From cockroaches in the lift, inedible food, unending building noise and indifferent staff, the Helena has to be one of the worst anywhere. The only plus is its location - handy for the beach, a do-able walk from the gorgeous Old Town and plenty of decent eateries on the doorstep. Bed linen was changed just once in two weeks, the balcony was tiny and overlooking a building site and having once experienced the breakfast, we ate out. Stay ANYWHERE else but here.

Just spend two weeks at Helena with my family - the staff on the whole were quite friendly, however, the hotel is in need of refurbishment - a good lick of paint, new furniture in the rooms and poolside area.
The hotel is in a great location - set in the New Town and only a short walking distance to the beach and about 10-15minutes to the Old Town - which is a must see.

I would not stay at the Helena again - It was not suitable for children I'd say it's more of a young persons accomodation after a night out.

This hotel was billed as a "small, friendly hotel" and it was accurate on both counts. What the brochure didn't state though was just how poor the hotel is.
The corridors were narrow and gloomy with yellowing paint and the rows of featureless doors leading to the bedrooms reminded us rather more of a prison block than a hotel.
The room itself was barely large enough to swing a cat and manouvering around it usually involved trampling over the bed. The furniture was old and well past its sell-by, but not old as in "quaint", old as in "knackered".
There is no air con, but fans can be hired from reception at extra cost. However these do little more than create a noise and an annoying breeze that is no cooler than the air is without the fan. The only way to get cool is to take a shower and THEN stand in front of the fan.
The (typically Greek) shower room sloped so that water from showering ran out of the room into the bedroom, rather than down the plughole. This necessitated building a damn from a wet towel placed across the doorway in order to keep the bedroom dry.
The view from the bedroom balcony was priceless - see the picture below.
On the plus sides: The hotel WAS friendly, the staff (particularly the owner/manager/receptionist) were very helpful and pleasant to talk to. Breakfasts (by the claustrophobic pool if you liked) were OK and the hotel is in a decent spot close to Rhodes New Town's nightlife, though it's a fair trek to the Old Town.
The clientel, apart from we few British packagers, seemed to be all eastern Europe or Russian, which also meant incessant chain smoking.
This hotel is very much a budget hotel. We booked it on the basis that "it's just a place to sleep" (we didn't want any fancy ameneties) and also we were having 5 nights out of 14 away whilst on another island (Symi). But even at that we found it way too basic for our tastes.