We booked a New Year break with Cyprus Premier and stayed at the Pia Bella Hotel Kyrenia. The staff were friendly, the rooms were warm and cosy, the location was good and could certainly recommend for a winter's break and would love to visit in the summer months. Tip ask for rooms towards the rear of the hotel, preferably overlooking the pool, the front rooms are on a very busy main road.

We have stayed in many 4 and 5 star hotels around the world and read the reviews avidly and are left wondering why we feel so disappointed with the Pia Bella. When we first arrived we were surprised at the dismal reception and sitting area. Not what one would expect from a four star. On the positive side the staff were some of the friendliest and willing we have ever come across. The rooms are good and clean, the beds comfortable. The superior rooms having very pleasant views over pools,gardens and mountains. The bars in winter are dark cold uncomfortable and uninviting. The big let down is the food.. Breakfast is rather monotonous with particularly unimaginative cooked choices. The evening meals offering a choice of just 2 hot dishes using the cheapest ingredients and garnishing all with rice and carrots. Too often we felt obliged to ignore what we had prepaid for to eat out. The food offered is a very important aspect of a successful holiday.. Any holiday makers going to the Pia Bella would be best advised to book B and B. There are a choice of good restaurants around the harbour.

We have just returned from a 7 day break at the Pia Bella Hotel from a winter offer on Travelzoo during the last week of January. If you want an excellent 4*, spotlessly clean hotel situated a10 minute walk from the centre of Girne (Kyrenia) then this is for you.

I will break the detailed review into sections.

Preparation

Most sales are made in Turkish Lire although shops will accept £’s or euros at an inferior rate. The rate in Girne averaged 2.84TL to the £1 compared with 2.6TL in the UK.

Car Hire was £15 per day if pre-booked for a new car. At the hotel it was £18 for an older car or £20 for a new car. This was reduced to be competitive after the first two days! There is a garage next to the hotel. Petrol was 2.95TL per litre.

Travel

The flight was from Stansted on Pegasus Airways. It was totally hassle-free although the flight was delayed by 2 hours due to the plane’s late arrival from Istanbul. The shops and café’s on the departure side of passport control were a pleasant way to spend the waiting time.

The budget airline flight was comfortable with leather seats and adequate leg-room on a Boeing 737-800. It has 6 seats across with an isle down the middle.

The flight to obligatory touch-down in Istanbul took 4 hours 15 minutes. There was a 45 minute stop-over during which you stay on the plane while most passengers leave and others arrive. The plane was full for both legs. The second leg takes about 1 hour 20 minutes. On the return flight an immigration official comes on and inspects your passport.

A drinks service was provided on both legs. Gin and tonic was 7 euros or £7. Burgers at 10 euros could be ordered but the crew only had enough for about 10 passengers! If in-flight meals are included in your package do confirm this with your travel agent prior to leaving the UK! We were not provided with a meal, either way, due to a change of carrier.

A rep and a minibus were waiting to whisk us to the hotel. Some reviewers have said the rep can sometimes be found outside the Ercan airport entrance. The journey took about 40 minutes although, in our case, only 30 minutes on the return according to the time of day, age and care of the driver!

The return flight was 08:10 leaving the hotel at 05:20. We booked a 04:30 alarm call and a basic breakfast was provided. We bought rolls and fillings from the large supermarket, Lemar, (5 mins walk) the night before for the return journey as we suspected that the included meal would not be provided despite the rep claiming to have rung the airline. We were not wrong!

Hotel

Everything was exceptionally clean with marble floors and lifts. Access was good for elderly or disabled people. Most members of staff were brilliant, the bar staff even joking in English. There are two lounges, one of which had a fire in the evenings, the other had internet access with one terminal and facilities for using your own laptop. We didn’t use it so I am unsure of the terms.

All superior and premier rooms overlook the pool and mountains at the back of the hotel and are much quieter. The pool has facilities for coping with raising and lowering people with disabilities, there are clear safety notices and a life line on the wall. There are shower facilities. Wooden lounger chairs with foam covers surround the pool. There is a much bigger pool further up the garden in the lovely gardens adjacent to the large car park.

The dining room was on two levels. Breakfast was on the lower level and dinner served on the upper floor. In the evening the lower level was cold but a large air-conditioning unit kept the dining room at a reasonable temperature.

Food

Despite arriving at 23:30 the staff provided a hot meal and a free drink.

