Olive Garden Hotel

The Olive Garden Hotel, nestled in Lardos, Rhodes Island, Greece, offers a holiday experience that consistently receives high praise for its exceptional value and vibrant atmosphere. Drawing from recent guest feedback, this hotel stands out as a fantastic choice for friends and families seeking an enjoyable all-inclusive stay.

⭐ Overall Experience & Value

Guests consistently describe their stay as a "wonderful holiday" and an "amazing experience for the price." The hotel successfully creates a welcoming and entertaining environment that leaves a lasting positive impression.

👥 Staff & Animation Team

One of the most frequently highlighted aspects of the Olive Garden Hotel is its incredible staff and energetic animation team. Their dedication significantly enhances the guest experience:

• 🎉 Animation Team: The animation team, particularly Spaghetti and Thomas, are repeatedly singled out as phenomenal. They are credited with keeping guests entertained day and night, leading fun activities like water polo, darts, karaoke, and bingo. Many guests felt there was "no need for a nightclub" thanks to their efforts, praising their friendly approach and smiling faces as key to customer satisfaction.
• 🍸 Bar Staff: The bar staff are described as excellent and friendly, with special mentions going to Alkis, George, and David. George at the pool bar is particularly noted for his great sense of humour and gentlemanly demeanor.
• 🛎️ Reception & Shop Staff: The ladies at reception and in the hotel shop are consistently kind and helpful. Michalia at reception is specifically praised for her professionalism and willingness to engage with guests.
• 🤝 Management: The hotel manager is often present in the restaurant and is described as "super kind and welcoming."
• Minor Incident: While overwhelmingly positive, one review noted a single instance of a rude older staff member during breakfast, which made the initial dining experience uncomfortable. However, this appears to be an isolated incident amidst generally excellent service.

🍽️ Food & Drink

The hotel's all-inclusive offering provides a satisfying culinary experience for most guests:

• Variety: The buffet offers a great variety of food, with dishes changing daily. Guests found the food "very nice and varied."
• Snacks: A major highlight is the availability of tasty gyros and delicious pizza from 10 AM to 5 PM. Fresh pizza and chicken wraps are also available during these hours, perfect for when guests "get peckish in between meal times."
• Desserts: The desserts are frequently described as "fabulous."
• Alcohol: The quality of alcohol is noted as "good," even better than what's typically found at many all-inclusive hotels.
• Areas for Improvement: While generally positive, one review mentioned the buffet food could be "a bit boring," and another felt the sweets tasted "a bit cheap." Dinners can sometimes be overwhelming due to crowd, suggesting picking the right time for a quieter experience.

🏨 Rooms & Facilities

The hotel boasts a large, beautiful complex with various amenities:

• 🛏️ Rooms: Guests found the rooms to be "perfectly adequate for your needs," including premium rooms with air conditioning, comfortable beds, showers, storage, and balconies. They are described as nice and clean.
• 🚿 Bathrooms: One review noted a blocked shower that was not addressed by reception, indicating a potential area for maintenance improvement.
• 🏊‍♂️ Pools: The hotel features multiple well-maintained pools, including a main pool, slides, a lazy river, and a dedicated kids' pool.
• 🛝 Kids' Playground: A great playground is available for younger guests.
• 🛍️ Hotel Shop: A handy hotel shop is conveniently open until 11 PM.
• 🌳 Grounds: The complex is described as huge and beautiful, featuring actual olive gardens, contributing to its charming name.

🗺️ Location & Accessibility

The hotel's location offers both convenience and a sense of tranquility:

• Island Exploration: The location is considered "great" and "perfect for exploring the island."
• Transport: While somewhat "in the middle of nowhere," a nearby bus stop provides easy access to busier parts of the island like Pefki and Lindos.
• 🌊 Beach Access: The beach is a close 10-minute walk via a back gate or sideroad. The beach itself is described as "fine," featuring a mix of sand, pretty stones, and wood, with just sand deeper in the water. It's noted for being uncrowded due to fewer sunbeds and having a big rocky shore with plenty of fish, making it nice for snorkeling.

