My boyfriend and I have just returned home from a week's holiday at the Faros Hotel. Overall, it was a good holiday but we do have a couple of grumbles about the hotel.

The good points are that it is in a great location as it is right by the harbour and just a short walk to the main square. Everything in Ayia Napa is on your doorstep but it still seems remarkably quiet and tranquil in the hotel. The pool area is great. The usual sun-bed reserving at the crack of dawn went on but despite this we still managed to find beds even in the afternoon. The hotel and it's grounds were clean and modern looking. Our room was basic but had everything we needed - a comfy bed, air con, a balcony, a fridge and safe at a small extra cost. The staff on the whole were friendly.

The holiday got off to a bit of a bad start for us when we arrived at the hotel. I booked the holiday through expedia which matches up best availble flights with accomodation without involving a tour opporator. I booked a flight for 29th Sept which arrived on the morning of the 30th so the hotel was booked for the 30th. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the hotel, knackered after travelling all night and desperate for some sleep we were told by the night porter that they weren't expecting us and that there was no room ready for us. He said we had to wait until the staff arrived at 7am and they might be able to help. At 7 we were told that there might be a room a 7.30, at 7.30 we were told that we couldn't check in until 2pm. I can understand that the hotel has a usual check in time of 2pm but surely they have to cater for guests with night flights. After some arguing and pleading and a couple of hours of sleeping in the lobby they did find us a room, it was just dissappointing that the standard of customer service couldn't have been better. This something to bare in mind when booking with expedia - it seems that to avoid this we should have booked a room from the 29th even though we wouldn't arrive until the 30th.

Another thing that let the hotel down was the shower in our room. They seem to have a water pressure problem so we had to shower under a trickly of water. The food was also a bit average at best. Breakfast was ok but was exactly the same each day so got boring by the end of the week. The snack bar was hit and miss but there are plenty of nicer places to eat near by.

As for Ayia Napa itself, I have never been there before and, despite all the good things I'd heard I was worried that we'd hate the tackiness. However, we liked the place. We found a couple of really good restaurants, particularly the Lime Light Taverna where I had the best steak of my life one night and Lobster another. The touts in the harbour and the square were a pain but other that that the nightlife was fun.

I would recommend this hotel for it's location and pool area. It's just a shame that the staff can't put in that extra bit of effort with customer service and food to make the hotel excellent.