Mark Warner Holidays Avis 403

The centre was nice. As was the food. I thought local service g and waiting staff were great.
There were some issues. You get pressured into pre paying for wateraki seasions, but then don’t have priority over booking the sessions, on site. So we didn’t even get to use all the sessions that we had pre booked for. Also the ski boat was not up to much, an outboard…? Which is just a whole world less safe.
The site manager did not even get back to us about the water ski sessions, about whether we could get a refund. That was really dissapointing.

Staff were excellent, always helpful. Hotel Staff were also excellent and obliging. Hotel was very clean and food was very good. Paddle/Tennis courts and equipment were very good. Adult only pool was very good to have. Bicycles were excellent and Boats and Windsurf equipment were older but well maintained.

The hotel was well laid out with 3 pools to choose from. My room in the main hotel was comfortable and clean with an excellent shower (but the shower tray was quite slippery and I used with care). However the food wasn't nearly as good a quality as I've had at other Mark Warner Greek resorts. The Mark Warner staff were excellent - friendly and helpful with the usual variety of sports and activities to choose from. George, the resort manager, was always visible and available and was very helpful and supportive when I became ill with a stomach bug. As a solo traveler I needed some help as I was incapable of leaving my room. He brought me electrolytes and water and checked on my progress.

Activities. Food. Staff. Location. All brilliant.
You need new bikes. The Tennis courts need resurfacing. All other equipment seemed fine (Lemnos)

The local Turkish staff were great- restaurant staff all fab. Cleaning staff great. Sedu (I think that is how it was spelt) in Tiki bar such an asset to the hotel. Beach staff were great - they worked really hard but to be honest I think they needed a few extra pairs of hands - they were so busy. Particular thanks to Jonny and Ella on the beach. Hotel was spotless and one of the nicest we've stayed in.
Drinks in hotel need to be cheaper as they were ridiculously expensive.

Loved the holiday and location. Resort was good. Mainly played tennis and padel. Was a real shame about the coaching staff

Friendly staff, especially Sue, the Resort Manager, when my girlfriend lost her passport, and Dimitry (I think it was) who off his own initiative phoned the restaurant where she'd left it in Moudros !

The team at the resort were fantastic but the company's chosen charter airline, Enter Air, provides the poorest flying service I've ever encountered - late flights, poor pilot updates, inadequate food and equipment supplie as well as cabin crew who tend to shrug it all off without apologies.

Great place to holiday, must say it was disappointing the lack of equipment. New equipment arrived for the send week, but why was this not in place prior to the season starting? No driver for the ski boat, again until partway through the second week. Drinks at the resort are shockingly high. Would be interested in hearing back on the lack of equipment from MW and why I should be paying top dollar for a substandard experience?

Good quality hotel with lovely position. Our family had three adjacent garden rooms that had a great location and easy access for the child buggy. The rooms were well serviced and kept very clean. Friendly and helpful MW staff, especially the MW Manager. The hotel staff too were friendly and welcoming. Good range of activities and equipment although the windsurfing equipment was a little limited and tired

The resort itself was great in terms of staff, facilities and activities. The pool areas especially were perfect and both the MW and local staff were super friendly. Our kids seemed to enjoy the childcare provision. Our only criticisms of the resort were the lack of wind for watersports (quite significant when you are going predominantly for sailing and windsurfing) and we did find the food pretty average. Very heavy on the pork! Even with these criticisms we would still have definitely given the resort a solid 4/5 stars. However…

Whilst the booking process was good, our experience was let down by the UK based customer services / strange company policies and fluctuating prices. This would probably put us off using MW again in future

Another successful MW holiday at Phokaia. We had the advantage of being there for Charlie’s regatta week when even the most experienced sailor is likely to learn something new from Charlie’s tips and demonstrations. With so many additional races during the week, every sailor had the opportunity to race in different crafts and weather conditions.
The tennis 🎾 sessions were also a very worthwhile experience.
As I said before, the staff are MW’s most valuable assets.

The whole experience was excellent! Friendly staff, excellent food, the waterfront staff in particular were amazing; nothing was too much trouble for them. The resort general manager was superb too! It would be difficult to top this holiday!

We keep on going on Mark Warner active beach holidays. I can leave my comfortable bed in our spacious room and within five minutes be doing any of these activities:
Eating healthy and tasty Greek food in the generously stocked buffet restaurant,
Taking a mountain bike out on the mountain tracks, Taking a road bike on the quiet roads,
Snorkeling among the fishes in the clear Agean sea water,
Zooming along in a variety of dingies or a cat,
Getting excited windsurfing in the strong afternoon wind,
Playing tennis, or padel, joining in exercise classes.

All this in a hotel in beautiful gardens, staffed by lovely local staff and patient, skilled and fun Mark Warner activity specialists, on a very relaxed rural agricultural island with friendly local people, colourful flowers and insects and cute baby swifts.

I haven't even mentioned the gym, paddle boards, kayaks, wing surfing and foiling!

Beautiful location, clear water, sandy beach and magnificent sunsets!! We will return!!

