Portes Beach Hotel

“10 days of, well, relaxation”

We arrived at the Portes beach Hotel full of excitement. We were visiting a part of Greece we had never been to before and we love Greece. We had done our research, and the hotel was just what we needed. 10 days relaxation in the sun with the option to explore the area if we got the urge. We were p… more

We arrived at the Portes beach Hotel full of excitement. We were visiting a part of Greece we had never been to before and we love Greece. We had done our research, and the hotel was just what we needed. 10 days relaxation in the sun with the option to explore the area if we got the urge. We were promised express transfers by Jet2 and apart from a brief stop in Nea Moudania (the weekly market there is well worth a visit) to transfer some people onto a smaller bus, we were the first stop. We were dropped off right outside the front entrance, which is not on a dual carriageway as some people have said. It is on a local road that runs adjacent to the dual carriageway but is far less busy. There is also a drop off point right in front of the entrance for smaller vehicles. Once inside check in was quick and efficient. The hotel layout was explained to us, and the usual formalities taken care of. We were taken to out room by a chatty young man. As we had requested (and were given) a top floor room before we arrived, he helped us up the stairs to the room. There is a lift in the main building where the reception is situated, but nowhere else, but in our case, there were only three short flights of stairs up to the room. The design of the hotel blocks means there is usually more than one way to get up to the rooms. The room itself was lovely. We had a big balcony with glimpses of the sea and a great place to watch the sun go down. It had a double bed (not two singles pushed together) plenty of storage and aircon that worked. I am not a fan of showers over a bath, but we both managed. It turned out we were fairly central. Just a few minutes’ walk from the main building and a slightly longer meander to the pool and beach. As you walk from reception you come to some arches and our room was above them. The room was cleaned every day and the housekeepers greeted us with a cheery Kaliméra each morning. The hotel is made up of a main building which houses the main restaurant for breakfast and dinner. There is a lobby bar with terraces. A secret room with a library, TV, and massage chairs. An “Arkwright’s” sells everything type of a shop. A jewellery shop, reception, and Spa. The accommodation is in low rise blocks grouped around a path and service road down to the pool and beach. Next to the pool is the taverna style restaurant where you have lunch, either from the buffet or if you want to treat yourself, they have an à la carte sea food menu for an extra cost. The menu is just by the main entrance off the service road. Also in the pool area is a small stage, the snack bar area, and the pool bar. At night they clear away the sun loungers and pool paraphernalia and the area is transformed into a place to sit, chat, drink and watch the entertainment. This area tends to be the place to be most of the time because there is the kids splash park, the kids club building, the water sports hut (where you get your beach towels from on Tuesdays and Fridays) and a terrace area where you can catch some sun and of course the beach and sea. They are all very close to each other at the end of your meander from your room through the well-tended gardens. One thing you will notice is how clean everywhere is. A gold star for housekeeping and the gardeners. Food is plentiful and on the whole very good. I always found something to eat. You helped yourself to juice, coffee, and tea at breakfast. I particularly liked the giant omelettes and sausages, but there was plenty of everything. At dinner you are served your choice of beverages. Be warned the glasses of wine are ginormous. Quite often we retired to the lobby bar with ours because we were in danger of getting locked in the restaurant (we do tend to eat late). Speaking of the lobby bar I recommend spending some time there. The guy who runs it is very amenable and nice to chat to. He is usually assisted by one of the younger members of staff and it is great to see him patiently passing on his skills. If you are up late enough you will see some of the younger members of staff socialising after work. I think they must live on site. Even though they are off duty they will always say hello and have a chat. I feel I should mention the excellent staff. They are all very good and will give you a traditional Greek welcome. The hotel seems to have a blend of more experienced staff and younger seasonal workers, who all work very hard to ensure you have a great time. They definitely are very good at recruiting the right people. We met some great people from across Europe. Austrians, Swedes, Romanians, Polish, Germans, and of course British. Everyone mixed and mingled and if you have an open mind and an open heart, you will have a great time. Remember it is a family hotel, so there are children around. Not an issue for us. To conclude we had a wonderful holiday and wish we were still there. Never mind there is always next year.

