We booked Neptuno Beach for 14 nights back in December 2024 to secure a superior room. This was our honeymoon and birthday vacation. (With my husband we both celebrate birthday in July.) Upon arrival, around 3 PM, we were given a corner room on the ground floor, only one of its kind without balcony/terrace with only one street-view window, more specifically the dirtiest old car parked in the street with obscene pictures on it in the dirt. We were told we can exchange the room the next day after breakfast. Luckily, the next day we really were able to exchange the room around 11 AM. That is when we could finally unpack and start our vacation. We noticed this was a routine, during our stay, several other couples have gone through the same experience. This room should be used as a storage room, not as "superior" room for guests who pay a significant sum for it. Unfortunately, this experience has completely ruined our first impression.
Next, I would like to list what we really enjoyed and appreciated:
1. Restaurant staff, cleaning service staff, beach bar and beach staff were all very friendly, hard working (around the clock) and polite. Hotel manager could be seen dining in the hotel restaurant which, I personally consider as a good sign. :) The staff was really well managed and organized.
2. Both lunch and dinner were fantastic, offering a broad variety of choices. We especially appreciated the frequent inclusion of authentic Greek meals, which made the experience feel special. My only small "complaint" is that during our second week, there were no fava beans as I LOVED it. :)
3. Drinks at the bar - I do not understand the negative comments about the drinks, I have not tried all of them, but everything we tried was tasty. Also, people, remember - it is not about getting drunk when you are on vacation. :)
4. Beach and the sea - The sea was beautiful—we just wished the beach was taken care of better to improve the overall experience. Unfortunately, in the late evening and at night, people who were not accommodated in the hotel used the sunbeds as the place to eat take-out and drink beer and they did not bother to clean after themselves. All the remaining rubbish was cleaned around 10 every day but until then, it was not a 4* feeling. I cleaned the beer cans sometimes, but I will not touch unfinished food to throw it away...
Now, I would like to list areas of improvement:
1. Reception staff - We found all of them polite, but not very warm, compared to e.g. cleaning/restaurant staff there was notable difference.
2. On your way to the pool area and the beach, you need to walk past the back area of the kitchen, where there is a bit mess outside and bins for food to be thrown away - not the best view to be honest.
3. You cannot really open balcony in the building with superior rooms which is not the part of the main building on days when there are huge rubbish bins prepared to be emptied (terrible smell in the heat) and this was almost daily.
4. One day, around 10:00 PM, we found out our part of the hotel was completely out of tap water. We went to bed early (as the next day we had to leave very early to a trip to Santorini) and just thought it will be resolved quickly. However, at 5 AM in the morning, there was still no tap water which means the toilet will not flush, you cannot wash your hands etc. and we were also out of drinking water by this time. I went to the reception and informed the personnel and asked if they can provide us with bottles of water to flush the toilet etc...we did not want the cleaning staff to find a "surprise" there; he said he knows about the outage and that they do not have any bottles for the guests. Fortunately, toilet and sink behind reception area had the water supply as I learned after asking if they can give me bottled water... so we could have used at least that...but I can tell you it was not very comfortable. I completely understand this can happen, especially on an island, it is not about the fact this happened. It is the attitude of the receptionist/hotel which was disappointing - no water, no proactive help.
5. One day I witnessed nervous breakdown of one staff member at the reception area. I did not feel safe. He was walking towards the small table where they keep jug of water with lemons, fruit and biscuits, with ice to be put into the jug of water. For some reason, suddenly he violently put the containers filled with ice on that wooden table after receptionist told him something, the ice spilled all over the reception area and he marched outside. They were arguing in Greek and after some time, he came back, took a mop from the storage room and started cleaning it while he was still arguing with the receptionist. I was there, waiting for my husband who had to use the toilet and the receptionist completely ignored a guest witnessed that outburst. This should not happen....
While there were areas that need attention, we enjoyed many aspects of our stay, especially the food, the staff around the restaurant and beach, and the wonderful sea. With better care for first impressions, reception, and facilities, this could easily become a place we would love to return to.