Travelbeam arrangements excellent; flight and transfer worked fine. Hotel lovely…

Travelbeam arrangements excellent; flight and transfer worked fine. Hotel lovely – good food and service but see message below I sent to the manager.

Dear Mr Wurst,

We had a lovely holiday at the Anassa and I have answered your two questions most positively. There are, however, two issues that I thought it might be helpful to share with you privately rather than on social media.

The first concerns children. We appreciate that the Anassa is a family-friendly hotel and have no real problem with that. During the day most children seemed to disappear, although it was surprising to find small children in the main pool, some even in nappies – never a pleasant sight, while the children’s pool (mosaic) was unoccupied. At mealtimes, particularly breakfast but in the evening too, it was difficult to find a quiet corner of the Amphora buffet restaurant. It was quieter in Helios but even at the Pelagos fish restaurant one could not escape the dreaded baby buggies, high chairs and screaming infants. The food and service were always excellent but you could not easily have a relaxed meal. A number of other guests told us that they had not been expecting this and that it would put them off returning.

The second point is about tipping, always a vexed question. Your menus all stated quite clearly that service and tax were included in the prices quoted and yet all bills came with a printed space to include a tip, which the staff clearly expected. This is just not on. You should either not include service (and lower your prices accordingly), allowing guests to reward service in the American style, or you should include service and not try to persuade customers to tip; they will reward good service if they wish. This is the preferred European way.

Neither of these points reduced our enjoyment of your excellent hotel but I suggest that they do need consideration before your reputation suffers.