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“Lovely place to be ❤️”

After I booked our 4 night break at Portes Beach last minute, I googled it and thought "oh no,it's on a dual carriageway ", I even looked to see if I could change it..... It's about 50 mins from Airport 🛫, but on arrival we were very pleasantly surprised, it's on a service road off the a24 main… more

After I booked our 4 night break at Portes Beach last minute, I googled it and thought "oh no,it's on a dual carriageway ", I even looked to see if I could change it..... It's about 50 mins from Airport 🛫, but on arrival we were very pleasantly surprised, it's on a service road off the a24 main route, but as soon as u got through the doors u were in a beautiful hotel,no noise at all, we checked in with a friendly guy who asked if we were hungry as it was 11pm at night, they had laid a table with some food on in the restaurant just for us, how thoughtful, straightaway I felt love for the hotel, we went to out room which we were happy with, very clean and huge Comfortable bed, then went down to bar for a drink 🍸, lovely guy serving in bar, we nicknamed him "Gunther" from the tv series friends as there were similarities lol... The hotel has its own small beach with plenty of sunbeds, It was very peaceful at the time we were there but I should imagine it can be quite a vibrant hotel in the main seasons...... There was plenty of choice with the food and very well presented, the best one we've been to so far tbh, the staff are attentive and work very hard all day n night 7 days a week, well done guys🏆 I fell in love with the resident cat 🐈 too, only one at this hotel but a friendly and pleasant attribute to the hotel,if you are a cat lover like me lol.. The hotel was closing for the season on our last day at lunchtime so they transferred us to their 5star hotel just down the road by minibus 🚐, Portes Lithia, tbh, I think I preferred Portes Beach 4star and would definitely stay there again..... Just be aware that you do really need to hire a car if you want to go sightseeing, the hotel do put on a bus that will take you to the nearest area free of charge but we had a car for 2days @ €85, word of warning ⚠️ if you fancy a visit to the main city of Thessalonika DONT BOTHER, it's awful, I've been to some horrible places in my country but this place beats them all....I was shocked at what they sell at a market we found,very disturbing for me anyway.... The Caves are well worth a visit, fantastic place.... Hotel Portes Beech....well worth the 4 🌟 it has..........

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“You have to visit the Spa.”

The Spa is very good and also clean. I had two massages from Stella and they were excellent. My boyfriend had one too from Stella and thinks the same. The food in the Restaurant and the Taverna could be a bit better but the Service is very good...

“Definitely no 4 star”

I'll start with reception, small but clean, receptionists lovely and helpful, lounge area too small for the amount of people. Same with the main dining area, had to wait on tables and this was at the end of September beginning of October, food nice but repetitive, not a great choice, bottom dining… more

I'll start with reception, small but clean, receptionists lovely and helpful, lounge area too small for the amount of people. Same with the main dining area, had to wait on tables and this was at the end of September beginning of October, food nice but repetitive, not a great choice, bottom dining area the same with even less choice, pool bar snacks one hot cabinet with mostly inedible snacks, dry burger dry hotdogs dry sandwiches, pool bar ok poor cocktails 3 to choose from, watery lager and spirits nice tea and coffee tho and decent choice of ice creams, tables all clean and good service from the waiters, pools probably the most dangerous I've ever been around tiles very Very slippy seen countless accidents happen with people slipping and falling, beach area dirty and untidy looks like it was never cleaned sand stoney and could have should have been raked , never got any water sports equipment the guys who ran it just said no, try again tomorrow we did and never got any, looks like they just wanted to sit on their backsides, kids pool again very Very slippy and dangerous our two year old grandson fell many times and no sign of the lifeguard older kids teenagers kicking a ball across the pool so parents had to have a word with them, rooms! Our safety box didn't work, floor's never swept towels changed every day, bedding changed once. Shower poor and shower over bath curtain stuck to you, walls paper thin, grounds very nice and well kept probably the best thing about the hotel, the worst part of this hotel is the MOSQUITOS the worst we have ever experienced we were all badly bitten and that's with MOSQUITO sprays and plug inns, position in the middle of nowhere and nowhere to walk to, only saving thing was the hotel shop, to end would I go back? I'm afraid it's a definite no.

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