Golden Tulip Golden Bay Beach Hotel

I'm sure Golden Bay offers everything a family needs in high season. My January experience was not so good however. Reception was disorganized, gym and 'spa' facilities need repair and refit, the whole hotel felt dated and the restaurant buffets were poor. Overall a pretty tired and poor quality feel throughout

The hotel was nice. The rooms were perfectly acceptable. We had a "suite" that mainly equated to a huge deck outside the average sized room. I'm not sure where the "5 star" rating came from - it may be as compared to the rest of the island - but compared to the rest of the places I've been, it was 4 star on its best day. The staff was friendly and most of them spoke at least reasonable english. The amenities at the hotel were, in my opinion, pretty expensive. Beers started at 5-6 euro and drinks went up from there. Dinner at their buffet was almost 60 euro for two with no drinks. Over-all, it was a nice place to stay but I wouldn't go expecting the luxury experience you might find at other 5 star resorts. **note** in the small part of Cyprus we saw, I didn't see any other hotels that looked strikingly better.

Pros: Good breakfast, nice pool, nice staff. For the price it was fine. Quiet during this period. Cons: Location is 12 euro cab to Larnaca, it's not luxurious, unnecessary rules like 1 towel per person and the a la carte evening food was very poor. Summary: A very average beach hotel. My expectations set by the description and that it was 5* was that it would be more luxurious. For the price I should have probably been more realistic!

Great location, right on the beach. Plenty of restaurents outside. Bar drinks were expensive. Overall great hotel, clean and friendly. Allocation of sunlounges was great.

Cet hôtel noté 5 étoiles est plutôt un 4 étoiles car il devrait être sérieusement raffraichi mais nous l'avons tout de même apprécié surtout pour son excellent petit déjeuner.

This is one of 3 hotels in this particular area of Larnaca bay and part of the Lordos hotels group (Lordos, Sandy bay, and Golden bay), the hotels even have similar look and layout. This hotel is 5 star but the rooms would be more like 4 star standard in western europe. We had previously stayed at the Lordos and there is a difference in the room standards-the Lordos rating about 3 star in my book, but comfortable enough. We had to change rooms twice in the Golden bay-firstly due to a buzzing noise from an air conditioning unit on the roof over our room and then because the bed in the new room was very hard and uncomfortable. In fairness when we queried the reception staff they moved us immediately without fuss, and the third room was very comfortable. The airconditioning in the rooms was very good and a card is supplied for the rooms to keep it going while you are out and about during the day. The beach at the Golden bay is better kept than at the other 2 hotels and the stretch to the east is sandier than that in the direction of Larnaca, which is more of a pebble type beach. The hotel has a system of reserving a sun lounger by the beach or around the pool areas which consists of attaching a red card to the sun umbrella. At first I thought this was both odd and unnecessary until you realize that if you just ignore the cards you will always get a good spot. In reality most of the cards are probably left there after guests depart, and over the course of a week we never once met the person who had reserved any chair that we used. In contrast to the other 2 hotels the Golden bay is never too crowded in the pools or on the beach. The housekeeping staff are excellent, very discreet and thorough, and the rooms were always spotless when we returned in the evening. My only quibble would be with the cost of the optional laundry service, especially if you bring kids along. We found it difficult to locate a laundrette locally and it would have been nice if there could have been a self service area somewhere in the hotel or locale. Strangely there is no internet access from your room (wireless or otherwise)-you need to go to the lobby. There is a fee so it's not really worth it, just head across the road to the cocktail bar where internet usage is just 1 euro for 20 mins. In general, right from the moment of check in, we found the hotel slightly unwelcoming-in contrast to the Lordos where the staff were very welcoming and friendly. It is difficult to put my finger on what exactly the problem was, maybe it was slightly too formal for my liking, but if I were to go again I would reconsider the Lordos, that we went there every day for lunch instead of eating in says something.