Gardenia Hotel

We booked this hotel through a tour operator based on the good reviews and the apparent good value for money. The hotel is located on a hill in Afandou, with a beautiful view of the sea. A busy highway runs beneath the hotel. The noise was horrible, especially at night! Motorcyclists and moped riders drive here at a volume like crazy until the early hours of the morning! Furthermore, as night fell, several dogs started barking simultaneously, and this continued nonstop throughout the night. The town of Afandou itself is very littered, dirty, and extremely noisy due to the heavy traffic. There are many, many stray cats, some of which are obviously sick, even near the restaurants. We love animals, and this truly broke our hearts. There's no holiday feeling here. The room itself was sporadically furnished. When we arrived, the sink was very dirty—it looked as if someone had forgotten to clean it (toothpaste residue? See pictures). The shower head and faucets are heavily calcified. Since we carry our own hygiene wipes on all our trips, we cleaned everything ourselves. The bed and mattress were fine. We had thousands of ants in our room every morning, and they also crawled into the bed. The room was cleaned every day, but the ants were always there again in the morning – just like the mouse droppings on the terrace. Water pressure in the shower is only available if you take a cold shower. Without air conditioning, the room is almost unbearable; unfortunately, there are only curtains that don't block out the light, letting the heat and sunlight through completely. Breakfast was very simple, and the breakfast buffet generally looked rather dull and dreary. Pastries didn't taste fresh every day, peaches were canned, etc. Overall, I really don't understand the many positive reviews – perhaps they stem from the many repeat guests who have been staying at this hotel for years. We know we booked a 2-star hotel, but we expected a minimum level of cleanliness and a generally relaxing vacation. We had a rental car and were actually only in the room to sleep, which was unfortunately hardly possible due to the noise.