Bella View Hotel Review - 1 of 38 Reviews

We found the Bella View Hotel to be a rather odd mix of country house chic inside and Mediterranean holiday suntrap outside! The room corridor was dark wood and soft carpets, the foyer was swagged and stuffed with objects and paintings. Our room was somewhat overfurnished, so it was a bit oppressive without the air con on, especially as we did not have a balcony.

Outside, the hotel has modern lines with a big terrace around a small pool, which looks a bit Spartan but actually means you don't have to be elbow to elbow with other guests to enjoy the sun! The downside was the golf practice range/net right by the pool, which offset the peace and quiet gained by the hotel's "No under 15s" rule!

To be frank, the Sofa restaurant doesn't look that special, but the food is excellent and the wine selection good, if somewhat overpriced. (As we found most wine in North Cyprus is.) For some reason, the dining area was really hot during breakfast, so we tended to charge our plates and move outside into the sunshine.

The location was great for chilling out, and we ate at a couple of restaurants in bellapais as they offered free transfers, saving a taxi fare or two! Bellapais village is very laid back and the abbey ruins are wonderful once the morning tour buses have gone. We ate at the restaurant in the ruins themselves, which was a real treat for palette and eyes, as the view down to he lights of Kyrenia was beautiful. Some brave souls waked into Kyrenia - over 1 hour walk apparently - but us sane ones took a taxi instead! Nice town, lovely restaurants and interesting shops.

I think the Bella View is a boutique hotel in terms of its size and decoration, but it has some way to go before being up to what I would call European boutique standards. There was no free bus into Kyrenia, the orange juice at breakfast had probably not seen an orange in years, and the toiletries were definitely not worth removing! However,the staff were very obliging, and the whole atmosphere very relaxing, so we would probably return again for a winter break.

Liked — location, poolside terrace, Sofa restaurant
Disliked — golf practice nets -tacky!

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