Kamari Beach” on Lardos Beach
The Mark Warner online brochure trumpets:
“The local conditions are perfect for water sports. Combining this with our large sailing area and amazing instructors, you’ll be all set for unforgettable days out on the ocean.“
This passage conveys and was intended to convey that the holiday package provides an opportunity to sail in perfect sailing conditions in a relatively free large area (“Ocean”) helped by competent sailing instructors .The reality is the polar opposite.
1. The sailing area is confined to a fixed very small rectangular pen regardless of wind strength and direction .If you stray outside this small highly restricting area by even a boat length no matter what your level of sailing expertise or the wind strength, you are immediately “hunted” down by a power hungry boy in a Rib and shouted at (“ Stay within the Markers Sir”).Why ? Its Force 2 with no significant waves, there are 4 dinghies out, visibility is perfect ,it’s obvious all 4 Single-handers are experienced sailors. It was “unforgettable” for ALL the wrong reasons.
2. The Sailing Pen is positioned in the obvious Wind Shadow of a nearby high Hill .There is very little wind in half of the Pen. The other half is spoilt by wind eddies .One minute you are semi-hiking and bearing away the next you are ducking in and sheeting in. The wind shifts 20 -30 degrees in a heartbeat. The sailing area and wind conditions were hugely frustrating and never enjoyable . for any dinghy sailor it will be very frustrating. Further out the wind becomes stronger and consistent and would provide for an enjoyable hiking reach. But stray to fair winds and the boy in the Rib will hunt you down for his Power fix
3. The instructors are “amazingly”” incompetent Numptees ! When I questioned what a 1mm( yes, 1mm ) piece of twine was doing in the Laser Downhaul ,I was met with “It does the job Sir” .[ Training by the Fast Show : suffix every sentence with “Sir” ] .The job? Not trimming the Luff but trimming flesh from your fingers trying to trim it. Unbelievably, this twine was anchored to a 9mm (!) rope in the outhaul [ not the kicker block]. This rope was far too wide for the blocks too. The Dinghies were beyond decrepit and dangerous (see Below).I was never asked by the “amazing” Beach Boss Justin or anyone else before I was let out on the water “Do you know how to sail? /Have you been in a boat before? /Can you swim”? . When I questioned these omissions on day 5 it was met with “ Oh no need to ask that ! If you capsize we are there to rescue you, Sir “ What a cretin! Those are fundamental and imperative questions to ask. What if a boom hits my skull because I do not know about gybes ? What if my feet get wrapped in a sheet when I capsize and I get trapped under the hull ? Are MW staff not interested in attempting to help sailors improve or have a more enjoyable sail? Is there nothing they want to contribute positively. On the one day the wind did pick up and became onshore Sailing was cancelled. The reason being “we cannot launch in waves” Really ? Pathetic. When compounded by the appalling fit out of the 4 full size lasers the sailing was so frustrating I gave up on day 2 .The purpose of my holiday stultified. Btw there’s No sailing on Saturdays (2 of your Holiday days) and No sailing or any water sports when there are “waves”. Maybe re-locate to a Lake?
The Dinghies: see the photos on TripA .There are 6 Lasers which were very old and very abused .No sail battens .No wind indicators .No proper sized ropes .The mainsheets were hard and stiff with salt .The blocks were broken and long abused .The Kickers twisted and deployed cannibalized systems /blocks The Downhaul and Outhaul were unusable .The Tillers were screwed into the rudder stocks .The Amazing Numptee put the tiller over the mainsheet track then when challenged, under both strands of the Mainsheet Track ! . To fix that you now have to take the rudder off at sea. The tillers were so low they stuck/jammed on the mainsheet track cleat .The T- extension so short you could not hike fully or sit forward .Overall, no dinghy sailor could enjoy sailing these dumpster dinghies .There were 2-3 RS Aeros and other single handers in the Dinghy field but no effort was made to release these .Do not Book this Resort for Sailing .You will rage with frustration having been conned out of your Holiday time and Money.
The Package was a Waste of Time and Money .Never again .See TripA
Resort Location: On Lardos Beach in front of a curious recycling facility See Photos providing a glorious view for those in Room 50 et al. See Photos on TripA. Lardos is highly touristy in the worst possible way. Tacky and exploitative .The Beach is dirty and unappealing .The sea water looks cloudy .A River adjacent to the onsite Sewage plant discharges into the sea close to the Hotel.

Just returned from a very disappointing week at Kamari. It is safe to say that the MW standard has significantly declined. The hotel is far from ‘stylish and modern’ as advertised. Our bathroom (which had no bath) was a total health and safety hazard, with rusty parts and pink mould. There was no shower door so everything was damp the entire week. The electrical socket by our bed had no cover and the wiring was exposed. I could go on.
The water sport equipment was in shocking condition with some advertised activities and components missing entirely. This was the first week of the season but it felt like nothing had been touched or replaced all winter.
Two members of the group have serious nut allergies and the food was repeatedly miss labelled or missing completely.
In fairness, the childcare was great and the team were lovely with our son.

Mark Warner website will not load!! Wtf, another cyber attack?