Pia Bella Hotel Review - 72 of 149 Reviews

Booked the holiday via "gonorthcyprus" and experienced few issues. We travelled from Stansted to Larnaca on a mid-afternoon flight with Thomson Airways and were met at Larnaca airport by our desginated taxi driver. Within 75 minutes we had crossed into Northern Cyprus and were at the Pia Bella Hotel reception, Even though it was now around 11.00 p.m. we were shown to a dining table and offered an evening meal together with a complimentary drink. A while later we returned to Reception and were shown to our deluxe room.

The spacious room consisted of twin beds, bedside table, table and two chairs, dressing table and chair, another table with a tv on top, built in wardrobes (plent of hanging space but few drawers). A room safe is available but at a charge of 20 TL for the week. The fridge is well stocked with water, beer and spirits at typical hotel prices. We bought large bottles of water, fruit juice, etc. from the adjacent supermarket. The small balcony had two patio chairs and a small table.

The ensuite consisted of a bath + shower, wc, single basin, wall mounted hair dryer plus large and small mirrors. A constant supply of soaps, shampoos and conditioners were available. Watch out that you don't spray the shower against the tiled wall for a period of time, the water runs around the rim of the bath and onto the ensuite floor.

Breakfast and evening dining is an experience, you can sit where you like but not at a reserved table; the identification of which can be a little confusing and some are not used all evening. Breakfast is buffet style with eggs, omlets, etc. cooked to order. Each morning 'Sarah' strolls around the tables asking if all is OK and resolving all sorts of holidaymaker queries, something other hotels may wish to copy. For the evening meal you are served soup by the waiter, who also takes your drinks order; the remainder of the meal reverts of buffet style. Although the prepared food is not spectactular it was far better than most of the hotels we have experienced - well above average, an abundance of salads, fruits and cakes. Dinner commences at 7.30 p.m., an earler start would enable a walk into town during the twilight of the evening. Some tables in the middle af the dining area are located very close to each other (quite impersonal) and the lighting is very poor, we tended to locate ourselves on the periphy where it was well lit and spacious.

Some holidaymakers placed their beach towels (available at the pool bar in exchange for an allocated plastic card) on the sun beds to reserve a space by the pool side early in the mornings but we tended to locate ourselves within the shade of the fruit trees. There were plenty of sun beds, tables and chairs to go round. Swimming pools are supposed to be vacated at 6.00 p.m., we would have preferred the pools to remain open until later making the most of the late afternoon sun.

Three of the evening's entertainment were the typical "pub singer" belting out the odd recognisable ballad or two, the fourth night was Trukish Dancing.

We hired a small car from the Reception at £25.00 per day and travelled to all points east and west along mountain ridges and valleys; just watch out for the speed cameras which are well indicated. Only took a couple of hours to the Karpas Peninsula and and hour and a half to Salamis (note: towns are indicated in Turkish not Greek, i.e. Kyrenia is Girne and Famagusta is Gazimagusa).

A walk to the old harbour will take approximately 15 minutes, taxis and dolmus are available from nearby the hotel. Can recommend the Fisherman's Inn, a couple of streets back from the harbour; supposedly the oldest bar in town. The traditional market is held on Wednesday, on the outskirts of town, dawn til dusk.

For an experience beyond belief book a tandem paragliding session - jump off the 2500 foot high mountain ridge along from St. Hilarion Castle, glide out over the bay and land just up the road from Girne.

The rooms are to be vacated by 12.00 noon on the final day; however, as we had a late evening flight back to the UK we were allowed to hold onto our room until late afternoon at no additional expense.

Only a couple of points of concern :-

i) Our hotel room balcony opened out onto a sort of patio roof over the dining room, unfortunately the cleaner left our balcony door open all afternoon on a couple of occasions.

ii) Even though the dining area is outside people were able to smoke throughout their meal, fine for some but not for ourselves who were seated nearby.

Liked — Relaxing atmosphere
Disliked — Unattended screaming kids running around after midnight

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