Hotel Cathrin

Situated on Main Street in Faliraki, Rhodes Island, Hotel Cathrin is a lodging establishment that elicits a range of opinions from its guests. Positioned as a hotel, it offers a variety of amenities typical of a holiday resort, though its actual star rating is often debated by visitors.

Overall Impressions and Star Rating 🤷‍♀️

Guest experiences at Hotel Cathrin are notably mixed, with some visitors enjoying a wonderful relaxing week, while others find the hotel to be quite basic and question its advertised 4-star status, suggesting it operates closer to a 2 or low 3-star standard. The value for money is also a point of contention, with some feeling it is slightly expensive for the experience provided.

Staff and Service: A Tale of Two Experiences 🗣️

Perhaps the most conflicting aspect of Hotel Cathrin is its staff. One guest, reassigned to Cathrin, felt welcomed and valued from the moment of entry, highlighting staff as happy, providing fantastic service with a smile, and going out of their way to ensure a brilliant holiday. Conversely, several other reviews describe the staff across all areas as "very rude and arrogant," citing instances of them not responding, shouting, and even threatening guests. The Night Auditor was specifically mentioned as being particularly arrogant. This disparity in staff perception is a significant point for potential guests to consider.

Accommodation: In Need of Modernization 🛏️

The rooms at Hotel Cathrin are frequently described as "very tired and dated," and often dark. Guests have reported issues such as ants appearing from behind dressers, musky-smelling and falling-apart wardrobes, and old, noisy air conditioning units that offer little to no cool air, leading some guests to sleep with their doors open due to the heat. Privacy on garden view verandas was also noted as an issue due to proximity to walkways. Housekeeping is reported to be minimal, often just folding sheets and sometimes forgetting to replace towels, requiring guests to chase reception for fresh ones.

Dining Experience: Varied Tastes 🍽️

The food, particularly for those on an all-inclusive package, receives mixed to negative feedback. While described as "ok" by some, many found it "not what we would expect from a Greek holiday," lacking variety and cooked "without spirit" or being "not very tasteful." Specific criticisms include:

1. Poor quality coffee, described as a concentrate mixed with hot water.
2. Repetitive buffet options, with pasta being a daily lunch and dinner staple.
3. Lack of kids' buffet options, as well as common condiments like ketchup or mayonnaise.
4. A "joke" of a snack bar with only 5 dishes, repeated all week.
5. The main restaurant is reportedly not large enough to seat all guests, leading to closures at times.
6. The dining room itself is often described as "very very hot and not air conditioned at all," making it uncomfortable for both guests and staff.

Some guests suggested booking only the B&B option, rather than all-inclusive, due to the food quality.

Facilities and Amenities 🏊‍♀️

• Pool: The pool is generally described as "fabulous," though some guests experienced their swimwear turning green, possibly due to over-chlorination. A common complaint is that the pool closes too early (18:00). Getting a sunbed can be challenging, requiring very early morning towel placement.
• Bars & Drinks: While easy to get drinks during the day, there are often long queues in the evenings, frequently due to only one bar staff member. The variety of cocktails is limited to the "cocktail of the day."
• Spa: Described as a "wooden hut by the pool area," it's noted as being very hot and "not a true reflection on the website."
• Other: A significant point of concern for families is the absence of baby changing facilities anywhere at the hotel. Clean pool towels are also reported to be hard to acquire.

Entertainment: A Consistent Highlight 🎉

One of the most consistently praised aspects of Hotel Cathrin is its entertainment team. Guests across various reviews highlight them as the "best of this hotel." The kids' club (10:00-12:00 and 15:00-17:00) on a green area, and the mini disco (20:30-21:00) are popular. Evening entertainment is described as "decent" or "a little slow but still pleasant."

Location 📍

The hotel's location is generally considered "not bad." It's about a 10-minute walk to a beach and a restaurant. However, the area is not very pedestrian-friendly, making walking to other places potentially difficult. Bus services and taxis are available for transport to Faliraki town and other nearby attractions.