🎯 Activities & Entertainment

Beyond the animation team's core activities, the hotel offers various ways to stay engaged:

• Daily Activities: Guests enjoyed fun activities like darts and water polo.
• Evening Entertainment: Karaoke and bingo are popular evening options.
• Suggestions for More: One constructive comment suggested adding more diverse attractions, such as basketball or a greater variety of daily competitions, to enhance the sporting options.

Stayed for a holiday with friends at this hotel, and it was an amazing experience for the price. Here’s a quick breakdown:⭐️Pros:- 🍽️ Great buffet variety, changing daily.- 🍕 Tasty gyros and pizza from 10 AM to 5 PM.- 🎉 Fantastic animators, especially Spaghetti and Thomas – no need for a nightclub!- 🎯 Fun activities like darts and water polo.- 🛏️ Premium rooms with air conditioning.- 🌊 Close to the beach through the back gate.- 🛍️ Handy hotel shop, open until 11 PM.- 🍹 Good quality alcohol, better than most all-inclusive hotels.- 🍸 Friendly bartenders – shoutout to Alkis, George, and David!- 🏊‍♂️ Multiple pools (main, slides, lazy river, kids’ pool).- 🛝 Great playground for kids.- 🚍 Easy access to transport (bus stop nearby).- 🌳 Huge, beautiful complex with olive gardens.❌Cons:- 🏀 Could use more diverse attractions, like basketball or more diversified daily competitions.

Food was a bit boring but we had the best gyros in the middle of the day, that was delicious !Hotel is in the middle of nowhere, room was nice but bathroom and shower wasn’t - shower was blocked , we spoke to reception about it but they didn’t do anything with that.Bar staff excellent and the best entertainment ever ! This hotel would be nothing without Spaghetti and Thomas! ❤️

The hotel’s location is great, perfect for exploring the island. The staff is excellent, but I especially want to mention the receptionist Michalia, who is very good at her job and always has time to talk to guests. The rooms were clean, the pools well-maintained, and the food was good. We were very satisfied with our stay!

We stayed at olive garden hotel in September 2024 and had a wonderful holiday. The staff are really lovely people! George at the pool bar is a gentleman with a great sense of humour! The anamation team kept us entertained all day and night with activities such as water polo, darts, karaoke and bingo. Special thanks to them as their friendly approach and smiling faces are a reflection of the hotels goal to achieve customer satisfaction 👌 The rooms are perfectly adequate for your needs, comfy bed, shower, storage and a balcony. The food was very nice and varied daily. Fresh pasta, salads, chicken, pork, vegetables and the desserts in particular were fabulous! There's also fresh pizza (absolutely beautiful) and chicken wraps avaliable FROM 10-5pm daily if you get peckish in between meal times. Thank you all very much for being such wonderful hosts to us, your hotel is lovely and our stay on Rhodes was a brilliant one!.... Hopefully see you again one day 🤞and keep up the good work 🌞🍹... Ross, Ruth and Gethin. North Wales UK 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

The hotel was fine. Ladies on the reception and in the shop were always kind and helpful. Rooms were comfortable and cleaning sufficient. We had a nice view on trees and goats. Close is quite busy road and useful bus stop. The hotel is somewhat in middle of nowhere, but you can take bus to busier parts of the island that are close (Pefki, Lindos).Sea was around 10 minutes by walk through the sideroad. Beach there was fine, next to a big rocky shore with a lot of fish, nice for snorkeling. Not many sunbeds so it wasn't crowded. Mix of sand, pretty stones and bit of wood, deeper in the water was just sand. Lots of families with children, so it was loud sometimes.Especially dinners were sometimes overwhelming - it's best to pick the right time to go if you want quiet. Bufet was full of vegetables so that was great. Different kind of foods were nice. Sweets tasted a bit cheap.Manager of the hotel was usually in the restaurant too and was super kind and welcoming.But, we came for the first food in the morning, after awful day of traveling (screaming children everywere) and then we couldn't sleep, so we were tired and confused. Our first encounter was older member of the staff who wanted to know "how many and outside or inside". We didn't understand at first and the way he repeated it was pretty rude. Like we are annoying and stupid for not understanding him telling us rules of this restaurant. I must say this silly little detail made our stay and eating a bit uncomfortable. Other staff (especially ladies) were kind and made us feel welcomed.