Caretta Beach Resort & Waterpark

“Lovely place (nowhere near as awful as the rubbish reviews)”

We are here at the moment and I’m convinced I’m not at the same place as the people who have written negative reviews 🧐.. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to holidays too. So here is my honest review: Landing in Zante you kind of get the feeling you have landed in a junkyard. There are run... more

We are here at the moment and I’m convinced I’m not at the same place as the people who have written negative reviews 🧐.. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to holidays too. So here is my honest review: Landing in Zante you kind of get the feeling you have landed in a junkyard. There are run down buildings everywhere and piles of junk. However, there are lots of very friendly people waiting to welcome you in Zante airport. Customs doesn’t take too long to get through and holiday reps are waiting to point you in the right direction for transfers etc. our transfer was less than 10 mins so Caretta is perfectly located if you want to get your holiday started immediately. Arrival: we arrived at lunchtime so our rooms were not ready yet. The reception staff were lovely though and advised us to pop our luggage in the luggage room and go grab some lunch. So that’s what we did. Found our way around using the map on the wall. After lunch our rooms were ready so we headed back and a lovely gent showed us to our room, carried 2 of our luggage cases, put the tv on to UK news and switched on the air con. We only tipped him 5 euro as that’s all I could put my hand on but he was very humbly appreciative. Don’t forget that you will need to pay local tax on arrival too. Reception staff are all very friendly and helpful. My daughter realised she had forgotten my granddaughters stroller so we were able to hire one 5 euro per day. We also booked dinner for the a la carte restaurant at reception too. All interactions have been pleasant. Rooms: we have 2 rooms in block M facing the pool. Are they luxury no but I don’t go on holiday to sit in my room the whole time. The beds are fine, there is a bath with a shower hose and a separate shower. The bathrooms are a bit stinky but the drainage system isn’t so great in Zante. Don’t flush your toilet paper down the toilet here. Pop it in the bin. 5 spare loo rolls. 4 hand towels and 4 bath towels changed daily. Air con works, hair dryer works. There is a fridge, a microwave, a kettle and cups. Bing your own tea, coffee, bottled water. You can get a cup of milk for free at one of the restaurants or buy some milk from the supermarket. Stock up in case you need a drink in the night. Our safe doesn’t work (or at least we can’t get it to work) in either rooms. As mentioned before, the transfer to the hotel was less than 10 mins so as you can imagine, this hotel is extremely close to the airport. This means that you can watch the planes coming and going all day. You can hear the rumble of the engines and see them up close as they land or take off which we actually love. I didn’t really understand the room layout from the ads on Jet2. We have a 1 bedroom apartment. To me that meant 1 room with a bed in it and possibly a lounge area with pull out beds for the kids??? But we have a king sized bed and a room divider with twin beds on the other side. Very little space to put your clothes but we just live out of our case unless it’s stuff which will crease. Food: We have eaten at the main restaurant for breakfast lunch and dinner and all have been great. Again, is it Michelin starred, no… but all perfectly adequate. We experienced none of the ‘those kind of families’ type commented in another post. No food grabbing. No kids with their hands in everything. I really was expecting the worst after seeing those comments. Judging from comments here I was expecting junk all week but it’s far from that. As an example: Breakfast this morning there was fresh fruit and juices, cereals, toast, bagels and bread products. There was all the cooked breakfast staples like eggs bacon sausages tomatoes, scrambled fried and poached eggs. Lunch: plenty of fresh salads, chips, rice, pasta, sauces bbq chicken. There’s pizza, nuggets, chips etc for the kids (mine just eat cucumber 🙄) lots of everything being cooked fresh in the centre of the room. Dinner: mussels, shrimp, local fish in sauce, salmon, rice, pasta vegetables, salads. Snack bar has chips pizza nuggets, rolls, salads, fruit. Ice cream bar pretty much all day time Outside bars again are open pretty much most of the day. Waterpark: opens at 10:30. We got there at gone 11 so most of the sun beds around the main play pool were gone. This actually worked out good for us as my girls preferred the wave pool. The pools have several lifeguards who roam around. They don’t sit in one place and rotate like British pools. The slides are open at specified times and durations. If you have older kids like 14 plus, this might not be the right location for you as the main water park pool which is open 10:30-17:00 is about knee deep and the slides great for 2-12 year olds ish. So I really wanted to just come here to make a comment that the bad stuff written here really shouldn’t put you off. If you have a fairly open mind, polite and courteous to staff and others, you’ll really enjoy your holiday here :)

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“Very happy all round”

Had amazing time with my three children age 13,10,8. When arrived, we were told we had to pay tourists tax??? We Was never told about this so wasn’t happy that we had to give them £50. we had our suitcase carried to our room, very clean. Everyday a cleaner went in washed the floors made the bed ... more

Had amazing time with my three children age 13,10,8. When arrived, we were told we had to pay tourists tax??? We Was never told about this so wasn’t happy that we had to give them £50. we had our suitcase carried to our room, very clean. Everyday a cleaner went in washed the floors made the bed and gave us fresh towels. Food was good 😊 can’t complain the buffet had a wide range of dishes suited for everyone. Lots of staff to tidy and keep it clean. Drinks bar was okay too. The kids loved the snack/ ice cream bar. Water park opens from 10.30-5 everyday We noticed that you did have to start queueing at least 45 minutes before if you want to get a subbed. It did however keep the kids entertained for the whole time. Funfair in the evening was great kept my younger two entertained for a good couple of hours. But this wasn’t free so can be a little costly. Staff all very friendly and helpful. Pools were cleaned every night. You can get a bus to the beach everyday from 11 till 6 every hour. The only downside is we booked the al le carte restaurant, really limited menu. Food wasn’t great at all. It was also to hot in there 🥵 so couldn’t wait to get out.

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“Lots of potential, but a few minor things lacking, great for families. ”

Visited as a family of 3, we had a one bedroom apartment in M block. Our room was in a quiet area of the hotel opposite a pool and near the bikini bar. The room was OK, the bathroom was clean but had seen better days (bath was stained), room was the same, but not bad. Towels and sheets changed ev... more

Visited as a family of 3, we had a one bedroom apartment in M block. Our room was in a quiet area of the hotel opposite a pool and near the bikini bar. The room was OK, the bathroom was clean but had seen better days (bath was stained), room was the same, but not bad. Towels and sheets changed every day. We thought it was a shame that cups were provided but no tea bags etc. Food in the Greek Grill was our favourite for breakfast and dinner, although it opened a little late for us at dinner (7.30pm) the food was better than in the main restaurant. Mainly ate in the snack bar for lunch, which was things like chips, pizza, and fresh Gyros. However, this closes at 5pm so there is no food available until 6.30 when the main restaurant opens. Drinks in the bar are small and not the best, but not the worst. Our 6 year old loved the fun park, the water park, and the kids club, the animators work very hard! Brilliant location for the strip, lots of restaurants and bars in walking distance. Staff around the resort were not as friendly as I have previously experienced when visiting Greece, it felt a little like everyone was miserable in their job and that shows in the way they interact with guests, which is a shame. The ladies who run the kids club were very friendly and kind though, my daughter loved them! For us with a child, it was most of what we wanted, however we would not return due to various small issues that make the resort not quite 4 star in our eyes.

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