Summary for Prospective Guests:

Hotel Cathrin offers a holiday experience with clear pros and cons. While its fabulous pool and engaging entertainment team are definite strong points, potential visitors should be aware of the recurring issues concerning dated rooms, inconsistent food quality, and highly variable staff service. If considering an all-inclusive stay, it might be wise to temper expectations regarding culinary variety and quality. Guests seeking a resort with vibrant entertainment may find it suitable, provided they are prepared for some of the common amenity and service challenges reported by past visitors.

We originally booked a different hotel but when they had to close, we were reassigned to Cathrin. I read the reviews and did worry about some of them. However, from the moment we entered the hotel we were made to feel welcomed and valued. All the staff were happy and always gave fantastic service with a smile. We enjoyed a wonderful relaxing week here with the staff going out of their way to make it a brilliant holiday.

While the location is great and the staff is very friendly i still have to reduce rating to 3 stars. We booked all inclusive but the food is just not what we would expect from a greek holiday. The coffee is not fresh grinded and brewed but some kind of concentrate mixed with hot water in the coffee machine. The buffet-style lunch and dinner offers several dishes but somehow cooked without spirit. One can eat it, nothing "wrong" with it but it's not very tasteful. In case we book again we would probably go for B&B option only. For people who like free drinks it probably pays off better but we came mainly to eat some greek specilities, seafood, etc. and nicely cooked. This expectations were not met. Staff deserves a 4-5* rating though, also the pool is fabulous, just closes too early in the evening (18h)

Hotel is very basic, at first I thought the reviews had to be wrong and thought people were just moaning but the reviews are very accurate!!! This hotel is based at 2/low 3 star hotel at best.1) Rooms are very tired and dated and dark.2) Ants come up from behind dresser.3) Wardrobe smelt musky and the back was falling apart4)Air conditioning unit is old and is like a storage heater very noisy not much cool air comes out.5) garden view is not good the veranda we had was near the walkway no privacy.6) no other cocktails are available if they are not displayed of the cocktail of the day.1 bar staff que in the evenings.7) no variety of food although they do themed nights they are all the same pasta was a popular dish (everyday lunch and dinner) no kids buffet no ketchup or mayonnaise..8) snack bar a joke 5 dishes same all week.9) restaurant not big enough to seat all hotel guests it would get closed at times.10) staff are rude thats across all areas.11) clean pool towels hard to get.12) no cleaners clean the hotel during the day.13) housekeeping clean just fold your sheet at the bottom of bed.14) towels get changed every other day sometimes would remove towels and forget to leave new ones would have to chase for new ones and collect from reception.15) spa is a wooden hut by the pool area which is very hot not a true reflection on website.16) no baby changing facilities anywhere at hotel.17) entertainment team was probably the best of this hotel, kids club 10-12 and them again 3-5 this is just on some green but the kids seemed to love it. Mini disco started 8.30-9.00 evening entertainment a little slow but still pleasant.Overall we made the best out of the holiday met a lovely family which was good.

The hotel is clean and is well layed out.We asked to move room as the air conditioning wasn't cold at all and the staff were helpful and moved us and the room was slightly better,People were sleeping with room doors open it was that hot.You had to get up very early to get sunbeds because people were putting their towels down and then going out.The pool turned our swimwear green? I think it was over chlorinated or mixed with suncream.The food was ok but wasn't to our tastes, but the dining room was very very hot and not air conditioned at all it made it very uncomfortable, even the staff were sweating.The evening entertainment was decent,There was always a queue to get a drink in the evening, but during the day it was easy to get drinks.Ice cream and snacks at certain points of the day were nice.The location isn't bad but it isn't very pedestrianised so would be a difficult walk to get anywhere, there's a beach and a restaurant 10 minutes walk away and there is a bus service and taxis into falaraki and other places nearby.The hotel was ok I dont know how it's a 4 star? A 3 star would be ok.And I'd say it's slightly expensive for what it is.

Very rude and arrogant staff.They are so rude that they don’t even respond or look at you when talking and they shout down on you and they say if you wish to complaint to your our operator you can complaint.Night Auditor is a very arrogant and a rude person had multiple episodes during our stay with different guest. I threatened me by saying try me and can very close to me. They just work with a standard they have in there mind and as if it’s a 4 star hotel.Only good thing about the place is the entertainment team.