We stayed at the Queens Bay Hotel for 11 nights all inclusive towards the end of September/early October, and had a lovely holiday, with the added excitement of getting married over there.
We booked through Travel Counsellors/Olympic Holidays, and the service we received was 1st class.
The hotel is set in a superb location overlooking the sea, and has some stunning sunsets.
The only downside to the hotel is that it's not actually in Paphos Town, but a 20 minute bus ride away, or a 5 minute drive to Coral Bay. But, it's set just off the main bus route, and for only 2 Euros you can buy an all day travel bus ticket-bargain!
However, if you want a quietish relaxing break, this is definitely the hotel for you!
After a pleasant check-in, we were given a sea view room (which overlooked the bay and you could see some lovely sunsets from it).
The room was clean, and quite spacious, and we actually felt really comfortable in it.
You can't say that about many hotels/appartments abroad.
We had a decent size double bed and television, tea/coffee facilities etc.
We even found out the hotel does room service, on the last day of our stay-too late :-)
It was the first time we have both been all inclusive abroad, and we really enjoyed all the food and drink, courtesy of it.
We were allowed local alcoholic, and soft drinks, from 10am to Midnight, breakfast, lunch and evening meal, and also some of the items from the snack bar menu during the afternoon.
Food wise there was plenty of choice.
For breakfast you had choices of cereals, sausages, bacon, egg, beans etc and fruit, cheese, ham, yoghurts and toast, nicely washed down with orange or grapefruit juice, or tea/coffee.
For lunch it was salad based, but with some meats and chips or veg, and again a decent variety of items.
If you still felt hungry (which wasn't often) during the afternoon, the poolside snack bar served sandwiches, toasties, ice creams, burger and chips etc, which was included in the all inclusive deal.
Then onto the evening meal, which was again salad based and plenty of it, but also soups, and a variety of cooked main meals such as lamb, gammon, pizza etc. Occasionally they did a roast of the day as well.
And they even did theme nights such as Chinese with noodles, and sweet and sour etc.
And desserts, they ranged from cakes, ice cream to fruit such as melon and apples.
There was something for everyone and the food tasted nice.
The service is where the Queens Bay Hotel also excels.
On the day of our arrival Sonata, a lovely barmaid, who made us feel welcome, bought us up a bottle of champagne and some fruit to have in our room, which was a really lovely touch.
And, as previously mentioned we got married whilst over in Cyprus.
Although we didn't book our wedding through the hotel, they were mindful of the fact we were marrying, hence the champagne, and the fact we were given a complimentary sea view room,
and they also gave us a champagne cocktail each upon our evening return.
It made our wedding, and holiday even more enjoyable.
They were also quite happy for us to have some of our wedding photos taken on the hotel balcony and in the grounds.
We found the staff really friendly especially, Sonata, the bar staff guys, David Dorrington who it was nice to meet, and one of the restaurant managers (looked like Eugene Levy from the American Pie films), who worked tirelessly to make sure everyone was seated and served efficiently, and he made conversation with all of them.
The hotel decor is superb, and the place has a really chilled out friendly vibe to it.
There were the 2 restaurants, the one closest to the poolside bar was where we had breakfast and lunch, and the evening meal was in the other restuarant, I think Cassopia. In the day time the poolside bar was open, and in the evenings it was the main bar
near reception. We did find a cocktail bar which was next to the indoor swimming pool and gym, which not a lot of people knew about, though it was advertised in the lifts. This was lovely in the evening with candles on the tables and also had an indoor area to sit as well.
There was entertainment every evening in the main hotel bar/lounge area which, was quite enjoyable.
We really liked Take Two, who were really friendly, and did several shows during our show there-they even remembered to play our wedding song on the evening we got back.
Top stuff.
Also, the Club Karaoke was on twice whilst we were there, and the sound was really good. It was quite popular amongst the guests, and Kate did her best to fit everyone in. We also saw a magician show one evening which involved walking on spikes and eating fire etc.
I do believe there was also Bingo some evenings too, though we never made it to that.
We may have been oblivious to it sitting on the hotel bar balcony enjoying a cocktail or a beer.
The pool was a decent size. and there were plenty of sun loungers available during our stay, and the hotel grounds led to a very small beach area where you could have a swim in the Sea.
We met some nice people whilst at the Queens Bay, namely Harry and Pam, Sheena and Jeff, Sanjay and Derek and Margaret and Simon.
We had a superb time there, and can't recommend it enough. It's classed as a 3 star hotel, and it certainly deserves that, though the service was at least 4 star standard.
In fact, the service we received there was better than the majority of 4 star hotels we have stayed at in the Uk.
I am struggling to think of many negative things to say about the Queens Bay,
the location away from the town perhaps, and the fact the gift shop in the hotel is a little expensive, and doesn't sell newspapers. Free Wi-Fi would be nice too, although probably not feasable, I guess. Also I was charged 1 Euro to exchange Travellers Cheques, when I was previously told there was no charge. The air conditioning in the room was also very intermittent during the day time, though worked fine after 7pm in the evenings.
These are minor points, and didn't really detract from our lovely, relaxing enjoyable stay we had there.
Before I finish my review, I should mention we had a superb wedding celebration evening meal at the Italian Restaurant, Trattoria La Vigna at Coral Bay. Well worth visiting!
And we also did the half day heaven cruise on a luxury boat, which was great value at 45 Euros each.
This was all inclusive, included lunch, entertainment, a swim in the sea, some sightseeing,
and coach travel there and back to the hotel. Was a great day out.
ISo to sum it up, if you're over 30 and want a quiet, comfortable relaxing break, then the Queens Bay is well worth a stay.
I would say it's more suited for couples over 30 and mature, rather than families, and definitely not for the 18-30 type crowd.
We would love to return there in 2012 for our Anniversary, if it were possible.
We had a truly enjoyable stay here, and thanks to all at the Queens Bay who made our stay what it was-amazing!
- Queens Bay Paphos
- Queens Bay Hotel Paphos
- Hotel Queens Bay
