made these changes it has the potential of being a 5*. Thank you for having us!