Breakfast catered for everybody. There were yogurts, cheese and meats through to cereals, boiled or scrambled eggs, sausages and beans. A full English breakfast with bacon was provided on one day. There was a toaster with a range of breads. Butter and a range of jams, marmalade and honey were provided.

Nescafe and Liptons tea were available with hot water in an electric urn and milk (confusingly) placed in a teapot.

Half-Board dinner was a four-course meal starting with soup, a huge choice of tasty mezes served on a buffet basis, a tasty main meal consisting rice/potato skins and vegetables with two choices of meat, finishing with a buffet selection of sweets.

Rooms

We had a superior room overlooking the mountains with a small balcony sufficient for a table and 2 chairs. In Room 2111 (first floor) we had partial morning sun and a large terrace area beyond the balcony, decorated with plants in pots. Rooms numbered 2000 to 2009, 3000 to 3009 etc had full morning sun and upper floors had a larger balcony.

Equipment was that of a standard 4 star hotel, with twin beds, sheets and duvet. The sheets were changed once and towels changed daily. There was a safe in one of the two wardrobes, dressing table, a table and two chairs and a flat screen LCD TV with BBC World News and BBC Entertainment. For drinks, tea & coffee (two sachets per day provided) there was a kettle, two tumblers and two wine glasses. A fridge provided a mini-bar and a free starter of milk in a drinks carton. Do look for this as we missed it!

The bathroom was the usual marble finish with a full wall mirror, magnifying mirror and adequate hairdryer. The inset sink had a mixer tap with no plug provided (available from reception if needed). There was a bath with shower over and shower curtains. Plenty of hot water was available with good pressure for the shower. There was no ventilation fan but a double glazed window opened onto a ventilation ‘chimney’ which meant that if both were open you could hear any conversations from people in the bathroom next door and vice versa.

Food and drink in North Cyprus

There are numerous restaurants serving good food. Main dishes range in price between 12TL and 32TL according to the standard of restaurant. Mostly, 15TL got a good-size tasty meal with chips and salad. Full mezes produced so much food that we were very pushed to eat it and quite a lot went back. It was a fantastic experience though.

Local Efes beer (lager) was very drinkable and was 6TL for a 50cl bottle. Local wine, including the hotel house wine was very drinkable. I suggest using the Trip Advisor recommendations for best restaurants and also for the best places to see in the area.

Transport

The cheapest form of transport is by local minibus that can be hailed anywhere and goes in a general direction.

Shared taxis can be pre-booked the day before and will collect you from the hotel. Good for transport between cities.

Taxis are quite cheap and numerous.

General

During this period in the last week of January we had showers on three days but the sun came out at some time each day. The sun was quite hot so we needed to use sun tan cream. Temperatures ranged from 12 to 16C during the day but it quickly gets chilly once the sun goes down.

We had booked a car for three days to explore the island. However once one had walked around the town and harbour and explored the fort, there was little else to do other than reading and relaxing between showers, so we extended the car hire to 5 days and saw more of the island. The local tourist map available from the hotel or Information Office in the harbour was sufficient to navigate with, but I suggest you avoid the lowest classified roads on mountains which are sometimes barely more than tracks.

There were still strikes resulting in no electricity in Girne (see review by elainerory) so I would suggest taking a torch if you are going out after dark. Northern Cyprus does not have the same over-rigorous approach to H & S and serious injury could occur from falling over uneven pavements or down ramps off the road!

All in all we had a wonderful experience at an absolute bargain price of less than £600 for the two of us including flights,(claimed) in-flight meals, transfers, superior room, half board and car hire.

Overall : this is a hotel that we would certainly go back to.

We went to the Pia Bella in November for a bit of winter sun and weren't disappointed. The first room we were given was very nice, though the view - a main road and a football pitch - was a little disappointing. The next morning we went to reception and explained that although we were happy with the room we would prefer a better view, they asked us to come back and see them the next day. When we returned to reception as requested they called a manager who explained that they had no rooms free that night but would move us to a better the next morning. True to their word, the next morning we were moved to a beautiful room overlooking the hotel pools and a great mountain view.
The food was plentiful, varied and delicious. We went half-board and easily got enough food to keep us going, only having to buy the occassional snack. The staff were extremely friendly and really went out of their way to please. We're already planning a return visit and can't wait.